2025 Mercedes-AMG | Petronas F1 Team

[Cs98]

Probably only as fast as Ferrari:

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/mark ... ing-order/

Rb a wildcard according to Hughes.

What a bunch of nonsense in that article. At no point in the afternoon was Hamilton matching George's pace on anything. Did he even watch the testing, or is he just making stuff up as he goes?

A lot of media revenue is dependent on the hype train not derailing, expect coverage to reflect that.

[Hammerfist]

I find it extremely hard to make out a pecking order now. It seems to me there is a big four but Williams and Alpine are the wildcards that might overcome the big 4 on occasion and even win a race or two. So the pecking order will probably vary from track to track early on. I don't see a case where Mclaren runs away with the first 5 races a la RB20 or something. Going to be a super tight season and the driver and team strategies are going to be the deciding factors. Exciting times ahead.

[OverheatedTurbo]

I find it extremely hard to make out a pecking order now. It seems to me there is a big four but Williams and Alpine are the wildcards that might overcome the big 4 on occasion and even win a race or two. So the pecking order will probably vary from track to track early on. I don't see a case where Mclaren runs away with the first 5 races a la RB20 or something. Going to be a super tight season and the driver and team strategies are going to be the deciding factors. Exciting times ahead.

How so? That C3 stint from Norris/Piastri seems ominous. The W16 either requires more fine tuning/upgrades or better setup to reduce the tire wear on this tough Bahrain tarmac. The W16 seems to liken harder compounds like the C2/C1.

[ringo]

This team did a great job on the car but it is very similar to W15 but more refined.
I am not sure if it will be a good car. It has flashes of pace. Maybe a top qualifier!
But as we know the Merc can be an enigma.

Has Kimi given any feedback to the media?

[venkyhere]

a well written mature summary of Bahrain testing : https://www.planetf1.com/news/f1-testin ... servations

[Cocles]

Best testing session for Merc in years.

[Mosin123]

Car looked good, should be a good season if testing is any thing to go by, cant wait for Australia to really see how it does

[Chuckjr]

The lap times for GR's C2 stint day 3 was metronomic. Wow.
35.5
35.6
35.4
35.3
35.1
35.0
35.1
35.1
35.0
35.3
35.1
35.3
35.1
35.0
35.0
35.1
35.0
35.3
35.2
35.2
35.1

[Lasssept]

@FDataAnalysis

RUS had a virtual 16.5s gap to PIA at the end of the 50 laps

He had much higher degradation (and worse pace) on Softs
Yet, he almost matched PIA in the last 2 stints



https://x.com/FDataAnalysis/status/1895826680821719516

[nitrotech]

Something to think about. Comparing Kimi and Russel's race sims from 2 days.

Why was Russell slower in first 2 stints and faster in 3rd stint?

[Chuckjr]

Merc have two metronomes. Nice. Antonelli's lap consistency in testing is impressive. He seems very comfortable in the car. I hope he shows the same maturity levels in his race craft.

[zibby43]

The Race’s team rankings after testing:

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/ever ... 5-testing/

(Merc 2nd)

[Matt2725]

Something to think about. Comparing Kimi and Russel's race sims from 2 days.

Why was Russell slower in first 2 stints and faster in 3rd stint?

https://i.ibb.co/YF0sh3Vy/compare-stints.png

Track temp will be one factor. We also can't guarantee they were running identical setups. It's all testing of course.
Consensus is that Russell should be around 3 tenths per lap quicker out the gate, but we'll see how Antonelli closes that gap.

[venkyhere]

The Race’s team rankings after testing:

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/ever ... 5-testing/

(Merc 2nd)

why does everyone have to come up with a 'ranking' order ?
why is it not enough to conclude 'McLaren look best and others have to catch up, Williams & Alpine look good in the midfield' ?
There is no meaningful data available to anyone outside the teams, so coming to a quantitative conclusion is impossible, so why not settle for a qualitative opinion instead ?

There is so much 'information for the sake of information' that is being generated over these two weeks between testing and the first race. Even otherwise, it will be only after 3-4 races that a 'trend' will be clear as to the ranking order in terms of pace. It is such 'information' that clutters the mind of the F1 viewer, before he watches a race weekend. Sometimes, having too much info/clutter in the mind can spoil the viewing experience, and dull the excitement of watching a quali/race.

[zibby43]

The Race’s team rankings after testing:

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/ever ... 5-testing/

(Merc 2nd)

why does everyone have to come up with a 'ranking' order ?
why is it not enough to conclude 'McLaren look best and others have to catch up, Williams & Alpine look good in the midfield' ?
There is no meaningful data available to anyone outside the teams, so coming to a quantitative conclusion is impossible, so why not settle for a qualitative opinion instead ?

There is so much 'information for the sake of information' that is being generated over these two weeks between testing and the first race. Even otherwise, it will be only after 3-4 races that a 'trend' will be clear as to the ranking order in terms of pace. It is such 'information' that clutters the mind of the F1 viewer, before he watches a race weekend. Sometimes, having too much info/clutter in the mind can spoil the viewing experience, and dull the excitement of watching a quali/race.

For the same reason the board exists. To speculate on the basis of observations and information.