In my opinion Gary Anderson needs a weekly episode or something where he just talks about topics like these for 15 or 20 minutes, man sounds like a genius and it would be awesome to listen to

More from Gary Anderson please! Was an excellent video with just the right level of technical depth.

Always fascinating to see teams push the boundaries and find loopholes to gain as much performance as they can

Well this made much more sense than hours of Sky F1 trying to discuss it lol. The analogy for going ‘over centre’ with gas struts in a car tailgate was a great touch. Thanks team, in particular Gary.

These merc engineers are incredible. Can you imagine the had this system along side the DAS and the completely dominant car last year. Seconds ahead for sure.

OMG, the best video I found to watch a 3D representation of this system. Thank you very much. I really love this part of the F1

Ferrari has the over-center / non-linear diffuser stall, too.

the moving diagram was a thing of beauty, good work to whoever made that!

these videos are miiiiiiles better than the officila f1 tech talk videos, their video about this explaned abolsutely nothing and just showed wich teams are doing this and wich arent. great work guys, really really good and informative video as always 👍

The thing about the suspension, maybe Merc can't run the soft setup because of the bumpy track surface in COTA, they could have ran it on friday but opted not to due the possible damage on the underside

Much more of this please. Really well explained and the graphics helped understand the movement of the suspension.

A few years ago Mercedes introduced FRIC suspension, which was essentially similar in operation to the type of suspension fitted to the Austin Maxi. It was within the rules at the time, though it was subsequently banned. Now Mercedes have introduced positive squat under power on the rear suspension, just like you got on a Triumph Stag. It seems that F1 can learn a lot from British Leyland

Great analogy with gas struts on passenger car. 👍🏁👍 This channel does a GREAT job getting all the insider tech explanations from F1.. Can't say enough good about what ya do. 👍👍

This was great news more of this type of technical explanation of how F1 cars actually work.

yes for sure need more of gary anderson, this by far is the best explination of the system i've seen here on youtube!

Excellent video. Gary Anderson’s analysis have always been awesome. Definitely more of that please!

There’s literally an article on auto sport from 2017 about this. It isn’t new, Merc has had this for years. Same with Red Bull and Ferrari

Always love Gary’s insights

Thanks for the info. Hardly ever we see tricks explained in so much detail before the end of the season.

Solid video, very informative, I appreciate the in-depth technical analysis.Keep up the great work

It is worth mentioning that the diffuser is straight up unable to work as well on a low rake car as with a high rake car and since diffusers are more effective at creating downforce compared to the drag they create, hence why Red Bull for example doesn't even need a large wing to reach competitive levels of downforce, so the non linear suspension setup is more a mitigation rather than a magic rule breaking device

Very interesting! I think they use the geometry of the suspension and bumpstops/packers to keep it just over that point and not further, so it won't get locked into the lower state. In all the years I watch and read about racing technology, I have never seen such a simple but effective idea.

Another advantage to the rear squatting at high speed, that was somewhat mentioned though not specifically said or explained, is when the car squats down it also reduces the *angle* of the rear wing, making it more flat thereby reducing drag further. I think this is a key aspect to the design that shouldn't be overlooked as it seems to be an important piece of the puzzle. It's amazing how large of a performance increase (or decrease for that matter!) can be made by just a degree or two change in the wings on these _high_ downforce vehicles!

These technical videos are always a good watch and relating it to a real world situation always helps people understand the philosophy and it’s operation.

so to recap , Mercedes was laughing their asses off at the beginning of the season when people were talking about "movable rear wings and ride height" then they said "hey, wait a minute, mmAAAAYBEEE if wee...guys we have an idea...."

I think it'd be quite cool to have an in depth analysis of the mass damper system, and Alonso's corresponding driving style from his Renault days.

Great video! Thats for this, really makes this info digestable and easy to understand

You guys are the best and make us enjoy following F1 and especially the technical side. Great work

The bumps in CotA saved the day for Red Bull.

The first thought that came to mind of how this could work aside from the diffuser is that when the rear is lowered, the angles of all the wings on the car are straightened, sort of how drs straightens the wing, therefore reducing drag. Wonder if that makes a significant difference too in straight line speed.

More like this please, it’s the technical stuff like this that makes F1 so interesting to me👍

Almost all of the frames on your videos are worthy of a Wallpaper!! Jaw dropping footage 👍

This is old news in F1, teams have been running what are called 'collapsible rear springs' for years. When I joined Toro Rosso back in 2017 they ran the same system. I'd be surprised if there was a team on the grid that didn't have it at some point

I always like listening to Gary when he puts this stuff into his own words. He's a great addition to your podcasts!

these videos and this channel has hugely benefited my understanding of the sport. cheers.

wow, brilliant explainer !! nice visuals as well and a nice pace !! 💪🏽

Man those F1 engineers are clever, I can imagine that they are probably only 1-2mm of spring/damper compression away from disaster in high speed corners. Getting the setup so finely tuned to prevent LH and VB spearing off the track using this system is an art form

They made that rear suspension for compensate the power they lose at stop overworking the engine. They dont had the top speed advantage in the USGP, suddenly disappear.

