2024 Mercedes-AMG | Petronas F1 Team

[Hammerfist]

Yeah leclerc is an even more consistent qualifier than george so my guess is it wont be pretty at Ferrari. But whats happening to him is normal. You slow down with age. Just look at alonso being outqualified by Stroll for the third time in a row. Lewis as a kid racer did not consider himself a great qualifier. If i remember his quote: “im not the kind of guy who puts it on pole” or something like that. Maybe as he’s getting older hes going back to his roots.

[Elite]

Throughout his career, George has been known as Mr Saturday. This is being proven as hes typically faster in qualifying. But Race Pace is the ultimate divider between good and greats and Hamilton has a fair margin on him. Miami was pretty bad for Russell

Lewis will of course get a bit slower with age but I think he's fine for now. What motivation is there to fight for p6 anyway

And we see as soon as theres a chance for higher positions its him there. He stuck to the back of that red bull last race like he was connected with a tow hook

Lets wait and see what the seasons brings before all of the doom and gloom judgements.

Having said all of this, me when Lewis is p15 in q1 and isnt improving in lap time

[Seanspeed]

Allison also mentioned to Ted that the big upgrade package they have coming before the summer break will put them in contention for not only podiums but potentially race wins

But we all know that won’t happen

It's not like Allison to make such bold statements, hes usually very pragmatic, on top of that Mercs whole thing this season has been them being quiet and not over promising like they did in 2022, I guess we''ll see

They literally stated in testing they felt they were ahead of Ferrari. lol

And there's been so many excuses trotted out already. They've definitely not been playing themselves down at all.

[Emag]

But we all know that won’t happen

It's not like Allison to make such bold statements, hes usually very pragmatic, on top of that Mercs whole thing this season has been them being quiet and not over promising like they did in 2022, I guess we''ll see

They literally stated in testing they felt they were ahead of Ferrari. lol

And there's been so many excuses trotted out already. They've definitely not been playing themselves down at all.

Yeah it was weird how Allison was rather smug about them presumably having better race pace than Ferrari with Aston being close behind. He completely disregarded McLaren, or just forgot to include them in the mix?

Apart from Bahrain, they've never looked anywhere near Ferrari and McLaren.

I am just choosing to ignore any statement that comes out of Mercedes this year. If they have upgrades that will bring them victories, then let them prove that on track. We don't need to hear about it one month in advance.

McLaren was cooking an absolute beast last year, and literally the only public statement they made about it is that they were hoping to get ahead of Alpine with the Austria package. This "shooting for the stars" only to barely scratch the atmosphere when it matters has been Mercedes' trademark since they fuc*ed up in 2022.

For once, it would be nice for them to work it out quietly and prove their worth with on track performance.

[Elite]

It's not like Allison to make such bold statements, hes usually very pragmatic, on top of that Mercs whole thing this season has been them being quiet and not over promising like they did in 2022, I guess we''ll see

They literally stated in testing they felt they were ahead of Ferrari. lol

And there's been so many excuses trotted out already. They've definitely not been playing themselves down at all.

Yeah it was weird how Allison was rather smug about them presumably having better race pace than Ferrari with Aston being close behind. He completely disregarded McLaren, or just forgot to include them in the mix?

Apart from Bahrain, they've never looked anywhere near Ferrari and McLaren.

I am just choosing to ignore any statement that comes out of Mercedes this year. If they have upgrades that will bring them victories, then let them prove that on track. We don't need to hear about it one month in advance.

McLaren was cooking an absolute beast last year, and literally the only public statement they made about it is that they were hoping to get ahead of Alpine with the Austria package. This "shooting for the stars" only to barely scratch the atmosphere when it matters has been Mercedes' trademark since they fuc*ed up in 2022.

For once, it would be nice for them to work it out quietly and prove their worth with on track performance.

Honestly Allison doesnt seem the type to talk bullcrap so I think their simulations probably did say they'd be faster than ferrari in bahrain

Though Im biased as i really like the guy and will wish him success even when The LH goes to Ferrari

Do you think Allison is up to sorting them out

[PlatinumZealot]

Its actually quite worrying and some Hamilton fans are becoming delusional about his his one lap pace deteriorating. This has been happening since the back end of last year. Yes he might not be comfortable with how the cars characteristics suits him but i can't imagine its doing him good mentally. When those negative thoughts keep going he will start to question himself. The fact he's getting consistently outperformed by george and next year he will be up against one of the fastest in modern F1 is a cause of concern. Usually if you start behind your team mate you finish behind your team mate in these regs.

These setups issues or whatever hes doing will not fly in Ferrari/Tifosi. The constant explanations, not gelling with the car etc Lewis to me is in no mans land and thats regardless if he has his moments here and there in races.

You can't help but feel George just digs deeper in qualifying and Lewis has no chance regardless of conditions, being on the faster tyres etc 6-1 and you lot aren't even phased by he's struggles, the cope ive seen is " he will be better in ferrari " lol u wot m8

Lewis has been outqualified by all of his teammates at different points.

Alonso
Hekki
Button
Nico
Valterri
George


George isnt exactly kicking his ass yet tho. The two have been neck and neck in ultimate pace. George just seems betrer to cope with the inconsistent behaviour of the car. Lewis is older and is not about taking risks like mid-twenties young George is willing to do. Just not worth it.


Age-adjusted, Lewis is still monster quick.

Just need the car to be good now.

[ringo]

At most when both get the best lap its maybe .02 to 1 tenth in George's favour.
In the race and the race starts Lewis has a clearer advantage.
His deficit in qualy isnt a distaster anyhow. .05 seconds to someone 13 years? Younger isnt too bad.
As for Charles, it's hard to predict. If the Ferrari suits Hamilton, I am sure when he is at his best he can be devastating. So I am not placing any bets on 2025 as yet.
Said this before, and it's bro science, but I think Lewis needs some animal protein in his system. Otherwise he wont have the aggression of a hunter. Meat or grass; tiger or gazzelle. Both are fast but one is more delicate and sensitive, the other's a beast.

[214270]

The past 2yrs here have been some of HAMs roughest bouncing all over the place. Wouldn’t surprise me if there’s additional mitigation here on HAMs car, he said something about the ride height during the broadcast.

In other news, ANT picked up 12 in the feature race after the sprint disaster; I’ve not been overly impressed 4 races in. Defo seems there’s work to be done, BEA on the other hand was having a solid one before the stall

[PlatinumZealot]

I hear more rumblings, and see more "proof of work" articles on Caitlin Clarke than our esteemed Antonelli. And I have no Idea who Caitlin Clarke was two months ago. Any highlight reels of this young so-called prodigy?

[DGP123]

Expected result. Pretty much no mans land today. Silly error from Lewis, and just further confirmation of Russell’s lack of race pace.

[Luscion]

[214270]

Expected result. Pretty much no mans land today. Silly error from Lewis, and just further confirmation of Russell’s lack of race pace.

Tyre mgmt with RUS is also a sizeable concern. Will have to review the comms but it’s not a good look if he burned through his tyres when everyone else managed the 1-stop easy.

[mkay]

HAM was faster than RUS in race pace. Would have probably passed him on track if it wasn't for going offtrack at Acqua Minerali.

Encouraging race pace, but they're still about 2-3 tenths behind Ferrari, and rear tyre issues are still there.

[Dunlay]

HAM was faster than RUS in race pace. Would have probably passed him on track if it wasn't for going offtrack at Acqua Minerali.

Did we watch the same race?

[Luscion]

HAM was faster than RUS in race pace. Would have probably passed him on track if it wasn't for going offtrack at Acqua Minerali.

Did we watch the same race?

I do believe he was faster than Russell in the second stint and then like Bono said Lewis started matching Max's pace