2024 Mercedes-AMG | Petronas F1 Team

[Just_a_fan]

Every weekend for 3 years in a row, there is some external reason and it isn't Lewis. If Lewis still hasn't learnt how to avoid contact at the start, it's really silly. That damage was his own doing. Going off the pitlane entry and getting a penalty, was his own doing. Sliding off track and getting floor damaged, was his own doing.

Getting pushed off is partly his doing and partly down to Sainz. But that's first corners - some you win, some you lose. Frankly, I don't think he would have been made to give the place back but Mercedes played it safe. At that point, Lewis was all over George like a cheap suit.

The pit lane entry thing - Lewis apologised to the team on the radio straight away. Wow, a driver holding his hand up rather than blaming everyone/thing else for his mistake. Would that some of the others did the same.

Going off line and picking up damage - again a simple mistake with a big affect but no blaming of others (unless you've heard radio to the contrary).

George is having a decent season so far, Lewis isn't. That's racing and well done to George for his performances to date.

[K1Plus]

Toto saying that on regular pace they are 2.5 tenths a lap behind.
This makes me think if they're naturally stronger in Silverstone and they have an upgrade package, they might contend there like in 2022.

[SKYnRacing24]

The criticism of Lewis is fair and someone i follow made a good example of why he can't put whole weekends together consistently. This started all back in 2023

2023

Bahrain - good performance, but marginally outqualified + maybe beats Sainz with better race management

Saudi - nowhere on pace all weekend

Australia - good performance, but comfortably outqualified + outstrategised by Russell before red flag

Baku - poor sprint qualifying + sprint + weak first stint main race, recovered well after SC

Miami - out in Q2, average race

Monaco - good performance, but weak in damp conditions on slicks

Spain - very good performance, but poor qualifying (final Q3 run) incl. contact with Russell which he was not completely innocent for and fortunate wasn't worse

Canada - very good performance, albeit weak in damp conditions Q1/Q2, maybe lucky to make Q3

Austria - out in SQ1, slow and track limits disaster in main race

Silverstone - slower than George all weekend, saved by SC, arguably should've passed Lando at restart

Hungary - awful start/lap 1, decent recovery but heavily compromised

Belgium - weak sprint qualifying incl. again unnecessary mix up with Russell + contact with Perez in sprint, good main race

Zandvoort - out in Q2, good recovery after rain chaos

Italy - slow all weekend, contact with Piastri

Singapore - weak qualifying compromised entire race

Japan - weak first stint, good otherwise

Qatar - out in SQ2 + hits George and DNF lap 1

USA - great performance all weekend (sprint q, sprint, q, race)

Mexico - great performance (good Q, solid racecraft + pace)

Brazil - poor tyre management in sprint race, reasonable main race

Vegas - nowhere on pace all weekend + contact with Piastri

Abu Dhabi - nowhere on pace all weekend



2024

Bahrain - average in quali and race

Saudi - nowhere on pace

Australia - out in Q2, average race before DNF

Japan - weak first stint, reasonable recovery

China - good sprint quali + sprint but out in Q1 for main race and zero pace

Miami - scrappy sprint and inconsisent quali, but good race

Imola - weak qualifying, mistake mid race but recovered well

Monaco - average qualifying, nothing race

Canada - weak qualifying, again mistake mid race, decent enough pace

Spain - good performance albeit poor start

Austria - generally slow + floor damage twice in one weekend, 5s for pit entry line

[Dunlay]

Every weekend for 3 years in a row, there is some external reason and it isn't Lewis. If Lewis still hasn't learnt how to avoid contact at the start, it's really silly. That damage was his own doing. Going off the pitlane entry and getting a penalty, was his own doing. Sliding off track and getting floor damaged, was his own doing.

Getting pushed off is partly his doing and partly down to Sainz. But that's first corners - some you win, some you lose. Frankly, I don't think he would have been made to give the place back but Mercedes played it safe. At that point, Lewis was all over George like a cheap suit.

The pit lane entry thing - Lewis apologised to the team on the radio straight away. Wow, a driver holding his hand up rather than blaming everyone/thing else for his mistake. Would that some of the others did the same.

Going off line and picking up damage - again a simple mistake with a big affect but no blaming of others (unless you've heard radio to the contrary).

George is having a decent season so far, Lewis isn't. That's racing and well done to George for his performances to date.

