Mercedes’ performance at Formula 1’s Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia will require further investigation as the conditions around the Sepang circuit made it difficult for the team to get a read on its latest update package.
The team introduced a revised floor and sidepod package for F1’s first visit to Sepang in nine years, but it became apparent that the team was struggling to unlock its usual top-line pace throughout the weekend. Regardless, it was set to pick up a double podium finish before George Russell retired with a powertrain issue.
Through the weekend, the team declared itself happy with the performance of the update in higher-speed corners, but the W17 overall did not gel with the circuit – particularly around the slower corners.
In the team’s usual post-race debrief circulated on its social media channels, deputy team principal Bradley Lord explained that the drivers were having to resort to slightly unusual inputs in those slower corners to get the car to bite.
“The combination potentially of update, track temperature and track surface caused an interaction and a set of behaviours that meant the car was not in its usual happy state, that the drivers were having to turn the car on the throttle in the slow corners,” said Lord.
“That was further exacerbating the challenges with tyre temperature. So that’s not an easy thing to unpick.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Joe Portlock / Getty Images
“It’s a bit of a 3D problem that we need to work through and then figure out exactly what steps we take going forward to make sure we’ve got the base understanding that we need to understand that the update is working well and that we’re heading in the right direction in our development, not just for this year’s car but for next year as well.
“So that’s work that’s going on at the moment back in the factory and also over in Singapore in order to establish exactly what the plan is for the coming days and the race weekend in Singapore.”
Why Sepang’s surface was a problem for more than just tyres
There are two particular threads that link the track surface to the car, the most obvious being the interaction between the road and the tyres. The roughness of the circuit was a key factor in excess tyre heat, as the contact between the tyre and the surface produced greater levels of strain on the tyre.
When the tyre makes contact with the road, it deforms elastically – meaning that the tyre would return to its natural state if the load was removed. This is exacerbated by the track surface; if, like Sepang, there are lots of gaps in the surface, the tyre will partly fill some of those gaps.
Although this produces grip through the mechanical movement of the tyre, the loading and unloading (known as hysteresis) of the contact patch will produce more heat as waste energy. Since the tyre deforms more to fill those pockets in the road surface, the heat generation on the tyre surface increases.
The second mechanism at play, which is of an aerodynamic nature, was one hinted at by McLaren team principal Andrea Stella. F1 cars not only use aero parts to generate load, but also to create certain flow patterns and even accelerate airflow to ensure the rest of the car works efficiently.
On a race track, the roughness of the track surface needs to be considered, as the airflow underneath the car can be affected by this. No circuit is completely smooth, and teams will likely have some idea of roughness to apply to their simulations.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
Photo by: Srinivasa Krishnan
In a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation, the “domain” walls at the bottom will have a frictional coefficient applied to ensure the flow field is accurate. Wind tunnels may also use textured belts to produce a similar effect.
When you have such a unique track surface, however, it will cause a different interaction with the airflow under the car. If you imagine that this airflow under the car is being accelerated to help produce downforce, one can also assume that the surface texture will manipulate how this flow operates. The boundary layer – the theoretical immediate layer of a fluid around a surface – will change and may lead to effects like turbulence through separation.
Teams have much more data on Singapore, and thus the car’s relative performance – from both a tyre and aerodynamic standpoint – should be much more easy to read.
Lord also touched on Russell’s power unit failure in Malaysia, noting that the Mercedes powerplant had suffered a mechanical failure but still required an investigation to determine the cause.
“Our investigation so far, we’ve got the car back, we’ve been able to do a first inspection. It’s clearly a mechanical failure on the PU side,” he said.
“Exactly what the root cause is, we still need to determine, but the consequence was clear for all to see. A devastating blow for the team and 15 points lost, but most especially, of course, for George, who was on for a very, very solid podium finish.”
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