2021 AMG Mercedes F1 Team

[SiLo]

I think Mercedes are genuinely behind, not by much, but enough that this season will be a fight.

That said, Lewis seems to enjoy driving and be at his absolute best when he's chasing a rival down, so maybe fans who want him to stick around are going to get exactly what they want.

Somehow I still can't see anyone other than Lewis and Merc taking the titles, but it won't be the walk in the park many were predicting and might even be a classic season long fight.

Could be like 2018 where Merc weren't too great in the opening few rounds.

[MKlaus]

I've been really hesitant to watch anything by The Race after 2019, when they've pretty much called the season for Ferrari based on the pre-winter test. They're pretty much as sensationalist as F1 media can get IMO.

I know this sounds like such a small thing, but the way they feel the need to read the title card for each section of some videos puts me off.... I mean I'm quite capable of reading "The Car" or "What went wrong" for example on screen, I don't need it spoon feeding to me.

Also doesn't Gary Anderson work for them? I just find him annoying and, frankly, there are many members on here who seem to have better understanding of contemporary F1 tech than him.

most of these guys aren't really professional f1 folks, other than gary who has worked in f1 teams. but he is quite outdated to the modern technology and how the teams at the sharp end operate. besides, they doesn't cater to a small group of highly informed folks (such as a number of people on these forums), but to the average f1 viewer. because they are in this for a living, expect them to write and talk sensationalism more than anything to keep the crowd coming and make them feel enthusiastic.

most sports portals write content on the face of it and use statements from teams to boost their view point. for example, the debrief by james and shov, where they use the same annual toto playbook to hype their opponent and play themselves down. it was a debrief interview that was shot a day after the test. while its too early even for them to really make statements on pecking order, their body languages doesn't show any signs of concern and they say what they say usually. even then, james say, nobody really knows where anyone stands.

but the-race guys using james and shov's debrief statements talking high of redbull to then boost their agenda fits well to the situation. but it's easy for them to flip if mercedes comes out on top next week, by saying, mercedes have fixed their problems in two weeks and have added the performance. if that doesn't happen, then they are still safe with what they have already said. it's always a win-win situation for them.

[DarthPlagueisTheVise]

Still no update on where they spent their tokens right ?

[Just_a_fan]

Are Mercedes playing games, or is this the truth?

They do have a history of downplaying their strength and they also have a history of turning up with a big "update" at the first race - all of the teams do updates ahead of the first race, of course.

So at the moment, I prefer to think of the W12 as Schrödinger's Car - it's either fast or slow but we won't know until they open the box on the race weekend.

[Manoah2u]

If Mercedes really has 'any' 'worries' at all, then they're just minor and they'll find themselves in a situation where at the first few races (3 races tops) they'll be 'on the back foot' to their normal dominant level. Which ultimately means that RBR gets a chance. It's not like they're even gonna be P3, P4, whatever.
half a second down to RedBull is absolutely laughable.

[dans79]

I take it no one actually watched the video from the race, because it's not making predictions it's just talking about potentialities.

[PlatinumZealot]

All I know is that the Mercedes will be a rocket-ship.

How do you know this, when James Vowles said "I don't believe we are going to go into the season finding all the performance that is missing or being ahead"?

James Vowles, team strategist:

We’re fortunate enough to have a lot of footage available to us, as you are at home as well, and it was pretty evident from that that the car was handling poorly. Conversely, the Red Bull looked, what we would call, planted, it was a very stable car, especially through the last sector of the lap.

I think that’s a fair observation, it was visible to the outside, and I’d say the lap times mirrored that as well. But it’s also fair to say that we don’t have answers as we’re sat here now. Huge amounts of data available to us, and now a long journey ahead to try and understand what’s causing that.

Andrew Shovelin, trackside engineering director:

When the wind’s behind the car you lose a lot of downforce because effectively the airspeed is reduced. So some corners, where the wind was behind, it was prone to doing that. Also, the tyres are quite easy to overheat on that circuit, and if you start sliding you tend to lose grip and it gets worse.

Importantly we could see that some of our competitors weren’t struggling in the same way as us, so we need to put quite a focus on understanding why the rear end was a bit weak, how we can get it more stable and predictable. That work is going on now.

Hopefully when we get to the race weekend it won’t be so difficult for the drivers, because they were having to work pretty hard to do the lap times they were doing.

https://www.speedcafe.com/2021/03/19/me ... -rear-end/

Are Mercedes playing games, or is this the truth?

I didnt say when in that particlar post but I have another post where I said when the will realize it. I gave Mercedes the first four races to sort out and thereafter dominate the rest of the year.

[zibby43]

Still no update on where they spent their tokens right ?

Correct.

[xinho]

Are Mercedes playing games, or is this the truth?

They do have a history of downplaying their strength and they also have a history of turning up with a big "update" at the first race - all of the teams do updates ahead of the first race, of course.

So at the moment, I prefer to think of the W12 as Schrödinger's Car - it's either fast or slow but we won't know until they open the box on the race weekend.

