No change to Mercedes’ black overalls despite heat concerns – Bottas

2020 Belgian Grand Prix

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Mercedes have not changed their driver overalls for this weekend’s race despite the concerns Valtteri Bottas raised over cooling during the previous round in Spain.

Bottas claimed he lost three kilograms in weight during the Spanish Grand Prix, where air temperatures reached 30C. During the the race Bottas told the team he felt hot inside the car.

Mercedes changed their overalls from white to black this year to match the car’s new ‘end racism’ livery. Following the last race Bottas suggested the new overalls may absorb more heat than the previous white ones.

“I think it feels pretty hot in the car,” said Bottas ahead of this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix. “I don’t know in theory, as I said after the race, if it’s the new material or is it the colour. I don’t know, but it felt really hot.”

However Bottas doesn’t expect any of the remaining races to see similarly hot conditions, and said the overalls will remain as they are.

“I believe the overalls are the same [this weekend],” he said. “And I believe that it was maybe the hottest race we’ve had this year and are going to have this year or so it should be okay.”

The Belgian Grand Prix weekend is forecast to be much cooler, with air temperatures well below 20C.

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12 comments on “No change to Mercedes’ black overalls despite heat concerns – Bottas”

  1. Do I hate the heat… I wonder how can these guys stand these temperatures in the car? I wonder if it is psychological… The more you think, the more you feel it? Not to mention that they only have one drink bottle… of how much volume?

    1. It seems to be a pouch rather than a bottle and drivers drink about 1.5 litres per race (link).
      @krichelle

      1. Except Kimi…(sorry, I just had to)

  2. 17 or 18 isn’t well below 20, though. They might be noticeably lower than the high-20s and low-30s, but only 3 and 2 degrees below 20.

  3. Dark clothing absorbs more heat, from the sun. I would give my drivers shiny reflective overals.

    Ignoring physics to make a political statement is quite lame.

    I am sure Bottas is not racist, but when there is so much heat in the sun every degree of temperature maters.

    Go Woke!

    1. @jureo

      I guess HAAS, Renault & Red Bull drivers have been ahead of ignoring physics to make political statements.

      Mercedes noobs are just catching up.

    2. @jureo Adding to what lumn said, really dark blue racing suits have pretty much the same effect.

    3. @jureo Going with the science, then, as you love it so much: first, you may have noticed that most of those overalls are out of direct sunlight while the driver is in the cockpit; and second, black dissipates heat (infrared radiation) more effectively. That’s why the Solar Oribter probe currently heading towards the sun (a lot more closely than Bottas will be in sunny Spa) has a black coating made from baked animal bones. If this really isn’t just in Bottas’s head, it’s more likely to be the change in fabric material he’s noticing.

      1. True that, but while dissipating more heat, it also absorbs more infrared radiation, net effect inside the cockpit still being positive compared to a fully bright outflit, they had in the past. A degree or two of temperature difference is quite noticable, when you are at the edge of your physical limits.

  4. So the team don’t care what Bottas feels. Looks like they didn’t even bother to tell him if the color was a factor at all, unlike when the press thought the black livery might make the car hotter.

    Little bits like this can be quite revealing.

    1. @balue

      So the team don’t care what Bottas feels.

      Does anyone care what Hamilton feels? You know, the team mate wearing the exact same black overalls?

      1. @david-br Yes I would say that is the overriding concern for the team

Comments are closed.