Mercedes W02 rendering revealed

2011 F1 cars

30th January 2011, 20:472nd February 2011, 22:27 | Written by Keith Collantine

Mercedes have published a rendering of their new 2011 F1 car, the W02.

The image shows the team have adopted a wide, flat nose similar to that seen on the Red Bull RB6 last year.

They have reverted to a conventional air intake in place of the radical split airbox used on the W01 from the Spanish Grand Prix last year.

But as with many of the car launches expect the car’s aerodynamic package to be revised before the first race of the year in Bahrain.

The image first appeared on the website of German newspaper Bild.

The W02 is due to be run for the first time on Tuesday at Valencia.

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104 comments on “Mercedes W02 rendering revealed”

FanatikosF1 (@fanatikosf1)
30th January 2011, 20:51
Well, it looks fine but will it be a title contender? Everyone is going ‘nose up’ design I think… It’s going to be a hell of a championship this year. I can’t wait…:)
1. miguelF1O (@)
  30th January 2011, 22:09
  remember the 2009 BMW very extreme nose
2. SeattleChris (@seattlechris)
  31st January 2011, 1:44
  What I can’t understand with this design is that, again, they are going for some uniqueness with the nose. Last years car had that huge up-swept kink that dropped back down towards the drive.. I took this to mean they were trying to divert air from the drivers helmet, but at the same time it looked hard to see over. Now this year they have those weird rounded edges halfway up the nose; what for? It doesn’t really look like it will have any sort of aero benefit… I don’t get it.
  1. MuzzleFlash
    31st January 2011, 11:42
    My understanding was that nose was designed to maintain a low pressure area under the nose, and so downforce. And that those nose features act like wing end fences, stopping high pressure spilling over into the low pressure area, which creates vortices and causes drag.
    1. Merk
      31st January 2011, 14:57
      I’ve heard different. I’ve heard they are only there to meet regulations. Toro Rossa and Redbull had them last year and there were comments by Steve Matchett (speed tv) saying that it has something to do with the suspension arms, and minimum requirements for mounting positions.
      Not sure if there is anything there, but maybe the hieght of the nose has to meet a requirement, but they want better visibility for the driver so that have that gully in the middle to see straight.
    2. BasCB (@bascb)
      31st January 2011, 16:09
      This year they have that teatray under the nose like McLaren had last year to acheive something similar I suppose.
Joey-Poey (@joey-poey)
30th January 2011, 20:53
I like the tinges of teal!
1. Regis
  30th January 2011, 22:03
  yeah, me too
Valentino (@valentino)
30th January 2011, 20:54
I like it!
If it’s fast as it looks, this “space machine” will rock,..
I am a Ferrari fan, but this looks definitely better,..
1. miguelF1O (@)
  30th January 2011, 22:11
  really ? you must be kidding the ferrari is always the most beautiful (bad santander livery) anyway much prettier than the last years redbull cheap imitation
  1. Mike
    31st January 2011, 1:04
    ferrari is always the most beautiful
    what’s the point in looking at this post if you have no interest in the contents?
2. The Sri Lnakan
  30th January 2011, 22:44
  wait a minute…it looks like…. HOT TUB TIME MACHINE!
  1. Omer bin Ishaq
    31st January 2011, 5:21
    Well these cars are purpose built for being fast. Who cares how they look like, if an ugly car wins, it’s doing it’s job. But still its always good to see a sexy F1 car :-)
Icthyes (@icthyes)
30th January 2011, 20:54
This looks better than the F150 by a way. let’s hope the pace is as much improved as the livery and design.
1. Scribe
  30th January 2011, 22:30
  I thought the F150 looked a bit of a beast, once you took a long look at it, everything seemed honed.
  Can’t say I find much of whats up there to be particularly impressive, hope it looks better in the flesh. Livery is better though, that I agree with.
  1. Pedal to the Vettel (@pedal-to-the-vettel)
    30th January 2011, 22:41
    Yer that F150 looks scary to go up against, even more so that it will be built around Alonso.
    But I think since it’s been just a long time seeing a Mercedes back in F1 that it gives it that new “we are back for real” feel.
    For me it looks more Mercedes then Brawn now and im still on that train waiting for them to repeat buisness since the 1950’s and put everyone back in their place.
