© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Mercedes Technical Director James Allison explains why there is a “big bulge” on the W12, than was not there on last year’s car.
When the Mercedes W12 was first presented to the public, many noticed a mysterious “bulge” on its airbox. James Allison explains why it’s there.
“It’s probably most obvious to an external observer in that big bulge,” Allison said.
“There’s been a big investment by our friends at HPP [Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains, the engine factory], our team-mates at HPP, to redesign the plan of the intake system of the engine, re-tune the engine around that, and squeeze a lot more horsepower out of the power unit as a consequence.”
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As the rules for 2021 prevent teams from updating their power units throughout the season, they had to get everything right on the first try.
“They’ve had to do that in a very interesting regulatory environment where they only get one shot at it.
“In previous years they were allowed three goes; you have a phase one PU [power unit], phase two PU and a phase three, each brought at different parts of the season with the power unit getting stronger through the year.
“In this year’s rules they get one go and they have to make sure they can put all that goodness into the power unit right from the start of the year,” concluded the Briton.
