2021 AMG Mercedes F1 Team

[selvam_e2002]

I would say that if car is good, we will see repeat of 2007 if the car is average and occasionally challenge for Podium I don't see any issue with Drivers in Mercedes. Hamilton least bothered(no1 or 2) if the team cannot produce the good car for WDC. He will drive for another 2 years and will retire along with Alonso I believe.

[Mr.S]

Throughout the lap, Russel took a much much narrow line over the curbs & you could see how he was managing the throttle & the wheelspin. In comparison Verstappen & Hamilton both had a much safer lap where they ran wide comparatively, avoided the curbs etc. It is not like Hamilton & Verstappen didn't have a Q3 Lap (they did) & would have been Top 5 anyways at the least. The difference between genius & foolish is success & Russel was successful & in a different level. He easily out-classed Hamilton & Verstappen to a large extent. Give him credit where it is due !

He and Williams had nothing to loose, while Lewis and Max are fighting for the tittle and have a lot to loose.

Williams gambled with a maximum downforces set-up, because even if they were wrong they would start well back out of the points like they normally do.

It was the same for George, he had everything to gain and almost nothing to loose. Even if he had a spin or minor crash he'd still start no worse than where he normally does.

If you put him in a good car, and in a title fight, I'd bet my next paycheck he doesn't attack the lap nearly as aggressively as he did.

Which still doesn't take away from the fact that LH had more than 2s speed in the dry vs Russel. He had much much inherent downforce in the car vs Russel. He had much better traction out of the corners.It was a superior car which was also quicker on the straight where he made tenths & his less wing was largely mitigated by having a much better car. It is not easy driving a crappy Williams in the rain even with more downforce !

Your last sentence has been proved wrong time & again by F1 History. People within tight championship battles throughout the years have gone for crazy overtakes & insane laps. When it works out, we cheer them as brave & daring & genius. If it doesn't, we criticize it as irrational & illogical.

It is what it is - Norris tried it & crashed in Q3 & looked like a world beater in Q1 & Q2. Russel proved in throughout Q1, Q2 & Q3 - There is a reason Button (a former World Champion) is calling it one of the best laps ever. There is a reason Ross Brawn is over the moon about Russel & his lap.I think everyone will join the parade soon. Becuase that lap is IMO under-rated & under-appreciated in this forum !

[dans79]

Your last sentence has been proved wrong time & again by F1 History. People within tight championship battles throughout the years have gone for crazy overtakes & insane laps. When it works out, we cheer them as brave & daring & genius. If it doesn't, we criticize it as irrational & illogical.

Yea and when it doesn't work you loose championships, that's why drivers in contention to be champion pick the moments they are going to be aggressive. Being on the razors edge in a wet qualifying is a good way to throw a boat load of points out the window!

[adrianjordan]

Hamilton just shared a pic with his dog & tagged Russel. Next season will be interesting. He will be 37 @ the start of 22 season & 38 @ the start of 23 season. Can you see him in 2023 driving @ 39 when he will be almost 40 when 2023 ends? I don't know. So Mercedes have got Lewis for 2 years (unlikely more) & Russel who is 23 (who could stay for 15 years). What happens if they have a huge clash !

Also Verstappen's contract is up in 2023 when Lewis' contract winds down. And possibly Norris as well. So Mercedes could have Verstappen or Norris in 2024. Same with Gasly if they are looking for a strong No. 2 behind Russel. Leclerc is tied till 2024 with Ferrari & is unlikely to move.

Next season @ Mercedes will be fun. One can understand why Hamilton so desperately wants Bottas as his team-mate !

do you have anything based on facts to back this up ?

Hamilton made it clear wanted Bottas. Let us not make stuff up guys.

He said he preferred fighting against another team rival than say a Rosberg fight & that Bottas was good for the team spirit. He time & again went out of his way to say he preferred Bottas as his partner. Bottas said Lewis Hamilton directly told him that Lewis wants Bottas to stay.

LH said Bottas is the best team-mate & a lie he had (which is a joke considering he has Alonso, Rosberg & Button & all 3 are way better speed wise than Bottas). He defended Bottas more than once this season when Bottas got criticism (in a manner no team-mate would). Even after Russel's heroics in qualifying, he said his preference for Bottas hasn't changed & that he hoped Bottas would remain in his team. Hamilton had no business saying he prefers Bottas to Russel. He should said it was great to work with Bottas & it a Mercedes decision & he has no business in it !

