2022 Mercedes-AMG | Petronas F1 Team

[Curbstone]

A win may have been possible if it was Lewis that pitted, and George that stayed out. Because then George can slow Max down for Lewis to have a (remote) chance to pass. Even then, I do not see a better result than 2nd and 4th with the way the safety cars came out.

Maybe they could have gotten 2 and 3 if they double stacked on the safety car with George holding the max 10 car lengths to buy time.

Max would have passed George just as easy as he passed Lewis. Maybe not at the restart, but at best a few laps later.
I think the only chance for a win was to keep both George and Lewis out. That still would have been a small chance, but since they apparently discussed and agreed they would take risks for a win, that would have been the way to go.

It was great to see Mercedes in the mix and spicing things up with a different strategy (up until the sc's).

[Vasco]

Of course, George had nothing to lose so in his case it was an easy decision rather than an inspired one, but I don't know how many times we need to see late safety cars for the team to learn that softs are always the right option, especially with that many laps left.

Agreed - its like last year Abu Dhabi / Russia etc the leading car is always faced with the conundrum of giving up track position vs switching to new tyres - damned if you do damned if you don't. The car behind has the easier choice to make.

Anyway the positives from the race are that Merc was actually challenging for a win on merit which is quite an achievement and I already can't wait for the start of next season.

[214270]

Christian Horner said he too was surprised to see Mercedes pitting George when he should have been Lewis's rear gunner. That was a selfish move by George and the team backed it. That's how he got use to pass Hamilton.. with fresh faster tires

It's Jenson Button all over again and I predicted this sort of behaviour of "getting one over on Lewis" to be the focus of the team next year.

RUS with a well-timed & convenient radio message too just off the banking.



How you just bail on the pre-discussed plan of action, I don’t know - pit wall/strategists should have a better handle. All hands or concede & pit both.

[SparkyAMG]

I wonder at which point Mercedes’ will prioritise George in the WDC?
30p ahead of Lewis and 13 points off second place.

What would be the point when neither driver is fighting for the WDC?

[SiLo]

Amazed Merc didn't think to just back George up a tiny bit to pit Lewis and bring him out on softs. There was another car between them coming into the pits to allow for a slightly larger gap than usual as well.

[chrisc90]

I wonder at which point Mercedes’ will prioritise George in the WDC?
30p ahead of Lewis and 13 points off second place.

What would be the point when neither driver is fighting for the WDC?

2nd place not good enough?

I’m sure Russell would have his biggest F1 achievement yet if he come 2nd in WDC

[214270]

Amazed Merc didn't think to just back George up a tiny bit to pit Lewis and bring him out on softs. There was another car between them coming into the pits to allow for a slightly larger gap than usual as well.

You must not have noticed RUS do the opposite, hounding LAT to speed up & close the gap rather than widen it.

[SiLo]

Amazed Merc didn't think to just back George up a tiny bit to pit Lewis and bring him out on softs. There was another car between them coming into the pits to allow for a slightly larger gap than usual as well.

You must not have noticed RUS do the opposite, hounding LAT to speed up & close the gap rather than widen it.

I did notice that, but they could have potentially solidified a win and they didn't. 1st & 4th is better than 2nd and 4th.

It was a poor call from Mercedes, much like it was from Ferrari in Silverstone.

[GrizzleBoy]

So looks like Tsunoda actually told the pit wall he believed the diff was broken before he actually pitted the first time,

So they told him come back changed tyres, did his seat belt and sent him back out with a broken diff o_o

Then he had to stop again because the diff...... was broken.

And was instructed to leave the pit lane before stopping.

Pretty silly of them.

[mendis]

So looks like Tsunoda actually told the pit wall he believed the diff was broken before he actually pitted the first time,

So they told him come back changed tyres, did his seat belt and sent him back out with a broken diff o_o

Then he had to stop again because the diff...... was broken.

And was instructed to leave the pit lane before stopping.

Pretty silly of them.

First time, he complained of tyres not having fit properly and then parked. Team saw everything was fine and asked him to continue, but he removed his belts. He came back in, changed tyres and seat belt fastened. He went out and again something didn't feel right and he then complained the diff was behaving weird. After he left, team saw something in data which they didn't see first time and then asked him to park in a safe place.

[Quantum]

https://www.wykop.pl/cdn/c3201142/comme ... WI7FBf.jpg

Some horrendous posts this weekend.

