2021 United States Grand Prix - Austin, Oct 22 - 24

[Juzh]

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You drunk mate? 2019 cars were 9 kg lighter, not 42 kg . Why don't you double check before posting something that's as easy to check as typing "2019 f1 car weight" in google and checking first result?
https://racingnews365.com/how-much-does ... -car-weigh

My bad mate! Promise to double-check before posting from now on ...

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Hamilton didn't have any slipstream on any lap and his top speed was the same at around 323 km/h in the first and second Q3 lap. Again, why are you just posting false information?

Ok, my bad again. I was misled about his 318km/h top speed that he did in Q1 ... so if he didn`t have any tow in that run that means he just changed his PU mode to a higher one? I thought you couldn`t change it and have the same PU settings both in qualy and the race or am I wrong again?

On first lap in Q3 he had a sniff of slipstream behind russell who was letting him trough at the end of straight and managed 320 kmh, on second lap in Q1 he had no slipstream and managed 319 kmh.
This means they obviously turned it up in Q3. Because ICE maps are locked from Q1 onwards the only way of doing this is releasing more electrical energy and running engine in free load more for longer periods (open wastegates)
check these 2 videos for more info:

[Just_a_fan]

Nice to see how everyone makes up excuses why the W12 is not as fast as the RB16B.

No excuses here! The W12 had good balance on Friday but poor balance on Saturday, the RB16B had poor balance on Friday but good balance on Saturday. The W12 looked hooked-up on Friday, yet the RB16B looked hooked-up on Saturday. It could be as simple as setup changes, track temperature etc.

It seems that Mercedes jacked up the ride height to avoid the floor being trashed by the bumps. That means less downforce and probably alters the balance a bit too.

There's a bit about it in the W12 thread (I think that's where it is).

[PlatinumZealot]

RedBull are either taking a risk to go faster and hoping the floor isn't smashed, or the car simply is not as affected by the bumps (well at least the front of the car).

Coming into FP1 Mercedes were showing Turkey-like advantage in the dry. The change of set-up that Lewis alluded to, and what we know know was to protect the chassis from bumps, definitely reversed that advantage.

[Dee]

Nice to see how everyone makes up excuses why the W12 is not as fast as the RB16B.

No excuses here! The W12 had good balance on Friday but poor balance on Saturday, the RB16B had poor balance on Friday but good balance on Saturday. The W12 looked hooked-up on Friday, yet the RB16B looked hooked-up on Saturday. It could be as simple as setup changes, track temperature etc.

It seems that Mercedes jacked up the ride height to avoid the floor being trashed by the bumps. That means less downforce and probably alters the balance a bit too.

There's a bit about it in the W12 thread (I think that's where it is).

The lap time that Mercedes had in FP1 was pretty much matched by Checo in FP2 in worse conditions so not sure ride height difference changed a lot for them here

[djones]

I can smell a DNF coming up here. Either the engine of Lewis or bumps damage to Max.

[NL_Fer]

The talk that Mercedes run their engines higher in practice is frankly ridiculous. There is not a single sensible reason they would want to put anything other than the lowest amount of stress on it.

In terms of Honda being more reliable, it might be this year as Mercedes seem to have a design flaw. But a big factor here is also the more efficient aero concept of the Redbull this year. The Honda is not as powerful as the Mercedes, but it does not really need to be when the Mercedes essentially have an aero handicap this year due to the rule changes. They have to run the engines hard to keep up with a car that is fast on the straights due to more efficient aero.

I remember last year the Mercedes drivers would switch off the party mode immediately at the outlap. Also during racing, it was hardly used. Usually in the first lap and around the pitstop. After it was banned, the powerunits were done at the final grandprix in Abu Dahbi. I believe Mercedes still has trouble with the single powermode rule, especially now they have to turn them up the whole race.

[AeroDynamic]

Nice to see how everyone makes up excuses why the W12 is not as fast as the RB16B.

No excuses here! The W12 had good balance on Friday but poor balance on Saturday, the RB16B had poor balance on Friday but good balance on Saturday. The W12 looked hooked-up on Friday, yet the RB16B looked hooked-up on Saturday. It could be as simple as setup changes, track temperature etc.

It seems that Mercedes jacked up the ride height to avoid the floor being trashed by the bumps. That means less downforce and probably alters the balance a bit too.

There's a bit about it in the W12 thread (I think that's where it is).

Since the MCS wasn’t at its optimal performing ability, and the RB perhaps was, then perhaps the cars are still even, or MCS are still ahead. It’s not until these bits of infos come out that we can judge what we are seeing fully.

I hope MCS are not far ahead of the RB. And vice versa, I hope,the cars are very very close.

I’m so pleased for Perez, he is a good driver and he has proved this weekend that how comfortable a driver is, in the car, reflect how fast the car appears. Max does a great job getting everything he can out of the car. It doesn’t mean he is 4 tenths faster than other drivers like some people believe. I think, while Perez is a solid driver, he is not one of the fastest. If Albon and Gasly could have got as comfortable in the RB as Perez shows you can with successful support from RB, most the drivers can fly in that car. It’s just bottlenecked by how uncomfortable drivers seem to be in adapting to how it likes to be driven. Daniel and Lando have really showcased this themselves.

I think MCS have built a car that is easier to adapt to, that or George is very good at adapting to a new car quickly.

[ispano6]

It's raining here in Austin this morning and completely overcast. It's not heavy rain but the track will be wet unless it clears and dries up. Extremely humid too.

[Zynerji]

Washed track is always interesting for a race. The humidity might still cause cloud bursts. We had 2 at my house this am. And I am not super far from the track. (90 mins).

[Wouter]

It's raining here in Austin this morning and completely overcast. It's not heavy rain but the track will be wet unless it clears and dries up. Extremely humid too.

Have a great race @Ispano and enjoy!

[NathanOlder]

W series is on in 45mins. will be watching that to see what the track conditions are like. On channel 4 at 4.30pm in the UK if anyone wants to watch.

[Morteza]

[NathanOlder]

https://twitter.com/MercedesAMGF1/statu ... cqPUw&s=19

If that car actually meant anything, then wouldn't it be RedBull to change to Mercedes Power? Or RedBull pull out of F1 as a team and go back to just a sponsor

[nevill3]

I do remember seeing the Red Bull mechanics tinkering with the underside of the front wings during qualifying. The wings were off the car and on a stand with the mechanics possibly repairing the strakes etc that are underneath. This wasn't picked up by the Sky commentary team because they were focussing on the repairs to the rear wings

[Starkblood80]

I do remember seeing the Red Bull mechanics tinkering with the underside of the front wings during qualifying. The wings were off the car and on a stand with the mechanics possibly repairing the strakes etc that are underneath. This wasn't picked up by the Sky commentary team because they were focussing on the repairs to the rear wings

I noticed that as well, surprised the commentators didn’t mention it at the time