[Team] Mercedes: Will they ever dominate again?

[Casper]

It's pretty simple to understand really but the vast majority don't get it, testing is done to work out how to go fast and not to see how fast you can go. It also refines team procedures and resolves any managerial problems at the track they may have. Did Ferrari do that? No, they wanted to impress everyone with their speed and try and frighten the other teams into submission but Mercedes didn't do the dance or read the memo and now we see the result 4 nil at full time so far.

[E.B]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

No, not while they're performing so badly...... I mean, one of the Mercs only came second. Heads will roll.....

More to the point they let the non-favoured Merc win the race. What went wrong?

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by E.B

More to the point they let the non-favoured Merc win the race. What went wrong?

Shambles. Total disarray......

[Alan52]

Originally Posted by Casper

It's pretty simple to understand really but the vast majority don't get it, testing is done to work out how to go fast and not to see how fast you can go. It also refines team procedures and resolves any managerial problems at the track they may have. Did Ferrari do that? No, they wanted to impress everyone with their speed and try and frighten the other teams into submission but Mercedes didn't do the dance or read the memo and now we see the result 4 nil at full time so far.

This.Every race Sky bang on endlessly about great Ferrari speed advantage when even someone as clueless as me can see it is illusory like the Winter World Championship of press releases and testing stunts.
The gap will increase during the year because of the impossibility of one person doing both jobs of Team Principal and Chief Technical Officer and doing them properly.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by Alan52

This.Every race Sky bang on endlessly about great Ferrari speed advantage when even someone as clueless as me can see it is illusory like the Winter World Championship of press releases and testing stunts.
The gap will increase during the year because of the impossibility of one person doing both jobs of Team Principal and Chief Technical Officer and doing them properly.

Ant Davidson finally worked it out this weekend. He actually said they need to stop talking about the Ferrari advantage because it isn't there.

[TrapezeArtist]

Originally Posted by Anyopenroad

Jury is still out. Four 1-2s in a row might just be luck. We need to wait a few more races before we can be sure. Merc failed to get fastest lap today, suggesting a chink in their armour large enough for Leclerc to drive a Ferrari through.

Perhaps this is more dry humour. but Merc (Hamilton) would have got fastest lap under pre-2019 circumstances. With the extra point for fastest lap this year, any top ten driver with a 25+ second lead over the following car will have a punt at grabbing that point. It's really a pretty done deal in the last few laps when the cars are at their lightest and everyone else is on old tyres. In Baku, that was Leclerc. In other races it will be someone else.

[Anyopenroad]

Originally Posted by TrapezeArtist

With the extra point for fastest lap this year, any top ten driver with a 25+ second lead over the following car will have a punt at grabbing that point..

Exactly. And it's that kind of extra uncertainty which means Mercedes shouldn't be counting their chickens in the hand before the birds in the bush have hatched.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Anyopenroad

Exactly. And it's that kind of extra uncertainty which means Mercedes shouldn't be counting their chickens in the hand before the birds in the bush have hatched.

If Mercedes were any good at this F1 game, they'd have understood that and given themselves enough of a gap to be able to pit for fresh tyres.
It's clear that Ferrari had the better of Merc in terms of tyre strategy this weekend.
If Mercedes don't start making better decisions, then they will never pick up any silverware....

[Anyopenroad]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

If Mercedes were any good at this F1 game, they'd have understood that and given themselves enough of a gap to be able to pit for fresh tyres.
It's clear that Ferrari had the better of Merc in terms of tyre strategy this weekend.

I hadn't thought of that. So Leclerc's entire strategy was to ensure that he was far enough behind the car ahead of him that there was nothing to lose by coming in for fastest-lap types. That's a cunning plan! Brilliant...

[Compromised]

We all love to joke but I think Bottas leading the championship is a genuine stuff up by Mercedes ie. it's not the way they wanted, not planned. So there's a chink in the armour, if ever so small.

[bella]

i don't think they really mind who's leading the championship to be honest. particularly when his advantage is so small, and they've had no driver drama.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by bella

i don't think they really mind who's leading the championship to be honest. particularly when his advantage is so small, and they've had no driver drama.

Agreed - when Rosberg won the title, the issue was not about which driver, but that they had clashed.

[wnut]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Agreed - when Rosberg won the title, the issue was not about which driver, but that they had clashed.

Agreed, I don't think that Lewis feels threatened by Bottas, if he was, he could have put him in the wall very easily on the first lap, yet he behaved like the complete gentleman.
I think that Lewis believes that he has Bottas more than covered over a complete season.

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by bella

i don't think they really mind who's leading the championship to be honest. particularly when his advantage is so small, and they've had no driver drama.

The voice of reason... Thanks for that.

[chillibowl]

about the Toto not smiling...how excited should he get after 4 races? personally i like the strictly business approach.

[Casper]

I love the way that all the expert fans are criticising Mercedes for "sand bagging" which seems which seems like a new trendy thing to whinge about. Of course they are never going to lay out all their cards until they have to and it is a legitimate tactic in my book. Are fans that naive they can't see that?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by bella

i don't think they really mind who's leading the championship to be honest. particularly when his advantage is so small, and they've had no driver drama.

They don't mind at the moment, as there is only a point in it and they are only 4 races into the season. It will be interesting to see how long Mercedes let the current situation continue because at some point, they will have to have to give the nod.

[Kempi]

Will they need to, though? Does not look like anyone is really close to them. Might turn out to be their most dominating year ever. Certainly looks like it right now, especially as Ferrari has been falling into their "we are so much too slow" trap ever since Spa last year. Forget FP1 until Q1 times. Except for Bahrein they always took Q2 and Q3 this year - the sessions when it counted.

[ApexTurtle]

Originally Posted by Taxi645

Depending on the effectivness of the RB upgrade in Barcelona I wouldn't be surprised they will overall become the strongest car.

How? They still have the weakest engine. By quite some margin too.

[Anyopenroad]

This thread is at risk of becoming a serious discussion.

[Richard C]

Originally Posted by Anyopenroad

This thread is at risk of becoming a serious discussion.

It must be locked once that happens!

Richard

[ApexTurtle]

I do apologize. I obviously meant to say even Honda has now leapfrogged Mercedes. How they still manage to win with the 4th best power unit in the field nobody knows!

[GT6]

Obviously Mercedes are due to start the downward spiral as they could not climb any higher at the moment.

[Taxi645]

Originally Posted by ApexTurtle

How? They still have the weakest engine. By quite some margin too.

I think the delta to Mercedes is moderate and smaller than it was around this time last year. Last year they were able to more or less compensate with the chassis.



This year it seams Red Bull's aero package is somewhat unstable as in it was not able to maintain desired effectiveness in all circumstances. That seems to be partly adressed since last testing, but I expect Red Bull to make more gains than other teams on the aero side.


On top of that I expect Honda to increase more during the year than Ferrari and Mercedes.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Casper

I love the way that all the expert fans are criticising Mercedes for "sand bagging" which seems which seems like a new trendy thing to whinge about. Of course they are never going to lay out all their cards until they have to and it is a legitimate tactic in my book. Are fans that naive they can't see that?

It is a legitimate tactic not to reveal everything and deliberately hold back, keeps your opponents guessing. Sandbagging sounds like the perfect description.