2021 AMG Mercedes F1 Team

[F1Krof]

7 tenths and behind Norris.

I think that's a wrap. It's over.

They are still ahead of the other Red Bull.

I think with a new weekend format teams are going about their programs in different ways, wait until at least after qualifying to panic.

Even Hamilton was shocked "7 tenths, where'd that come from?". (Paraphrasing). He sounded perplexed. Still you'd only have to see how the Red Bull car drives, it's on rails. It went even faster than last years FP1, with supposedly trimmed downforce compared to last year, with heavier car, with heavier tyres and higher pressures. I'm aware of the race format change, but still... it's written all over the place.

[NathanOlder]

Overall kudos to them. 7 years straight, they dodged every bullet.

This year's changes are just a perfect storm.

They change the aero to "keep the tyres from blowing".
Not enough, so they change the tyres.
Still not enough, they change the tyres mid-season with ridiculous high pressures.

Not only a perfect storm, its a perfect storm along with, "we're changing the rules last minute, but your not allowed to change your car to work around the changes, here's 2 tokens, see what you can do"

[rickybobbyf1]

Overall kudos to them. 7 years straight, they dodged every bullet.

This year's changes are just a perfect storm.

They change the aero to "keep the tyres from blowing".
Not enough, so they change the tyres.
Still not enough, they change the tyres mid-season with ridiculous high pressures.

Not only a perfect storm, its a perfect storm along with, "we're changing the rules last minute, but your not allowed to change your car to work around the changes, here's 2 tokens, see what you can do"

Oh yes… the two tokens that will be clear in due time. The W12 really looks hampered for sure.

[NathanOlder]

Overall kudos to them. 7 years straight, they dodged every bullet.

This year's changes are just a perfect storm.

They change the aero to "keep the tyres from blowing".
Not enough, so they change the tyres.
Still not enough, they change the tyres mid-season with ridiculous high pressures.

Not only a perfect storm, its a perfect storm along with, "we're changing the rules last minute, but your not allowed to change your car to work around the changes, here's 2 tokens, see what you can do"

Oh yes… the two tokens that will be clear in due time. The W12 really looks hampered for sure.

Its a W11

[dans79]

Not only a perfect storm, its a perfect storm along with, "we're changing the rules last minute, but your not allowed to change your car to work around the changes, here's 2 tokens, see what you can do"

Oh yes… the two tokens that will be clear in due time. The W12 really looks hampered for sure.

Its a W11

It would be utterly hilarious if it was a w11 with just enough modifications to make it legal for the 2021 rule set.

[101FlyingDutchman]

You lot still as gloomy? Did say, to watch for Silverstone before judging. This season is v much game on.

[NathanOlder]

You lot still as gloomy? Did say, to watch for Silverstone before judging. This season is v much game on.

Wait until the end of Q3 before we show a little optimism!

[F1Krof]

7 tenths and behind Norris.

I think that's a wrap. It's over.

They are still ahead of the other Red Bull.

I think with a new weekend format teams are going about their programs in different ways, wait until at least after qualifying to panic.

Even Hamilton was shocked "7 tenths, where'd that come from?". (Paraphrasing). He sounded perplexed. Still you'd only have to see how the Red Bull car drives, it's on rails. It went even faster than last years FP1, with supposedly trimmed downforce compared to last year, with heavier car, with heavier tyres and higher pressures. I'm aware of the race format change, but still... it's written all over the place.

I'm gonna eat my words dry!

[Marty_Y]

Get in there Lewis!

That was bleeping brilliant!

And he was going even faster on the last run until the tyres let go.

How wrong I was!

[Juzh]

So the update clearly worked wonders. Much reduced wing didn't hurt cornering performance and straight line speed is on par with RB if not better. Hamilton should have been on pole by half a second but messed up in final corner, so actual gap to second is entirely unrepresentative. Easy cruise tomorrow and probably sunday as well.

[dans79]

So the update clearly worked wonders. Much reduced wing didn't hurt cornering performance and straight line speed is on par with RB if not better. Hamilton should have been on pole by half a second but messed up in final corner, so actual gap to second is entirely unrepresentative. Easy cruise tomorrow and probably sunday as well.

I think he just killed the tires in the first 2 secros more than anything else!

Will be interesting to see if they can optimize the upgrade any, given they had very limited running today.

[Juzh]

So the update clearly worked wonders. Much reduced wing didn't hurt cornering performance and straight line speed is on par with RB if not better. Hamilton should have been on pole by half a second but messed up in final corner, so actual gap to second is entirely unrepresentative. Easy cruise tomorrow and probably sunday as well.

I think he just killed the tires in the first 2 secros more than anything else!

Anyone can say that because everyone pushed as hard as they can trough the whole lap. Worst crutch I heard.

[Stormblessed]

I think it’s better to wait till the race to see if there was a compromise setup wise.

Long run averages for Mercs were in 30.2-30.6. Difficult to compare with RB as they seem to be 2 secs slower on limited long runs - safe to say they were running heavy. Was there a rear wing change for Lewis between FP1 and Quali?

[darkpino]

Seems to me Mercedes might have turned the tables regarding RBR having the dominant car. Clearly they overcame their balance issues as they run with loads less downforce compared to for example Baku or Paul Ricard. They only had 1 FP to work on the setup so optimising that alone will bring some more time.

RBR is gonna have a hard time I guess

[cheeRS]

Oh yes… the two tokens that will be clear in due time. The W12 really looks hampered for sure.

Its a W11

It would be utterly hilarious if it was a w11 with just enough modifications to make it legal for the 2021 rule set.

I mean, in a few respects it literally is the W11 (crash structure and all!)