    1. US_Peter (@us_peter)
      30th January 2011, 22:48
      For me it looks more Mercedes then Brawn now and im still on that train waiting for them to repeat buisness since the 1950′s and put everyone back in their place.
      I hope you’re right, it would be great to see them up at the front with the big 3 this year.
      The F-150 certainly looks to be a formidable design all things considered. Front wings and other aero bits will change on all the cars before the first race. What blows me away on the F-150 is how tight they managed to get the rear end without going to a pull-rod suspension. Looks tighter than an RB6!
      http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/alon_ferr_2011_fior-18.jpg
      1. Pedal to the Vettel (@pedal-to-the-vettel)
        30th January 2011, 23:20
        With that picture it doesn’t even look like it has got a backside since it’s so tight, Ferrari working in the gym maybe?
      2. JSC
        30th January 2011, 23:33
        10£ says it overheats in Bahrain.
    2. SeattleChris (@seattlechris)
      31st January 2011, 1:37
      Well, in fairness, the F150 has a 6000lb. payload and can haul 10,000lbs. Of course its a beast.
  2. Scribe
    30th January 2011, 23:18
    Actually again, the longer I look at it the more I like it, wonder if this’ll happen everytime. The nose is rather special, fun that they’ve hidden their rear wing solution. Hope they have a new front wing.
    Extremley disapointing that the exciting airbox solution is gone. Really like both itinerations, ah well.
    I suppose the beauty of the current regs is it does take a while to absorb the changes, and appreciate the differances.
    1. Mike
      31st January 2011, 4:56
      Same, I didn’t like it at first, but it’s quite distinctive.
    2. BasCB (@bascb)
      31st January 2011, 16:12
      You must be exited about the Lotus then, Gascoyne borrowed the concept for their car.
      1. Scribe (@scribe)
        31st January 2011, 23:01
        I’m not saying I’m fickle or nuffin but I’ve changed me mind on the air box.
        No longer a massive fan, looks like the driver’s at Lotus are having a massive but bleak idea.
Shoekey
30th January 2011, 20:56
is that the 2009 front wing?
1. Rob G (@rob-g)
  30th January 2011, 21:00
  It’s the W01 front wing, a lot of teams wait until the first test to use their new wings, just to hide it from the competition for a few more days.
  1. Snaiperskaya (@mgp-w01)
    1st February 2011, 7:28
    The weird thing is the W01 front wing was basiclly the Brawn Gp front wing. I wouldn’t be too shocked if they don’t change it.
Victor.
30th January 2011, 21:02
It’s beautiful.
1. TommyB (@tommyb89)
  31st January 2011, 0:16
  Agreed. Don’t know how they’ve done it but they’ve gone and made the Turquoise look good.
  Stunning car.
Crispin
30th January 2011, 21:09
That’s gorgeous!!!
1. Duke (@duke)
  30th January 2011, 22:18
  Gorgeous with Schumi in the driving seat;)
;379
30th January 2011, 21:09
the nose reminds me of a duck-billed platypus- not that thats a bad thing :P
1. ;379
  30th January 2011, 22:59
  http://stat.k.kidsklik.com/data/photo/2011/01/17/1718054620X310.jpg
  Picture of the new McLaren under cover
  1. ;379
    30th January 2011, 23:04
    not sure how true the report is though. If you look closely you can see a lump where the f-duct was on the mp4-25 so it may just be an old photo somebody’s recircled to kick up a fuss.
    1. Dipak T
      30th January 2011, 23:25
      The airbox looks different and the front nose is tapered significantly more than the MP4-25. Although, could be photoshopped.
      1. ;379
        30th January 2011, 23:28
        apparently if you google mclaren mp4 25 bahrain grand prix that image comes up. In a larger shot you can see that it is taken in a garage against black walls, which McLaren changed to white after the first couple of races or so. But i know what you mean, the nose does look different
      2. Scribe (@scribe)
        30th January 2011, 23:37
        It’s the mp4-25 under the mandatory night covers I’m afraid. Definatley, old spec wing, exactly the same shaped raditators, f-duct vent.
        The nose of teh McLaren looked very different from different perspectives, this was commented on frequently last year.
      3. Dipak T
        30th January 2011, 23:38
        It may just be a trick of the light then.
andy
30th January 2011, 21:11
the “airbox” for the frontbrakes looks pretty small, i don’t think the real front will be very similar to this early picture