Don't get me wrong. It's really annoying to see people coming up with reasons to justify his sub par performances. Lewis was very honest in saying sorry to the team for his white line excursion. He accepts his mistakes and most of the times is gracious, while at times he drops the guard while speaking to the press. Last weekend someone was alleging that he did something on purpose to hinder George's qualifying lap, which I said, it wasn't. Lewis is not dirty. Some of his ardent fans were getting pumped up thinking it was a purposeful and Lewis is waking and all that stuff. He doesn't do s**t on track. Even when he has had tangles, it was just adrenaline going a little over without him wilfully trying to damage someone's race. For all the shenanigans against George here for being ahead of Lewis, in fact Lewis was congratulating George right there on the in lap after the race!

[Formula 1 fan]

I really wonder what could be specific upgrades for Silverstone race?

[mkay]

Toto saying that on regular pace they are 2.5 tenths a lap behind.
This makes me think if they're naturally stronger in Silverstone and they have an upgrade package, they might contend there like in 2022.

They didn't really content in 2022. Max would have won that race easily had he not picked up damage.

However, Merc probably had the best tyre deg of all top teams, an advantage which they do not enjoy this year.

[DGP123]

The criticism of Lewis is fair and someone i follow made a good example of why he can't put whole weekends together consistently. This started all back in 2023

2023

Bahrain - good performance, but marginally outqualified + maybe beats Sainz with better race management

Saudi - nowhere on pace all weekend

Australia - good performance, but comfortably outqualified + outstrategised by Russell before red flag

Baku - poor sprint qualifying + sprint + weak first stint main race, recovered well after SC

Miami - out in Q2, average race

Monaco - good performance, but weak in damp conditions on slicks

Spain - very good performance, but poor qualifying (final Q3 run) incl. contact with Russell which he was not completely innocent for and fortunate wasn't worse

Canada - very good performance, albeit weak in damp conditions Q1/Q2, maybe lucky to make Q3

Austria - out in SQ1, slow and track limits disaster in main race

Silverstone - slower than George all weekend, saved by SC, arguably should've passed Lando at restart

Hungary - awful start/lap 1, decent recovery but heavily compromised

Belgium - weak sprint qualifying incl. again unnecessary mix up with Russell + contact with Perez in sprint, good main race

Zandvoort - out in Q2, good recovery after rain chaos

Italy - slow all weekend, contact with Piastri

Singapore - weak qualifying compromised entire race

Japan - weak first stint, good otherwise

Qatar - out in SQ2 + hits George and DNF lap 1

USA - great performance all weekend (sprint q, sprint, q, race)

Mexico - great performance (good Q, solid racecraft + pace)

Brazil - poor tyre management in sprint race, reasonable main race

Vegas - nowhere on pace all weekend + contact with Piastri

Abu Dhabi - nowhere on pace all weekend



2024

Bahrain - average in quali and race

Saudi - nowhere on pace

Australia - out in Q2, average race before DNF

Japan - weak first stint, reasonable recovery

China - good sprint quali + sprint but out in Q1 for main race and zero pace

Miami - scrappy sprint and inconsisent quali, but good race

Imola - weak qualifying, mistake mid race but recovered well

Monaco - average qualifying, nothing race

Canada - weak qualifying, again mistake mid race, decent enough pace

Spain - good performance albeit poor start

Austria - generally slow + floor damage twice in one weekend, 5s for pit entry line

Jesus. You could do this for every driver outside of Max for the past two seasons, and they’d be just as bad, if not worse. Inevitable inconsistency, given the dogs that Mercedes have produced. Russell had a stinking 2023, or does that get forgotten?

This thread should just be named, ‘only as good as your last performance’. Basically, you can go from brilliant, to needing to retire, from week to week

[Jurgen von Diaz]

This is why the good qualis are important. It could have been Lewis who would have been the one to stalk the victory. Mercedes has the closest pairing on the grid, and these small differences can be the ones that differentiate between victory and defeat.

[Luscion]

Toto saying that on regular pace they are 2.5 tenths a lap behind.
This makes me think if they're naturally stronger in Silverstone and they have an upgrade package, they might contend there like in 2022.