Wolff about tension of Hamilton vs Russel “The big ones feel when a good guy is coming. And George is the next generation.”

Your interpretation of Lewis' opinion is interesting. Please provide links to the quotes where he has said these things.

[NathanOlder]

(till Glock spun).

Why do people make up so much nonsense about this race still ?

He never spun, and he was ONLY IN FRONT because he didn't pit for wet/inters on a wet track!!!!

I bet you are one who believes Glock slowed down on purpose to let Lewis through.

[NathanOlder]

Which still doesn't take away from the fact that LH had more than 2s speed in the dry vs Russel. He had much much inherent downforce in the car vs Russel. He had much better traction out of the corners.It was a superior car which was also quicker on the straight where he made tenths & his less wing was largely mitigated by having a much better car. It is not easy driving a crappy Williams in the rain even with more downforce !

So what your saying is Max and Lewis need to be sacked ? as they both have cars 2 seconds a lap quicker yet were all seperated by 3 tenths.

You really don't seem to grasp what the extra wing can do for a car in the wet.

My boy George is going to take the baton from Lewis and continue to run Mercedes dominance and continue to add to the British records. It's all good from where I am.

[WaikeCU]

I'm pretty happy with George to finally start his Merc career and continue Merc's presence in F1 post-Lewis era. Although, we don't have any certainty yet how great next season's next-gen Merc will actually be.

[Just_a_fan]

Which still doesn't take away from the fact that LH had more than 2s speed in the dry vs Russel. He had much much inherent downforce in the car vs Russel. He had much better traction out of the corners.It was a superior car which was also quicker on the straight where he made tenths & his less wing was largely mitigated by having a much better car. It is not easy driving a crappy Williams in the rain even with more downforce !

You do realise this exact same argument applies to Max vs George don't you?

[flmkane]

(till Glock spun).

Why do people make up so much nonsense about this race still ?

He never spun, and he was ONLY IN FRONT because he didn't pit for wet/inters on a wet track!!!!

I bet you are one who believes Glock slowed down on purpose to let Lewis through.

Can confirm. Watched that race live. Commentators were predicting Glock would be overtaken for a few laps prior to that. He was slow as hell.

But he did not spin.

[flmkane]

do you have anything based on facts to back this up ?

Hamilton made it clear wanted Bottas. Let us not make stuff up guys.

He said he preferred fighting against another team rival than say a Rosberg fight & that Bottas was good for the team spirit. He time & again went out of his way to say he preferred Bottas as his partner. Bottas said Lewis Hamilton directly told him that Lewis wants Bottas to stay.

LH said Bottas is the best team-mate & a lie he had (which is a joke considering he has Alonso, Rosberg & Button & all 3 are way better speed wise than Bottas). He defended Bottas more than once this season when Bottas got criticism (in a manner no team-mate would). Even after Russel's heroics in qualifying, he said his preference for Bottas hasn't changed & that he hoped Bottas would remain in his team. Hamilton had no business saying he prefers Bottas to Russel. He should said it was great to work with Bottas & it a Mercedes decision & he has no business in it !

Wolff about tension of Hamilton vs Russel “The big ones feel when a good guy is coming. And George is the next generation.”

Your interpretation of Lewis' opinion is interesting. Please provide links to the quotes where he has said these things.

He's fabricating his own alternate facts.

Clearly Hamilton has handled guys like Alonso, Button and Nico. All great drivers, win or lose.

[Fulcrum]

Whether you're for or against Hamilton, its inevitable, time waits for no man.

Hamilton's abilities will wain. Some would argue there is evidence of this already (more mistakes, less dominant in qualifying).

Sakhir may have been 'Mickey Mouse', but it was enough to suggest Russell could be competitive with Hamilton.

Considering the sport has been dominated by Mercedes for the better part of a decade, its no wonder some are willing to over-hype Russell, as it would imply greater competition at the sharp end, or at the very least, someone new.

From what I have seen, if they are paired next year, Russell stands a much better chance in qualifying than the race. This would give him a structural advantage initially, e.g. potentially preferential strategy, but Hamilton's race-craft remains impeccable, as does his race pace.

Russell's race pace remains questionable, as does his race-craft (e.g. Imola). He has a lot to learn yet, not least how to deal with F1-level exposure, and pressure.

