2021 AMG Mercedes F1 Team

[Pyrone89]

Like I said, after last week race when there was alot of doom predicted by some:

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... BrlsH.html

Mercedes and Red Bull equal on race pace, RB 7 hundreds faster on quali pace. And remember this is a RB track. Last week the same article after Friday reported a 0.19 race pace advantage for Red Bull and proved to be spot on, so I take their info (apparently they have access to fuel levels through FIA) as most accurate.

This would mean Mercedes has a clear race pace advantage on neutral tracks and Merc-suited tracks, as has been already observed in all races up until Monaco (and was visible again in France). This fight is far far far from over (also considering upgrades coming, steps in fixing the set-up issues every weekend because they have now found out what it was due to running twice on the same track in a weeks time, and new tyres from Silverstone onwards with 2 psi lower). The only unknown variable is engine settings.

[zibby43]

Confirmed by Hamilton post-FP2 (The Race).

Yeah, if he’s saying the sim setup didn’t work in FP1, then that’s a correlation issue. And it helps explain why Merc have been nowhere so many times to start the weekend, and why they go backward sometimes between FP2 and FP3.

If they get that sorted, that could be a huge boon for them on top of next race’s upgrade.

They need to get it sorted out, because next race they only have one tree practice session to get the set up right before parc ferme and sprint qualification race.

For sure.

May explain why they’ve waited for so long on the initial batch of updates.

Definitely explains why they’ve been running flow-viz on the car at various points in practice the past 3 weekends.

[PlatinumZealot]

My main concern is if Mercedes do have a long term strategy of improving the W12 later rather than sooner, they could leave it too late because nobody knows for definite how many races will go ahead because of the uncertain nature of the covid pandemic.

I believe that 8 races is the minimum needed to constitute a season from what I've read,

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/how-m ... 5/4983325/

"The minimum number of races needed for a season is eight, as set out under Article 5.4 of the sporting regulations."

I think the strategy Merc is currently following started with late changes to the W10, and is continuing with the W11, & W12. I believe the end goal is making next years car they best they can make it.

The aero rules are going to be very tight and simple next year. Who wins and who loses is going to come down to fine details on the underside of the car.

Imo to get every last ounce of DF out of the venturi tunnels and diffuser(s), is going to require a very stable car. The removal of all the complex vortex generators means it will be significantly harder to seal the floor going forward, so I think all teams will move towards cars with little or no rake.

However the move to 18" rims complicates the task of making an aero stable car. For a long time teams have relied on the high profile sidewalls of the 13" rims to Perform a lot of the work that would normally be done by the suspension.

The 18" rims mean teams are going to have to put in a lot more work into the suspension systems to keep the cars aerodynamically stable while still being able to ride the curbs etc.

I think Merc started thinking about this way back with the W10 when they experimented at the end of the season with bevel washers in the front suspension, as Hydraulically controlled heave springs will be banned.

I think they have continued to experiment with there suspension system in preparation for 2022. Evidence for this being how they went from being potentially the team that abused their tires the most in 2017/18 to the complete opposite end of the spectrum this season.

Imo the aero updates they bring to the W12 this season, will be enhancements that can be carried over to 2022, either directly or conceptually.

Another area I find interesting is the new intake plenum, and issues they have had with it. I've pondered more than once that this might be somehow related to the move to 10% ethanol next year. If memory serves more ethanol means they can run higher compression ratios.

It's the opposite. The new wheels will make aero near the floor easier to manage.
Less side wall deformation.

Never mind the suspension. There will be finer control of suspension now actually.

With the current tyres it's basically black magic to get those giant squishy balls of rubber to work under different attitudes and loading etc. Ten times harder than more rigid tyres.

[PlatinumZealot]

The data Merceded engineers have and what we witnessed was at least 2.5 tenths advantage last week in race pace. Max had even more in the bag.

We are now have a consensus that the Honda Engine was turned down until Baku. This means the true pace of that car was being disguised to a suboptimal level. We are sesing the true bull now. Fact.

The next thing on the agenda is for Mercedes to catch up as soon as possible chassis wise. We have the most powerful engine, (allegedly) but certainly less efficient aero so we are burning more fuel and running things a bit hotter.

Silverstone will be the track for the updates. Good high speed mix of turns and bumpy track in areas. Perfect to see if its make or break.

[dans79]

It's the opposite. The new wheels will make aero near the floor easier to manage.
Less side wall deformation.

Side wall deformation is only a small part of the issue. You still have to deal with all the air flow hitting the periphery of the tire at a perpendicular angle and then flowing into the diffuser area. And next year all the vortex generators and flow conditioners/guides will be gone.

Never mind the suspension. There will be finer control of suspension now actually.

Control isn't the issue it getting an appropriate amount of travel without negatively affecting the aero.

[101FlyingDutchman]

I don’t think what pyrone said can be considered as propaganda. Drawing on articles and articulating his thoughts. It’s indeed juvenile to suggest it is. We all follow the races and read/observe/draw our conclusions. Most likely we are all wrong at certain times as we dont have the telemetry that the teams use. From what I can see, the W12 has definitely improved over last week. Predicting a really tight quali and race!

[214270]

Hammy signs for 2 more years

[zibby43]

[erudite450]

Hammy signs for 2 more years

Nips to the bud some of the ridiculous takes that made the rounds in winter.

[Jolle]

With that two year deal… “this one goes to eleven”
(One faster than anybody else)

[Pyrone89]

With that two year deal… “this one goes to eleven”
(One faster than anybody else)

2021 would be 8, 2022 would be 9, 2023 would be 10. Not sure F1 viewership numbers will survive that though

[Redragon]

Normally Hamilton will wait to see if he is ahead on Championship to renew contract to push an increase on payment. He has signed even before summer brake. I think he got the feeling that the exit door this time was really open with new budget regulations. Good for him

[Just_a_fan]

Normally Hamilton will wait to see if he is ahead on Championship to renew contract to push an increase on payment. He has signed even before summer brake. I think he got the feeling that the exit door this time was really open with new budget regulations. Good for him

It's good for him and the team to have it out of the way this year. One less thing to worry about as they fight this season.

[Jolle]

With that two year deal… “this one goes to eleven”
(One faster than anybody else)

2021 would be 8, 2022 would be 9, 2023 would be 10. Not sure F1 viewership numbers will survive that though

Not titles but years at Mercedes. (And it’s a reference to Spinal Tap)

[djones]

10 x WDC

Never thought I'd see that.