2024 Mercedes-AMG | Petronas F1 Team

[organic]

I am going to hold a popcorn bucket to see that huge mess, at Ferrari next year.

It takes two to tango and so far, George has proved, he isn't one for tangos, on track or off track.

George has tried to pull a couple fast ones before.. It's just that Lewis hasn't really squeezed him as the two are in different career cycles and aren't fighting for much. When Kimi arrives, he will be pushing for poles ans wins to prove himself... And if it ever so happens the car is the quickest... The two drivers will be fighting for their first championship! So it will get veeeery tasty!!

Even if they aren't fighting for a championship in 2025, it will get very tasty. Especially if the thought "Max might decide to switch Mercedes" is in the air.

Yes I think George will be quite keen to cement his place... And maybe that'll spill into his on-track driving

[Dunlay]

George has tried to pull a couple fast ones before.. It's just that Lewis hasn't really squeezed him as the two are in different career cycles and aren't fighting for much. When Kimi arrives, he will be pushing for poles ans wins to prove himself... And if it ever so happens the car is the quickest... The two drivers will be fighting for their first championship! So it will get veeeery tasty!!

Even if they aren't fighting for a championship in 2025, it will get very tasty. Especially if the thought "Max might decide to switch Mercedes" is in the air.

Yes I think George will be quite keen to cement his place... And maybe that'll spill into his on-track driving

I have said this before and say this again. We are not in Bridgestone era where rookies had hay day and can simply push the car to it's limit. These Pirellis are a black art and it takes a lot of experience to understand as to how to use them. That's one of the reasons why Piastri struggles to consistently match Lando. It was the same for George when he arrived at Mercedes. Lewis had his legs up on him. Besides, George has won his junior championships and has a lot of experience in F1 and more specifically with Pirellis and the struggling platform of the current Mercedes cars. Kimi, without any such pedigree, coming and beating, heck even matching would be a herculean task. He probably will have a few better weekends first year, but that's about it. It would take a couple of years minimum to get his understanding. George is also getting in his prime, unlike Lewis who was getting older. So expecting George to be stagnating and Kimi having consistent battles with him would be naive.

[OverheatedTurbo]

I was just thinking about the W15. I have a suspicion that there is an intrinsic design flaw somewhere from the W13 in the current car. The team needs to find it ASAP or else they’re going to stay 4th fastest for 2025. It has to be linked to the car being doodoo in full fuel, but it’s all speculation in my part.

Yes it is instrinsic. Yes they know what it is. Mercedes cars in the hybrid era can only work at low ride heights... Very poor at low speed when they have to compromize rear roll for traction. In other words they will suck at hot, tracks slower speed tracks, because their aero platform doesn't work if it is not low and stiff.

That’s true since they ran the low rake concept in the previous regs. What you’re saying makes sense if we take Shov’s comments in august saying that the “overheating of the rear axle is due to how they run the car.” If they can figure out how to make next year’s car ride softer and higher without losing much performance, they’ll be up there, but it’s a tough ask. Let’s see what they concoct for next year. I have zero expectations for them.

[FW17]

Toto talks about Lewis's shelf life, what is his? Can this guy manage a team only when he has a 100hp advantage?

[PlatinumZealot]

Even if they aren't fighting for a championship in 2025, it will get very tasty. Especially if the thought "Max might decide to switch Mercedes" is in the air.

Yes I think George will be quite keen to cement his place... And maybe that'll spill into his on-track driving

I have said this before and say this again. We are not in Bridgestone era where rookies had hay day and can simply push the car to it's limit. These Pirellis are a black art and it takes a lot of experience to understand as to how to use them. That's one of the reasons why Piastri struggles to consistently match Lando. It was the same for George when he arrived at Mercedes. Lewis had his legs up on him. Besides, George has won his junior championships and has a lot of experience in F1 and more specifically with Pirellis and the struggling platform of the current Mercedes cars. Kimi, without any such pedigree, coming and beating, heck even matching would be a herculean task. He probably will have a few better weekends first year, but that's about it. It would take a couple of years minimum to get his understanding. George is also getting in his prime, unlike Lewis who was getting older. So expecting George to be stagnating and Kimi having consistent battles with him would be naive.