This is amazing. Thank you THE RACE. Your insight and explainations are amazing.

Great content guys! More of Gary’s insight please!

Mercedes : Noooo your Red Bull wing flexes too much on the straights waaaaa Also Mercedes : Makes the whole car change rake angle on the fly

This is the reason why I'm subscribed to this channel. The way Gary Anderson describes the system reminds me alot of the William's fw14b that had a button on the steering wheel to lower the car and stall the diffuser.

Great technical incite , more Gary Anderson needed!

we need more gary! Analysis of each new car in 2022 would be amazing

Here is a bit of trivia. The Williams FW14b was noticeably slower than the FW14 down the straights. What was happening was as the speed increased, the increasing downforce was pushing down on the rear suspension and stalling the diffuser when it reached a certain point which reduced drag. The active suspension on the B car was compensating for this hence the lack of top speed compared with the passive car. Once this was found they altered the control system to allow the suspension to be compressed and they even had a mode activated by a button on the steering wheel which dropped the rear almost onto the floor and raised the front... almost like an early DRS.

"the back drop to all of this". I can see the writer for this episode smirking

What a great explanation. And you even read my mind and answered the question about RedBull adopting this technique. I'd like to hear more Gary Anderson thoughts when dealing with technical explanations.

Thanks you for the video. Awesome content as always ... 👏👏

8:28 The primary purpose of the suspension system is absolutely aerodynamic, yaw, pitch, roll and ride height have a massive impact on aerodynamics. Sure, it is balancing the mechanical grip as well, but it is a smaller factor than 3x the cars weight in downforce

The system is hydraulic though, taking lines off the heave damper to an auxiliary volume, to affect the spring rate above a certain rear vertical load amount. The trick is to control the temperature of the hydraulic fluid to work for as much of the race as poss. Toro tried it in 2017 and had problems with temperature, took 20 laps to get warm enough then had last 10 laps too hot, so RRH was unpredictable, so they reverted to conventional in 2018. Red bull know how the system works, so this whole thing is quite surprising.

Awesome explanation. Thank you for dumbing it down and adding nice animated bits

I think I totally understand this now. The combination of graphics, metaphor, and technical knowledge is absolutely excellent. I didn't really get the 'over center' bit until the tailgate example was given, but once I did, and could see on the graphics how it was actually being achieved, it was almost intuitive. I am not an engineer, but I am a writer; this is a truly impressive piece of media, well done guys.

I believe if they can perfect this suspension setup, it will be highly advantageous when we switch to ground effect next year

While I tire of Mercedes’ dominance on the sport, their innovative mind is something to applaud. They’re always thinking and scheme on how to work around the rules. It’s no wonder they’ve dominated for so long. Hats off to you Mercedes. 👍🏻

Excellent video. Fascinating topic brilliantly explained. A+

Clever. Props to whomever devised and proposed this setup along with the team for pursuing it. I'm still surprised there'd been so little discussing this season (mostly in the first half) about the loss of DAS for mercedes and how much that helped everyone close the gap on them. Much of their performance loss had been their inability to control tyre temps, having designed much of the car with DAS in mind and then not having the development tokens to really mitigate its loss.

Seems to be a lot of people upset that RedBull got penalised for the flex on their wing….I’d politely suggest they go and read the rules for F1 found on the FIA website. Then once done, go back and read it again so you actually understand it. The majority of top level racing is about understanding the rules, working out the loopholes and exploiting them. This why we had stuff like active suspension, 6wheel F1 cars, double chassis, ground effect etc etc etc on F1 cars in the 1970s, 1980s etc….teams (designers/engineers etc) read and understood the rules and exploited them. Once the performance gains were shown, the FIA slowly banned them all. It’s worth noting RedBull accept that the design at play here by Mercedes isn’t actually illegal, where as the flexibility in their wings were - in short they were too flexible and flexed in more than one plane…..the benefit is that the car would change based on speed of air flowing over it as well as direction of air flowing over it….think of it like the active wing on the McLaren Senna….then only difference being the RB wing bends too much with the wind, where as it should only flex a bit.

Article 3.2.2 of the technical regulations; "The Aerodynamic influence of any component of the car not considered to be bodywork must be incidental to its main function. Any design which aims to maximise such an aerodynamic influence is prohibited." This rule directly contradicts the legality of using the 3rd spring as a mechanism to stall the diffuser. Yes all teams use it to some extend but when rules keep being pushed it will become illegal. It's inevitable.

Such an excellent and fascinating video. Very clearly described, and what a cool bit of engineering. At the start of the season, Merc/AM were complaining about being hit harder by the new aero regs compared to the high rake cars, but this shows that with a bit of inginuity and hard work, they can work an advantage out of the low rake system. It also goes to show how the advantage can ebb and flow between teams throughout the season and that RBs advantage earlier in the season does not make the rest of the season a slam-dunk. Bring on the last three races!

