2024 Mercedes-AMG | Petronas F1 Team

[ringo]

The new medium may be better to start on.
The danger with this circuit is that if you dont have grip on lap 1, you will be swamped and overtaken by many in those sweeping corners at the start.
Both will need the grip, but at the same time they need a decent enough first stint. So maybe mediums are best.
The soft is not very old though. I think just 3 laps.

[j_ste]

I hear that George was whining after Q3, what did he say?
Also seeing online something about dont touch the car by Lewis fans. What's this all about. Was this Lewis asking the engineers to let the car be after P-3?

LH ruined Russells tow that he had lined up in qualifying. And LH finished .002 ahead of Russell so it looks like it worked

That was the first run in Q3. Not the second Q3 run...also, on that first run, George hit 330 kph compared to Lewis' 326

[Dunlay]

George's concern was probably that it messed up his prep lap and that's why he was mad. I don't think Lewis had any intention of doing such things and he never does such things (or it just never occurs to him), just a mistake.

[Dunlay]

The main issue for Sunday is that everyone around them will start on new softs whilst Merc has only used softs to start with. Or they could go unorthodox and starr on their new mediums for instance

I think George has a set of softs which he did just an outlap and went back in, I think in Q2.

[search]

The main issue for Sunday is that everyone around them will start on new softs whilst Merc has only used softs to start with. Or they could go unorthodox and starr on their new mediums for instance

I think George has a set of softs which he did just an outlap and went back in, I think in Q2.

the lap you mean was at the end of Q1, on the same set as before. So no, he doesn't have a newish set left.

[214270]

Yes, Q2 RUS did new softs both runs, HAM did 1 used/1 new. It all evened out in the end I think in terms of usage.

[Chuckjr]

Looks like Merc will keep bringing more upgrades over the next few races like they said they would?



https://x.com/fiagirly/status/1804558945630994670

Hamilton's emotions must be quite confused. There's a real chance that Mercedes will jump Ferrari in what remains of this regulation set

You know I considered that possibility, but here is why he wont feel any different:
1. The performance of the mecedes is not the main reason he is leaving.
2. The lack of future for Hamilton and diminishing relevance to the corporate strategy at Mercedes is the main reason he is leaving.
3. Ferrari is a new challenge, a new team, and more recognition for his status as a World Champion.
4. Ferrari has a long time horizon for Hamilton's career.

All in all, even if Mercedes are the better car end of season, it cannot benefit Hamilton if we consider his career as a whole.

Nah, he went to Ferrari to win a championship. The end. The other factors all fall second to that. The money. The status. The long term. He wants the 8th. Ask him if he would rather 400 million or an 8th. He would take the 8th. All decisions start from there, and at end of last year, Ferrari did seem a much better car chance to win an 8th, and Ferrari was willing to bend over and pay him far more than he’s worth at this point in his career. If Merc end up being faster than Ferrari next year and they challenge for the wdc, nobody can make a case he wouldn’t regret his choice. He wouldn’t be a racer if he didn’t. 400 million doesn’t replace an 8th. If Merc challenge for wins next year, and bring a more powerful power unit than Ferrari in 2026 (likely), he will consider it the worst decision of his racing career. And honestly, it would be. He didn’t need to change teams. Had Merc still been charging for wins on merit he would have done whatever to stay in a winning car because he’s loyal to winning, and his motivation is fine when he can challenge for wins. He changed because he figured Merc was doomed, and he’s not loyal to a team that finishes first of the losers. Toto knew Lewis’ real worth and approx racing years left, and so wouldn’t pay him more, nor sign him long term. He’s too polarizing to be a good manufacture rep anyway. Certainly there’s no motivation to be found in the space he was in this last winter, but it seems the Red Bull fortunes are dramatically changing, and he should have remained loyal to the team that brought him all those wdc’s. Heck, if Merc bring a barnstormer power unit in 2026, he may well have been challenging for a 9th in 2027.

[atanatizante]

HAM had for the entire weekend an issue out of the turn 10. It seems that his setup choice is to have less traction in order to protect the rear tyres, isn't it? Maybe this is also for the fact that he was moaning since FP2 race sims that the rears were gone ... RUS seems to have no problem at that corner beeing each time 1 tenth faster hence maybe he'll have a 3-stop strategy race today...

On another note, after the FP2 session all drivers did a start practice on the grid and on the VER's on-board camera we could see and hear RUS's start on the left side of the track with his car making a strange high noise prior to take off the line ... could someone enlighten me what's the reason for that strange noise?

Here is the video:

[chrisc90]

On another note, after the FP2 session all drivers did a start practice on the grid and on the VER's on-board camera we could see and hear RUS's start on the right side of the track with his car making a strange high noise prior to take off the line ... could someone enlighten me what's the reason for that strange noise?

FP2 Max starts on the RHS of the grid. There is a Merc in P1 of Russell. Sounds pretty normal to me.

