GP Racing - UK (2020-04)

96 GP RACING APRIL 2020

WITH

DELAYS, DEVELOPMENT

AND DUAL-AXIS STEERING

This season’s racing didn’t getunderway as

expected in Melbourne, but the developmentwar

has already begun – and although Mercedesfi red

the fi rst shots by deploying its innovative dual-

axis steering system, its rivals demonstrated that

they’re not short of ammunitioneither.

MERCEDES’ DUAL-AXIS

STEERINGSYSTEM

Last year Mercedes was believed to be suffering

with the frontend towardsthe en d of a stint.

And with the DAS system, maybe it has found a

way to preserve the tyres better – and even if this

means doing one lap more than last season in a

stint, when you’re talking about 15-20 laps, even

one lap is relevant.

You generally set the car up with whatwe

call “toe out”, in which the front wheels don’t

quite point directly ahead, but instead are

angled fractionally outwards. This confers better

FINISHING STRAIGHT

TECH TALK

RODI BASSO

stability in the turn-in phaseof a corner.

Within the ride dynamics of the race car,

camber, toe and kingpin angle do vary while the

car is on the track – depending on the speed, the

ride height, and the ride dynamics in general.

What Mercedes has done is to introduce a

discontinuity, so it’s not a gradual change of

those three parameters, it’s a step change –

caused by a mechanical system actuated by the

driver pulling and pushing the steering wheel.

My belief is that it provides a benefit across

several aspects of car performance, one of

which is to reducethe r olling resistance on the

straight. You also have an improvement in the

temperature spread over the surface of the tyre

• you don’t get the big peak on the inner side,
  which is scrubbing when you’re running toe-out
  on the straight – andpoten tially you see better
  wear characteristics too, because you’re reducing
  that tendency of the inner face to scrub. There’s
  also likely to be an aerodynamic effect: an
  improvement in drag reduction and in preparing

ILLUSTRATIONS

WITH

96 GP RACING APRIL 2020

DELAYS, DEVELOPMENT

AND DUAL-AXIS STEERING

This season’s racing didn’t getunderway as

expected in Melbourne, but the developmentwar

has already begun – and although Mercedesfi red

the fi rst shots by deploying its innovative dual-

axis steering system, its rivals demonstrated that

they’re not short of ammunitioneither.

MERCEDES’ DUAL-AXIS

STEERING SYSTEM

Last year Mercedes was believed to be suffering

with the frontend towardsthe en d of a stint.

And with the DAS system, maybe it has found a

way to preserve the tyres better – and even if this

means doing one lap more than last season in a

stint, when you’re talking about 15-20 laps, even

one lap is relevant.

You generally set the car up with whatwe

call “toe out”, in which the front wheels don’t

quite point directly ahead, but instead are

angled fractionally outwards. This confers better

FINISHING STRAIGHT

TECH TALK

RODI BASSO

stability in the turn-in phaseof a corner.

Within the ride dynamics of the race car,

camber, toe and kingpin angle do vary while the

car is on the track – depending on the speed, the

ride height, and the ride dynamics in general.

What Mercedes has done is to introduce a

discontinuity, so it’s not a gradual change of

those three parameters, it’s a step change –

caused by a mechanical system actuated by the

driver pulling and pushing the steering wheel.

My belief is that it provides a benefit across

several aspects of car performance, one of

which is to reducethe r olling resistance on the

straight. You also have an improvement in the

temperature spread over the surface of the tyre

• you don’t get the big peak on the inner side,
  which is scrubbing when you’re running toe-out
  on the straight – andpoten tially you see better
  wear characteristics too, because you’re reducing
  that tendency of the inner face to scrub. There’s
  also likely to be an aerodynamic effect: an
  improvement in drag reduction and in preparing

ILLUSTRATIONS

WITH