In short: Monaco and Spa! But that's simplistic maybe. I think some of it right now is because Nico didn't put up much of a fight and has been acting a bit oddly: the Vettel mind-tiff, for example. I expect some people will be disappointed that there wasn't more of an intra-team battle. But you're right, it's way too premature to write off his season; let's hope fatherhood hasn't made him go soft Actually, it could be that he wasn't as mentally prepared because of new-born distractions; I don't know, just a thought.
I think you got the wrong idea. The only thing that we knocked Rosberg about was the after race press conference. He behaved like an absolute idiot. I think the other conversation was more about wondering if Mercedes had more in the bag. I totally agree with Max Whiplash and Hamilton said the same thing after the race. There was no need to extend the car any further as he had the race under control. And with all the crying you are getting from Horner and Bernie trying to tie Mercedes' wheels to slow them down why would you want to go and show your real hand to give them more to talk about? Wouldn't it be wiser to let the other teams think they are catching up then unleash the real powerhouse and catch them by surprise? Why show your real hand at this stage when you are way ahead of the field? Also the post below about the engine allocation per season by ched999uk makes good sense. Why run the risk right now when you can up the pace as the other teams improve? ched999uk The other thing to remember is that they only have 4 engines per season. So the less stress you can put on an engine the longer it will last. So my guess is that Merc will only do what is necessary to be in front. God knows how much extra power they actually have, it's scary how much better Merc have done over the rest.
Hamilton was totally in control, he was cruising and controlled the race easily, Rosberg didn't have any answer to Hamiltons performance, Lewis could easily have pulled out a huge lead, but simply had no real need to do so. An exhibition of absolute control by Lewis Hamilton, get used to it guys.
Definitely gap management going on from LH, the question is how much? I don't think Hamilton would have stormed off but he seemed to have a few tenths in him, got the gap up for the pits easy enough anyway, just in case. As well as the obvious rapid gap he made after the safety car. Just one race at the end of the day though, last year we didn't get to see Ham vs Ros in Australia so who knows how it would have played out.
So if Rosberg typically uses more fuel and Hamilton was cruising while Rosberg was trying as hard as possible, why did they end up using the same amount? I don't think he was cruising as much as you make out, especially seeing how on his fastest lap (where he was obviously going for it), Rosberg was only a few tenths off. Maybe he had a tenth or two in his pocket, but if the positions were switched for the last stint I can't help but feel the result would have still been a one second gap to Rosberg's favour
Yeah I noticed this. There was a point towards the end where Rosberg closed right up and was told to save fuel. He dropped back and then later in the race he closed back up and had saved enough fuel to be pretty much level with Hamilton, so he'd stayed in touch despite saving fuel quite aggressively. I still think Hamilton had the overall edge, but how much faster the Mercedes could've gone is a mystery. I suspect Vettel could've gone quicker in his second stint too, and could've been a lot closer if wasn't stuck behind Massa for so long. Would be nice if he could keep the weaker Mercedes honest in Malaysia. It's a bit depressing seeing a guy get smashed by his team mate all weekend and be under absolutely zero pressure for second place.
But the question is was Mercedes going full speed? Did they have much more in the bag? I seriously doubt Mercedes would have pushed those engines much harder than they had too once it was certain they had the race won early. There was absolutely no need to. Lewis was still reeling off fastest laps late on in the race. This report below should also settle speculation about if the customer teams of Mercedes carry the same spec engine as the Silver Arrows. Symonds denies engine inequality. please log in to view this image Despite Felipe Massa questioning Mercedes' engine equality, Pat Symonds is confident Williams are racing the same-spec as the Merc works team. Following the Australian GP, in which he was beaten to the final podium position by Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, Massa raised doubts about whether Williams were running the same engine specification as Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. "If we don't have the same engine - which I cannot say 100 percent because it's very difficult to say - but if we don't have it then we want to have it because it's not nice that we don't have it," said the Brazilian. However, Williams chief technical officer Symonds has rubbished that speculation, adamant the Grove team's cars are powered by the engines that are in the W06. "We have no doubts over the parity of the engines from Mercedes during the Australian Grand Prix," he told Autosport. "We have a great working relationship with all the team at Brixworth and know how hard they pushed things to the limit to bring the best performance to Australia. "HPP are constantly checking the data and all the power units are exceptionally close in performance. "Our aim now is to continue developing the car to ensure we can fight Ferrari." Force India's deputy team boss Bob Fernley was also asked about engine parity and revealed it was part of his team's contract with Mercedes. "Yes, and the contract states that," he told the publication. "All fairness to Mercedes, they have always been straight with us."
No, same as last year.Merc are holding out a clever secret thats giving them a performance advantage over their customers.
Must be suspension related. Can't believe their aero pacakage can be that much better than anyone elses as the teams are so restricted these days, also their straightline speed is not the fastest so whatever they are doing, it is being done with higher downforce levels than other teams, but the extra speed in the corners is trading off against lower straightline speed. Nothing obvious from the outside, it's not like they are riding the kerbs better than anyone else. Is it traction related as they simple launch out of corners as well. Trick rear suspension, or some form of non-obvious traction control via the hybrid systems..........? Their tyre wear problems quickly disappeared last year compared to previous seasons..........
Would Merc spend umpteen millions developing the power plant, then give the the very best they have to teams they have to race against? They are not going to sell crap, but are they going to put the opposition on the same footing as them? I somehow don't think so.
I think all teams have the freedom to develop some of the electrical systems themselves, so highly likely Mercedes have done something special that the other Merc teams haven't, or simply don't know they can do with their powerplants.
It occurred to me that although all the Merc powered teams say they have the same engine do they have the same limits and maps available? I doubt it. My guess is that the teams are given base engine maps that they tweek to fit in with the rest of the systems. I would guess that Merc have higher limits available if required and by the sound of things they also have a system that allows them to use more than 100kg/hr fuel flow. That one has to be relatively straight forward system that is just an accumulator after the fuel flow meter. If we go back to 2014 the FIA were adamant that it was the fuel flow meters readings that were the limit no matter what the teams systems said, i.e. RedBull saying that they didn't go over 100kg/hr according to their instruments..... So looks like Merc took FIA at their word and they designed an accumulation system that complied with the rules as clarified after fuel gate in 2014.
Just remember Red Bull had certain engine maps that Lotus didn't even have for 2012 and 2013. They wanted the RBR maps as it was worth 0.2-0.3 a lap but unluckily for them the FIA banned teams changing to new mappings while RBR already had it installed.
