Technical specifications of Lewis Hamilton’s new 2020 Mercedes F1 car

The five-time F1 world champion from Stevenage kicked off his win this year with this beast.

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport took the wraps off their 10th modern-day F1 car at Silverstone in February, which was followed by two four-day tests in Spain at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Mercedes team supremo Toto Wolff said: “We’re taking nothing for granted, every team is a potential threat.”

The Mercedes-AMG F1 W10 EQ Power+ completed its first laps at the Silverstone International Circuit.

Both Hertfordshire-born Hamilton, 34, and Silver Arrows colleague Valtteri Bottas took the wheel of the 2019 contender around the 2.98km track.

“The 2019 season will be a new challenge for all of us,” said Toto Wolff, team principal and CEO.

“The regulations have changed quite substantially.

“We have to start from scratch, we need to prove ourselves again – against our own expectations and against our competitors.

“We start the season with zero points, so we’re taking nothing for granted and there’s absolutely no feeling of entitlement to be at the front.

“In fact, with the regulation change for the new season, every team can have a shot at the title and we’re seeing all of them as a potential threat.”

Before heading to Spain for testing, Wolff said: “We will focus on ourselves, building up performance and hopefully be ready when the first really competitive session starts on Saturday in Melbourne.”

 

• New aero regulations drive significant changes to the W10

Compared to its predecessor, the Mercedes-AMG F1 W10 EQ Power+ has been changed substantially.

The majority of those modifications were driven by the significant changes to the Technical Regulations for the 2019 Formula One season.

“Regulation changes are both opportunity and threat,” said Mercedes technical director James Allison.

“They are an opportunity because all the old assumptions about what you need to have to be quick are swept away and, if you are fleet of foot and smart in dealing with that, you can do better than all the other teams that are tackling the same change.

“They are a threat because if you are not as smart and you didn’t see how to make the most of these new regulations, then you’ll certainly suffer in the coming season.

“But they are always exhilarating because you have that sharp sense of anxiety that you might not be doing enough but equally the thrill and excitement of looking forward to finding out.”

In addition to dealing with the changes to the aerodynamic regulations, which were the main focus in the development of the new W10, the team worked hard to improve the weaker areas of the previous car and further build on its strengths.

“The handling of the W09 was a big improvement over the rather idiosyncratic W08,” said James.

“We managed to be competitive at tracks which had plagued us in recent years.

“However, notwithstanding this improvement, we were still not as good as some of our competitors at preserving the performance of the rear tyres.

“We have worked hard on the suspension and aerodynamic characteristics to deliver a car that will be much kinder to its tyres – enough, we hope, to allow us to be competitive at all phases of the race and at each track on the calendar.”

He added: “Even though the minimum weight limit was lifted by 10kg for 2019, weight reduction remains a real challenge on the current generation of F1 cars.

“Components that we felt were stripped to the bone in 2018 have been taken, one by one, and subjected to a further round of aggressive analysis to shave further weight from them.

“Some components surrender what feels like a giant step of half a kilo, others just a few grams, but collectively each of these victories add up to a handful of kilos that have been invested back in the car on aerodynamics, suspension and Power Unit to bring performance.”

Despite significant changes to many areas of the car, the W10 also retains some of the characteristics of its predecessors, as the general architecture and the wheelbase stay the same.

“A close inspection will reveal that the execution of this concept has been further refined,” said James.

“Every item is pushed tighter, made more slender – each change permitting us to improve the aerodynamic performance beyond what would have been possible had we accepted the physical limitations of the 2018 design.”

 

• An all-new Power Unit for the 2019 season – the Mercedes-AMG F1 M10 EQ Power+

While the chassis development was partly driven by regulatory changes, the Power Unit regulations remained largely stable, making the development work more of an evolutionary process in which the team worked hard to achieve two main goals – improving performance and reliability.

