Why Mercedes is treading a fine line with its anti-dive approach

When the latest cars were properly revealed in Bahrain we were able to see what had really been going on in design offices up and down the grid. The replicas and renderings now commonly used for car launches have never fully represented the finished article, partly because Formula 1 is the ultimate ‘Just In Time’ industry with components arriving sometimes just hours before they are needed – and partly because designers don’t
want to show their hand until the last minute.

One might think this secrecy is misplaced but showing the spark of an idea two weeks before you really need to enables your rivals to gain two weeks in the whole research-design-produce cycle. That could mean a replica of that idea appearing on a rival’s car a full two races earlier than might otherwise be the case.