b2bL44 wrote: ↑24 Jun 2021, 08:33
When was the last time Mercedes had a car that could follow another car in its gearbox lap after lap after lap like we've seen this season? I think this is the first time in the turbo-hybrid era. The W12 is a beast in race pace, the weakness remains in balance and getting the front tyres up to temp.
As Toto pointed out again last week in France, understanding of the tyres is the priority for the 2021 season. That's where Mercedes will gain pace this season.
Are people really just noticing this now? (isn't this a conversation for the Mercedes W12 thread though?... Not my call, not snitching)
The introduction of the W10 (my favourite hybrid era Mercedes) for the 2019 aero rules overhaul represented a massive change in their prototype's so-called "DNA", their car was no longer a low drag, super efficient, straight line optimized missile (this attribute was often cited as proof that they have an overpowered engine in a mediocre chassis, since a car concept's merits seem to be only judged on cornering Gs and minimum speeds ever since the early 2010's Red Bull era - as if aero drag was always directly proportional to downforce and cornering performance and was a compromise always worth mounting on the car, but I digress -), well, to say that the W10 changed that would be quiet the understatement, it was now one of the draggiest cars on the field, but also - as I'm sure some of you still remember - an absolute beast in low speed corners, and in terms of minimum cornering speeds in any type of bend in general. Kind on it's tyres, too.
And funnily enough, the aero rule change's main purpose (making it easier to follow other cars and reducing aero sensitivity in general) also seem to have worked best for Mercedes, since, I not only recall instances where Lewis could terrorize the gearboxes of the Ferraris and Max Verstappen's Red Bull like no one else in that season and in all following years since, but judging from the amount of complaints from each team, I'd say the relative crosswind sensitivity of the Silver Arrows has also been significantly reduced since (not sure if it still holds true with the cut-back floors though)...