Ride-height variation perhaps key to Mercedes performance

Force India engineers have offered their own interesting interpretation as to why Mercedes'  performance may be so dominant this season, and one which goes beyond the W06's benefits in terms of power and downforce.

A comprehensive analysis of GPS data collected during qualifying at Silverstone a fortnight ago revealed that both Hamilton and Rosberg enjoyed a particularly comfortable edge over their rivals between Vale and Club, a section where horsepower is relatively negligible.

"They killed everybody in the last corner particularly," commented Force India's Andy Green to Germany's Auto, Motor und Sport.

"Apparently they're keeping the rear tyres in such good shape in the first part of the lap that they still have good grip in the final corners. For everyone else, the temperature is going up too much for that."

Green's observations also included a comment about the strange attitude of the Mercedes front end which appears to show beyond average clearance in slow corners while the car's overall clearance remains low elsewhere.

It is therefore thought that the W06 incorporates a device or trick which enables - obviously legally - a variation in ride height in order to change the car's balance between high and low-speed corners.

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