Team made switch from 50% to 60% windtunnel models
Wednesday 2 January 2013 09:43, UK
Ross Brawn feels a revamp of Mercedes' aerodynamic department was the reason for the team's slump in the second half of the 2012 season.
Mercedes struggled with rear tyre-wear - being forced to make an extra stop during some races - and Brawn believes the switch to 60% models was necessary to understand the Pirelli rubber better. "Our conclusion was that we would get a much more representative tyre at 60% than at 50%," the Team Principal added. "Pirelli have to make 50% and 60% windtunnel tyres. There are only two teams that are still doing 50%. "Even with Pirelli's best efforts, they're going to be getting better feedback about 60% tyres than 50%. So we wanted to make the move. "The other thing that has happened over the years is that you're putting more and more equipment inside the windtunnel model to measure, monitor and check. We just ran out of space in the 50% model. "There were things that we wanted to do that we couldn't do, and we needed the 60% model to accommodate those features. 60% is the legal limit you can go to - there is no further step we can make."
