Mercedes W01 debuts (Pictures)
1 February 2010 by Keith Collantine
The new Mercedes W01 has appeared for the first time as test for the 2010 F1 season begins at Valencia.
Here is the first picture of the W01 which will be driven by Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg in 2010:
The first photo indicates the W01 has a high nose similar to that seen on last year’s Red Bull as well as the Ferrari F10.
Follow today’s F1 test as it happens here.
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- Mercedes W01
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- Mercedes W01
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- Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher
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- Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes W01
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- Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg with the Mercedes W01
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- Michael Schumacher in the Mercedes W01
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- Michael Schumacher at the Valencia test
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- Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes W01
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- Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes W01
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- Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes W01
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- Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes W01
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- Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes W01
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- Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes W01
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- Michael Schumacher in the Mercedes W01
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- Michael Schumacher in the Mercedes W01
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- Michael Schumacher in the Mercedes W01
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- Michael Schumacher in the Mercedes W01
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- Michael Schumacher in the Mercedes W01
2010 F1 car launches
- Renault R30 launched (Pictures)
- BMW Sauber C29 launched (Pictures)
- McLaren and Ferrari’s 2010 cars side-by-side (Pictures)
- Compare the new McLaren MP4-25 with last year’s car (Pictures)
- McLaren MP4-25 launch pictures
- 2010 Ferrari F10 and 2009 Ferrari F60 side-by-side (Pictures)
- Ferrari 2010 F1 car pictures
Images (C) Mercedes
Need more pictures to properly analyse this car but looks good so far.
already see illegal exhaust…
lol
Even they have gone for red bull type nose….they need not have
Is that your years of experience in F1 aerodynamics design telling you what they should or shouldn’t do?
Close, it’s a clueless person telling them what they should or shouldn’t do. Everyone looks like a RedBull this year because the Red Bull aero has a much larger area for development than Brawn last year (according to Brundle, Windsor, Allen).
why r u getting sentimental.
If Brawn could beat Red bull without their kind of nose, they could have beaten them this year too. And moreover the car is a absolute disaster.
And did u suggest Merc to go for Red Bull type nose. Its a blog and everyone has a right to write what he thinks.
I’m not sure you understand the meaning of sentimental, Gill.
“If Brawn could beat Red bull without their kind of nose, they could have beaten them this year too”
Well, they were only beating them clearly before RedBull adapted the double diffuser – and you sure do have the right to say what you think, but then everyone has the right to point out comments that miss the mark, too.
Well in 2008 Red Bull introduced the shark fin (I think it was them), and many other teams copied it including Ferrari. They were beating Red Bull that year, so why did they need to put it on the car? Because it would make it just a little bit faster.
Teams copy each other, even the teams that aren’t doing as well as them. It has been like that for decades.
The mercedes nose looks nothing like the red bull nose. I don’t know why everyone is mentioning Red bull with every freakin chassis debuted.
Knew it- they’ve got a low nose and the full RB5 kink. Everyone else so far has a high nose, and no (or very subtle) nose ridges. Since Brawn had the best DD last year, they should know what works.
My money’s on Mercedes this year.
Maybe the only non Red Bull look alike will be the new Red Bull. This looks like everybody fighting last year’s war or what…
Red Bull nose
It’s a Red Bull nose, but it still has the Brawn ’stoop’ that the BGP001 had, rather than the high and pointy nose the other teams seem to have gone for this year.
I personally find the droopy adaptation of the Red bull style nose to be quite off-putting.
You’ve got a scoop, there, Keith. Autosport.com, Pitpass et al don’t have it yet. Thumbs up!
Another scoop that you can only see at f1fanatic. Not at jamesallen page. Sorry mate.
Follow the f1 tests at valencia, jerez and barcelona live. Only in spanish though.
http://www.motor21.com/
That front wing is awesome… and heh… a mix of brawn low nose and red bull’s v nose…nicee
Heard they just rolled it out and in. They don’t make a song and dance about things do they
The livery kind of looks like an odd dusty version of the Sauber C29 from yesterday which a splash of turquoise.
:S
Mercedes made the song and dance when they launched the livery last week.
True but even that wasn’t much of a song and dance. I was hoping they would have a massive announcement proclaiming ‘we are here’ bringing Schumi out and play dramatic music
not just roll in, roll out. Everyone does say F1 is a circus these days… 
probably the biggest song and dance of the year last week!
sauber looks better btw.
u r kidding..yer?!?!?
Both this and the sudeo bmw is freaking been hit with the ugly stick…
Toro looks very nice as does the Williams…the rest are not even close.
The car surely doesnt look good.. Its toooo plane jane.
