2021 AMG Mercedes F1 Team

[Tvetovnato]

Indeed, and when they showed the speeds of each driver around pouhon Russell was well ahead on speed through that corner. So I am pretty sure George had more downforce.

Maybe carrying more wing, but the point I think he was trying to make was that, in general, the Williams is not going to be sniffing the Merc in terms of overall downforce, which is why it’s 1+ seconds off the pace in the dry despite the same PU.

And that relative lack of inherent conceptual downforce would’ve showed itself in the race, irrespective of weather conditions.

Yeah most certainly , I understand the Mercedes is well ahead with downforce when the cars run similar amounts of wing, but the fact George was faster through most corners tells me the overall downforce that day the Williams had more.

Add tyre temps to the equation too. Some cars are better than others when it comes to put instant heat into the tyres, which is even more critical in wet conditions. Merc has struggled with this all year.

[adrianjordan]

Sky F1 just asked Horner about the Merc PU questions and I very much got the impression that it's, as some had already suggested, a situation where Honda want to try something and have asked for clarification.

[rickybobbyf1]

Any news on merc going for race set up? So frustrating to lose out on pole on such a hard place to overtake…

Also, is Ham starting on used softs?!

[RZS10]

It's very hard to judge their race pace since FP1 was cut short and Lewis did not run in FP2, they made some substantial changes on Lewis' car just before quali, no idea however whether the setup is slanted towards the race or quali.

Both Mercs will start on the soft which they ran one lap on in Q1, their first Q2 laps were far off Max' time in that session though, so maybe they took it easy, there might not be much of a difference in tyre life between them.

[SiLo]

Did everyone do Q2 on the softs? Forgot Mercedes did tbh

[NathanOlder]

Any news on merc going for race set up? So frustrating to lose out on pole on such a hard place to overtake…

Also, is Ham starting on used softs?!

I'd say yes looking at all the time they were losing in turns 1 and 3, seemed like the Merc setup was aimed more towards protecting the fronts.

As for starting on used softs, they all are. Only difference is Merc did 1 extra lap which was an out lap in Q1 and then aborted and came in, so really no extra wear on that set than say what Max did.

Tomorrow should be good, Shake n Bake

[Marty_Y]

Any news on merc going for race set up? So frustrating to lose out on pole on such a hard place to overtake…

Also, is Ham starting on used softs?!

I'd say yes looking at all the time they were losing in turns 1 and 3, seemed like the Merc setup was aimed more towards protecting the fronts.

As for starting on used hards, they all are. Only difference is Merc did 1 extra lap which was an out lap in Q1 and then aborted and came in, so really no extra wear on that set than say what Max did.

Tomorrow should be good, Shake n Bake

Hards?

[NathanOlder]

Any news on merc going for race set up? So frustrating to lose out on pole on such a hard place to overtake…

Also, is Ham starting on used softs?!

I'd say yes looking at all the time they were losing in turns 1 and 3, seemed like the Merc setup was aimed more towards protecting the fronts.

As for starting on used hards, they all are. Only difference is Merc did 1 extra lap which was an out lap in Q1 and then aborted and came in, so really no extra wear on that set than say what Max did.

Tomorrow should be good, Shake n Bake

Hards?

Yeah was meant to say softs. and by all, I mean the top 10.

[zibby43]

I’ve got a concern that Max will build enough of a gap in the first stint to be safe.

[Tvetovnato]

I’ve got a concern that Max will build enough of a gap in the first stint to be safe.

This is the most likely scenario. The only hope for Merc is that Hamilton can find some more speed lap by lap in terms of pure driving, given how few he has driven so far compared to the others.

[zibby43]

I’ve got a concern that Max will build enough of a gap in the first stint to be safe.

This is the most likely scenario. The only hope for Merc is that Hamilton can find some more speed lap by lap in terms of pure driving, given how few he has driven so far compared to the others.

The great equalizer will be the safety car. It will erase gaps, and Merc have 2 sets of Mediums. So if the race migrates to a 2-stop, I think they become favorites.

[Shrieker]

If the Mercs can retain 2nd and 3rd in the opening lap at least, they can pull all sorts of funnies on Max strategy wise.

The only way Max could be %100 safe is, if he manages to pull a full pit stop on Bottas, which isn't very likely.

[NathanOlder]

If the Mercs can retain 2nd and 3rd in the opening lap at least, they can pull all sorts of funnies on Max strategy wise.

The only way Max could be %100 safe is, if he manages to pull a full pit stop on Bottas, which isn't very likely.

I agree, theres no way Max pulls 20 seconds on bottas in the first stint. I feel Merc will be stronger in the race like we have seen for most of the year, so that would put Merc ahead in race pace. Lewis will just sit 3 seconds back and Bottas will slowly fall back to 7-10 seconds. Lewis will either go for an undercut when clear of P4, or if Max pits first they stay out and hope Bottas can slow Max for a few laps. Then go for the over cut (or get lucky with a SC) if that doesn't work they will have fresher tyres to try a pass on track.

[Tvetovnato]

I’ve got a concern that Max will build enough of a gap in the first stint to be safe.

This is the most likely scenario. The only hope for Merc is that Hamilton can find some more speed lap by lap in terms of pure driving, given how few he has driven so far compared to the others.

The great equalizer will be the safety car. It will erase gaps, and Merc have 2 sets of Mediums. So if the race migrates to a 2-stop, I think they become favorites.

Indeed. Another chance is of course at the start, but the run down to T1 is quite short so that’s unlikely. But they really need one of those things to have a chance here. In terms of pure pace it will be quite hard, that’s for sure.

[Big Tea]

I’ve got a concern that Max will build enough of a gap in the first stint to be safe.

I don't think it is likely even if Max is capable of doing it. I think it is going to be a race peppered with VSC'c actual SC and probably a few Red flags.
It would be a waste of resource to run any more than a handful of seconds infront