I'd be surprised if Merc doesnt bring a decent size upgrade this weekend, others in the top 4 are and Merc would want a win (however unrealistic) at the home race of both their drivers. They've been making good progress going from 4th in no mans land up until Monaco and then getting 3 consecutive podiums

[ismail1991]

It is very shocking to read some of the comments here being made against Lewis. George won the race all of a sudden, everybody is like George is amazing better than Lewis. Last race when Lewis beat George, then George would never be team lead. Guys George today inherited the race win, he didnt win it by overtaking Lando and Max. He drove a good consistent race. For Lewis, he is not happy for a year, everybody can see it. Even when he get podiums last year, the team didnt show up for him. In the era of F1, no team gave the same treatment to the driver who is leaving. I am not sure whether he gets the same treatment or not now, nobody knows. However, he didnt forgot how to drive. He pushes hard maybe sometimes too much. He damaged the floor on the qualifying as well, maybe the patch repair job done for the race didnt last long during the race. He did his best to bring the car home for the solid p4 considering the floor damage and big hole in the sidepod. If Piastri didnt lose so much time in the first lap and then trying to overtake Lewis, he could easily win the race. Mercedes car is clearly behind Mclaren and only slightly in front of Ferrari. I hope Silverstone upgrade would be good and a good set-up without tire temp issues can be made for both drivers in Silverstone

As much as it sounds ridiculous of the criticism to Lewis, it's equally ridiculous to be downplaying George's performances! Woulda, coulda, shouda... doesn't work. If Oscar was a Senna, he would be 3 time WDC. If my granny had balls, she would be my grandpa. How long are we going to see reasons and excuses being churned out in defence of Lewis? Every weekend for 3 years in a row, there is some external reason and it isn't Lewis. If Lewis still hasn't learnt how to avoid contact at the start, it's really silly. That damage was his own doing. Going off the pitlane entry and getting a penalty, was his own doing. Sliding off track and getting floor damaged, was his own doing. If not for Max and Lando taking each other out, he wouldn't be 4th and George would still be on podium (woulda, coulda, shouda?)!

It's very natural that the team would not be taking his directions for the car development and he is going to end up behind George for the rest of the season for most qualifyings and races, even if his hardcore supporters want to ignore his age, which is also a big reason for the draining of performance. It's sad to see him in this situation. A supreme talent that entertained us like very few, is on the sunset and struggling. When Schumacher struggled at Mercedes for 3 years, it was a similar feeling. On his part, he was not just old, but was out of touch for 3 years that had taken out most of the sharpness from his reflexes. There will be Lewis' detractors who would use this as an opportunity to kick, but so long as Lewis continues in F1, this is unavoidable.

The same things can be said to George as well like binning the car under pressure several times last two-three years. I am not downplaying George, he had a consistent race and won it. Nothing very special like overtaking 5 drivers and winning it. In 2023, George was no where compared to Lewis in race trim. Lewis didn`t forget how to race in a year. He will bounce back when he feels comfortable

[Jurgen von Diaz]

It is very shocking to read some of the comments here being made against Lewis. George won the race all of a sudden, everybody is like George is amazing better than Lewis. Last race when Lewis beat George, then George would never be team lead. Guys George today inherited the race win, he didnt win it by overtaking Lando and Max. He drove a good consistent race. For Lewis, he is not happy for a year, everybody can see it. Even when he get podiums last year, the team didnt show up for him. In the era of F1, no team gave the same treatment to the driver who is leaving. I am not sure whether he gets the same treatment or not now, nobody knows. However, he didnt forgot how to drive. He pushes hard maybe sometimes too much. He damaged the floor on the qualifying as well, maybe the patch repair job done for the race didnt last long during the race. He did his best to bring the car home for the solid p4 considering the floor damage and big hole in the sidepod. If Piastri didnt lose so much time in the first lap and then trying to overtake Lewis, he could easily win the race. Mercedes car is clearly behind Mclaren and only slightly in front of Ferrari. I hope Silverstone upgrade would be good and a good set-up without tire temp issues can be made for both drivers in Silverstone

As much as it sounds ridiculous of the criticism to Lewis, it's equally ridiculous to be downplaying George's performances! Woulda, coulda, shouda... doesn't work. If Oscar was a Senna, he would be 3 time WDC. If my granny had balls, she would be my grandpa. How long are we going to see reasons and excuses being churned out in defence of Lewis? Every weekend for 3 years in a row, there is some external reason and it isn't Lewis. If Lewis still hasn't learnt how to avoid contact at the start, it's really silly. That damage was his own doing. Going off the pitlane entry and getting a penalty, was his own doing. Sliding off track and getting floor damaged, was his own doing. If not for Max and Lando taking each other out, he wouldn't be 4th and George would still be on podium (woulda, coulda, shouda?)!

It's very natural that the team would not be taking his directions for the car development and he is going to end up behind George for the rest of the season for most qualifyings and races, even if his hardcore supporters want to ignore his age, which is also a big reason for the draining of performance. It's sad to see him in this situation. A supreme talent that entertained us like very few, is on the sunset and struggling. When Schumacher struggled at Mercedes for 3 years, it was a similar feeling. On his part, he was not just old, but was out of touch for 3 years that had taken out most of the sharpness from his reflexes. There will be Lewis' detractors who would use this as an opportunity to kick, but so long as Lewis continues in F1, this is unavoidable.