Excellent video, really enjoyed that. Thanks 😊

Gary.... while I understand and appreciate the explanation in this video, it is pretty 101 with respect to what I understand about diffuser stall. Where I'm at a bit of a loss is WHY Merc is gaining an "above the norm" performance advantage from utilizing simple diffuser stall. Specially, what is puzzling to me, upon looking at the videos, is the NON-LINEAR action of the Merc's rear suspension when entering onto a long-straight vs. a high-speed corner. Expounding, it seems like Merc is able to cause the rear suspension to "pop" upwards (or the body downwards) irrespective of the speed of the air flowing over the car on the straight, meaning the lowest possible rear-ride-height is achieved very-near the START of the straight rather than at-or-near Top Speed; however, this same pop-up movement isn't present upon entry to a high-speed corner. This to me would SEEM like a mechanical device independent of the aerodynamic effect of higher speed air flowing over/under the car. Care to expound?

yes and because of the bumpy nature of the us trak they couldn utilize it, im sure they went back to normal setup on friday loosing performance. This gave redbull the edge.

Excellent breakdown, thank you!

FINALLY!! an explanation as to why RB cant launch a complaint. Thankyou.

It's not a RACE explanation video without them mentioning Gary Anderson

I love mercedes for being very intelligent with its design. DAS was a great example, in my opinion they have the best engineers on the grid. Thank you for this explanation, I truly enjoy the videos! Keep up the great work!

Quality, quality content. Thank you!

That was a great video. A bit technical but understandable, thanks Mr Anderson !

TLDR: it's just good suspension tuning, like Mercedes told the press. Perfectly legal and very impressive.

Well explained. Such genius innovations 👏👏

Very informative, enjoyed this

I loved your animation on the suspension so much I took a screenshot. Well explained for the average punter.

Fantastic video, as a mechanical engineer, I absolutely love the technical analysis of suspension systems and aerodynamic concepts used in F1 and MotoGP. I would assume that Mercedes will transfer this rear suspension design element to the 2022 car, as that design concept is more reliant on diffuser generated downforce than aerofoil/wing generated downforce. This new rear suspension design appears to be a replacement to the banned FRIC (Front and Rear Interconnected) suspension systems that kept the cars flat while out on track, therefore maintaining the maximum efficiency of the diffuser.

I would like to know how they handle this with a full tank and then an empty one.. Is It adptive? Interesting.

Great article; just what we needed with a bit of actual detail rather than just fluff and supposition. No mention of the fact that several other teams are doing this as well though - Ferrari and Alpine at least..

well done, brilliant explanation, congrats!

Mercedes are kings of speed in the way they manage to push the boundaries of the regulations. Makes it all the more impressive that Verstappen is fighting Hamilton so hard in their championship battle.

But why the 2 inches flexible RedBull rear wing was considered illegal?

Awesome explanation! More like this please!

Great vid. Very clear explanation.

This 3d representation is amazing! Can somebody tell me what program they used?

NASCAR figured out something like this years ago. At Daytona, teams made dampers that would cause the rear not to rebound, but to stick to the ground. This kept the rear spoiler out of the air, and led to faster straightaway speeds.

Really clarifies the mechanics of it ! Relating to a hatchback tailgate is clever.

Super helpful guys. I heard the brief comments during the race but was a bit lost. This explains it perfectly.

That trick kept Merc in the game. Without it, that race wouldn't even have been a race. So yes, it was a magic bullet. It just wasn't good enough to get the win.

I am not convinced bye the "stall" story, how can reducing the low pressure zone (that is sucking the car to the ground) lower the ride height? I don't know if having additional pivot in the suspension is allowed?, it's imo way more likely they have a mechanical system that drops ride hight at a certain downward pressure.

Great Video. More Gary please

So nice! Thank you for the video!!

Aston Martin will see improvements soon I guess.

this is not new, media created buzz here

Agree. A weekly Gary Tech Talk would be awesome

Here 3 weeks after this was posted....turns out this helps....it helps a LOT

But if this suspension allows the car to go below minimum rideheight, shouldn't it be as illegal as the RB bendy wing? Both pass the requirements/tests, but the bendy wing was to bendy on track and the Merc is allowed to let the rear drop below minimum rideheight on track. For me, it feels again merc favoritism after allowing DAS a full year but banning bendy wings and changing pitstop rules midseason

Let's see other teams trying to prove this is a movable aero device and having it banned ^^

Great content!! Love video’s like this ✌🏼 Salute from holland

Love the technical stuff! Can you do a video on exactly why the diffuser is so critical to a modern F1 car and how that will change for next season with the new regs.

If Red Bull did this, the FIA would change the regulations within the week.

The fact that Lewis couldn't get the power down in the rear coming out of the corner and muster enough straight line speed makes this trick rear suspension somewhat of a failure for now. Maybe with more miles of development, the engineers can optimize this trick where it actually gives them a marginal advantage.

Well explained and well done. 👍🏻👍🏻

Brilliant explanation as always!