“We’ve made changes to the cooling architecture of the Power Unit, which hopefully provide aerodynamic benefit on the car and also provide efficiency benefit on the Power Unit – so, hopefully a win on both the chassis and on the Power Unit,” said Andy Cowell, managing director of MercedesAMG High Performance Powertrains.

“Right at the heart of the Power Unit is the conversion of fuel into heat release in the combustion chamber and useful work out of the crankshaft.

“We have made steps on the combustion efficiency and on the ERS system.

“The marriage between the turbocharger assembly with the MGU-H, the inverter, the cells and the MGU-K: that whole system is now capable of operating more efficiently and helping with energy deployment through a race.”

The team’s title partner, Petronas, has played an important role in the hunt for improved performance and reliability, especially in the development of the new Power Unit.

“The fuel is right at the heart of the combustion and making sure that the chemical composition and the thermodynamic architecture of the Power Unit are working together exceptionally well is key to thermal efficiency,” said Andy.

“Petronas have continued to work well with our thermodynamic engineers, we’ve run many candidates on the single cylinder and on the V6 engine to derive a new fuel for 2019.

“It’s a very tight-knit group, the Petronas engineers know exactly how the engine works and our Power Unit engineers know exactly how the fuel works.

“Petronas also provide the lubricants for our car which play two roles: to make sure that components don’t contact, it’s key that there is an oil film between highly loaded components both for reliability and for friction reduction.

“If you can keep components apart the friction is lower, and the wear is lower, but the lubricant also provides cooling within the engine.

“It’s a critical element of the engine, it’s the lifeblood of the engine for its survival.”

The maximum race fuel allowance has increased by 5 kilograms to a total of 110 kilograms.

However, the higher fuel allowance does not impact the thermal efficiency of Formula One Power Units, which are among the most efficient engines ever-built.

“If you have got an efficient engine with efficient aerodynamics and you are prepared to do a little bit of lift and coasting, then you have the opportunity to start the race at less than 110kg,” explained Andy.

“For every 5kg of weight you save, it’s about two tenths of a second a lap quicker, so there is a natural reward to starting the race a little bit lighter.

“There is still a competitive edge from making an efficient car – both Power Unit and aerodynamics – and racing smartly to make sure that you have good pace at the start of the race as well as through the race.”

 

• The result of more than a year’s work

Work on the all-new Formula One car started 16 months ago, when the Mercedes team was still fighting for its fourth championship title.

The development work was spearheaded by a small group of engineers, working on the general concept of the car.

Over the course of the 2018 season and in the midst of an exciting and challenging championship fight, more and more engineers in both Brixworth and Brackley started working on the W10.

“Work on the W10 project began at the end of 2017,” said technical director James Allison.

“That’s when the first meetings happened about how the chassis was going to be laid out, how the Power Unit was going to change from the previous season and what our rough objectives were for the project.

“That was when we set out the plans for our deployment of resources, developing and racing the car in 2018 and the right number of the right people to design, conceive and then create the new car for 2019.”

On the chassis side, more than half of the engineers in the design office were working on the W10 by the 2018 F1 summer break.

In October, when the F1 circus headed to the Americas and both the team and Lewis claimed their fifth World Championship titles, the factory was working flat out on the W10, designing and producing parts of the future contender.

Overall, about 7,000 drawings were released for manufacture.

Over the winter, many of the major components and sub systems like the transmission, the suspension, the cooling system and the Power Unit underwent rigorous testing, in which they were subjected to loads, temperatures and fatigue cycles similar to those they would experience in the F1 season.

Before the car left the garage for the first time today, the team had tested something close to half a million kilometres cumulatively across all these different components.

“There are hours and hours that go into each piece, each assembly, each system, each full element and then the final Power Unit,” said Andy.

“It is a huge moment when the Power Unit bursts into life and those countless hours are rewarded with fuel being converted into useful work.

“Yes, it is a machine, but it is part of people’s lives and it’s personal.”