Very flawed theory there! I don't ever remember Rookies having a day to come up to full speed in the Bridgestone era. There were exceptions, but it was not the norm. I actually think today's rookies are way stronger than those days. They aren't up to full RACE PACE obviously, but they are quicker in raw pace for sure. And it doesn't take long. Remember Piastri is only in his second year and is winning races, and he is not a guy that you would call the next Max or Leclerc.

[proteus]

That person makes all kinds of hot takes that seem entirely inexplicable.

It's very sad how Hamilton fans have turned on Antonelli already - who is a huge Hamilton fan himself and has always praised and looked up to him...

Russell and Antonelli will be fine, as will Hamilton and Leclerc. Thank goodness F1 drivers don't have the same rude mentalities as their fans.

It was the same with George. They literally demonized him every time he had a tiny clash with Lewis, or even when he achieved a better result.

[Espresso]

Hollus removed my last response to this post and doesn't explain why? I am intrigued. What kind of moderation is that?

Same here, one brief comment shadow-banned with zero explanation whilst other comments on the same topic stay up. There's seemingly no standards, if the moderator dislikes you or your opinion it disappears from the ether.

I think the only standard is if something is not to hollus' taste, regardless whether it is to the forum's standards or not. Otherwise, there is loads of nonsense written here that goes without any attention. I have seen other mods corrects the posts and let the appropriate part sit, but not this guy.

Allright, enough going in circles.
What apparently needed to be said about Team Lewis 2025 has been said, and it involves no green colors. It is only adding repetition and it will probably just be unceremoniously deleted in this thread.

Common lads please stop the moaning and move forward. Just qouted it in case you missed it.

[hollus]

Note: The post above looks out of place because many posts have been removed around it. I'll leave that one in place as a reminder of what is going on.

[hollus]

Thread reopened after I locked it for clean-up, and then forgot to re-open. Again.

My apologies, and a reminder that you all can report or write to the mods to remind us if this happens.
It was never my intention to lock it for 5 days.

[Mattchu]

Thread reopened after I locked it for clean-up, and then forgot to re-open. Again.

It was never my intention to lock it for 5 days.

Come on hollus, pull your self together man

It would seem at the moment, Mercedes are only competitive if a certain set of circumstances are present, not good for the future!

[OverheatedTurbo]

They raised the car due to the TD + Cold temps and I think Merc can throw a spanner in this race. Crazy

[dialtone]

They raised the car due to the TD + Cold temps and I think Merc can throw a spanner in this race. Crazy

Nah it’s nothing to do with the floor. MCL didn’t have to change the floor and yet it’s behind and about same times as Ferrari who instead had to change the floor.

This is just temperature.

[OverheatedTurbo]

They raised the car due to the TD + Cold temps and I think Merc can throw a spanner in this race. Crazy

Nah it’s nothing to do with the floor. MCL didn’t have to change the floor and yet it’s behind and about same times as Ferrari who instead had to change the floor.

This is just temperature.

But Merc were forced to raise the floor since they can’t use the skid block loop holes no? They were also on the list along with Vcarb, Haas, Red Bull, Ferrari and AM. They need to get to the bottom of the temp issues. They have a decent car once the tyres aren’t getting cooked.

[Hammerfist]

Mercs are just the champions of cold weather. That and the slick track surface is helping tremendously. Notice no complaints of bouncing this week. Let's see what happens in quali and the race.

[Farnborough]

I posted this to race thread before FP started, as MB thread was closed

"Mercedes could be quite competitive here this race.

If there's one thing that demonstrates higher download, then cooler conditions and the ability of the platform to flex the tire carcass confirms that data. Their problem will, as usual, being able to maintain control of that accumulated load while taking the rear tire into it's bounce frequency. If they can avoid that aspect, they'll be fast off the bat.

We're soon going to see the competitive order, and how the recent "clarifications " of technical aspect play out.

Probably will be close within top 10 position."

Looks like it moves towards this chassis as it appears to be able to generate higher downforce than many, that really helps flex the tire carcass when cooler, may assist with resistance to graining also. Low ambient and track surface temperature making this advantageous.
The tire starting pressure is quite high (maybe adjusted after FP2, I understand) and possibly that assisting bounce resistance condition as the tire moves into a different frequency responses with that shift.

If they have had to lift it, that could also bring just a little more consistent response at corner entry.

Looks effective so far.