[Dunlay]

Looks like Merc will keep bringing more upgrades over the next few races like they said they would?



https://x.com/fiagirly/status/1804558945630994670

Hamilton's emotions must be quite confused. There's a real chance that Mercedes will jump Ferrari in what remains of this regulation set

You know I considered that possibility, but here is why he wont feel any different:
1. The performance of the mecedes is not the main reason he is leaving.
2. The lack of future for Hamilton and diminishing relevance to the corporate strategy at Mercedes is the main reason he is leaving.
3. Ferrari is a new challenge, a new team, and more recognition for his status as a World Champion.
4. Ferrari has a long time horizon for Hamilton's career.

All in all, even if Mercedes are the better car end of season, it cannot benefit Hamilton if we consider his career as a whole.

What does the highlighted above means and do we have a source of that please?

[Spoutnik]

Hamilton's emotions must be quite confused. There's a real chance that Mercedes will jump Ferrari in what remains of this regulation set

You know I considered that possibility, but here is why he wont feel any different:
1. The performance of the mecedes is not the main reason he is leaving.
2. The lack of future for Hamilton and diminishing relevance to the corporate strategy at Mercedes is the main reason he is leaving.
3. Ferrari is a new challenge, a new team, and more recognition for his status as a World Champion.
4. Ferrari has a long time horizon for Hamilton's career.

All in all, even if Mercedes are the better car end of season, it cannot benefit Hamilton if we consider his career as a whole.

Nah, he went to Ferrari to win a championship. The end. The other factors all fall second to that. The money. The status. The long term. He wants the 8th. Ask him if he would rather 400 million or an 8th. He would take the 8th. All decisions start from there, and at end of last year, Ferrari did seem a much better car chance to win an 8th, and Ferrari was willing to bend over and pay him far more than he’s worth at this point in his career. If Merc end up being faster than Ferrari next year and they challenge for the wdc, nobody can make a case he wouldn’t regret his choice. He wouldn’t be a racer if he didn’t. 400 million doesn’t replace an 8th. If Merc challenge for wins next year, and bring a more powerful power unit than Ferrari in 2026 (likely), he will consider it the worst decision of his racing career. And honestly, it would be. He didn’t need to change teams. Had Merc still been charging for wins on merit he would have done whatever to stay in a winning car because he’s loyal to winning, and his motivation is fine when he can challenge for wins. He changed because he figured Merc was doomed, and he’s not loyal to a team that finishes first of the losers. Toto knew Lewis’ real worth and approx racing years left, and so wouldn’t pay him more, nor sign him long term. He’s too polarizing to be a good manufacture rep anyway. Certainly there’s no motivation to be found in the space he was in this last winter, but it seems the Red Bull fortunes are dramatically changing, and he should have remained loyal to the team that brought him all those wdc’s. Heck, if Merc bring a barnstormer power unit in 2026, he may well have been challenging for a 9th in 2027.

Hamilton left because he was no longer the center of the project. He was in the same situation as Alonso at Alpine (2022). Toto was more focused on the future and he saw Lewis as the past. Already, you could see that it was important for the team to make sure George in a good mood by giving him the best strategy on a few occasions. The contract was the nail in the coffin (remember for Alonso at Alpine it was the same issue).

The reality is that if a World Title was at play in this context at Mercedes it would've been even worse than 2016 and really I don't think Toto would defend the 39 yo driver (it's quite logical).

Regarding Ferrari, let's not get carried away, they already won 2 races this year. Things move quickly, remember McLaren at the beginning of the season they were a bit back. I will not be surprise if Ferrari ends up fighting for victories regularly after the summer break (i.e like in 2019). Mercedes certainly made progress but Canada (podium in 2022 and 2023 there) and Spain are historically good track for them and even more for Lewis so let's see.

[ringo]

Good result for Hamilton and Russel, but Russel got lucky and unlucky today. Slow pitstop and wrong tyre choice.
Hamilton had the faster race pace as usual, and had to do some key overtakes. Russel didn't do much wrong, and had a good fight with Norris. The fight was where he didn't see the big picture and lost out to Hamilton. He should have let Norris by. Lewis would have overtaken him right before he pitted anyway.

[j_ste]

Miles off it. Maybe thats to be expected but still.

3rd and 4th could have been 5th and 6th if the number 2's did their thing properly.

All credit to McLaren for what they have built.

[Luscion]

Miles off it. Maybe thats to be expected but still.

3rd and 4th could have been 5th and 6th if the number 2's did their thing properly.

All credit to McLaren for what they have built.

While Mclaren and Red Bull are definitely faster i dont think the gap is as big as the time sheets shows, Lewis was told by Bono to go into tire management right after he passed Russell, he asked Bono the times Lando was doing and seems like he just didnt bothered to push cause he would have never passed him and he didnt have to worry about Russell behind him

[214270]

Miles off it. Maybe thats to be expected but still.

3rd and 4th could have been 5th and 6th if the number 2's did their thing properly.

All credit to McLaren for what they have built.

While Mclaren and Red Bull are definitely faster i dont think the gap is as big as the time sheets shows, Lewis was told by Bono to go into tire management right after he passed Russell, he asked Bono the times Lando was doing and seems like he just didnt bothered to push cause he would have never passed him and he didnt have to worry about Russell behind him

It’s massive bud don’t kid yourself. Too much emphasis gets placed on quali pace, we’re waaay down on race pace. Without a gimmick, like rain or SC we’ve no chance. If they (McL or Rb) get past, they show a clean pair of heels