[Monster Hesh]

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Guarantee we'll hear F1 coverage say how teams have a race advantage bringing more of a certain tyre. Fact is, come the end of Qually, they will all have the same amount of tyre left. One new of the Hardest and medium compound.

(Ill update when F1 does...)

3rd DRS will be added between T1 + T3. All three will have a separate detection zone. Might help with your overtaking fear Jody. 

Expect lap times blitzed. Damn, sub 60s?  : O ...........nah......or maybe......

Austria should be interesting, It's a super short lap. 10 corners(apprently): T3 slow, T1+4 medium, T2+5+6+7+8+9+10 fast (maybe final one med-fast).

Where have Merc excelled at, fast corners. Riccard final sector was all quick flowing corner, that is where Merc had a huge advantage. Spain, fast corners. Only the fact its a short lap will bring the other into play, but that might also help Merc temp control. Ferrari will be close, but not close enough for pole. Race pace, maybe a repeat of last year, a very close chase, but no wheel-to-wheel.

[Jody Barton]

So we have the Austrian GP up next, the schnitzel in a French and British sandwich. Since coming back into the F1 schedule it's been a bit of a power dominated circuit and slightly rear limited. Which leads me to believe that Ferrari should have the slight edge here over Mercedes, but with the new spec 2.1 engine and supposedly a large upgrade coming for here, perhaps it'll be enough to nudge the Silver cars ahead of the red ones. Can't see the Bulls being in this one to be honest, certainly not qualifying, maybe in the race if they look after their rears better than the other two. As for over taking, if it require 3 DRS zones on a track like this there is something seriously wrong with this formula, it should definitely help though.

[forzaferrari]

Renault is to introduce a long-promised new specification of MGU-K at this weekend’s Austrian GP, but its Formula 1 customer teams Red Bull Racing and McLaren are not obliged to use it.
The new MGU-K, which was once scheduled for introduction for as early as the start of the 2017 season before numerous delays, has finally been signed off for use on a race weekend by all three teams.
However, Renault F1 boss Cyril Abiteboul says that at least one the customers has preferred to stick with the old spec, at least for Austria.
One of the complications is that under the 2018 regulations drivers can use only two MGU-Ks per season, before penalties result.
McLaren and Red Bull may thus be loathe to make a switch until the new spec has been proven by the works team in race weekend conditions.
“It’s available for all the cars that want it,” Abiteboul told Motorsport.com. “It happens that not all teams have elected to go to the new spec.

“It’s one that we’ve been long awaiting, but it’s a bit of a problem that some teams have elected not to use it, which means that they will continue to use the MGU-K of a previous technical definition, with a higher reliability risk.

"But that’s our philosophy, to accept the teams’ choice, having all the information.”

The change comes immediately after works driver Carlos Sainz suffered a failure with the old spec MGU-K in the closing laps of the French GP.

“It’s a part that we know was fragile, it’s a part that we deliberately decided to extend the life of, because we knew that there was a new definition, a new spec coming up, with better performance, better packaging and with a better reliability level.

“It’s coming next weekend, but it’s two laps too late for that particular MGU-K!

"Having said that it’s not that bad, because it’s really showing that we are pushing to the limit and we are accepting to take risks.”

[Jody Barton]

Given the horror show the Renault MGU-K has been for the last 4 and a bit years I can see why McLaren, but probably Red Bull want to hold off introducing it. Renault are clearly under pressure from Honda, who have out developed them now in the last two years so far, soooo, yeah lets see what it brings. It's going to bring grid penalties for Renault though isn't it?

[forzaferrari]

Sorry people just edited my last post as it was uncompleted for some reason

[Jody Barton]

Hearing rumours that Mercedes are bringing a bigger update to Austria than they did to Spain. Wow. In Spain they brought new sidepods, diffuser, front and rear wings, floor and barge boards. It was a pretty big update if I remember, there was also rumoured (and probably true) weight reduction. With Toto Wolff saying this WDC could come down to marginal gains, he's not hanging around is he? Also got a new package supposedly coming for Silverstone. This development war could be relentless.