The initial ‘Fire-Up’ is another one of those special moments as it is the first time when all the core systems – the hydraulic system, the electrical system, the fuel system, the cooling system, the gearbox, the chassis and, of course, the Power Unit – are assembled and the engine runs for the first time in unison with the other systems.

“You’ve had a factory which had fallen silent for a few weeks, from the end of the last season to this moment, where an engine leaps into life in the factory again,” said James.

“Even if you’re not down in the build shop, you can hear it, so is has a certain emotional impact on us because a motor is running and it is the living proof that all those components are not only assembled but they function.

“At the same time, you know that you’re only about half way there through the about 90 planned test events.”

 

• A strong and trusted driver line-up for 2019

While the 2019 Formula One paddock will see changes to various driver line-ups in almost every team, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport will stay true to the line-up that won the team the 2017 and 2018 Constructors’ Championships – Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.

After the winter break, both drivers are now eager to go back racing.

“Both Lewis and Valtteri spent the winter taking their minds off Formula One for a while, which is important,” said Toto Wolff.

“Lewis spent some time travelling. When we met after the winter break, he was refreshed; he’s extremely hungry and wants to start racing again.

“Valtteri spent some time with his family in Finland, but he was quickly back into racing cars as he competed in the Arctic Rally.

“We had a good chat after the break; he was in a good place and has been able to fully reset after a season that was not always easy for him.

“Valtteri knows he has the full backing of the team to succeed and he’s excited to get back in the car and show his critics what he can do.

“I’m really looking forward to a strong competition between the two of them, racing each other hard and fighting hard against our rivals.”

Talking about his pre-season break, Hamilton said: “I had a great Christmas with my family and then I went snowmobiling, I went skiing, I went surfing with Kelly Slater, which was amazing.

“I completely switched off from racing for a while, trying to focus and re-centre myself and training hard for the new season.

“2018 was a great year, but I feel like 2019 can be even better. I want to achieve more, I want to continue to keep pushing.

“I feel energised and I’m ready to attack.“

Looking ahead to the 2019 season, Valtteri Bottas said: “I am excited for the new season and that everyone starts with zero points.

“We are all on the same line and 2019 can bring anything; I’m going to go all in this year.

“There was quite a bit of criticism at some stages of 2018, but that’s actually been a positive thing for me because it’s given me an extra boost!”

The Finn added: “The car has changed quite a bit because of the aero regulations changes, so it will be interesting to get an idea of how the car feels and how it handles.”

As for the reigning world champion, he begins his seventh season with the Mercedes works team, with which he has scored four world titles, 52 race wins and 57 pole positions since 2013.

“I’m really looking forward to the next step of our journey together with Mercedes and embarking on what’s not been done before,” added Lewis.

“This is my seventh year with the team and the energy and the determination within the team are really inspiring.”

 

• Mercedes to compete in Formula One and Formula E in 2019

2019 is the first year in which Mercedes will compete in both Formula One and Formula E.

Joining the all-electric racing series at the end of the year for season six, the team is looking forward to a completely new challenge which will complement the brand’s motorsport approach.

“We embrace the challenge in every category in which we participate,” said Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport CEO Toto Wolff.

“Formula E will be a completely new playing field for us.

“There are teams out there that already have a lot of experience in the series and experience is crucial for success in Formula E, so it will be a tremendous challenge for us.

“We are setting ambitious expectations but at the same time we don’t overestimate the impact we can have in our first-ever FE season.

“We will be the only car manufacturer that participates in both Formula One and Formula E and the learnings from both series will cascade into the road car world, making both platforms an important technology driver for the entire Mercedes family.”

Andy Cowell, managing director of MercedesAMG High Performance Powertrains, added: “The current Formula One Power Unit rules reward you for developing a very efficient machine that is both an internal combustion engine and a hybrid system – the electric machines, the inverter, the batteries all need to be extremely efficient.

“We are taking that knowledge and applying it to the Formula E regulations where there is freedom to develop the inverter, the motor, the gear drive, out to the driveshafts, that technical knowledge and most importantly the development process and the hunger of the engineering machine in the factory, applying all of that to those regulations is what’s being done to develop the Formula E season six powertrain.

