2022 Mercedes-AMG | Petronas F1 Team

[continuum16]

"McLaren are the only team who don't have it, and they don't understand why," the Briton added.

"This is the slightly strange thing about it all, there are so many brilliant engineers across the whole of Formula 1, yet it caught everybody by surprise and nine out of 10 teams all had this issue."

What an incredible quote from PR63, honestly. Mercedes can't figure out the porpoising issue so no one else can. Clearly McLaren just lucked into it.

Incredible way to put down the work done by the other teams on the grid.

Sometimes I wonder if PR63 has any original thoughts or if he just memorizes a script. Good luck convincing Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, AlphaTauri, Haas, and Alfa Romeo to take up active suspension. IIRC you still need 8/10 teams to agree and those who have actually solved the problem won’t support this.

Mercedes does not have any idea anymore what it is like when you’re not at the front of the grid. I almost fell out of my seat laughing when they were said something along the lines of “oh, well we were unable to overtake the cars in front of us because there was not enough performance offset between the two cars.”

They could have just said “we were slow.”

[KeiKo403]

Why are people ragging on Russell? Last years thread was al about replace Bottas with Russell. Russell is doing a great job in the car and if he’s saying everything that team wants him to say outside of the car than so what?

I don’t think he’s said anything which is factually incorrect.
Also if someone was giving me the chance to drive for a team with so much promise and a few $m a year I wouldn’t mind saying what they asked me to so long as it isn’t offensive or an outright career ending lie.

[wogx]

+1

[SiLo]

Why are people ragging on Russell? Last years thread was al about replace Bottas with Russell. Russell is doing a great job in the car and if he’s saying everything that team wants him to say outside of the car than so what?

I don’t think he’s said anything which is factually incorrect.
Also if someone was giving me the chance to drive for a team with so much promise and a few $m a year I wouldn’t mind saying what they asked me to so long as it isn’t offensive or an outright career ending lie.

Because people are idiots.

[chrisc90]

I think people can justify their comments to his. Not about his driving quality but his interviews are just a merc PR script.
Merc are telling him exactly what to say.

Be yourself George, no good being a narrator for someone else. Having a personality during a interview is much better to watch

[PlatinumZealot]

Why are people ragging on Russell? Last years thread was al about replace Bottas with Russell. Russell is doing a great job in the car and if he’s saying everything that team wants him to say outside of the car than so what?

I don’t think he’s said anything which is factually incorrect.
Also if someone was giving me the chance to drive for a team with so much promise and a few $m a year I wouldn’t mind saying what they asked me to so long as it isn’t offensive or an outright career ending lie.

Erm. No one is ragging on Russell?
We are busy ragging on Lewis now for under-performing.

[continuum16]

Clearly George is very talented, I just wish he had more of a personality. If he is going to be a star of the sport it’s almost always more beneficial for both yourself and the sport if you have a strong personality. See Max, Lewis, Lando, etc. as a few examples just from F1. Many other sports are the same way.

Also on his specific comments that “nobody understands porpoising” I do not believe this to be true. Red Bull & specifically Newey have implied that they understand it. Alfa Romeo have implied that they understand it. Alpine the same. Just because Merc can’t doesn’t mean nobody can…

[Vaexa]

Also on his specific comments that “nobody understands porpoising” I do not believe this to be true. Red Bull & specifically Newey have implied that they understand it. Alfa Romeo have implied that they understand it. Alpine the same. Just because Merc can’t doesn’t mean nobody can…

This part really nails what rubbed me the wrong way about the interview in the RN365 article. I concede it likely wasn't his intention, but to imply no other team understands the porpoising when there are two teams that have demonstrably conquered the issue and every other team is making strides towards understanding and alleviating it feels a lot like he's talking down other teams just because Mercedes can't get their heads around it.

[adrianjordan]

Also on his specific comments that “nobody understands porpoising” I do not believe this to be true. Red Bull & specifically Newey have implied that they understand it. Alfa Romeo have implied that they understand it. Alpine the same. Just because Merc can’t doesn’t mean nobody can…

During the Imola coverage, Horner specifically stated while talking from the pit wall that they have not yet been able to recreate the cause of porpoising. He did say that they can simulate the effect, but that is not the same as understanding what triggers it.

[silver]

Also on his specific comments that “nobody understands porpoising” I do not believe this to be true. Red Bull & specifically Newey have implied that they understand it. Alfa Romeo have implied that they understand it. Alpine the same. Just because Merc can’t doesn’t mean nobody can…

During the Imola coverage, Horner specifically stated while talking from the pit wall that they have not yet been able to recreate the cause of porpoising. He did say that they can simulate the effect, but that is not the same as understanding what triggers it.

The teams that understand it and have it under control are coy about it and not giving away the details, like Newey trying to conceal more than what he reveals about the subject in the-race.com article. Horner is just doing the same. It appears that Mercedes is on a different planet with their problem.

[Hammerfist]

Clearly George is very talented, I just wish he had more of a personality. If he is going to be a star of the sport it’s almost always more beneficial for both yourself and the sport if you have a strong personality. See Max, Lewis, Lando, etc. as a few examples just from F1. Many other sports are the same way.

