2022 Mercedes-AMG | Petronas F1 Team

[siskue2005]

If Mercedes does become competitive, wouldn't Russell also wants a shot at the title? After all, he is currently ahead of Hamilton. That's the first headache. The competitive landscape seems far tougher than in previous years. Perez seems more comfortable and faster than last year and then there is Sainz who could be a potential candidate too. So that's about 6 drivers including Hamilton if Mercedes magically makes the car a championship contender.

From the first 3 races Lewis has easily defeated George..so i don't think he needs to worry about his teammate.
And even if he doesn't he already has enough wins and titles and he can sleep soundly everyday knowing he was the best of his generation

[Big Tea]

If Mercedes does become competitive, wouldn't Russell also wants a shot at the title? After all, he is currently ahead of Hamilton. That's the first headache. The competitive landscape seems far tougher than in previous years. Perez seems more comfortable and faster than last year and then there is Sainz who could be a potential candidate too. So that's about 6 drivers including Hamilton if Mercedes magically makes the car a championship contender.

From the first 3 races Lewis has easily defeated George..so i don't think he needs to worry about his teammate.
And even if he doesn't he already has enough wins and titles and he can sleep soundly everyday knowing he was the best of his generation

I think Mercedes would like to see them finish first and second in any order. This is the ideal from the drivers standing too because if your team mate is getting second the best another driver can get is third.
My personal view is that Hamilton will pip Russell if all is equal, which is as it should be as he has been wit this team far longer and has been racing far longer. The conflict may start next year. but would not be a straight fight as other drivers will be in the mix.

[AR3-GP]

If Hamilton gets a winning car when he has a mathematical chance to win the championship he is likely to win it. We saw this last year when the team understood how to setup the car.
So yes they may 40+ points behind but I would not bet against LH if he will need to win 5 races in a row to be WDC.

Much harder to go through both Verstappen and Leclerc imo. Too many moving targets.

Right now it's only charles, as Max is behind him in the WDC.

What the WDC looks like matters much less than what's on the race track in front of him.

[siskue2005]

Much harder to go through both Verstappen and Leclerc imo. Too many moving targets.

Right now it's only charles, as Max is behind him in the WDC.

What the WDC looks like matters much less than what's on the race track in front of him.

As long as its fair and square (unlike 2021) it wouldnt matter who is in front on the race track, may the best man win.

[diffuser]

If Lewis retires then Vettel would be in. Vettel is a good driver, he’s German, fights for change like Lewis does and importantly is a World Champion. It’s not a requirement for Mercedes to have a WDC but I believe in their entire history in the sport as a constructor they’ve always had a previous or current champion driver.

But anyway, I don’t think Lewis would walk away from the team just yet. I believe they’ll get this car working and fighting for wins this year.

Vettel has aged past Lewis in more ways than one, but that does sound like a good Idea. He will definitely be a firm number 2 driver but it would be like a German swan song for him at least. Nothing more than a 1 year deal though.

You can stick a fork in Vettel, IMHO. I'd rather bring Bottas back... the Hulk is also a better option. Sure you could loure Gasley away from SAT unless they move him the RBR wich would make Perez available.

[JordanMugen]

From the first 3 races Lewis has easily defeated George..

Forgetting the Saudi Arabian GP? I would say they are fairly even overall. Hamilton obviously had a shocker there in Saudi Arabia with a poor qualifying and a P10 vs Russell in P5 IIRC. Of course, Russell similarly had a shocker in Bahrain qualifying.

Otherwise there seems to be margin of a tenth and a half between the drivers at the most when there are no errors from either. "Easily defeated" would, instead, apply to scenarios like the margin of 1+ seconds which Albon usually holds over Latifi.

[JordanMugen]

If Lewis retires then Vettel would be in. Vettel is a good driver, he’s German

Not ruddy likely IMO!

I agree, George is starting to become annoying. I mean he is the definition of a MR Corporate / PR man. The cliches he comes out with are memorised answers like "We are winning team, we want to win. We need to try harder" [repeat line 10 times a weekend] (you know what i mean).

What's wrong with that?!

I think he has lost significant fan appeal between the Bottas crash/slap to the head and the tweets after Abu Dhabi. Lando is miles more popular through twitch alone than Russell

He did with me. I was undecided if it was arrogance or loss of control of his temper, and if he has to go head to head hard v Max, Lewis, Charles or Lando he will either lose out or end up in trouble with the stewards.

His face also looks like it was generated by an AI. Having Russell in this team has helped me appreciate just how full of personality Hamilton is, even if it really is his own unique brand of personality (in a good way!)

It's bizarre if Mercedes fans don't want to cheer for one of your own drivers?!

Russell is a determined racer. He is on it, always. Great bloke! Would renowned nice guy Albon really be mates with Russell if Russell was a horrible person?!

