Have you heard a story called 'the boy who cried WOLF?' Pun intended.Phil wrote: ↑21 Feb 2019, 00:03But it hasn't been that same guy talking. This has been the 'gist' by other teams. Like it or not, many credible journalists who are actually at pre-testing right now talk to the teams. They have their contacts, they pick up on things. Some things more subtle than others, but nevertheless, a picture forms.Schuttelberg wrote: ↑20 Feb 2019, 23:13Yes, this same guy was telling us how close Ferrari and RBR are from 2014-16. It's okay to be cautious, quite another to troll hardcore motorsport fans who love the sport. If the Ferrari was faster and Toto was certain about it, he would be making daft insinuations about them being cheats, like he did mid 2018.
We know for a fact that these new front-wings have triggered a major change and rethink. What worked in 2017 and 2018 likely doesn't apply in 2019 anymore. That's a fact.
There are different philosophies at play here. For one, we have high-rake vs low-rake. There have been concerns that high-rake might be problematic because the new front-wing regs make it more difficult to seal the floor. In theory, this should have helped Mercedes. Yet, from the concepts we are seeing on the Ferrari and AlfaRomeo, it seems that they at least have found a way to make it work.
Mercedes have clearly gone the other way. They have retained the low-rake concept and their front-wing follows that concept. 2018 was extremely close between them, Ferrari and RedBull. It is only reasonable to expect that this year with closer engine parity, getting the aero right will be crucial.
Some might think Mercedes is just playing games. Maybe they are, and if true, then perhaps they are playing it brilliantly. But from where I am sitting, I do have my doubts. Ferrari looks very confident so far. I'm not taking it for granted that Mercedes will ace another year with their car. Every time there is such a regulation change, there's a chance that a team gets something right that everyone else gets wrong. Missing a tick so to speak. It's possible. And if true, as I said, I expect Toto to be the kind of man to take matters into his own hands and take such things very seriously. A championship is at stake.
The level of denial in this topic at the sheer possibility that Mercedes may have got something wrong [vs Ferrari or RedBull] to me shows that some fans are actually worried and therefore ready to downplay anything that hints at that at being comical, absurd or blatant spam. Think again.
When you constantly insult the intelligence of pundits and fans alike, you kind of become untrustworthy. What you said in an elaborate post is possible, but when Toto says it, it sounds insincere and I am using this word because I can't swear.
As I said in an earlier post as well- It's going to come down to one of the top three teams and considering the rule change is not so massive, by the time we get to Europe they will be fighting for wins over details. If anything, I feel it will be Mercedes vs Ferrari with the Bulls playing catch up. If I had to choose one, I would choose the Merc because of the continuity, the absence of fear of winning, better operations and a Hamilton high on confidence compared to a pretty crestfallen Vettel of 2018. Ferrari have also had two major personnel changes while Mercedes are basically fine tuning stuff.
Anyone who believes anything else other than Mercedes being favourites to win the titles is trolling the public or running the same PR tirade that Wolff runs.
