{"id":375775,"date":"2025-12-28T09:55:29","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T09:55:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/375775\/"},"modified":"2025-12-28T09:55:29","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T09:55:29","slug":"revealing-the-inner-workings-of-the-mercedes-w16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/375775\/","title":{"rendered":"Revealing the inner workings of the Mercedes W16"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Mercedes opted for a more spaced out development programme in 2025, with no new parts arriving for the W16 at the opening five rounds of the championship.<\/p>\n<p>That doesn\u2019t mean they didn\u2019t have a decent clutch parts at their disposal though, which we\u2019ll take a look at below, along with some of the other lesser seen aspects of the W16.<\/p>\n<p>One last peek beneath the covers<\/p>\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"ps-lazy-img size-full wp-image-908109\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Mercedes-W16-rear-wing-tip-section.jpg\" alt=\"\"  \/><\/p>\n<p> A close up of the tip section extension used by Mercedes to enable a much larger cutout in the endplate than might otherwise be possible.<\/p>\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"ps-lazy-img size-full wp-image-908111\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Mercedes-W16-steering-wheel-rear.jpg\" alt=\"\"  \/><\/p>\n<p> The rear of Antonelli\u2019s steering wheel, showing the paddle layout, including the wishbone-style clutch paddle, which incorporates a finger socket to help modulate the clutch bite point.<\/p>\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"ps-lazy-img size-full wp-image-908108\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Mercedes-W16-rear-suspension.jpg\" alt=\"\"  \/><\/p>\n<p> The W16\u2019s rear suspension with the bodywork and fairings in place.<\/p>\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"ps-lazy-img size-full wp-image-908107\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Mercedes-W16-rear-end-detail-with-the-covers-off.jpg\" alt=\"\"  \/><\/p>\n<p> A zoomed out version of that image but without the floor in place gives us more insight into the powerunit\u2019s installation and the design of the rear suspension.<\/p>\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"ps-lazy-img size-full wp-image-908106\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Mercedes-W16-powerunit-installation.jpg\" alt=\"\"  \/><\/p>\n<p> Under the covers of the W16 and looking at the exhaust arrangement, whilst just beyond it we\u2019re able to see the beam and support bracket system used internally to prevent the floor from flexing.<\/p>\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"ps-lazy-img size-full wp-image-908102\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Mercedes-W16-front-wing-outwash-vane.jpg\" alt=\"\"  \/><\/p>\n<p> A close up of the outer portion of the front wing, with an emphasis on the outwash vane sat astride the flap tips to help drive out and around the front tyre.<\/p>\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"ps-lazy-img size-full wp-image-908100\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Mercedes-W16-front-wing-comparison-dotted-lines-arrows.jpg\" alt=\"\"  \/><\/p>\n<p> A comparison showing the trimmed variant front wing (arrowed).<\/p>\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"ps-lazy-img size-full wp-image-908099\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Mercedes-W16-front-wing-top-down.jpg\" alt=\"\"  \/><\/p>\n<p> The top-down overview shows this flap distribution too, with a relatively uniform height across the entire span of the wing employed by Mercedes.<\/p>\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"ps-lazy-img size-full wp-image-908098\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Mercedes-W16-front-wing-outboard.jpg\" alt=\"\"  \/><\/p>\n<p> A nice overview of the outboard portion of the W16\u2019s front wing, showing the flap distribution, with a much longer second element utilised in their case.<\/p>\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"ps-lazy-img size-full wp-image-908096\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Mercedes-W16-front-suspension.jpg\" alt=\"\"  \/><\/p>\n<p> A close up of the rear leg of the upper front wishbone on the W16, showing how a wing-shaped profile was applied to promote a certain flow pattern.<\/p>\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"ps-lazy-img size-full wp-image-908092\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Mercedes-W16-floor.jpg\" alt=\"\"  \/><\/p>\n<p> A look back down over the floor fences and leading edge and at the wing-shaped profiles on the suspension legs.<\/p>\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"ps-lazy-img size-full wp-image-908091\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Mercedes-W16-floor-fences.jpg\" alt=\"\"  \/><\/p>\n<p> Further back we get to see how those fences terminate at the side of the floor, which is not a uniform design.