Analysis - Mercedes 2016 suspension development

Mercedes were not only busy winning in Abu Dhabi, they were busy making best use of their last 2015 track running in order to help their preparations for next season…

At the previous round in Brazil - on Friday morning only - the world champions trialled a new front suspension for 2016 on Hamilton’s car. In Abu Dhabi the testing of the next-generation geometry was stepped up a gear, with both cars running it in both Friday sessions. They also made back-to-back comparisons with the standard 2015 suspension.

All the components involved, such as rockers, shock absorbers, and even the pedals, were different, so it was a big job for the mechanics to switch things over. The most visible difference, indicated by the red arrows in the drawing above, was a new, third, hydraulically operated element (arrow) replacing the standard layout’s co-axial spring.