Breaking news
Formula 1 Mercedes launch
Mercedes focused on making W10 "much kinder" to tyres
Mercedes says it has worked hard to ensure that its new W10 Formula 1 car is "much kinder" to its tyres that its predecessors.
Jonathan Noble
Published: Feb 13, 2019, 11:19 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Although the team made big progress last year in improving on the 'diva' characteristics of its tricky W08, the team was still not satisfied with how well the 2018 challenger was able to look after its tyres.
Speaking as Mercedes ran its new W10 for the first time at Silverstone, technical director James Allison said that a lot of effort had been put into ensuring that there was a step gain in tyre management for 2019.
"The handling of the W09 was a big improvement over the rather idiosyncratic W08," said Allison. "We managed to be competitive at tracks which had plagued us in recent years.
"However, notwithstanding this improvement, we were still not as good as some of our competitors at preserving the performance of the rear tyres.
"We have worked hard on the suspension and aerodynamic characteristics to deliver a car that will be much kinder to its tyres – enough, we hope, to allow us to be competitive at all phases of the race and at each track on the calendar."
Read Also:
One other area of focus for the team was in reducing the weight, with Mercedes' long car concept having made it a challenge to hit the minimum weight limit at times in recent years.
Allison explained that an 'aggressive' weight reduction programme had been undertaken on all areas of the car.
"Even though the minimum weight limit was lifted by 10kg for 2019, weight reduction remains a real challenge on the current generation of F1 cars," he said.
"Components that we felt were stripped to the bone in 2018 have been taken, one by one, and subjected to a further round of aggressive analysis to shave further weight from them.
"Some components surrender what feels like a giant step of half a kilo, others just a few grams, but collectively each of these victories add up to a handful of kilos that have been invested back in the car on aerodynamics, suspension and power unit to bring performance."
Mercedes has retained the long wheelbase of its predecessors.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Mercedes to run all-new F1 engine for 2019
Next article Red Bull reveals its first Honda-powered F1 car
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jonathan Noble
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Formula 1
Formula 1
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Latest news
Zane Smith fined $50,000 by NASCAR for ramming Carson Hocevar after Phoenix Cup race
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
6 h
Zane Smith fined $50,000 by NASCAR for ramming Carson Hocevar after Phoenix Cup race
FIA expects F1 races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi to continue as planned
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
10 h
FIA expects F1 races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi to continue as planned
TDS Racing doubles down on IMSA program with two-car LMP2 return
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 10 h
TDS Racing doubles down on IMSA program with two-car LMP2 return
Why Isack Hadjar doesn’t like F1 sprints anymore
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
11 h
Why Isack Hadjar doesn’t like F1 sprints anymore
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe