2024 Mercedes-AMG | Petronas F1 Team

[Jurgen von Diaz]

Why it is Hamilton who is testing experiments? Can they trust him cause he is leaving the team and why would Hamilton agree with this? Hamilton should say fix you own car with Russell who is the future.

[atanatizante]

Any clue on who's running "test spec" floor vs "Bahrain-Jeddah" floor?

Maybe you could get some clues from the bellow observations:

RUS was 2 tenths faster both in S1 and S2 and HAM was 3 tenths faster in the slower S3, thus they split the setup, the former opting for a low DF and the latter for a high DF. These times were backed by the speed traps, the former being 2-3kph faster in S1 and S2 and the latter being 4-5kph faster in the third. Of course, all these above dates should be taken with the classical caveat that we don't know the fuel loads, engine mods, and so on ...

On another note, many of us didn`t figure out why they chose the low DF setup at Jeddah knowing they were gonna lose so much time in the fast high-speed S1. The simple and logical answer is that their simulations said that this setup makes their car fastest at that circuit in those conditions (tyres, temps, and so on). And basically, this is how all the teams have this philosophy around this matter with maybe two exceptions: Monaco and Singapore ...

[j_ste]

Why it is Hamilton who is testing experiments? Can they trust him cause he is leaving the team and why would Hamilton agree with this? Hamilton should say fix you own car with Russell who is the future.

They are professionals. Lewis has been paid handsomely by Mercedes and had a lot of success at Mercedes.
Right now they are struggling and everyone pitches in to try and make things better because they are professionals.

[Jurgen von Diaz]

Why it is Hamilton who is testing experiments? Can they trust him cause he is leaving the team and why would Hamilton agree with this? Hamilton should say fix you own car with Russell who is the future.

They are professionals. Lewis has been paid handsomely by Mercedes and had a lot of success at Mercedes.
Right now they are struggling and everyone pitches in to try and make things better because they are professionals.

Who could imagine this situation in Red Bull, Verstappen driving tests and Perez scoring points? No chance.

On top of that Lewis is in this situation second time, this time he shouldn't be thinking teams benefit, or then this is something that helps Lewis himself. Professional racing driver would never give up his speed, not in Lewis's case cause his leaving the team anyways.

[Matt2725]

Why it is Hamilton who is testing experiments? Can they trust him cause he is leaving the team and why would Hamilton agree with this? Hamilton should say fix you own car with Russell who is the future.

They are professionals. Lewis has been paid handsomely by Mercedes and had a lot of success at Mercedes.
Right now they are struggling and everyone pitches in to try and make things better because they are professionals.

Who could imagine this situation in Red Bull, Verstappen driving tests and Perez scoring points? No chance.

On top of that Lewis is in this situation second time, this time he shouldn't be thinking teams benefit, or then this is something that helps Lewis himself. Professional racing driver would never give up his speed, not in Lewis's case cause his leaving the team anyways.

Or they could just pay him anyway and put someone else in his car, leaving him on the shelf for 12 months.

[maygun]

Why it is Hamilton who is testing experiments? Can they trust him cause he is leaving the team and why would Hamilton agree with this? Hamilton should say fix you own car with Russell who is the future.

I don't believe this propaganda that Hamilton is slow compared to George because of so-called experiments or he is the only one that does it. Every weekend during practices, every driver, team does experiments to find the fastest configuration.

Multiple times, the team explained that drivers mostly give feedback and dictate the path that how the car is set up during race weekends.

Hamilton generally prefers trying weird setups that are outside of the recommended ranges from data/simulation and calls these 'experiments'. I think he wants to magically find half a second of lap time, then got lost. On the other hand, George probably goes with the recommended path and tries to maximise what he has in his hand.

[j_ste]

Why it is Hamilton who is testing experiments? Can they trust him cause he is leaving the team and why would Hamilton agree with this? Hamilton should say fix you own car with Russell who is the future.

I don't believe this propaganda that Hamilton is slow compared to George because of so-called experiments or he is the only one that does it. Every weekend during practices, every driver, team does experiments to find the fastest configuration.

Multiple times, the team explained that drivers mostly give feedback and dictate the path that how the car is set up during race weekends.

Hamilton generally prefers trying weird setups that are outside of the recommended ranges from data/simulation and calls these 'experiments'. I think he wants to magically find half a second of lap time, then got lost. On the other hand, George probably goes with the recommended path and tries to maximise what he has in his hand.

Thats the thing. There isnt magic, they clearly are seeing something in the data that tells them the pace is there but they cant extract it.

And if youve won over 100 races. Do you just do the basic thing and finish 5 through 8? Or do you take risks to find that pace knowing that if you get it wrong, you're likely still finish with decent points most weeks?

At this point, he has nothing to prove.

[Il Leone]

This is very worrying now for Hamilton, he's not even close to the level of Russell in this car. George says he was on course for 3rd, we can't keep blaming the car anymore.

[maygun]

Why it is Hamilton who is testing experiments? Can they trust him cause he is leaving the team and why would Hamilton agree with this? Hamilton should say fix you own car with Russell who is the future.

I don't believe this propaganda that Hamilton is slow compared to George because of so-called experiments or he is the only one that does it. Every weekend during practices, every driver, team does experiments to find the fastest configuration.

Multiple times, the team explained that drivers mostly give feedback and dictate the path that how the car is set up during race weekends.

Hamilton generally prefers trying weird setups that are outside of the recommended ranges from data/simulation and calls these 'experiments'. I think he wants to magically find half a second of lap time, then got lost. On the other hand, George probably goes with the recommended path and tries to maximise what he has in his hand.

Thats the thing. There isnt magic, they clearly are seeing something in the data that tells them the pace is there but they cant extract it.

And if youve won over 100 races. Do you just do the basic thing and finish 5 through 8? Or do you take risks to find that pace knowing that if you get it wrong, you're likely still finish with decent points most weeks?

At this point, he has nothing to prove.

He has obligations though. He is paid to perform. The people who work in the factory relentlessly earn bonuses from the standings.

And with today's tools and current cars, you cannot gain half a second with setup differences that you find magically by trying out extreme setups. I really started to hate this I am a 7-time champion, and I want either to win or don't care attitude and sure that most people in the team find this very demoralizing.

[Hammerfist]

I just don’t buy the experiment excuses. Never bought them in 22’ either. This was always going to be a difficult year for Lewis. He usually starts out slow anyway. If by race 5 he is still miles off then I will say the decline is real. At least he still has the race pace.

[Il Leone]

I just don’t buy the experiment excuses. Never bought them in 22’ either. This was always going to be a difficult year for Lewis. He usually starts out slow anyway. If by race 5 he is still miles off then I will say the decline is real. At least he still has the race pace.

It is just an excuse, the facts are every driver on the grid "tries" things during practice. If you don't like the feel of the car then you revert back to the setup that you felt comfortable with. If this trend continues in qualifying then questions need to be asked, lesser drivers have been fired for performances like this, let's not forget Russell would have out qualified him by over half a second in Jeddah had he not made a mistake.

[j_ste]

I don't believe this propaganda that Hamilton is slow compared to George because of so-called experiments or he is the only one that does it. Every weekend during practices, every driver, team does experiments to find the fastest configuration.

Multiple times, the team explained that drivers mostly give feedback and dictate the path that how the car is set up during race weekends.

Hamilton generally prefers trying weird setups that are outside of the recommended ranges from data/simulation and calls these 'experiments'. I think he wants to magically find half a second of lap time, then got lost. On the other hand, George probably goes with the recommended path and tries to maximise what he has in his hand.

Thats the thing. There isnt magic, they clearly are seeing something in the data that tells them the pace is there but they cant extract it.

And if youve won over 100 races. Do you just do the basic thing and finish 5 through 8? Or do you take risks to find that pace knowing that if you get it wrong, you're likely still finish with decent points most weeks?

At this point, he has nothing to prove.

He has obligations though. He is paid to perform. The people who work in the factory relentlessly earn bonuses from the standings.

And with today's tools and current cars, you cannot gain half a second with setup differences that you find magically by trying out extreme setups. I really started to hate this I am a 7-time champion, and I want either to win or don't care attitude and sure that most people in the team find this very demoralizing.

Its probably more demoralizing to build a car thats nowhere near up to standard.

Right now, this car is 4th or 5th best...which means 7 to 10 and thats where he will finish. Unless something unexpected happens.

[Il Leone]

Thats the thing. There isnt magic, they clearly are seeing something in the data that tells them the pace is there but they cant extract it.

And if youve won over 100 races. Do you just do the basic thing and finish 5 through 8? Or do you take risks to find that pace knowing that if you get it wrong, you're likely still finish with decent points most weeks?

At this point, he has nothing to prove.

He has obligations though. He is paid to perform. The people who work in the factory relentlessly earn bonuses from the standings.

And with today's tools and current cars, you cannot gain half a second with setup differences that you find magically by trying out extreme setups. I really started to hate this I am a 7-time champion, and I want either to win or don't care attitude and sure that most people in the team find this very demoralizing.

Its probably more demoralizing to build a car thats nowhere near up to standard.

Right now, this car is 4th or 5th best...which means 7 to 10 and thats where he will finish. Unless something unexpected happens.

Russell says without a mistake in P2 he would have been in the top 3, not exactly a terrible car is it?

[Cs98]

I don't believe this propaganda that Hamilton is slow compared to George because of so-called experiments or he is the only one that does it. Every weekend during practices, every driver, team does experiments to find the fastest configuration.

Multiple times, the team explained that drivers mostly give feedback and dictate the path that how the car is set up during race weekends.

Hamilton generally prefers trying weird setups that are outside of the recommended ranges from data/simulation and calls these 'experiments'. I think he wants to magically find half a second of lap time, then got lost. On the other hand, George probably goes with the recommended path and tries to maximise what he has in his hand.

Thats the thing. There isnt magic, they clearly are seeing something in the data that tells them the pace is there but they cant extract it.

And if youve won over 100 races. Do you just do the basic thing and finish 5 through 8? Or do you take risks to find that pace knowing that if you get it wrong, you're likely still finish with decent points most weeks?

At this point, he has nothing to prove.

He has obligations though. He is paid to perform. The people who work in the factory relentlessly earn bonuses from the standings.

And with today's tools and current cars, you cannot gain half a second with setup differences that you find magically by trying out extreme setups. I really started to hate this I am a 7-time champion, and I want either to win or don't care attitude and sure that most people in the team find this very demoralizing.

I don't think he has that attitude in reality, I don't think you can if you are a competitive person being directly compared against a teammate. But I think projecting that attitude and narrative to fans and media keeps difficult questions about age and performance level at bay.

[Luscion]

I just don’t buy the experiment excuses. Never bought them in 22’ either. This was always going to be a difficult year for Lewis. He usually starts out slow anyway. If by race 5 he is still miles off then I will say the decline is real. At least he still has the race pace.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/merc ... /10587338/

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