Barcelona’s technical upgrades in pictures

1. V6 engine: is Mercedes backtracking?

Since the opening pre-season test in Jerez the rumour had Mercedes swapping its single log exhaust, a unique feature on last year’s PU106A, for a more conventional manifold on their 2015-spec V6 engine. It was finally confirmed last week in Barcelona, as you can see by comparing the pictures above. The top image displays the 2015 installation on the Lotus E23, while the other two show last year’s Force India VJM07 and Mercedes W05. The engineers at Brixworth have decided to optimise internal combustion engine power, even if this means losing some ground in terms of compactness and thermal efficiency for the MGU-K. Shrinking the size of the radiators and other components would have helped compensate for the new design. In that regard, Mercedes has elected to follow the same development path as Renault and Ferrari.