1. Mike
  31st January 2011, 1:09
  That it, this is only an early rendering.
Steph (@)
30th January 2011, 21:19
This looks so much better th last year’s. The nose is brilliant and the shape actually makes the splash of turquoise work. It no longer looks dull but deadly. I like it.
1. Fixy (@)
  30th January 2011, 21:32
  I like it, apart from the airbox, that looks old. I seem to have it with airboxes :D
  1. Scribe
    30th January 2011, 22:32
    Yeah I’m sad they haven’t kept the new airbox. That thing was kinda cool, liked the idea behind it as well.
    1. US_Peter (@us_peter)
      30th January 2011, 22:50
      I think it was banned for this year, otherwise they probably would have stuck with it.
      1. Scribe (@scribe)
        30th January 2011, 23:38
        Really? That’s annoying, any idea why?
      2. The Last Pope (@the-last-pope)
        31st January 2011, 3:41
        Banned for driver safety. If a car was to end upsidedown on some grass runoff, a single blade roll structure is far more likely to slice into the ground leaving the drivers head much closer to the ground than it would had the car had a normal hoop structure.
2. Guilherme (@the_philosopher)
  30th January 2011, 21:59
  I agree. It just occured to me now, do the “Petronas” on the sidepods has a turquoise background too?! If so I’m curious to see how they handled that because I can’t picture anything nice!
  Apart from that, I loved this car. Much more beautiful than the F150! The W01 nose was for me the ugliest of the field last year, so I’m glad they took care of that!
3. Spud (@)
  30th January 2011, 22:32
  I’m liking it myself. As you say, the nose is way better now and also those side boards are gone, (where the outboard mirrors used to be, cant think what they’re called).
  I never liked them. I had always thought they’d been banned with the new rules.
  I have to say, I quite like this part of the season with all the car launches. It’s great. :)
  1. Adam Tate
    31st January 2011, 4:04
    @ Scribe, they banned the old Mercedes airbox on grounds of safety, they don’t want a single blade roll bar for the cars this year.
    @ Spud, I don’t know what they’re called either, but Will Buxton was fond of calling them twix wings, because they made him think of the twix candy bars. I am glad the W02 without them as well. I’d love to see the banned seeing as they really spoil the lines of the car. If the 2011 cars could be without twix wings and without shark fins, I dare say they would be the prettiest designs in some time.
    1. codesurge
      31st January 2011, 4:29
      Vertical turning vane? ;)
JCF1 (@jcf1)
30th January 2011, 21:20
Thieves!
How dare they muscle in on Mclaren’s chromey silvery brilliance.
And to all the pedants, im not talking about silver, which mercedes pioneered, im talking about the chrome that mclaren is quickly elevating to legendary status.
1. sam3110 (@sam3110)
  30th January 2011, 21:40
  But………………. it isn’t chrome!
  1. Prof Kirk (@prof-kirk)
    31st January 2011, 5:11
    The first thing I noticed apart from the design, was the colour, and truth be told it looks chrome in this rendering! I can’t wait to see if they ditched the StarWars type metal texture look and went to basic chrome. Because “hypothetically” if they did change to Chrome (due to the Mercedes aspect of the car) that would suggest that the McLaren would have a more significant livery change, possibly black and Vodafone red as seen on their 2011 merchandise!
    Either way I like the StarWars type paint on the 2010 Mercedes and the chrome McLarens and wouldn’t mind fresh colours for the McLarens, so unless in the unlikely situation that both teams choose chrome, I want be disappointed.
2. US_Peter (@us_peter)
  30th January 2011, 22:53
  How dare they muscle in on Mclaren’s chromey silvery brilliance.
  You mean the chromey silver that McLaren adopted as the defacto Mercedes factory team, in homage to the original silver arrows? Now that Mercedes is back I wish McLaren would drop the silver. I suspect they probably will too if they build their own engine for 2013 and part ways with Mercedes. We’ll see.
  1. BROOKSY007 (@brooksy007)
    30th January 2011, 23:01
    I’d love for mclaren to go back to the red and white like the mp4-4 of senna
    1. JSC
      30th January 2011, 23:36
      Especially now that Toyota is no longer around
    2. swarf69
      1st February 2011, 21:32
      Amen to that! I like the chrome, didn’t like the west livery but adored the red and white. I wonder if a red/white and yellow Lewis helmet would look distinctly familiar?
