2021 AMG Mercedes F1 Team

[Phil]

Drivers profit of new engines. Cars can be crashed purposly. Cars that have more crashed should not benifit their drivers with new and better engines.

[dans79]

I think the bigger issue is the over regulation of the sport. The RULes have pushed everyone into exorbitantly expensive R&D, with the need for everything to be as reliable as possible, efficient as possible.

in my personal opinion stuff would be much cheaper if we went back to everything only needing to last a weekend, with a dose of common sense. active aero and suspension would also most likely drastically reduce cost.

It is a difficult call whether or not this will this will be cheaper in the end and requires profound knowledge of the production costs. It used to be like that but I think they left this strategy when teams in financial trouble did no longer have parts for the wings, the gearbox and so on and hardly could participate at all.

Again that's over regulation in my opinion. We used to have customer cars, and teams didn't have to compete in every race of the season.

[Tizz]

Again that's over regulation in my opinion. We used to have customer cars, and teams didn't have to compete in every race of the season.

Maybe so, but it were different times. There were more cars than places on the grid. In recent times there have been many occasions where it was unsure whether or not there would be a decent number of cars on the grid. TV broadcasters require a number of cars and a number of races. Formula1 and the sponsors require the teams participate in all the races. It is the legacy of Bernie Ecclestone.

[dans79]

Again that's over regulation in my opinion. We used to have customer cars, and teams didn't have to compete in every race of the season.

Maybe so, but it were different times. There were more cars than places on the grid. In recent times there have been many occasions where it was unsure whether or not there would be a decent number of cars on the grid. TV broadcasters require a number of cars and a number of races. Formula1 and the sponsors require the teams participate in all the races. It is the legacy of Bernie Ecclestone.

Yeah, that's the underlying problem Bernie's constant need to maximize profits at all costs. He slowly cut off his nose to spite his face!

[Jolle]

This discussion is a bit late. For mechanical components that you can’t replace without a penalty has been a “problem” ever since engines had to last at least a whole weekend. Never been a problem or an issue with team bosses. And the “problem” isn’t just components. What if Perez clumsy hits Hamilton in Q1?
I think the Toto comments is more his own realisation that he has to operate within a strict budget. Something 7 out of 10 teams were already doing.

[adrianjordan]

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.

Totally agree. Also, Lewis' demeanour this season, particularly after that last race, seems happier than he's seemed in a while. I think he's relishing the challenge this season and will stick around for a few more.

I genuinely believe the "we didn't have time" reasoning for him only signing a 1 year extension.

[MKlaus]

extended video of the test. those tyres seems ultra slow. atleast that's what appears to the naked eye without any graphics.

[dans79]

extended video of the test. those tyres seems ultra slow. atleast that's what appears to the naked eye without any graphics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3Gm0t_DlPQ

The runs are more about gathering as much data as possible, then trying to set the fastest lap times.

[dans79]

It's also worth mentioning that the car most likely wasn't optimized to run these tires. With the reduced sidewall, the suspension will be required to do more of the work teams used to rely on the sidewalls to do.

Having watched a good chunk of the video at 1/4th speed the sidewalls appear to be very stiff. I didn't see any of lateral oscillations like you do with the current generation of tires. Not to mention Lewis was staying well away from all the high curbs.

[zibby43]

Pretty optimistic outlook for Merc, as outlined by Scarbs:

[dans79]

Pretty optimistic outlook for Merc, as outlined by Scarbs:

https://youtu.be/2Rcj2x5tpu8

I think the biggest step they will take, will be being able to switch on the softer compounds without sacrificing the degradation advantage they have right now.

[zibby43]

Pretty optimistic outlook for Merc, as outlined by Scarbs:

https://youtu.be/2Rcj2x5tpu8

I think the biggest step they will take, will be being able to switch on the softer compounds without sacrificing the degradation advantage they have right now.

100% agreed. In terms of overall team performance, Bottas needs to get comfortable with the car. As Scarbs said, Hamilton is able to extract the performance out of it despite it being a bit on a knife's edge like the '18 car.

Also saw where Horner said, via The Race, that he expects Portimao to play to Merc's strengths. I agree with his assessment, but it still should be pretty close in quali.

[Juzh]

Pretty optimistic outlook for Merc, as outlined by Scarbs:

https://youtu.be/2Rcj2x5tpu8

I think the biggest step they will take, will be being able to switch on the softer compounds without sacrificing the degradation advantage they have right now.

100% agreed. In terms of overall team performance, Bottas needs to get comfortable with the car. As Scarbs said, Hamilton is able to extract the performance out of it despite it being a bit on a knife's edge like the '18 car.

Also saw where Horner said, via The Race, that he expects Portimao to play to Merc's strengths. I agree with his assessment, but it still should be pretty close in quali.

I believe he meant 2017. I don't remember anything being wrong with 2018 car. That one took pole in melbourne with 7 tenths margin.

[Just_a_fan]

I think the biggest step they will take, will be being able to switch on the softer compounds without sacrificing the degradation advantage they have right now.

100% agreed. In terms of overall team performance, Bottas needs to get comfortable with the car. As Scarbs said, Hamilton is able to extract the performance out of it despite it being a bit on a knife's edge like the '18 car.

Also saw where Horner said, via The Race, that he expects Portimao to play to Merc's strengths. I agree with his assessment, but it still should be pretty close in quali.

I believe he meant 2017. I don't remember anything being wrong with 2018 car. That one took pole in melbourne with 7 tenths margin.

Yeah, he wasn't sure himself "was it the 2018 diva they had?". The 2017 car was the one the team referred to as a diva.

[e30ernest]

Yeah if I recall correctly, the W08 (2017) was the "Diva". The fight was tight during that year with Mercedes clawing back and finally dominating in the latter half of the season.