2021 AMG Mercedes F1 Team

[AeroDynamic]

For those closely following F1, none of that will come as a surprise, you could read between the lines in interviews and see what was going on, Monaco being the most obvious example.

Same with the covid, most notably after Hungary.

Large chunks of ignorant fans outside this forum have been eagerly jumping the gun in comparing this season as a fair fight, and using it to measure this driver 1 to 1 with a top competitor in max.

Truths out; Hamilton has been affected by covid for a long time, something I can personally relate to and empathise with as I experienced long term viral fatigue effects since last year, although unlike him, I still experience it, but I’m close to 95% recovered. I wonder how much of a role this played in his performance this year. He certainly has looked more on it as the season progressed.

It seems the W12 was pegged back and MCS have been fighting this championship with one hand tied behind their back with larger commitment to 2022 against RB who, with Honda, have thrown everything at this year and left nothing on the table.

It’s crazy the one Silverstone upgrade was this potent and that a lot of the performance now is still coming from optimising the car set up.

The reset in 2022, MCS will be difficult to keep behind for long if what we’ve seen this year is them not competing at their full,potential.

[SiLo]

I found this interesting:

The responsibility to those around him weighs more heavily upon him than it seems to with Verstappen. Whether that’s just a difference in maturity, background, experiences or nature, who’s to say, but it’s there.

“I am not too big or too successful to have to back out to fight another day. I know that is sometimes the route you have to take; you have to be the smarter one.

“And sometimes you lose points in doing that, for sure, but it’s not just about me. I have 2000 people behind me and through that selfish position I could make – ‘No, I’m going to hold my ground’ and don’t finish – that cost all my team potential bonuses at the end of the year, all the hard work they have to do, the damage of the car.”

That's being a team leader. I'm going to go out on a limb and say I don't think Max thinks this way at this point in his career just as I'm sure Hamilton didn't when he was a "young gun".

Probably a fair assessment. Max strikes me as someone with a win at all costs mentality, which is absolutely something you need to win a title at least once. I just hope he mellows with time with his attitude towards close racing.

The interview was a great read, I really hope that Lewis can help nurture Russell as much as possible. I don't think you could ask for a better mentor in the sport to guide you.

[Just_a_fan]

It seems the W12 was pegged back and MCS have been fighting this championship with one hand tied behind their back with larger commitment to 2022 against RB who, with Honda, have thrown everything at this year and left nothing on the table.

It's a bit annoying, for me, that the cars were hamstrung this year. I'd have loved to see the real cars without the chopped floors etc., and how fast they would have been. A real swansong for the "old" style of cars before the entirely different concept comes to the track.

No doubt in my mind that if the aero changes hadn't been applied this year, Hamilton would already be the 2021 champion. When the car has worked properly, it's been very, very quick.

[AeroDynamic]

It seems the W12 was pegged back and MCS have been fighting this championship with one hand tied behind their back with larger commitment to 2022 against RB who, with Honda, have thrown everything at this year and left nothing on the table.

It's a bit annoying, for me, that the cars were hamstrung this year. I'd have loved to see the real cars without the chopped floors etc., and how fast they would have been. A real swansong for the "old" style of cars before the entirely different concept comes to the track.

No doubt in my mind that if the aero changes hadn't been applied this year, Hamilton would already be the 2021 champion. When the car has worked properly, it's been very, very quick.

IT is RB’s to lose. They won’t get a better opportunity than this year to overthrow and beat the untouchables (Ham - MCS)

[Just_a_fan]

It seems the W12 was pegged back and MCS have been fighting this championship with one hand tied behind their back with larger commitment to 2022 against RB who, with Honda, have thrown everything at this year and left nothing on the table.

It's a bit annoying, for me, that the cars were hamstrung this year. I'd have loved to see the real cars without the chopped floors etc., and how fast they would have been. A real swansong for the "old" style of cars before the entirely different concept comes to the track.

No doubt in my mind that if the aero changes hadn't been applied this year, Hamilton would already be the 2021 champion. When the car has worked properly, it's been very, very quick.

IT is RB’s to lose. They won’t get a better opportunity than this year to overthrow and beat the untouchables (Ham - MCS)

Hamilton needs to win both races, realistically, so that's an easy target for him and the team. Max can win the title at the next race if Hamilton stutters or has a problem. Going in to the final race as a winner-takes-all event would be interesting as I can see it coming down to a strategy call going the right/wrong way.

[Just_a_fan]

https://the-race.com/formula-1/hamilton ... diva-merc/

I see the BBC's Andrew Benson has written an article using that interview and quoting extensively from it but not once identifying the source. Seems a bit cheeky to me.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/59369648

Edit: it appears that Benson might have been in on the interview with Mark Hughes, in which case I withdraw my criticism and apologise to Benson.

[AeroDynamic]

https://the-race.com/formula-1/hamilton ... diva-merc/

I see the BBC's Andrew Benson has written an article using that interview and quoting extensively from it but not once identifying the source. Seems a bit cheeky to me.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/59369648

Edit: it appears that Benson might have been in on the interview with Mark Hughes, in which case I withdraw my criticism and apologise to Benson.