For clarification's sake, I did think Russell had a bit of a sour face when he was stood in the Mercedes garage in 2018, but Russell absolutely won me over with his determination to get the Williams in the points. Russell was always on it, always tipping the Williams into the bend on the limit of adhesion, really Russell is a top-shelf driver indeed and a proud asset to Williams Racing, and now Mercedes GP.

It almost seems like some of you Mercedes fans were not cheering for Williams, despite being a Mercedes partner team, and therefore not cheering for Russell previously, and thus don't have a fondness for Russell?! Were you folks at least cheering for Russell to beat Bottas and win the Sakhir GP in 2020?!

Many view, IMO rightly, that Russell should have replaced Bottas as equal number one Mercedes driver at least one or two seasons ago... Russell could very well have put together excellent challenges for the 2020 and 2021 WDCs but Mercedes missed out on that with their dilly-dallying with one year Bottas contract extensions.

[JordanMugen]

#AMuS

Maybe the best way to fix it would to be bring a new floor that is (not only stiffer) but also specifically designed to be less aerodynamically sensitive to ride height?

I imagine there are certain things that could be done with the profile of the floor to make downforce vary less as the ride height changes.

[Big Tea]

#AMuS

Maybe the best way to fix it would to be bring a new floor that is (not only stiffer) but also specifically designed to be less aerodynamically sensitive to ride height?

I imagine there are certain things that could be done with the profile of the floor to make downforce vary less as the ride height changes.

Well we all know what he must do to to get us onside, win and be Magnanimous or just do well and don't bitch too much.
I think he will be OK

[elMaestro]

Considering they havent brought updates to the car, im wondering if the team is going to bring a revised version with one huge update or are they going to bring bits and pieces here and there..

[PlatinumZealot]

From the first 3 races Lewis has easily defeated George..

Forgetting the Saudi Arabian GP? I would say they are fairly even overall. Hamilton obviously had a shocker there in Saudi Arabia with a poor qualifying and a P10 vs Russell in P5 IIRC. Of course, Russell similarly had a shocker in Bahrain qualifying.

Otherwise there seems to be margin of a tenth and a half between the drivers at the most when there are no errors from either. "Easily defeated" would, instead, apply to scenarios like the margin of 1+ seconds which Albon usually holds over Latifi.

For almost every team mate except Kova, they have been within a tenth to two tenths of Lewis. All very fast teammates: Nico, Alonso, Bottas, Button. Can't really say anyone of them did not pressure Lewis in qualifying at times. George so far hasn't but he should beging doing so unless Mercedes ends up with a slower driver as team leader when Lewis is gone.

[chrisc90]

If theres correlation issues between the sim and the track, then how are they going to know whats a step in the right direction?

[PlatinumZealot]

Correct the correlation with on track testing. Or just simple test at the track.

[ringo]

If Mercedes does become competitive, wouldn't Russell also wants a shot at the title? After all, he is currently ahead of Hamilton. That's the first headache. The competitive landscape seems far tougher than in previous years. Perez seems more comfortable and faster than last year and then there is Sainz who could be a potential candidate too. So that's about 6 drivers including Hamilton if Mercedes magically makes the car a championship contender.

Yes George is ahead now. But there are many things missing to make him the finished article. He is driving very well and is very competent. But I think Hamilton has the pace, craft and experience advtantage.
I think Russel is driving at a high level, but cannot see him going beyond what Rosberg did. He will hace to drive that car into a different dimension over the season to beat Lewis.
His pace is strong nonetheless. About as quici as Bottas in qualifying and more consistent in the race and he positions himself well on the track.
I can see Lecler and Max setting up themselves to lose a championship to Lewis like how Webber and Alonso lost it to Vettel at the ladt race of the season.
There will be fire works from Max. It's only a matter of time before Leclerc's little gremlins reproduce and move from Sainz head into Max's.

[ringo]

If Lewis retires then Vettel would be in. Vettel is a good driver, he’s German, fights for change like Lewis does and importantly is a World Champion. It’s not a requirement for Mercedes to have a WDC but I believe in their entire history in the sport as a constructor they’ve always had a previous or current champion driver.

But anyway, I don’t think Lewis would walk away from the team just yet. I believe they’ll get this car working and fighting for wins this year.

Vettel has aged past Lewis in more ways than one, but that does sound like a good Idea. He will definitely be a firm number 2 driver but it would be like a German swan song for him at least. Nothing more than a 1 year deal though.

You can stick a fork in Vettel, IMHO. I'd rather bring Bottas back... the Hulk is also a better option. Sure you could loure Gasley away from SAT unless they move him the RBR wich would make Perez available.

Gasly is a good choice or Sainz or Checo.
I think Ferrari dont want to keep Sainz for more than a year at a time.