Mercedes is continuing its relentless push for perfection with the ongoing development of its already dominant W11, with further upgrades introduced this weekend in Mugello.
For the Tuscan Grand Prix, the Brackley team has brought a medium-to-high load aerodynamic package – a trend for most teams – in order to have the right grip in the long corners of the Ferrari-owned circuit.
Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton are lucky enough to be piloting a car that makes it “easy” to tackle the Savelli and Arrabbiata 1-2 curves with the throttle completely open. This also allowed Mercedes to break another record in F1, namely the achievement of 5.6G of lateral acceleration.
In terms of aerodynamic upgrades, Mercedes has brought the medium/high load rear-wing with a double pylon, to which a new T-Wing has been added. The new T-Wing has been slightly modified in design to improve aerodynamic efficiency and vertical load. The support has also been modified, which is now located in the central exhaust fairing, and no longer on the engine cover.
But Mercedes hasn’t stopped there, and on the Tuscan circuit has also introduced a new front-wing, with the last two upper flaps modified in the Y250 area.
In the long curves of Mugello, Mercedes looks for a different management of the Y250 vortex, with the last flap that has been stretched to envelop the lower element. In the most extreme part it was also necessary to add the reinforcement for reasons of bending, and to better transmit the vertical load.
This change to the front-wing is also down to the introduction of the new bargeboards in Belgium, which were then confirmed in the double Italian race of Monza and this weekend’s Mugello race where they have again been run.
The new deflectors, modified in many elements, work together with a different management of the Y250 vortex.
Mercedes technicians, led by James Allison, have not stopped working on the W11, despite its dominance, which with the abolition of ‘Party Modes’, has aerodynamic efficiency as a fundamental weapon to continue its supremacy on high-load tracks.
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