Haha. It’s a shame we don’t have this in video, especially in this day and age. But a very insightful interview none the less.

[El Scorchio]

It's a bit annoying, for me, that the cars were hamstrung this year. I'd have loved to see the real cars without the chopped floors etc., and how fast they would have been. A real swansong for the "old" style of cars before the entirely different concept comes to the track.

No doubt in my mind that if the aero changes hadn't been applied this year, Hamilton would already be the 2021 champion. When the car has worked properly, it's been very, very quick.

IT is RB’s to lose. They won’t get a better opportunity than this year to overthrow and beat the untouchables (Ham - MCS)

Hamilton needs to win both races, realistically, so that's an easy target for him and the team. Max can win the title at the next race if Hamilton stutters or has a problem. Going in to the final race as a winner-takes-all event would be interesting as I can see it coming down to a strategy call going the right/wrong way.

I can 100% see them colliding, especially from a 1-2 start. Probably first corner in Jeddah. Hamilton will obviously try to avoid it, seen as he needs to, but to borrow a quote- 'you need two people to make it work....'

[PlatinumZealot]

It seems the W12 was pegged back and MCS have been fighting this championship with one hand tied behind their back with larger commitment to 2022 against RB who, with Honda, have thrown everything at this year and left nothing on the table.

It's a bit annoying, for me, that the cars were hamstrung this year. I'd have loved to see the real cars without the chopped floors etc., and how fast they would have been. A real swansong for the "old" style of cars before the entirely different concept comes to the track.

No doubt in my mind that if the aero changes hadn't been applied this year, Hamilton would already be the 2021 champion. When the car has worked properly, it's been very, very quick.

There is a bright side to the floor cuts; the teams got to learn new ways of making downforce.

[Morteza]

[Juzh]

It seems the W12 was pegged back and MCS have been fighting this championship with one hand tied behind their back with larger commitment to 2022 against RB who, with Honda, have thrown everything at this year and left nothing on the table.

It's a bit annoying, for me, that the cars were hamstrung this year. I'd have loved to see the real cars without the chopped floors etc., and how fast they would have been. A real swansong for the "old" style of cars before the entirely different concept comes to the track.

It'd be a sight to see, but obviously pirellis can't handle 2021 cars as they are, i don't imagine they'd be able to withstand 2020 + 1 year of development.

[dans79]

It seems the W12 was pegged back and MCS have been fighting this championship with one hand tied behind their back with larger commitment to 2022 against RB who, with Honda, have thrown everything at this year and left nothing on the table.

It's a bit annoying, for me, that the cars were hamstrung this year. I'd have loved to see the real cars without the chopped floors etc., and how fast they would have been. A real swansong for the "old" style of cars before the entirely different concept comes to the track.

It'd be a sight to see, but obviously pirellis can't handle 2021 cars as they are, i don't imagine they'd be able to withstand 2020 + 1 year of development.

It will be interesting to see how well the 2022 tires will cope with the 2022 cars. They are already supposed to be significantly faster than the FIA origonally thought, and I'd bet pirelli used the FIA's original data to design the tires!

[El Scorchio]

It's a bit annoying, for me, that the cars were hamstrung this year. I'd have loved to see the real cars without the chopped floors etc., and how fast they would have been. A real swansong for the "old" style of cars before the entirely different concept comes to the track.

It'd be a sight to see, but obviously pirellis can't handle 2021 cars as they are, i don't imagine they'd be able to withstand 2020 + 1 year of development.

It will be interesting to see how well the 2022 tires will cope with the 2022 cars. They are already supposed to be significantly faster than the FIA origonally thought, and I'd bet pirelli used the FIA's original data to design the tires!

Yeah- it was mentioned on Sunday after the race as an aside that some teams have already recovered all the lost speed from the new 2022 regs.

[flmkane]

It'd be a sight to see, but obviously pirellis can't handle 2021 cars as they are, i don't imagine they'd be able to withstand 2020 + 1 year of development.

It will be interesting to see how well the 2022 tires will cope with the 2022 cars. They are already supposed to be significantly faster than the FIA origonally thought, and I'd bet pirelli used the FIA's original data to design the tires!

Yeah- it was mentioned on Sunday after the race as an aside that some teams have already recovered all the lost speed from the new 2022 regs.

Not a surprise. They have actual ground effects tunnels now.

[Marty_Y]

https://the-race.com/formula-1/hamilton ... diva-merc/

I see the BBC's Andrew Benson has written an article using that interview and quoting extensively from it but not once identifying the source. Seems a bit cheeky to me.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/59369648

Edit: it appears that Benson might have been in on the interview with Mark Hughes, in which case I withdraw my criticism and apologise to Benson.

I just thought I'd post this because it has links to all the articles, as you mentioned in your edit this was a joint interview with Mark Hughes and Jon Noble & Michael Schmidt.