It might be fat but dont stand against F10, MP4-25 and R30
Gill, could you just tell us now who is going to win the championship, and save us all the bother of watching, o wise one…
Prat.
Two more pics courtesy of Edd Straw:
http://twitpic.com/10twam
http://twitpic.com/10twgj
omg, what a beast, awesome
woah, look at the wide, double air intake above the cockpit!
Nico has changed his helmet to half-match the corperate colours. The blue is now silver (grey)…
ugh.
Schumacher looks mighty old with those spectacles!!!
Best livery + best car design = best to look at.
That looks like a pointy wee fin there too…
Hey Keith,
You are too fast…
Looks like two patterns are emerging from the launches, small shallow nose and longer sidepods for ferrari & Merc
Or sharkfins coupled with wider nose and shorter sidepods Macca, Sauber, Renault
It must be to do with the way people have interpreted the DD rules this year. Very clear patterns
Williams seem somewhere in between which doesn’t really bode well.
First reaction: someone should tell Mercedes that their nose is broken. The downward-pointing nose just doesn’t look right. And that front wing looks bloody heavy … couldn’t they make a less-chunky verion?
I disagree entirely. I’d say its at least the 2nd best looking car.
I didn’t say it looked bad, just that it didn’t look right. It’s that high angle that makes things look hinky. It’s not s bad from the ground level. However, the front wing looks very heavy and would be more-suited to a combine harvester.
I think the shape of the nose section makes it look like the wing is weighing it down a lot, especially when we’re used to seeing straight noses like the Sauber.
When you consider that the noses on F1 cars are usually loaded with ballast, it doesn’t really matter if it ‘looks’ heavy as long as it works.
It looks fine.
I agree PM. Looks like its had a failed erection or something.
ROFL
My initial impression is that I like it. I tend to prefer lower noses anyway, although I am undecided about the Red Bull style horns, at least it hasn’t got a shark fin engine cover which is a good thing in my book.
When the livery was launched I didn’t notice the yellow and black wing mirrors, for me they don’t fit in with the rest of the livery, apart from that I think I will have to wait to see how the livery looks on the track to make a final judgement.
Yea I couldn’t tell if this was a red bull chassis because they look so similar
The bodywork looks very undercut below the air intake. I haven’t noticed that effect on any other cars – is that right?
Some silver instead of blue on Nico Rosberg’s helmet, apparently. Interesting.
I also like lower noses. It seems like Brawn is the only one who designs them like that these days?
I still really don’t like the livery. Hope it looks better on telly.
I think the nose is slightly higher than that of the BGP01’s. Not as high as Ferrari’s, but pretty high.
The front wing endplate looks extremely simple. And that air-intake above the cockpit is just awesome!!!
Now that everyone seems to copying the last year’s Red Bull, I can’t wait to see what Newey has come up with.
Nobody is copying anything from red bull.
I quite like it. Mercedes haven’t followed the shark fin trend, which is a big plus in my book. They may be an effective solution, but they look ridiculous. And I actually quite like the livery, don’t think it’s as bad as everyone is making out.
Anyone noticed the manly turquoise gloves the mechanic at the car’s right rear is wearing? Classy!
Totally agree, I wish they’d banned the stupid shark fins along with the equally hideous wheel covers…
there’s alot of air running under that nose and being sucked in
Michael Schumacher Retains “Ferrari” helmet at Mercedes.Check out the helmet design:
http://www.f1indiablog.in/2010/02/michael-schumacher-retains-ferrari.html
Did that last week: Schumacher sticks with red helmet in 2010
Not a bad looking car but I don’t like the nose, looks bent. And their livery isn’t very exciting either. I look forward to some high res shots to better analyse.
Would have thought a Roman nose would be better suited on an Italian car. Seem to have a dorsal rather than full on shark fin. Viva la difference!
it’s interesting to see that the “mini black aero-foil-liked wing” on the W01 is at a higher place at the nose of the car, unlike design of McLaren and Ferrari that the ‘mini-wing’ is just right above the front wing
Mad top air intake. Triangular, larger than what we’ve seen before, and two side slit intakes. And yet they don’t seem to have shrunk the sidepod intakes as small as the McLarens…..
Looks like a pig’s snout from head-on.
I think the W01 really demonstrates what I like about the launch season: all the cars look different in profile. I was initially afraid that developers would simply copy what other cars – primarily the Red Bull RB5 – had done and we’d start 2010 with thirteen cars that all looked the same.
