2021 AMG Mercedes F1 Team

[MKlaus]

Lewis is testing the 18 inch wheels. Looks super dope imo.

in allison's words, these tyres appeal to the teenagers who are fans of fast & furious, not the f1 engineers.

[e30ernest]

Yeah doesn't really appeal to me. However, I do see how this can be more relevant for car and tire manufacturers though.

[214270]

Lewis is testing the 18 inch wheels. Looks super dope imo.

Absolutely no chance this is his final season if he’s that invested.

[LHamilton]

Lewis is testing the 18 inch wheels. Looks super dope imo.

Absolutely no chance this is his final season if he’s that invested.

Personally I don't get this "Hamilton might retire this season" talk. I for one would be really suprised if he did. Hamilton has time and time again said that he wants to battle other people. And having a few seasons and races where that hasn't happend as often as he probably would've liked, he could very well be looking at the new rules and be thinking that would be a good chance of that changing for two reasons. (1) The gap closing between teams, and (2) the possibility of closer battles due to the new regulations promoting the capacity to stay closer to the car ahead in dirty air.

On top of the regulation changes to the car we get new tyres, which most likely will behave differently. So 2022 will be a big change and a new learning curve. And for someone like Hamilton who's been in F1 for a long time, that might also be a breath of fresh air and re-motivate him to go on (if that was an issue for him).

So I'm thinking that he will give the new rules a go and see where that leads. One year, maybe two. If it doesn't satisfy him, he will likely retire after that.

[Big Tea]

If you don’t finish the race, you can fit a new GB without a penalty.

I think this is no longer the case. I believe you are now allowed 3 and that's it without a penalty.

the rule is still there.
https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files ... -03-19.pdf

23.5 a)

Each driver may use no more than one gearbox for six consecutive Events in which his
Competitor competes. Should a driver use a replacement gearbox he will drop five places
on the starting grid at that Event and an additional five places each time a further gearbox
is used.

Any replacement gearbox will only be required to complete the remainder of the Event in
question.

Unless the driver fails to finish the race (or is unable to start the race for reasons other
than a penalty imposed by the stewards) the gearbox fitted to the car at the end of the
Event must remain in it for the remainder of the six race sequence.
Any driver who failed to finish the race at the first, second, third, fourth or fifth of the six
Events for reasons which the Technical Delegate accepts as being beyond the control of
the Competitor or driver, may start the following Event with a different gearbox without
a penalty being incurred.

My apologies, I thought it had been superseded by the limit.

[dans79]

I think this is no longer the case. I believe you are now allowed 3 and that's it without a penalty.

the rule is still there.
https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files ... -03-19.pdf

23.5 a)

Each driver may use no more than one gearbox for six consecutive Events in which his
Competitor competes. Should a driver use a replacement gearbox he will drop five places
on the starting grid at that Event and an additional five places each time a further gearbox
is used.

Any replacement gearbox will only be required to complete the remainder of the Event in
question.

Unless the driver fails to finish the race (or is unable to start the race for reasons other
than a penalty imposed by the stewards) the gearbox fitted to the car at the end of the
Event must remain in it for the remainder of the six race sequence.
Any driver who failed to finish the race at the first, second, third, fourth or fifth of the six
Events for reasons which the Technical Delegate accepts as being beyond the control of
the Competitor or driver, may start the following Event with a different gearbox without
a penalty being incurred.

My apologies, I thought it had been superseded by the limit.

No need to apologize!

[zibby43]

Mercedes better on tire degradation; warm-up issues costing pace in qualifying and on Inters early in stints.

A role reversal from previous Mercs that enjoyed cool temperatures.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/merc ... l/6361748/

To be fair, I have a feeling the W11 probably had the same "issue" but it was masked by DAS. It's apparent now that DAS has been outlawed.

Tyre warmup is one thing, but Merc's priority should be on improving rear aerodynamic performance and improving 1-lap PU performance. Mercedes gave up a lot of lap time through fast corners in both Imola and Bahrain and the clipping is bound to have cost Merc probably a tenth or so at Imola, and more in Bahrain.

On the PU side, still unclear to me how the PU can be so good over deploying/harvesting over a race distance, but be clipping like hell over 1-lap. Fortunately, it may suggest there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the PU, but they need to get to the bottom of this given how tight qualifying has been thus far. A few tenths here and there will go a long way.

DAS only pertained to the fronts though. So it likely helped, but the W11 already adequately heated the rears. Balanced tire surface heating on all 4 corners is critical.

