2023 Mercedes-AMG | Petronas F1 Team

[Luscion]

Was just watching the post-race interview last night. Comparing this year's Abu Dhabi post-race interview to 2022, the Merc drivers (especially LH) seem less optimistic as compared to last year when they won a race in Brazil. LH is also showing some signs of burnout after a very difficult and long season struggling with W14.

Since James Allison returned as Technical Director 7 months ago, the Merc has shown some signs of improvement but still struggling with the car setup and unpredictability. With Hamilton talking about Max's 17-second gap to 2nd, even when Max was barely pushing at the front that will put tremendous pressure on James Allsons his team over the winter to deliver a Brawn GP-like miracle with the W15

What is good for LH is shifting his focus on remaining in F1 for the Africa race which also means he may be hanging around for some more years to come as I don't think a race in Africa can be set up within a year or 2.

If 2024 doesn't turn out well, I think it will be closure for LH on the 8th WDC to start looking to become an ambassador for F1 instead.

Allison has said he hasnt touched anything to do with the W14 since he came back and is only working on the W15, i thought he did since the new floor at COTA was said to be a trail run for the new concept so dont know how that works but yea



and i think Lewis looking burnt out is a combination of him waiting to never have to drive the W14 again and the brutal schedule they had with the last two races, having to adjust to LV time, having to stay up until 4am and then going halfway across the world to a completely different timezone after just getting used to LV's timezone. the season was over, it was clear the car couldnt win a race, he had p3 in the driver's championship locked in and only had to worry about P2 for the team

[denyall]

Lewis is a master at applying himself when it matters. He did enough to get P2 for the team. He's not the guy who must win every race he's in.

The W15 will either be competitive or it won't. We'll find out in March.

[AR3-GP]

and i think Lewis looking burnt out is a combination of him waiting to never have to drive the W14 again and the brutal schedule they had with the last two races, having to adjust to LV time, having to stay up until 4am and then going halfway across the world to a completely different timezone after just getting used to LV's timezone. the season was over, it was clear the car couldnt win a race, he had p3 in the driver's championship locked in and only had to worry about P2 for the team

Hamilton said he doesn't struggle with jet lag in Las Vegas. On your second point, Hamilton wanted better than what he did and he'll be the first person to tell you that.

[AR3-GP]

Lewis is a master at applying himself when it matters. He did enough to get P2 for the team. He's not the guy who must win every race he's in.

He has been giving it everything to win a race in each of the last 2 seasons and his plan this past weekend was definitely not to just mail it in. What is the purpose downplaying it?

[ValeVida46]

Why do you continue to repeat this falsehood.

1. It’s not even true.

Repeating merc PR bs is not gonna make it true.

https://www.racefans.net/2023/11/18/sai ... row-start/

The stewards turned down Ferrari’s request, saying they do not have the power to derogate the regulations. However Sainz believes they could have done so had rival teams not applied pressure to ensure a penalty would be given.
***
"For sure there will be rival teams pushing for me to get a penalty which surprises me in a way. In another [way], I’ve been in the sport for too long to understand that this business… there’s too much money involved in the finishing position in the constructors’ or whatever for a team not to threaten to apply for a penalty for me."

The FIA Code gives stewards the authority, under 11.9.3.g to ‘decide to suspend any penalty in accordance with Article 12.2.3’ This was a clear cut case in point. Neither McLaren nor RB objected to Sainz getting a free swap since that was force majeure.

2. I can’t remember Ferrari helping them at anytime in AD21

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e5/67/60 ... b3d92d.gif

For a guy with over 1100 "points"... There's a spectacular bad failure at making assumptions and presenting them as facts.
What you have presented is not indicative of Mercedes or anyone else.
Sainz was speculating himself..."For Sure there WILL be..."

You've added 2 + 2 + 2 and got 10.

[ValeVida46]

Lewis is a master at applying himself when it matters. He did enough to get P2 for the team. He's not the guy who must win every race he's in.

He has been giving it everything to win a race in each of the last 2 seasons and his plan this past weekend was definitely not to just mail it in. What is the purpose downplaying it?

What is the purpose of consistently coming here and being negative about the team or drivers?
Nothing constructive. Just needle all the time. Why?

[chrisc90]

[chrisc90]

Can they test next years parts as part of this test?

[Vanja #66]

None of that says anything about Merc, let it go.

For a guy with over 1100 "points"... There's a spectacular bad failure at making assumptions and presenting them as facts.
What you have presented is not indicative of Mercedes or anyone else.
Sainz was speculating himself..."For Sure there WILL be..."

You've added 2 + 2 + 2 and got 10.

Are we seriously gonna pretend Toto didn't immediately aggressively downplay the incident? Is he on the Las Vegas promoter's (FOM, by the way) payroll? Or is there another agenda for him and his team? That's the 4 you missed, VV46

Let's also examine all the layers of bs in their "explanation" to Kravitz.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/formula- ... s-31469228

But Croft's colleague Ted Kravitz said he had been flatly told by Mercedes that this is not true. "I've reached out to Mercedes [to ask] is it the case that you would have or could have objected to a Sainz derogation for that penalty?" he told viewers.

"They said, 'No, absolutely not, purely speculative. The precedent is that even when it's not the driver or team's fault, you carry the penalty and the rules don't allow for discretion to be applied', as the steward explained. Mercedes' point was that they would not have been in a position to object to any derogation.

"Their only position would have been if the rules had been incorrectly applied and some derogation or allowance would have been made for Sainz. Then, I think Mercedes would have objected to that and probably some other teams as well, because you can't have the rules being incorrectly applied, can you?"

1 and 2) There is no precedent of PU penalties in case of such incidents. 2019 Baku Russell damaged the floor and not the PU. 2017 Malaysia Grosjean got chassis, suspension and bodywork damage, not even gearbox, the team was allowed to break curfew to fix the car without any penalty - so the only precedent would actually be to suspend any sporting penalties. 2016 Monaco, Rosberg got puncture and Button got heavy damage but no PU damage.

3) They admit to oppose suspending the penalty and falsely state that rules don't allow that. As I already mentioned, rules do allow that at stewards discretion.

The FIA Code gives stewards the authority, under 11.9.3.g to ‘decide to suspend any penalty in accordance with Article 12.2.3’

So outright and blatant false narrative on 3 aspects.

[CHT]

Was just watching the post-race interview last night. Comparing this year's Abu Dhabi post-race interview to 2022, the Merc drivers (especially LH) seem less optimistic as compared to last year when they won a race in Brazil. LH is also showing some signs of burnout after a very difficult and long season struggling with W14.

Since James Allison returned as Technical Director 7 months ago, the Merc has shown some signs of improvement but still struggling with the car setup and unpredictability. With Hamilton talking about Max's 17-second gap to 2nd, even when Max was barely pushing at the front that will put tremendous pressure on James Allsons his team over the winter to deliver a Brawn GP-like miracle with the W15

What is good for LH is shifting his focus on remaining in F1 for the Africa race which also means he may be hanging around for some more years to come as I don't think a race in Africa can be set up within a year or 2.

If 2024 doesn't turn out well, I think it will be closure for LH on the 8th WDC to start looking to become an ambassador for F1 instead.

Allison has said he hasnt touched anything to do with the W14 since he came back and is only working on the W15, i thought he did since the new floor at COTA was said to be a trail run for the new concept so dont know how that works but yea



and i think Lewis looking burnt out is a combination of him waiting to never have to drive the W14 again and the brutal schedule they had with the last two races, having to adjust to LV time, having to stay up until 4am and then going halfway across the world to a completely different timezone after just getting used to LV's timezone. the season was over, it was clear the car couldnt win a race, he had p3 in the driver's championship locked in and only had to worry about P2 for the team

Here is James Allison talking about the new floor in Oct 2023. Obviously, it didn't turn out as well as they hoped for

"It should be good at any circuit for the remainder of the year. It’s not transformative, [it] should be about a tenth of a second.

"It’s in the direction we think is decent, both for producing downforce in the right place, and hopefully being resistant to the bounciness that all these cars nibble at as soon as you try and get much downforce from them."
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... zloec.html

[pursue_one's]

Can they test next years parts as part of this test?

No test parts or set-up changes will be permitted which give any sort of information to the competitor that is unrelated to the tyre test. All teams are only allowed to install parts used during race weekends.

[SiLo]

Can they test next years parts as part of this test?