But that hasn’t been the case. All of the designs so far have been pretty unique. The Mercedes might have the Red Bull V-nose design, but it’s also got the innovative, organic-looking airbox and the sharp fin out the back. The McLaren is pretty radical-looking, while the Sauber has the high nose and a wing that is connected further back than anyone else.
Pretty much every car is unique, with more to tell them apart than just the livery. And that’s the way it should be.
And the Renault still looks like it ate all the pies.
Actually, the Renault has been spotted today with a few new attachments, noably the front and rear wings, and new rearview mirrors. They seemed to focus on the sidepods when developing the R29; my suspicion is that they’re happy with them and used the last few races to try a few design ideas out.
All they need to do is lose the bumblebee livery on the rear wing and get some sponsors in there. Because like Ferrari with the Mlboro barcode, they do look a little like a GP2 team …
So does Ross Brawn! Is he on the Norbert Haug diet?
Ok Bernie. And there isn’t a chassis that looks like the red bull so far. The only one is obviously toro rosso which may have tipped us off for red bulls 2010 design, since they are associated. What is with everyone and red bull? We can’t even debut a chassis without people referring to the red bull design of 2009 it’s ridiculous.
Anyone know what the little side intakes are for just in front of the Mercedes emblem on the side of the engine cover? Would they be for the oil radiator if it’s been moved back towards the gearbox? Or would it be feasible these could run down to the diffuser?
Possible it’s for cooling the fuel, depending on where they’ve put the tanks.
Sat track side at Valencia. The Merc looks average compared to the mclaren. Interesting to see the shark fin connected to the rear spoiler has been adopted by a few.
Who else has the engine cover extended to the rear wing otehr than mclaren?
Any pictures of today’s version of the Renault?
Front wing:
http://confidential-renault.fr/Des-modifications-pour-la-Renault-F1-R30-i455
Rear wing and diffuser:
http://www.autosport.com/gallery/photo.php/id/1324378
Body:
http://www.autosport.com/gallery/photo.php/id/1324378
Very odd that they added half a dozen extra parts overnight. Still, I like it.
Better, anyways.
The rear wing is the most ridiculous thing I’ve seen in years… I didn’t even know it was legal to triple mount it.
Man, it looks pretty uninspiring. McLaren seems the only team to have come up with something truly extraordinary.
May the sweet lord be with Nico.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but a little objectivity is nice sometimes, too. Brawn/Mercedes already had a winning car last year, so they didn’t need to revolutionize, just evolve. McLaren had no choice but to start clean – though I will agree that their design is the most “muscular” so far.
Other than the nose cone, the rest of the car looks pretty much the same as BGP-001.
Felipe Massa (Ferrari) 1:13.552 (20 vueltas)
Gary Paffett (McLaren) 1:14.018 (21 vueltas)
Pedro Martínez de la Rosa (BMW Sauber) 1:14.898 (9 vueltas)
Robert Kubica (Renault) 1:15.298 (20 vueltas)
Rubens Barrichello (Williams) 1:15.660 (26 vueltas)
Nico Rosberg (Mercedes GP) 1:18.228 (15 vueltas)
Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso) 1:26.395 (5 vueltas
This were the times at valencia at 12:30 local time.
The ferrari of massa going even faster with a 1:13:599, the ferrari seems good out of the box.
These early laps don’t count for much. They’re still five seconds off the pace of the lap record, and then there’s sandbagging to take into consideration. I don’t think we’ll have a really serious idea of who is where until at elast the first test at Jerez – and even then, that won’t be factoring in the teams that are only just beginning.
sorry for the mistake. His best time so far 1:13:552
Mclarens definitly gone with more agressive aero and reduced sidepod intakes compared to Merc. It’ll be interesting to see how the McLaren handles the heat in Bahrain , Melbourne and KL.
the livery looks like a dull dirty mclaren
McLaren have apparently taken out a super-injunction against the photographers to prevent any photos of their diffuser being published.
No thats all teams.
Court injunctions don’t work. Just ask John Terry!!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/feb/01/john-terry-superinjunction-courts
(John Terry is an English footballer who had an affair and tried (and failed) to cover it up in the courts…)
*allegedly* had an affair, you don’t want to get Keith in trouble.
Mercedes like Ferrari have no shark fin
There nose is lower but it looks like 2009 Red Bull,wondering what will Red Bull look like?
The 2010 Constructors champions
Worrying for McLaren that their nose is so flat and lacking gradient, if RB has a different design id worry.
Schumis helmet is cool
Hey is it just me or is every one is bashing the teams for the red bull nose arch? No one said any thing when other teams copied the DD or the fatter nose or the front wing of the BGP 001 last year? But a raised nose with a kink and people are saying every one has a red bull?
i suppose its because the kink on the red bulls nose was the first time anything like that had been done. it is their distinct trademark and its uniqueness seperates from all past ideas.
