Mercedes: Team Thread

the red bull different from both ferrari and merc in the choice of suspension and the wheel position (how do to say the red bulls wheels are pushed as far forward as possible to sound technical)

apparently this opens up the volume of air to get to the mouth of the floor

 

Russell reckons Merc have fixed their handling issue "pretty easily" and it was just about understanding the setup. And the wrong rear wing.

"Asked by Autosport whether the W14 would prove to be another 'diva', a term used previously by Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff, Russell responded: "We had a really good time between the test and the race to analyse what happened throughout the test.

"There were a few things going on with the car that we didn't quite expect. But we have been able to resolve them pretty easily. It was just working in slightly the wrong window."

Russell added that the car had been running with a suboptimal rear wing specification for Bahrain."

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/m...-testing-balance-woes-pretty-easily/10438418/

 

Well at least that's a bit more positive from them.

 

Hamilton is a little more downbeat- thinks Merc are battling for second with Aston and Ferrari…I dunno man I do think Merc are playing games a little bit but I still think RBR will lead the field to start with.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/64828539

 

Days away from knowing the truth. Got may fingers crossed Ferrari give RBR a hard time from day 1.

 

I thought those comments came after testing. Both he and Russel were downbeat

 

Hamilton yet to agree a new contract with Merc. He should ensure there is a performance clause in there.

 

Just seen Angela Cullen has left Lewis!!! Wonder how much of an impact that will be!
That must upset things a bit as she has been so closely working with him not just on track but training etc.
Might take Lewis a few races to get back to normal.

 

Goodness this is going to be a long season.

Expecting Merc to go a lot better this weekend given how rear-limited Bahrain is, which didn't suit the Merc at all. I know there's a lot of doom and gloom but the slight piece of optimism I'm clinging on to is that they can develop this year from Day 1 given they won't be focused on porpoising.

 

Anyone else still incredibly bitter about AD '21? I can't help thinking about it every time I see the F1 on and it's taken away so much of my enjoyment of this sport.

I can handle losing - I'm very well practiced as a QPR fan - but the injustice of AD21 is going to rankle for a very long time.

 

Yep, I never did watch the last Driver to Survive and haven't watched the last season either!
Much as it hurt, in the cold light of day, and I hate to say it, but if Max didn't have quite so much bad luck the last race wouldn't have mattered.

 

I'm not quite as philosophical yet!

 

I hope she has chosen to go , instead of some disagreement .

Eitherway , good luck to her .

 

Sounds like it was her decision to move onto the next thing, and (publicly at least) seems amicable.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/hamilton-splits-with-long-time-trainer-angela-cullen/10444678/

 

jeddah is the all about merc self flagellation show.

it's very odd.

imo merc have built very knife edge cars for 4 or 5 years and have relied on best engine.

the first red bull screw job season had a bad car with a massive faster engine, when new.

last year under new regs the engines looked 3rd best.

this year I am looking at Aston today for time at an 82% full throttle race.


I honestly think they've not been the best car on track aero for several years and will struggle to rebuild that part of the car.

 

Well considering they didn't know that they had gone the wrong path last year at this time, you may not be far off the mark.

Newey would have had that scrapped from day one and already be thinking of the next car. They were thinking too short term it seems and shafted themselves for this season.

Nobody is beating Newey in this era that I can see. He'll have more up his sleeve.

 

i honestly don't think any team has got near the newey concept overall.

that aston "copy" is nothing like the red bull in stability and high speed happiness.

 

Then rhe best tension we can hope for is Perez vs Max, which already evident, with Max not parking in the Number 2 slot after the race. I hope Red Bull don't bow to the inevitable winge from the Max camp to enforce team orders.

 

I reckon red bull should tell verstappen to go race for alpha tauri if he doesn't like it.

according to all rivals there's never been as quick a car and all the engines are locked to 2026.

in theory verstappen could watch any driver red bull choose win the f1 World championship in his place if his rivals are correct

 

Also, I hope that Checo shows a bit of steel and resists Verstappen and really fights against him to totally oppose him all season..He, and maybe his dad too,thinks he can win a championship and he`ll never have a better chance in this car.I just hope RB let him.How I would love to see him take the win in Australia and be top on merit.If they take each other out in a race this year,Alonso could be there to scoop up the win. Come on Checo.!!!