<\/p>\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"ps-lazy-img size-full wp-image-908090\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Mercedes-W16-floor-fences-2.jpg\" alt=\"\"  \/><\/p>\n<p> A peek at the front of the floor fences shows how they\u2019re shaped to create the conditions that the designers are looking for.<\/p>\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"ps-lazy-img size-full wp-image-908089\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Mercedes-W16-floor-edge-wing.jpg\" alt=\"\"  \/><\/p>\n<p> A close up of the edge wing solution, which shows how steeply angled the surface was designed, with the vanes also acutely angled. Also note how the first vane sits atop the upturned section of the floor below.<\/p>\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"ps-lazy-img size-full wp-image-908088\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Mercedes-W16-floor-edge-wing-comparison-2.jpg\" alt=\"\"  \/><\/p>\n<p> A comparison of two of the floor edge wing solutions used by Mercedes, with the pitch and length of the swept altered, along with the frequency of vanes used to help control the flow around the surface.<\/p>\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"ps-lazy-img size-full wp-image-908087\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Mercedes-W16-engine-cover-comparison.jpg\" alt=\"\"  \/><\/p>\n<p> Comparing engine cover solutions for the W16, with the standard option inset, whilst additional cooling is taken care of by a row of louvres on the covers spine that\u2019s split by the shark fin.<\/p>\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"ps-lazy-img size-full wp-image-908086\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Mercedes-W16-edge-wing.jpg\" alt=\"\"  \/><\/p>\n<p> An overview of the floor edge wing on the W16, which featured seven vanes on the upturned profile in this specification.<\/p>\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"ps-lazy-img size-full wp-image-908085\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Mercedes-W16-cooling-gills.jpg\" alt=\"\"  \/><\/p>\n<p> The larger cooling louvre panel arrangement for the W16 straddled the shoulder of the engine cover and sidepod bodywork.<\/p>\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"ps-lazy-img size-full wp-image-908084\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Mercedes-W16-cockpit.jpg\" alt=\"\"  \/><\/p>\n<p> Looking over the driver\u2019s shoulder into the cockpit of the W16, with the various rotaries, buttons and switches on the steering wheel responsible for controlling powerunit and chassis functions.<\/p>\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"ps-lazy-img size-full wp-image-908082\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Mercedes-W16-chassis-outside-garage-3.jpg\" alt=\"\"  \/><\/p>\n<p> The spare W16 chassis from the front gives an idea of how much the sidepods hung out over the floor.<\/p>\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"ps-lazy-img size-full wp-image-908081\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Mercedes-W16-chassis-outside-garage-2.jpg\" alt=\"\"  \/><\/p>\n<p> The spare W16 chassis sat outside the Mercedes garage provides some insight into its design without any of the other components attached to it.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"ps-lazy-img aligncenter size-full wp-image-908080\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Mercedes-W16-chassis-detail-2.jpg\" alt=\"\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"ps-lazy-img size-full wp-image-908079\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Mercedes-W16-bib.jpg\" alt=\"\"  \/><\/p>\n<p> A close up of the bib and sprung mechanism, including a Belleville spring arrangement, mounted under the chassis.<\/p>\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"ps-lazy-img size-full wp-image-908078\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Mercedes-mechanics-prepare-one-of-the-W16s-for-action.jpg\" alt=\"\"  \/><\/p>\n<p> An overview of the W16 with a number of details exposed whilst it\u2019s worked on ahead of a Grand Prix.<\/p>\n<p>Read next:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.planetf1.com\/features\/f1-uncovered-exposing-the-hidden-details-of-the-red-bull-rb21\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">F1 uncovered: Exposing the hidden details of the Red Bull RB21<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mercedes opted for a more spaced out development programme in 2025, with no new parts arriving for the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":375776,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,3874,148830,813,816,818,945,17165,85],"class_list":["post-375775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-f1-features","tag-f1-tech","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-home-page","tag-mercedes","tag-popular","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=375775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/375776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}