No test parts or set-up changes will be permitted which give any sort of information to the competitor that is unrelated to the tyre test. All teams are only allowed to install parts used during race weekends.

I still remember the unbelievable confidence the team had when they raced with Pitot tubes attached above the diffuser just so they could run then in the test straight after.

[j_ste]

Was just watching the post-race interview last night. Comparing this year's Abu Dhabi post-race interview to 2022, the Merc drivers (especially LH) seem less optimistic as compared to last year when they won a race in Brazil. LH is also showing some signs of burnout after a very difficult and long season struggling with W14.

Since James Allison returned as Technical Director 7 months ago, the Merc has shown some signs of improvement but still struggling with the car setup and unpredictability. With Hamilton talking about Max's 17-second gap to 2nd, even when Max was barely pushing at the front that will put tremendous pressure on James Allsons his team over the winter to deliver a Brawn GP-like miracle with the W15

What is good for LH is shifting his focus on remaining in F1 for the Africa race which also means he may be hanging around for some more years to come as I don't think a race in Africa can be set up within a year or 2.

If 2024 doesn't turn out well, I think it will be closure for LH on the 8th WDC to start looking to become an ambassador for F1 instead.

Allison has said he hasnt touched anything to do with the W14 since he came back and is only working on the W15, i thought he did since the new floor at COTA was said to be a trail run for the new concept so dont know how that works but yea



and i think Lewis looking burnt out is a combination of him waiting to never have to drive the W14 again and the brutal schedule they had with the last two races, having to adjust to LV time, having to stay up until 4am and then going halfway across the world to a completely different timezone after just getting used to LV's timezone. the season was over, it was clear the car couldnt win a race, he had p3 in the driver's championship locked in and only had to worry about P2 for the team

Here is James Allison talking about the new floor in Oct 2023. Obviously, it didn't turn out as well as they hoped for

"It should be good at any circuit for the remainder of the year. It’s not transformative, [it] should be about a tenth of a second.

"It’s in the direction we think is decent, both for producing downforce in the right place, and hopefully being resistant to the bounciness that all these cars nibble at as soon as you try and get much downforce from them."
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... zloec.html

The man said it wont be transformative. Everything is testing for next season....time will tell if they get it right

[ValeVida46]

Are we seriously gonna pretend Toto didn't immediately aggressively downplay the incident? Is he on the Las Vegas promoter's (FOM, by the way) payroll? Or is there another agenda for him and his team? That's the 4 you missed, VV46

The agenda is clearly you taking a contentious stance based on superfluous speculation started by Croft in the pitbox.
The story you quote as evidence, is in fact a denial sourced indirectly by Kravitz.

And Sky commentator David Croft hinted that he had information that was true also, leading to speculation that Mercedes, who are in a fight with Ferrari for second in the constructors' championship, might have put their foot down. But Croft's colleague Ted Kravitz said he had been flatly told by Mercedes that this is not true.

That is not evidence. And the jettisoning of the argument is that isolating Mercedes (Forum pattern behaviour) also ignores other teams. And the Stewards...who essentially get off scot-free in your rant.

The precedent is that even when it’s not the driver or team’s fault, you carry the penalty and the rules don’t allow for discretion to be applied’, as the steward explained

Yea that's Mercedes and Toto's fault...

[Vanja #66]

The agenda is clearly you taking a contentious stance based on superfluous speculation started by Croft in the pitbox.
The story you quote as evidence, is in fact a denial sourced indirectly by Kravitz.

And Sky commentator David Croft hinted that he had information that was true also, leading to speculation that Mercedes, who are in a fight with Ferrari for second in the constructors' championship, might have put their foot down. But Croft's colleague Ted Kravitz said he had been flatly told by Mercedes that this is not true.

That is not evidence. And the jettisoning of the argument is that isolating Mercedes (Forum pattern behaviour) also ignores other teams. And the Stewards...who essentially get off scot-free in your rant.

The precedent is that even when it’s not the driver or team’s fault, you carry the penalty and the rules don’t allow for discretion to be applied’, as the steward explained

Yea that's Mercedes and Toto's fault...

Literally ignored the evidence that don't work in your favour, presented "new" arguments out of context and offered it as a cheap spin. Toto would be proud

Watch out though, so far it backfired in RB and Max' favour. I wonder how long it will take Toto to understand and stop doing that...