[Monster Hesh]

You sure Jody, I remember being confused about what Merc actually brought to Spain, and yourself explained that it was more under the hood stuff. 2017 they brought all that stuff to Spain. Merc haven't had a significant upgrades all season, visually it's all been slight tweaks, new aero "flicks" here and there. Barge boards have seen most advancement from them.

You have got me excited though, hoping for some McLaren nose style, or Merc Spain 2017 nose scoop crazy innovation. Something we haven't seen yet, that gets Ted excited, that has him run the line "It beautiful, really clever how it conditions the air flow for more downforce".

Does weight reduction contribute to outright pace now? or are top teams at weight limit and its all about opening up more car balancing scope?

Ferrari have been relentless it insane. This Merc update will be a good indication of whether Ferrari's constant updates have been bringing enough gains, which honestly perhaps they haven't.

[Jody Barton]

I remember people not picking up the many tweeks at Spain, because they were subtle. The rear wing end plates had extra louvres as well as more pronounced 'jink' above the wheels to allow for better airflow to there diffuser, which had two extra elements in Spain.
The side pods were also narrower in Spain after photo analysis showed more floor was exposed, not much, but noticeable on closer inspection. Funny you mention the nose scoop, because apart from the adjusted vortex generators on the outer edges, it was the scoop that was changed, it was actually angled further down towards the barge board area, which absolutely was the biggest change, or visible change any way. As for weight reduction? At this point I'd argue all the leading contenders are significantly under the minimum weight allowed, and further weight reduction is done to allow greater scope for ballast for set up purposes, which in Mercedes case might actually be what they need to cure their tyre woes.

As to the rumours? They've come from Mercedes themselves when they said they have big updates coming for Austria and Silverstone. When Allison says they're big updates, you know they're big, why? Because he always understates things. But it's Bottas' comments post race to Finnish press that give the scope of it, I don't speak Finnish but my partner does (being part Finnish) and she's said he basically said there is a complete aero upgrade coming for both Austria and Silverstone, that isn't just refining the original car, including changes to all elements. Now she doesn't understand the sport, but she is a professional translator, so I think her translation will be accurate. Whether it's captured what he said in terms of the essence I don't know, but he seemed happy and said it was the change they need, and he's been asking for.

And he has been arguing they need updates. On that score I found it interesting to note the Mercs were running their cars in France with a rake of 1.31 degrees. The highest they've ran their cars in the hybrid era. I get the sense, and feeling we might be seeing slowly the influence of Allison on what is still essentially Paddy Lowe's blueprint from 2017. I think we're all forgetting this car was actually Paddy Lowe's design philosophy.

[NeilP]

'I think we're all forgetting this car was actually Paddy Lowe's design philosophy.'

Which just adds more confusion as to the mind boggling lawnmower that Williams are currently running.

Great insight and information Jody.

[Jody Barton]

NeilP, the 2017 Merc blueprint was set by Lowe, he was working from the previous blueprint he was given, but had a much bigger say in the direction the 2017 car would take, given the rules changes. It can be very hard to redirect a car when the gearboxes etc. are all set around one design philosophy.

As to why Williams are struggling with a Lowe design while Merc aren't? Just look at the personnel differences, I think Lowe made the point that Mercedes has more aerodynamacists working on their floor and difuser than Williams have on their entire car, and I bet the Mercedes team is better qualified and skilled than the Williams team. So with those sorts of resources Mercedes can pretty much make any concept work.

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PS. It's also fair to point out Lowe had just as many misses as hits while he was at McLaren. In fact Lowe often needs others around him to rein in his 'crazy' concepts, at Merc he had that, but even at McLaren some of his wackier ideas made it through, some work, others don't.