Genuine fans who understand the sport would never reach for these kinds of replies.
And its not just the Hamilton Ultras either.

[mclaren_mircea]

Im not talking about the strategy. As a big Lewis fan it was very painfull. But George have to be given somE credit. As in Miami, here, he is calling which tyres and when. It was very cold bloded but brilliant. Lewis is relying to much on Bono, Vowles and the computers. I know that they have the bigger picture but it was so obvious that track position againts fresher and softer tyres is a no match except Monaco, Hungaroring, Singapore. You have to see that Max on softer and newer tyres will haveall the cards. For Gods sake we are not in Monaco guys. At least if you cant overtake you are not frustrated to stay like a sitting duck. What I want is to know (and if you know I would gladly like an answer to this question which is killing me... It was obvious that is not worth waste another set of new softs in Q1. I understant that Q2 is a little tricky. But they are doing the same blunder even when it is clearly that in Q1 they are more than safe to keep the tyres. It is much better to have 2 NEW sets for Q2 and 2 NEW sets for Q2... Every time towards the end of Q1 when there are 2-3 minutes left they get out on new softs even in competitive qualy weekends as Hungaroring and Zanvoort. I think they are doing it every weekend. Only Max and Red Bull pit wall are seeing that they can beat Latifi, Albon, Magnussen, Schumacher, Stroll, Ricciardo WITH JUST ONE SET OF NEW SOFTS????

[GrizzleBoy]

So looks like Tsunoda actually told the pit wall he believed the diff was broken before he actually pitted the first time,

So they told him come back changed tyres, did his seat belt and sent him back out with a broken diff o_o

Then he had to stop again because the diff...... was broken.

And was instructed to leave the pit lane before stopping.

Pretty silly of them.

First time, he complained of tyres not having fit properly and then parked. Team saw everything was fine and asked him to continue, but he removed his belts. He came back in, changed tyres and seat belt fastened. He went out and again something didn't feel right and he then complained the diff was behaving weird. After he left, team saw something in data which they didn't see first time and then asked him to park in a safe place.

On his way in first time he said he thinks the diff is broken. It wasn't broadcast.

[PlatinumZealot]

Quick thinking? It is a no brainer to go for softs with a late safety car. What George did was dash away what was seen as the only chance of a team win to satisfy his own selfish desires.

I understand a Lewis fan feeling a win was possible in those circumstances, but rationality suggests otherwise. Credit to George for that move that gave better team result than without it.

In hidnsight yes. But in the moment it was the only chance.

[wogx]

George:
ENG: Safety car, safety car, keep the delta positive, you are staying out.
RUS: Are you sure? You don't want to put the soft on?
ENG: You're staying out.
RUS: What happens if we put the soft on? Where do we fall?
ENG: So be on standby, be on standby.
RUS: If it's only Ver- if it's only Leclerc, I'm happy to box.
ENG: So we are splitting, you are staying out. Delta, delta. Stay close to your delta.
RUS: Confirm staying out?
ENG: Staying out, staying out. Look Verstappen on exit, stay tight. So Verstappen stopped for the soft. So it is 16 laps to go. Work tyres and brakes. So Leclerc has also stopped, imagine it'll be soft. So safety car will come through the pitlane, so you are following the safety car through the pitlane, you are not stopping.
RUS: Why not? Let's stop. Let's put the soft on. I'm losing the tyres, I think we need to put the soft on.
ENG: Okay so build a gap, build a gap. Stop, stop, stop, box, box, box, box, box!

Lewis:
ENG: So safety car, safety car, keep the delta positive. So we'll go Strat Mode 1.
HAM: Has Verstappen got the safety car window?
ENG: So Verstappen in the pitlane, we're staying out. Stay out, stay out! So (it'll) be close to Verstappen on exit. Delta positive.
HAM: What tyres?
ENG: So Verstappen on the soft tyre, he's currently behind George.
HAM: How many laps?
ENG: We've got 15 to go.
HAM: Understood.
ENG: Safety car through the pitlane. Yeah, just remember staying in the fast lane, so stay in the fast lane going through.
HAM: probably sees George stopping in his mirrors Why did you stop George?
ENG: I don't know Lewis, I'll let you know.
HAM: That was a mistake mate. We had track position*. We had a buffer between us, now we don't have that.