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Written by Jason Barlow
If the biggest rule change in Formula One for 20 years was designed to level the playing field, the memo didn"t chunter out of the fax machine in Brackley and Brixworth. Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff insists that everything is back to zero", but the Silver Arrows" dominance in the hybrid era was never going to simply evaporate whatever changes were made. Not least because these guys know how to design a seriously good F1 car, which is exactly what the 2017 contender looked like out of the traps: clever, full of trick aero detailing, and running a clever suspension set-up.The new Merc was also ominously fast, and metronomic in its reliability 700km on day one is stunning. "It"s definitely the fastest I"ve ever been in F1," Lewis said. "The car is amazing, how late and deep you can brake, how you are able to take corners flat out pretty easily." Complete race distances were racked up with ease by both Lewis Hamilton and new boy Bottas, who unsurprisingly looked less comfortable than his team-mate, had a few wobbles, yet still set the pace at various points. We don"t know what fuel load they were running, and Mercedes has been known to sand-bag in testing. But it"s safe to assume that the latest powertrain which has evolved yet again has plenty more up its exhaust pipe come Melbourne and beyond. All of which suggests that the new extra-wide, extra-fast Mercedes WO8 is odds-on to have its customary edge once the racing starts. The question is, how big an edge?
Date written: 3 Mar 2017
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 6920
If the biggest rule change in Formula One for 20 years was designed to level the playing field, the memo didn"t chunter out of the fax machine in Brackley and Brixworth. Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff insists that everything is back to zero", but the Silver Arrows" dominance in the hybrid era was never going to simply evaporate whatever changes were made. Not least because these guys know how to design a seriously good F1 car, which is exactly what the 2017 contender looked like out of the traps: clever, full of trick aero detailing, and running a clever suspension set-up.The new Merc was also ominously fast, and metronomic in its reliability 700km on day one is stunning. "It"s definitely the fastest I"ve ever been in F1," Lewis said. "The car is amazing, how late and deep you can brake, how you are able to take corners flat out pretty easily." Complete race distances were racked up with ease by both Lewis Hamilton and new boy Bottas, who unsurprisingly looked less comfortable than his team-mate, had a few wobbles, yet still set the pace at various points. We don"t know what fuel load they were running, and Mercedes has been known to sand-bag in testing. But it"s safe to assume that the latest powertrain which has evolved yet again has plenty more up its exhaust pipe come Melbourne and beyond. All of which suggests that the new extra-wide, extra-fast Mercedes WO8 is odds-on to have its customary edge once the racing starts. The question is, how big an edge?
Date written: 3 Mar 2017
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 6920