I think finding a wider operating window for the car setup will not only help with the consistency of performance at the rear of the car, but with managing the tire temperatures, too.

The tire temperatures alone are a huge performance differentiator. They were the difference between Bottas setting a lap in Q1 that would’ve been good enough for P4 and him ultimately settling for P8 in Q3.

Crucial to get that sorted. Maybe the warmer temperatures on non-cheese grater circuits (e.g., Bahrain) will help.

[Jolle]

Mercedes better on tire degradation; warm-up issues costing pace in qualifying and on Inters early in stints.

A role reversal from previous Mercs that enjoyed cool temperatures.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/merc ... l/6361748/

To be fair, I have a feeling the W11 probably had the same "issue" but it was masked by DAS. It's apparent now that DAS has been outlawed.

Tyre warmup is one thing, but Merc's priority should be on improving rear aerodynamic performance and improving 1-lap PU performance. Mercedes gave up a lot of lap time through fast corners in both Imola and Bahrain and the clipping is bound to have cost Merc probably a tenth or so at Imola, and more in Bahrain.

On the PU side, still unclear to me how the PU can be so good over deploying/harvesting over a race distance, but be clipping like hell over 1-lap. Fortunately, it may suggest there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the PU, but they need to get to the bottom of this given how tight qualifying has been thus far. A few tenths here and there will go a long way.

DAS only pertained to the fronts though. So it likely helped, but the W11 already adequately heated the rears. Balanced tire surface heating on all 4 corners is critical.

I think finding a wider operating window for the car setup will not only help with the consistency of performance at the rear of the car, but with managing the tire temperatures, too.

The tire temperatures alone are a huge performance differentiator. They were the difference between Bottas setting a lap in Q1 that would’ve been good enough for P4 and him ultimately settling for P8 in Q3.

Crucial to get that sorted. Maybe the warmer temperatures on non-cheese grater circuits (e.g., Bahrain) will help.

It’s also a setup choice I think. The slower warmup seems to lengthen the useful tirelife. Could be we will have several races where a redbull will gain pole, with a few seconds clear after 6 laps, with Hamilton gaining after that. Especially fighting with a RedBull, who are usually set up for max corner speed and less with top speed, track position isn’t as critical as it was when Ferrari was challenging them.

[SmallSoldier]

Bottas may need a new PU after the crash last race... Which will get him off sync for PU elements for the season and ensures a penalty down the season:

https://www.racefans.net/2021/04/21/bot ... -in-crash/


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Hoffman900]

Bottas may need a new PU after the crash last race... Which will get him off sync for PU elements for the season and ensures a penalty down the season:

https://www.racefans.net/2021/04/21/bot ... -in-crash/


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Not shocked. Thrust bearings, main / con bearings, etc. all take a beating in a hard impact.

Also engines being structural members potentially means all sorts of issues in a crash.

How mad do you think Toto will be if they lose the manufacturers championship because of points loss due to this?

[dans79]

I thought even with the component restrictions some stuff was still allowed to be replaced do to an actual accident?

[Maritimer]

I thought even with the component restrictions some stuff was still allowed to be replaced do to an actual accident?

Gearboxes yes, not sure about engines

[MKlaus]

while fia is on austerity mode, shouldn't they bring changes to the crash structure to include a hard survival cell type protection casing to the pu? these are extremely expensive components and ensuring their safety would save a lot of money for all the teams. may be i am too dumb to talk on this and there can be several technical aspects for not doing it or might not seem possible, but i think it should be considered at least.

[Hoffman900]

while fia is on austerity mode, shouldn't they bring changes to the crash structure to include a hard survival cell type protection casing to the pu? these are extremely expensive components and ensuring their safety would save a lot of money for all the teams. may be i am too dumb to talk on this and there can be several technical aspects for not doing it or might not seem possible, but i think it should be considered at least.

The cars would become very bulky and even heavier.

The suspensions are designed to break away, but a big impact is going to hurt things regardless. Take a reciprocating machine with tight tolerances, and give it a good whack, apply loads in different directions, etc. There really is no way around not having to tear the engine down, even in an application where the engine isn’t a structural member. It’s not uncommon to see broken thrust bearings, etc in an engine that has had much smaller impacts than what we saw Sunday.

Take Yuki’s crash for example. That engine was still spinning at several thousand rpm, then apply a huge load to the gearbox, and where it wants to snap away from the PU

[RZS10]

Motorsport Total reports that the damage to Bottas' car was roughly 1m GBP=1.2m€=$1.44m ... so ONE PERCENT of the entire budget for this year.