Also on his specific comments that “nobody understands porpoising” I do not believe this to be true. Red Bull & specifically Newey have implied that they understand it. Alfa Romeo have implied that they understand it. Alpine the same. Just because Merc can’t doesn’t mean nobody can…

I don’t really think that’s the case. The teams with no or little porpoising have something in common: except for Redbull they are all slow compared to the best. The fastest car on the grid has a lot of porpoising on the straights. It seems evident to me that a certain level of downforce is needed to cause the extreme porpoising. It will not surprise me one bit that as cars get faster they see that the bouncing becomes more of an issue. So clearly only Redbull has been able to run with minimal porpoising but early evidence suggests they don’t quite have Ferraris downforce levels. I believe I heard Paul diresta say during a Sky broadcast that in DTM there is no solution for porpoising. It’s just something you deal with. So imho I think Russell may be correct that only active suspension may be the only real cure to the problem. We shall see though.

[continuum16]

Clearly George is very talented, I just wish he had more of a personality. If he is going to be a star of the sport it’s almost always more beneficial for both yourself and the sport if you have a strong personality. See Max, Lewis, Lando, etc. as a few examples just from F1. Many other sports are the same way.

Also on his specific comments that “nobody understands porpoising” I do not believe this to be true. Red Bull & specifically Newey have implied that they understand it. Alfa Romeo have implied that they understand it. Alpine the same. Just because Merc can’t doesn’t mean nobody can…

I don’t really think that’s the case. The teams with no or little porpoising have something in common: except for Redbull they are all slow compared to the best. The fastest car on the grid has a lot of porpoising on the straights. It seems evident to me that a certain level of downforce is needed to cause the extreme porpoising. It will not surprise me one bit that as cars get faster they see that the bouncing becomes more of an issue. So clearly only Redbull has been able to run with minimal porpoising but early evidence suggests they don’t quite have Ferraris downforce levels. I believe I heard Paul diresta say during a Sky broadcast that in DTM there is no solution for porpoising. It’s just something you deal with. So imho I think Russell may be correct that only active suspension may be the only real cure to the problem. We shall see though.

I don't know about that, I mean McLaren doesn't have a problem, and they qualified and finished 3rd. I guess if you take only compared to the best, there are only two teams in that category, and 50% of them have found a workaround for the problem. Bottas in the Alfa ran down George by 11s in 20-25 laps, and they haven't really had a problem with it since testing. Looking at the WCC three of the top five have probably the best handle on the bouncing.

But like you say, we shall see. Barcelona will provide no excuses for anyone in terms of progress. The teams have already tested there and three months is probably the first real opportunity to apply things learned from testing and the first race or two.

[proteus]

Clearly George is very talented, I just wish he had more of a personality. If he is going to be a star of the sport it’s almost always more beneficial for both yourself and the sport if you have a strong personality. See Max, Lewis, Lando, etc. as a few examples just from F1. Many other sports are the same way.

Also on his specific comments that “nobody understands porpoising” I do not believe this to be true. Red Bull & specifically Newey have implied that they understand it. Alfa Romeo have implied that they understand it. Alpine the same. Just because Merc can’t doesn’t mean nobody can…

I don’t really think that’s the case. The teams with no or little porpoising have something in common: except for Redbull they are all slow compared to the best. The fastest car on the grid has a lot of porpoising on the straights. It seems evident to me that a certain level of downforce is needed to cause the extreme porpoising. It will not surprise me one bit that as cars get faster they see that the bouncing becomes more of an issue. So clearly only Redbull has been able to run with minimal porpoising but early evidence suggests they don’t quite have Ferraris downforce levels. I believe I heard Paul diresta say during a Sky broadcast that in DTM there is no solution for porpoising. It’s just something you deal with. So imho I think Russell may be correct that only active suspension may be the only real cure to the problem. We shall see though.

I don't know about that, I mean McLaren doesn't have a problem, and they qualified and finished 3rd. I guess if you take only compared to the best, there are only two teams in that category, and 50% of them have found a workaround for the problem. Bottas in the Alfa ran down George by 11s in 20-25 laps, and they haven't really had a problem with it since testing. Looking at the WCC three of the top five have probably the best handle on the bouncing.

But like you say, we shall see. Barcelona will provide no excuses for anyone in terms of progress. The teams have already tested there and three months is probably the first real opportunity to apply things learned from testing and the first race or two.

There was one thing though. They forgot to reset the front wing for George at the pitstop, so he drove with wet wing setup till the end. Atleast a bit of handicap in comparison to Valtteri.

[pursue_one's]

"It was a very difficult weekend for us in Imola,” said Toto. “George did a great job to finish P4 from an unpromising starting position but with Lewis, we didn’t give him the tools or track position to show his true pace.

"Since we returned from Italy, we’ve learned as much from the weekend as we can and, in parallel, our learning has continued in the wind tunnel and simulations.

"We have found several directions for improving the car, and we will be conducting experiments in Miami to correlate those simulations, and hopefully confirm the development path for the coming races.

"Both drivers have been working in the simulator ahead of Miami and the factories have been busy producing updates for the next races.

"The saying ‘smooth seas do not make good sailors’ comes to mind. This team has shown its resilience over many years and the difficult start to this season has lit a fire within every team member, determined to put it right.

"Miami is an exciting new challenge and a complete step into the unknown. The track looks demanding, with a real mix of low and high-speed corners, and it’s set to be a spectacular showcase for the sport to our growing US fanbase.

"So, we’re set for a fantastic event, and we can’t wait to see how it all plays out.”

https://www.mercedesamgf1.com/en/news/2 ... s-preview/

[silver]

#Mercedes : confirmations on decisive tests in Miami in FP.
If they work, they will work a lot in Barcelona. But it's not clear why each attempt didn't produce major changes in performance. If it fails the test, the W13 will be left to its fate and will be 100% Lab for 2023