Moreover, we can clearly see in the video, how the guys are relaxed and have fun. It doesnt seem they have worries at all

[zibby43]

Verstappen on Merc's testing performance:

“They are indeed fast,” Verstappen told Dutch broadcaster Ziggo Sports.

“We could see what they were doing on the data. They drove their first fast lap with less power. Then they drove two quiet laps, followed by a second flying lap. In that, they won half a second on engine power.”

Verstappen is also not reading anything into the more significant of Hamilton’s two spins, which the seven-time World Champion admitted was down to a driving error caused by a strong gust of wind.

“The wind had turned 180 degrees from the first day and in that corner you always got a bit unsettled,” said the 23-year-old.

“We shouldn’t look too much into it. Maybe Mercedes were a bit off with the set-up on the first day, but the last day it looked much more stable. They also scheduled two filming days in Bahrain before the first grand prix.”

https://www.planetf1.com/news/max-verst ... s-testing/

[Pany]

They will be strong very soon. But there are good hopes for redbull, because honda engine will be bettee and most important this year we will see hamilton against two redbulla (afyer few races when perez will adapt to car), instead of verstappen against two formidable mercedes. That will be the key factor in my opinion at the end. Bottas is surely to underperform with respect to all best drivers in the grid, ricciardo leclerc and alonso included

Verstappen on Merc's testing performance:

“They are indeed fast,” Verstappen told Dutch broadcaster Ziggo Sports.

“We could see what they were doing on the data. They drove their first fast lap with less power. Then they drove two quiet laps, followed by a second flying lap. In that, they won half a second on engine power.”

Verstappen is also not reading anything into the more significant of Hamilton’s two spins, which the seven-time World Champion admitted was down to a driving error caused by a strong gust of wind.

“The wind had turned 180 degrees from the first day and in that corner you always got a bit unsettled,” said the 23-year-old.

“We shouldn’t look too much into it. Maybe Mercedes were a bit off with the set-up on the first day, but the last day it looked much more stable. They also scheduled two filming days in Bahrain before the first grand prix.”

https://www.planetf1.com/news/max-verst ... s-testing/

[Just_a_fan]

important this year we will see hamilton against two redbulla (afyer few races when perez will adapt to car), instead of verstappen against two formidable mercedes. That will be the key factor in my opinion at the end. Bottas is surely to underperform with respect to all best drivers in the grid, ricciardo leclerc and alonso included

The interesting question, with regards to Red Bull, is Perez's performance relative to Max. If he's close, I expect some fireworks. That would play in to Mercedes's hands in the title fight.

[MKlaus]

They will be strong very soon. But there are good hopes for redbull, because honda engine will be bettee and most important this year we will see hamilton against two redbulla (afyer few races when perez will adapt to car), instead of verstappen against two formidable mercedes. That will be the key factor in my opinion at the end. Bottas is surely to underperform with respect to all best drivers in the grid, ricciardo leclerc and alonso included

perez doesn't have a stellar record in qualifying and has lost out those battles to hulk and ocon. whereas bottas has much better record as a qualifier, which is going to be the key to take up the front rows.
perez's strength has been on sundays, especially going for long first stint and then to make brisk progress in the second stint. this is where bottas is weak, despite having better car.
if perez gets outqualified by both mercedes and if leclerc, vettel, ricciardo, norris and alonso puts up a good show in qualifying, as they are all very good qualifiers and also good racers (especially leclerc, ricciardo and alonso), it would be a hurculean task for perez to outrace them on a sunday afternoon on the second stint if he ends up behind them due to his long running first stint capabilities. that's exactly what happened with albon and gasly when they qualified sub par compared verstappen, they couldn't have an influence on mercedes' strategy.
based on testing data, if the aston/mclaren/ferrari/alpine group is strong, it would create more strategy problems for both mercedes and redbull, but particulary more problems to perez.

[NathanOlder]

important this year we will see hamilton against two redbulla (afyer few races when perez will adapt to car), instead of verstappen against two formidable mercedes. That will be the key factor in my opinion at the end. Bottas is surely to underperform with respect to all best drivers in the grid, ricciardo leclerc and alonso included

The interesting question, with regards to Red Bull, is Perez's performance relative to Max. If he's close, I expect some fireworks. That would play in to Mercedes's hands in the title fight.

Indeed, and if he's not close to Max he won't be much use in a battle against Mercedes unless redbull is quicker than Mercedes.

[Pany]

No. Is the opposite, perez had to accept contract conditions, in order to have a seat in 2021. He must play for team goals this season, otherwise is out immediately. You can be sure. Perez can enjooy himself by destroying Stroll and maybe vettel and Ocon in each gp.

important this year we will see hamilton against two redbulla (afyer few races when perez will adapt to car), instead of verstappen against two formidable mercedes. That will be the key factor in my opinion at the end. Bottas is surely to underperform with respect to all best drivers in the grid, ricciardo leclerc and alonso included

The interesting question, with regards to Red Bull, is Perez's performance relative to Max. If he's close, I expect some fireworks. That would play in to Mercedes's hands in the title fight.

Indeed, and if he's not close to Max he won't be much use in a battle against Mercedes unless redbull is quicker than Mercedes.