The same things can be said to George as well like binning the car under pressure several times last two-three years. I am not downplaying George, he had a consistent race and won it. Nothing very special like overtaking 5 drivers and winning it. In 2023, George was no where compared to Lewis in race trim. Lewis didn`t forget how to race in a year. He will bounce back when he feels comfortable

No one forgets how to drive. Lewis just can't drive those shitbox Mercs as well as he did the previous ones. Age is going to be a factor too. It's no coincidence that he is slowly getting beaten by George 2-1 and losing in qualifying over and over again.

[ismail1991]

As much as it sounds ridiculous of the criticism to Lewis, it's equally ridiculous to be downplaying George's performances! Woulda, coulda, shouda... doesn't work. If Oscar was a Senna, he would be 3 time WDC. If my granny had balls, she would be my grandpa. How long are we going to see reasons and excuses being churned out in defence of Lewis? Every weekend for 3 years in a row, there is some external reason and it isn't Lewis. If Lewis still hasn't learnt how to avoid contact at the start, it's really silly. That damage was his own doing. Going off the pitlane entry and getting a penalty, was his own doing. Sliding off track and getting floor damaged, was his own doing. If not for Max and Lando taking each other out, he wouldn't be 4th and George would still be on podium (woulda, coulda, shouda?)!

It's very natural that the team would not be taking his directions for the car development and he is going to end up behind George for the rest of the season for most qualifyings and races, even if his hardcore supporters want to ignore his age, which is also a big reason for the draining of performance. It's sad to see him in this situation. A supreme talent that entertained us like very few, is on the sunset and struggling. When Schumacher struggled at Mercedes for 3 years, it was a similar feeling. On his part, he was not just old, but was out of touch for 3 years that had taken out most of the sharpness from his reflexes. There will be Lewis' detractors who would use this as an opportunity to kick, but so long as Lewis continues in F1, this is unavoidable.

The same things can be said to George as well like binning the car under pressure several times last two-three years. I am not downplaying George, he had a consistent race and won it. Nothing very special like overtaking 5 drivers and winning it. In 2023, George was no where compared to Lewis in race trim. Lewis didn`t forget how to race in a year. He will bounce back when he feels comfortable

No one forgets how to drive. Lewis just can't drive those shitbox Mercs as well as he did the previous ones. Age is going to be a factor too. It's no coincidence that he is slowly getting beaten by George 2-1 and losing in qualifying over and over again.

He just couldn't adopt to these new 2024 tires as much as George could do. I am sure as in 2022 and 2023 he will be much stronger in the second half of the year. For me, there is no surprise Toto`s prince is ahead in the qualifying head to heads.

[ismail1991]

The same things can be said to George as well like binning the car under pressure several times last two-three years. I am not downplaying George, he had a consistent race and won it. Nothing very special like overtaking 5 drivers and winning it. In 2023, George was no where compared to Lewis in race trim. Lewis didn`t forget how to race in a year. He will bounce back when he feels comfortable

No one forgets how to drive. Lewis just can't drive those shitbox Mercs as well as he did the previous ones. Age is going to be a factor too. It's no coincidence that he is slowly getting beaten by George 2-1 and losing in qualifying over and over again.

He just couldn't adopt to these new 2024 tires as much as George could do. I am sure as in 2022 and 2023 he will be much stronger in the second half of the year. For me, there is no surprise Toto`s prince is ahead in the qualifying head to heads.

Anyways the reason for me to send some messages defending Lewis was the messages I have read here. Merc fans should celebrate the George`s win but there is no need to dispraise Lewis, he didn`t have a clean race. That`s all

[SiLo]

No one forgets how to drive. Lewis just can't drive those shitbox Mercs as well as he did the previous ones. Age is going to be a factor too. It's no coincidence that he is slowly getting beaten by George 2-1 and losing in qualifying over and over again.

He just couldn't adopt to these new 2024 tires as much as George could do. I am sure as in 2022 and 2023 he will be much stronger in the second half of the year. For me, there is no surprise Toto`s prince is ahead in the qualifying head to heads.

Anyways the reason for me to send some messages defending Lewis was the messages I have read here. Merc fans should celebrate the George`s win but there is no need to dispraise Lewis, he didn`t have a clean race. That`s all

Lewis chillin waiting for his move to Ferrari. It's all change next year.

[AR3-GP]

Epiphany: Toto is trying to recreate 2013/2014. The parallels are striking.