Mercedes W03: What are they hiding from their competitors?

Antonio Ghini, director of Ferrari Magazine reflects on the first private tests of the season and compares the observers’ task to that of a poker player evaluating the game of their opponents and detecting their possible bluffs: « The cars run with different fuel loads, temporary wings or exhausts, and other small tricks to not show their true potential, thus fueling speculation and hopes. Some even play smart, as was the case with Brawn in 2009, which arrived at the last moment like Cinderella at the ball, only to keep secret the famous double diffuser that allowed them to win the world title. »

Precisely, the case of Mercedes – which acquired Brawn GP in 2009 – intrigues observers and the paddock. Indeed, at the start of the 2012 season, the German team seems to be playing the same game as in 2009 – without the financial problems –, unveiling their Mercedes W03 only during the Barcelona tests, even though they were one of the first to abandon their 2011 program to focus on 2012. “I assume they want to hide something from their competitors,” estimates Adrian Newey in the columns of *Sport Bild*, who however thinks that for them to wait like this, the secret of the W03 must not be so difficult to copy: “It must be something that could be copied quite quickly, otherwise they wouldn’t have put so much effort into keeping it secret.”

In any case, yesterday, the Brackley team decided to create a buzz by releasing images of their new car, only revealing the silhouette and carefully concealing the nose profile as well as the rear end, specifically the exhaust configuration. « They seem to have something special at the front of the car » Helmut Marko also thinks.

Since last autumn, several sources have indicated that Mercedes has developed a passive F-Duct, which no longer acts on the rear wing but on the front wing of the future W03. Some noted that in Jerez, Mercedes, still using last year’s MPG W02, conducted tests with the air intake at the end of the nose sometimes blocked to ‘deactivate’ this passive F-Duct and, consequently, measure its actual effect.

But this would only be an open secret that probably does not deserve as much discretion from the German team, which is likely reserving other surprises for us. Nevertheless, Ross Brawn recently indicated in the pages of *Auto Motor und Sport* that by delaying the presentation of their new car, they were taking a calculated risk. Fortunately, there are only a few days left to discover what might be causing so much mystery about the Mercedes W03, which will be unveiled on Tuesday, February 21, at 8:20 a.m., just before Michael Schumacher takes the wheel on the Barcelona circuit.