Our technology is also being cascaded into the road car world.

“Combustions technology, lightweight technology, friction benefits and knowledge on how to integrate many electrical boxes into one small box – all of those learnings are fed back into the road car world.”

 

Mercedes-AMG F1 W10 EQ Power+ Technical Specification

• Chassis

Monocoque: Moulded carbon fibre and honeycomb composite structure.

Bodywork: Carbon fibre composite including engine cover, sidepods, floor, nose, front wing and rear wing.

Cockpit: Removable driver’s seat made of anatomically formed carbon composite, OMP six-point driver safety harness, HANS system.

Safety Structures: Cockpit survival cell incorporating impact-resistant construction and penetration panels, front impact structure, prescribed side impact structures, integrated rear impact structure, front and rear roll structures, titanium driver protection structure (halo).

Front Suspension: Carbon fibre wishbone and pushrod-activated torsion springs and rockers.

Rear Suspension: Carbon fibre wishbone and pullrod-activated torsion springs and rockers.

Wheels: OZ forged magnesium.

Tyres: Pirelli.

Brake System: Carbone Industries Carbon / Carbon discs and pads with rear brake-by-wire.

Brake Calipers: Brembo.

Steering: Power-assisted rack and pinion.

Steering Wheel: Carbon fibre construction.

Electronics: FIA standard ECU and FIA homologated electronic and electrical system.

Instrumentation: McLaren Electronic Systems (MES).

Fuel System: ATL Kevlar-reinforced rubber bladder.

Lubricants & Fluids: PETRONAS Tutela.

• Transmission

Gearbox: Eight speed forward, one reverse unit with carbon fibre maincase.

Gear Selection: Sequential, semi-automatic, hydraulic activation.

Clutch: Carbon plate.

• Dimensions

Overall Length: Over 5,000mm.

Overall Width: 2,000mm.

Overall Height: 950mm.

Overall Weight: 743kg.

Mercedes-AMG F1 M10 EQ Power+ Technical Specification

• Power Unit Specification

Type: Mercedes-AMG F1 M10 EQ Power+

Minimum Weight: 145 kg.

Power Unit Perimeter: Internal Combustion Engine (ICE).

Motor Generator Unit – Kinetic (MGU-K).

Motor Generator Unit – Heat (MGU-H).

Turbocharger (TC).

Energy Store (ES).

Control Electronics (CE).

Power Unit Allocation: Three ICE, TC & MGU-H per driver per season.

Two MGU-K, ES, CE per driver per season.

• Internal Combustion Engine (ICE)

Capacity: 1.6 litres.

Cylinders: Six.

Bank Angle: 90.

No of Valves: 24.

Max rpm ICE: 15,000 rpm.

Max Fuel Flow Rate: 100 kg/hour (above 10,500 rpm).

Fuel Injection: High-pressure direct injection (max 500 bar, one injector/cylinder).

Pressure Charging: Single-stage compressor and exhaust turbine on a common shaft.

Max rpm Exhaust Turbine: 125,000 rpm.

• Energy Recovery System (ERS)

Architecture: Integrated Hybrid energy recovery via electrical Motor Generator Units.

Energy Store: Lithium-Ion battery solution of minimum 20 kg regulation weight.

Max energy storage/lap: 4 MJ.

Max rpm MGU-K: 50,000 rpm.

Max power MGU-K: 120 kW (161 hp).

Max energy recovery/lap MGU-K: 2 MJ.

Max energy deployment/lap MGU-K: 4 MJ (33.3s at full power).

Max rpm MGU-H: 125,000 rpm.

Max power MGU-H: Unlimited.

Max energy recovery/lap MGU-H: Unlimited.

Max energy deployment/lap MGU-H: Unlimited.

• Fuel & Lubricants

Fuel: PETRONAS Primax.

Lubricants: PETRONAS Syntium.