  2. Adam Tate
    31st January 2011, 4:06
    I think that would be nice, the Mercedes cars to me look a lot like the old McLaren cars of the late 90’s/ early 2000’s with the West liveries. When in reality the Mercedes should be the silver arrows and the McLarens, well whatever they want. I’m always up for seeing new colors on the grid.
    1. Burnout
      31st January 2011, 7:24
      I’d like to see McLaren go back to the orange-and-black testing livery they used in the early 2000s. Vodafone probably wouldn’t hear of it though!
bwells88 (@bwells88)
30th January 2011, 21:25
It’ll be interesting to see how this all pans out…. as for the norm all the teams try to copy the designs of the title champions… but will the design work with out the DDD? I love this time of year!! 8) Should be an amazing year… again…
Ral (@)
30th January 2011, 21:27
Looks good. Be nice if they could be another regular contender. That would improve overtaking, if you had 4 or 5 regular winning teams :)
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
30th January 2011, 21:29
I especially like the livery. Instead of turquiose on an aluminium silver, we have white on a much darker silver with little touches of red. Not a fan of the wing mirrors, though.
Anyway, the thing I like most about Mercedes is their numbering: a red number on a white circle harkens back to the days when they used to race in the 1950s.
1. Adam Tate (@adam-tate)
  30th January 2011, 23:15
  I don’t much like the wing mirrors either, but they are distinctive. I like the design, though I saw this photo yesterday and thought it was more likely a photoshop job than the real thing, so it looks like I was wrong. I like the color scheme a lot.
Icemangrins
30th January 2011, 21:31
muah ha ha ha
Pedal to the Vettel (@pedal-to-the-vettel)
30th January 2011, 21:32
Can’t wait to see it on a race track, it just looks lethal lol.
Cyberaxiom (@dave-m)
30th January 2011, 21:49
From this rendering I really like it, a few small tweaks to the livery have improved what were the second-dullest colours on the grid last year (step forward, HRT). I don’t like this year’s high-nose trend, but the sidepods look evil.
1. Pinball
  31st January 2011, 2:58
  I agree, from the rendering the livery looks much improved from last year. Last year the livery looked very much just chucked together, it wasn’t nice.
Catalina (@catalina)
30th January 2011, 22:08
I don’t think this is the final version. Its rumoured that they’ve prepared another version for the later stages of testing.
mename2332 (@mename2332)
30th January 2011, 22:20
looks like they have stuck with pushrod suspension (correct me if i’m wrong)
1. Anon
  30th January 2011, 22:31
  You can’t see from that shot…
Faraz (@faraz)
30th January 2011, 22:47
Yeah I have to say it does look very nice love it hope its fast.
I thought that last Years Red Bull and Mercedes were pretty ugly.
1. Catalina (@catalina)
  30th January 2011, 22:49
  RB6 ugly? :S
  I thought it was brilliant.
  1. Faraz (@faraz)
    30th January 2011, 23:11
    It was brilliant obviously but it was not exactly a looker.
    1. Catalina (@catalina)
      30th January 2011, 23:26
      It was pretty ! though I liked it less when they modified the nose. Other than that, brilliant livery and desing. Uglier was the MP4-25 :P
      1. Dipak T
        30th January 2011, 23:27
        Really? I thought the MP4-25 was the best looking car by a country mile.
      2. Martin
        31st January 2011, 0:12
        I thought Mercedes was one of the best-looking cars on the grid (Probably because I really hate shark fins :P ). Renault was also brilliant.
        I didn’t like Red Bull that much but I agree that McLaren was quite ugly.
        High nose is the new shark fin for me :P
      3. Catalina (@catalina)
        31st January 2011, 4:42
        Mercedes was great, but the livery not too much. I didn’t get Renault at first, but I got used to its epicness soon after. I’ll miss it :/
        btw, no way MP4-25 was beauty. it didn’t look harmonic, just way over the top.
2. PJ Tierney
  30th January 2011, 23:57
  RB6 with the Red “Sky” sideboards in Brazil was the best looking car of the year:
  http://www.f1-site.com/wallpapers/2010/f1/brazil/qual/brazil-photo-f1-wallpaper-2010-39.jpg
  1. Catalina (@catalina)
    31st January 2011, 4:35
    Its just so perfect. No more, not less.
    1. bosyber (@bosyber)
      31st January 2011, 8:37