For Hamilton, this is just part of life by now. Hamilton will also have learned from 2016. Don't expect the politics to come from George next year if races are closely fought, it will be Hamilton using every advantage available to win.

[Hammerfist]

Russell coming to Merc will only make Lewis an even better driver. The one thing that amazes me about Lewis is his ability to learn even at his advanced age. Many times Botha’s will be faster than Lewis in a particular corner and you hear Lewis ask in the radio where he is slower. Then within a few laps he is faster than Bottas. I would be shocked if Russell is able to beat Lewis consistently. Ultimately bottas needed to go. Good driver but he has had a fair shot at it for 5 years. Time to move on.

[Hammerfist]

Sakir is a mickey mouse track though.

Every other driver had to race that configuration that weekend, so that doesn’t really hold water in my mind. Went head-to-head with Bottas in equal machinery and I can remember George’s overtakes from that race. Can’t remember any from VB.

Just my opinion. We’ll see if it bears out in due time.

My only concern is he had to overtake because he qualified behind Bottas, admittedly it was less than 3 hundredths (0:53.403 Russell, against 0:53.377 Bottas) and he only had a limited amount of time in a car which didn't really fit his tall size and big feet.

I'm not saying he won't be good but it's not a given that he will be better overall than Bottas is, don't get me wrong I think Russell is a very good driver with history in the lower formulas that confirms that but as you say time will tell.

Agreed. Russell’s race performances vs latifi have been a lot closer than in qualifying . He rarely outclasses latifi in races when it comes to race pace, race craft etc...
Another factor to consider is that he is coming from the back of the grid, bypassing the midfield runners to be thrown in what is another level at the front of the field with Max and Lewis. So yeah I’m not going to be surprised if he struggles.

[ringo]

Rosberg got beaten soundly for 3 years before AMG tried their best to let him have 1 championship. Let's not get into that story again. But Lewis knew who was better and so did Rosberg and it wasnt an issue. At most Lewis was annoyed about his reliability and the driver coachin that Nico recieved.
George will just be a new teammate and Lewid will get on at doing his work.
In fact George will be easier to beat for the first 2 years because of his youth and lack of experience. He will want to learn more from Lewis than start a war.
Also i dont think any driver on the grid has Hamilton's race pace or clean overtaking abilities. George would be trying to beat Lewis while also learning from him. Lewis will return to hiding his tricks; which he has tried to do with Nico and Bottas.

By this logic, Hamilton should'd have won in 2014 & 2015 as Rosberg had more reliability issues than him. And even the 2016 Championship win should have been a much bigger loss considering Hamilton took out Rosberg when he was leading. Russel is 3 years in the sport,much more experienced than Hamilton who bottled the 2007 championship & almost the 2008 (till Glock spun). And we have seen the top class, best of the best like Alonso, fumble when a new star rises. It has happened time & again.

Anyways Hamilton had lost to Button on points over 3 years, barely squeezed past in 2012, got destroyed in 2011, tied with Alonso in 2007 & got beaten by Rosberg in 2016. I don't remember a Senna, Alonso or Schumacher level guy in their prime (not comeback in 40s) being beaten or drawing so many times with their team-mate.

With radical news rules in 2022, the cars will be more different that it has been in decades. The Pirelli tyres will also be different. Hamilton has absolutely no advantage except familiarity with Mercedes team. People are under-estimating the extent of 2022 rule changes - The way the car produces downforce & the way the tyres mesh with it will not be the same as 2021. Russel if he falls behind Hamilton will play a deligent No. 2 for 2022 (we have seen that he is a team-player). But will Hamilton play Russel's No.2 if he falls behind ?

Why are people so desperate to discredit Hamilton?
I do not have the energy to waste time responding really. Because nothing you said is facts.

Combining F1 seasons is nonsense.

I will just respectfully say Okay then and let you see what you want to see.

In fact... You wont be the first or the last waiting on Hamilton's demise. I have seen it too many times on this forum over the years. So now you are saying he will not excel because of the 2022 regs? Okay, not the first time i have heard that. See 2009, 2014, etc etc. Keep hoping and wishing!

Worst driver ever, but somehow is lucky to break almost every F1 record and beat the best of the best; and will likely win 2021 championship in not the best car.

Enjoy the season Mr.S!!

[jjn9128]

Is this legit?