Mercedes look to cool off in Austria as W16 upgrades under the microscope

The progress that Mercedes has made from a development standpoint has been impressive this season, or at least since they got going, seeing as they didn’t introduce any new parts until round six of this year’s championship.

There has been a steady stream of parts arriving since then though, with Monaco the only exception, as the W16’s aerodynamic surfaces have all been overhauled.

Air gapped development

And, whilst most of what they have changed on the car since Miami has been more performance based, in Austria the team has opted to work on their cooling solutions, with a larger front brake duct inlet and outlet supplying the assembly with more cool air, whilst a revised engine cover deals with the conditions faced at the Red Bull Ring.

The circuit itself sits at altitude, some 700 metres above sea level, which although not at the dizzying heights encountered in Mexico, still is a cause for concern when it comes to keeping the brakes, power unit and ancillaries in their working range.

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The engine cover is similar to designs we have seen from their rivals in the past, with the main design properties retained, albeit with a large slot opened up down the spine of the engine cover. The slot is then imbued with a row of fins to create louvres, which enables the shark fin to remain mounted above them.

The main cooling outlet at the rear of the engine cover has also been increased in size, in order to aid in rejecting the heat being generated by the power unit and its ancillaries.

Even with these more expansive cooling options and having had a decent start to proceedings in FP1, Mercedes aren’t taking anything for granted though, as pointed out by Toto Wolff.

“This track hasn’t treated us very well in the past. Perhaps focus is not where our car has the sweet spot. And yeah, we’ve been fastest today with George, but it’s also low on temperatures with the cloud cover.

“So we need to really keep feet on the ground, see what happens if it’s getting hotter, and that’s the forecast for tomorrow and after tomorrow, and see whether we can maintain those levels of performances, but definitely I wouldn’t extrapolate from FP1 that we’re going to drive home in the sunset and collect some trophies.”

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