They have spoken about it often. Combination of less suitable tracks + some driver errors + bad luck. They were in a position to outscore Ferrari at most races in the back half before things went pear shapedMcL-H wrote: ↑18 Feb 2022, 13:45I am not sure whether I missed this, but did the team gave any reason on their downfall since the Russian GP last season? I hope they got on top of that, because it more seemed as if their car went backwards than the competition moving forwards. They went from dominating the Italian en Russian GP to fighting Alpine which was rather weird.
You are basing that on the premise that just because something looks striking, it means that it must be better?
I see. Hopefully it was just that. I just hope they did not suffer from correlation issues that could haunt them this year too. I am just having some issues with the suitable tracks argument. Because up to the Russian GP they were 3rd/4th at pretty much every track. Sometimes making life difficult for RBR and Mercedes. And all those tracks were quite mixed as well in layout.Their increasing deficit to the top teams didn’t surprise me. But the decreasing advantage to the rest of the teams did. I just hope they’ve got on top of what caused it to prevent it from happening again. Especially with all the development going on this year.Macklaren wrote: ↑18 Feb 2022, 14:09They have spoken about it often. Combination of less suitable tracks + some driver errors + bad luck. They were in a position to outscore Ferrari at most races in the back half before things went pear shapedMcL-H wrote: ↑18 Feb 2022, 13:45I am not sure whether I missed this, but did the team gave any reason on their downfall since the Russian GP last season? I hope they got on top of that, because it more seemed as if their car went backwards than the competition moving forwards. They went from dominating the Italian en Russian GP to fighting Alpine which was rather weird.
Maybe not underdeveloped. I would say, maybe not as “exotic” as the other two. However, still some very interesting features. We’ll see how it plays out on track.
Car was not ready before, they mentioned this on the launch that there are still things to be done before they can do it, but more importantly we will do our filming day in Barcelona on 21st, where the conditions are much closer to the real required to test the car.
Yes. Much better to acquire data in Barcelona on 21st than on a wet and stormy Silverstone. It would be a waste of resources.
They didn't bring any updates to any of those races, so correlation wouldn't come into play. It would also be unusual in the extreme to suddenly have correlation issues more than halfway through a season without something major changing in the process.McL-H wrote: ↑18 Feb 2022, 14:29I see. Hopefully it was just that. I just hope they did not suffer from correlation issues that could haunt them this year too. I am just having some issues with the suitable tracks argument. Because up to the Russian GP they were 3rd/4th at pretty much every track. Sometimes making life difficult for RBR and Mercedes. And all those tracks were quite mixed as well in layout.Their increasing deficit to the top teams didn’t surprise me. But the decreasing advantage to the rest of the teams did. I just hope they’ve got on top of what caused it to prevent it from happening again. Especially with all the development going on this year.Macklaren wrote: ↑18 Feb 2022, 14:09They have spoken about it often. Combination of less suitable tracks + some driver errors + bad luck. They were in a position to outscore Ferrari at most races in the back half before things went pear shapedMcL-H wrote: ↑18 Feb 2022, 13:45I am not sure whether I missed this, but did the team gave any reason on their downfall since the Russian GP last season? I hope they got on top of that, because it more seemed as if their car went backwards than the competition moving forwards. They went from dominating the Italian en Russian GP to fighting Alpine which was rather weird.
More track related than performance related… In addition, we had that impression because of the loss of several important points due to on-track issues (like Lando’s collision in Brazil for example)McL-H wrote: ↑18 Feb 2022, 13:45I am not sure whether I missed this, but did the team gave any reason on their downfall since the Russian GP last season? I hope they got on top of that, because it more seemed as if their car went backwards than the competition moving forwards. They went from dominating the Italian en Russian GP to fighting Alpine which was rather weird.
Let's see what goes onto the track.
Mercedes have traditionally got away with a lot in the past. After Masi-gate and the floor rule change for 2021 I think Mercedes will be using all their clout again to push borderline rule breaking innovations. Mercedes can pull out of F1 and leave 2 teams looking for engines and a big hole where they used to be. Don't be surprised if a lot of things to go right for Mercedes from now on.mwillems wrote: ↑18 Feb 2022, 22:32Let's see what goes onto the track.
Seeing Ferraris solution was food for thought, but Mercedes seem to have kept a type of bargeboard by utilising the tunnel entrance and then still retaining the undercut on the sidepods. Now I feel we're middle of the road lol
Can't help but feel that the Mercedes solution was a nice interpretation of the rules, but we haven't seen what is really going on track for Mclaren yet. Maybe it is this car, maybe it is something a little different.
Edit: Reading about those "Bargeboards" now and it seems a lot of controversy around the "spirit" of the rules. I can understand why but personally think it was smart. I wonder if this is why they revealed this now, test a reaction prior to the season start and push the FIA. Maybe even reveal it whilst the politics surrounding last year still rumble on.
Let’s not bring the conspiracy theories into this thread pleaseMcG wrote: ↑19 Feb 2022, 04:46Mercedes have traditionally got away with a lot in the past. After Masi-gate and the floor rule change for 2021 I think Mercedes will be using all their clout again to push borderline rule breaking innovations. Mercedes can pull out of F1 and leave 2 teams looking for engines and a big hole where they used to be. Don't be surprised if a lot of things to go right for Mercedes from now on.mwillems wrote: ↑18 Feb 2022, 22:32Let's see what goes onto the track.
Seeing Ferraris solution was food for thought, but Mercedes seem to have kept a type of bargeboard by utilising the tunnel entrance and then still retaining the undercut on the sidepods. Now I feel we're middle of the road lol
Can't help but feel that the Mercedes solution was a nice interpretation of the rules, but we haven't seen what is really going on track for Mclaren yet. Maybe it is this car, maybe it is something a little different.
Edit: Reading about those "Bargeboards" now and it seems a lot of controversy around the "spirit" of the rules. I can understand why but personally think it was smart. I wonder if this is why they revealed this now, test a reaction prior to the season start and push the FIA. Maybe even reveal it whilst the politics surrounding last year still rumble on.