      comparing those lines to the rendering of the W02, I have to say: they nicked the entire front end, up until the start of the sidepods at least (sure, the intake shape is more like that of the early 2000’s McLaren, to match the livery ;-) and maybe more.
      But it makes the car look a lot better, and their livery is a good change.
      As someone above mentioned, yes, the sidepods also seem to have Petronas in white on turquoise, and I think it will look just as well as on that rear wing, and have a nice fad to silver like on the front wing.
Tim
30th January 2011, 22:49
I wish they used the old air box from last year as well, it truly looked innovative. However, I believe they outlawed “blade type” rollover hoops in the regs this year.
1. Rob G (@rob-g)
  30th January 2011, 22:51
  Indeed they did, because they thought if the car flipped it might cut into soft ground.
  1. bosyber (@bosyber)
    31st January 2011, 8:38
    Interesting that Lotus did use something like that solution. I do agree it would be great if they had retained it in some form, it looked very distinctive.
Aetost (@aetost)
30th January 2011, 22:55
It also seems they abandoned the single keel design of W01.
Meander
30th January 2011, 22:57
Something about it reminds be of a Benetton. 1994/95? Or a Ligier/Prost.
1. Valentino (@valentino)
  30th January 2011, 23:09
  It also looks like a 2008 McLaren.
  1. bosyber (@bosyber)
    31st January 2011, 8:39
    especially around the sidepod openings, I agree, and in that respect this new livery doesn’t really help make it look different.
    The nose is of course very different though.
2. Burnout
  31st January 2011, 7:28
  Probably the airbox. That squat triangular shape does look like the one on the B195.
Catalina (@catalina)
30th January 2011, 23:28
I think it’ll look like last year unraced Toyota.
Scribe (@scribe)
30th January 2011, 23:40
It looks like the silver suffer throwing a platypus. But I’m warming to it.
Kirk
31st January 2011, 0:17
The nose and Petronas brings back memories of BMW in 2009 tbh.
Scottie (@scottie)
31st January 2011, 0:46
Personally I find it a bit dull… there’s no small tweaks to really manipulate the airflow anywhere.
The smooth lines are nice and the colour adds to it, but after admiring the Ferrari for a bit… I just find it a bit plain.
then again the ’09 Braun was simple, but effective.
Adriasil
31st January 2011, 1:25
No awesome airbox ;_;
Well, there still could be hope… Trying to throw us off with the early rendering?
I just hope that they are… *crosses fingers*
Snobeck
31st January 2011, 1:47
Sexy
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
31st January 2011, 1:56
Silver Greenish does look good, the question remains will it be able to fight on track?
Catalina (@catalina)
31st January 2011, 4:48
Tbh, I don’t have high hopes for this car NOW. They have to make up too much ground compared to the other 3 big teams. Hope I’m wrong cos I want Michael to do better this season.
Wobblebottom
31st January 2011, 5:32
I like it. Nose from the RB6 and the sidepods from the F10, and it all works wonderfully. Well, aesthetically speakling. Let’s hope she’s fast and will bolster Schumi’s and Rosberg’s title chances.
Morteza (@morteza)
31st January 2011, 6:03
I don’t know hot Team Lotus has used the blade structure for their airbox but Mercedes has not?! If it’s illegal, it’s illegal for everyone not for Mercedes.
1. Morteza (@morteza)
  31st January 2011, 6:04
  I don’t know how Team Lotus has used the blade structure for their airbox but Mercedes has not?! If it’s illegal, it’s illegal for everyone not for Mercedes.
BBT
31st January 2011, 8:05
What on earth is with those massive radiator intakes?
Can’t tell anything from this picture, 2011 will be all about the back end
DoughnutSmoke (@)
31st January 2011, 8:17
I like it but i’m stumped on the split air box being banned comment as the Lotus T128 clearly has the split air box concept on their 2011 challenger So is it or is it not banned.
Adam Tate
31st January 2011, 9:20
Apparently it is, but it isn’t DoughnutSmoke. The new rules mandated a minimum width for the rollover bar in the airbox, and by beefing up Mercedes application to a larger size, Lotus has been able to sneak one in.
electrolite (@electrolite)
31st January 2011, 13:39
Any who read the forum thread on 2011 car designs will know my irrational love of how this car looks. I think it’s beautiful.
moarpheus (@moarpheus)
31st January 2011, 22:10
sexy car

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104 comments on “Mercedes W02 rendering revealed”