I don’t know why everyone is surprised about every team copying the red bull nose arch. I remember last year reading about the fact that it kept airflow over the top and bottom of the nose separate and it was probably going to be almost standard on the cars from now on.
Surely the higher noses will help channel more air under the car to the diffuser which is where most of the grip comes from.
Also, mercedes have much bigger air intakes than the mclaren to provide cooling to the same engine; the intake above the cockpit in particular looks like a bold statement that that engine needs all the air it can get. I know merc engines are normally the most reliable, but with the new regulations, heavier and larger cars, have mercedes kept something from mclaren?
Liking the knife edged engine cover/fin.
So far the 2010 Mercedes Benz and Ferrari have been the best looking cars so far for me. I like the fact that Renault have returned to the same colours they had years ago, it really catches your attention and is a complete about turn on their old livery. I am disappointed by Williams and Sauber. The 2009 Williams was one of my favourites to look at last year, and the Sauber has just become even uglier than it was before.
I expect Red Bull, with Adrian Newey’s skills, will probably produce the best looking car. But, as we know, looks don’t win championships do they!
I’m just curious what it was that was needing to be completed from the time they launched last years car several days ago to now, that we are finally able to see the new car. Strangely I like the look of the re-painted last years car although this is not bad. I know its got nothing to do with looks though so I wonder what sort of ingenuiety Ross has incorporated into this years car…
the merc looks clunky especially the engine cover but sure its still quick.
also, cant the shark fin engine covers be banned on safety grounds or something? they are just so hideous!
id be interested to hear on here how much the looks of a car matter to people? personally i hate it that the cars have got so ugly in the last year or so
I agree, BAN SHARK FINS! I also hate the ‘red bull nose’ treatment yuk! Perhaps a regulation change to make the flat bottom extend to the nose would help?
This is like the 95/96 with all over again, with virtually all the cars having a high nose.
Looks alright, nothing special in my view, but just to see that red helmet peering out of that silver…MSC’s return hasn’t even really sunk in yet.
** LIGHTBLUB MOMENT, the two air intakes at the side of the engine cover… could the be fed into fans which in turn via the “holes” in the underside of the car that made the bgp001 car’s diffuser so good, feed turbocharged air directly into the difuser creating mass downforce for little or drag. A massive advantage especially in slow speed corners for example at Monaco???? I know it’s a big IF and maybe but if anyone would think of it it would be mr design rule bender himself?
** LIGHTBLUB MOMENT, the two air intakes at the side of the engine cover… could the be fed into fans which in turn via the “holes” in the underside of the car that made the bgp001 car’s diffuser so good, feed turbocharged air directly into the difuser creating mass downforce for little drag. A massive advantage especially in slow speed corners for example at Monaco???? I know it’s a big IF and maybe but if anyone would think of it it would be mr design rule bender himself?
Okay, do you even know how a turbocharger works? Simply putting air into an engine does not make it turbocharged. A turbocharger cools and then forces air into an engine by pressurising it. This is done by way of a turbine, which is driven by the exhaust gases. Carving two holes into an engine cowling isn’t going to do anything to “turbo charge” an engine. It isn’t going to do anything except allow air into the engine bay to cool it.
And what’s this about feeding turbocharged air into a diffuser? That doesn’t happen. The air is collected in a turbne and pressurised, then forced into the engine with the fuel and ignited. It then escapes via the exhaust, unpressurised. Putting pressurised air into a diffuser isn’t going to do anything to improve a car’s pace – if anything, it’s just going to create a weird wake.
Even if Ross Brawn found some way to get a turbocharger into the car, it would be found out and banned for sure. The teams have to submit their design specifications to the FIA for homologation in order to be able to compete.
I was not talking about turbocharging the air into the engine!! Read again…. I ment to increase the airflow to the difuser by forcefeeding it through the holes in the bottom of the car, suggestion prior to ridiculing stop a actually read their comments!! and for your information yes I do know how a turbocharger works and I also know they are banned!!
Also 1 thing to mention a desktop fan turbocharges air to cool you, so a fan that increases airflow would turbocharge the air, NOT into the engine (although I wish they would fetch them back). It is unlikely that may suggestion where to be true but not unfeasable.
Well, forcing air into the diffuser isn’t going to do anything.
??? Forcing air through the difuser will generate downforce without any extra drag! I’m 99% sure it’s not there for that, but can’t see a reason why it wouldn’t work.
the car loooook very fantastic green & silver colour make it beautifullllll