[Team] Mercedes: Will they ever dominate again?

[S griffin]

Well the problem is some people go for glory runs and all that. So it’s not always clear cut

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Well the problem is some people go for glory runs and all that.

Why would that be a problem, and who for?

[S griffin]

It might give the game away if you are trying to sandbag, like Merc for example, if their drivers want to be top

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by S griffin

It might give the game away if you are trying to sandbag, like Merc for example, if their drivers want to be top

They might need the sandbags in case of flood.

[Casper]

Why do fans think that sand bagging is not a legitimate team tactic? That has always puzzled me I must say. When we were racing if someone wanted to discuss lap times I always gave them times we could not do in a month of Sundays just to cause confusion.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by S griffin

It might give the game away if you are trying to sandbag, like Merc for example, if their drivers want to be top

I think they'd rather winner the races than shine when it doesn't matter at all.....

[S griffin]

Well that’s true and they’re certainly doing that in style

[Aysedasi]

Indeed.

[S griffin]

Now let’s see if they can maintain this till the end. Maybe it will be a bit tougher as the season goes on, but they have all the ingredients to keep it up

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Now let’s see if they can maintain this till the end.

Is that not the question asked by this thread?

Do you think they will dominate - or will others chase them close for titles at the end of the season.

[Born Racer]

I can't think Mercedes would have had much to gain by sandbagging. It seems more likely to me that they made a step forward between the tests when they made some key modifications and also that perhaps Ferrari have a quick car, but they are not always getting it into its operating window. Hammering round one track as they do pre-testing does not reveal a wide range of track conditions, nor race conditions.

In pure results, Mercedes are dominating, of course. But this is not massive pace discrepancy advantage, like teams had fifteen years ago and prior to that. Instead, we are seeing a team at their peak operationally. They're not really dominating, in a sense, but consistently getting the best results. Sebastian Vettel, in one of his elaborate explanations, summed it up well when he said the following:

We have a good car, but we’re not using it in the way to get the results we should be getting. It’s like a Rubik’s cube where you have to have everything in the right order. We have a lot of clever people in the team who could solve that puzzle in less than two minutes, but in this case the cube is a bit bigger.”

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...56LTuxsAG.html

In terms of the championship, though, it's completely open, as a 35-point difference between Vettel and Bottas is largely eradicated with one DNF. We're all waiting around for Ferrari to show better pace than they suggest they're going to on Friday, though, and it hasn't happened yet. If they manage it, Mercedes seem to have some savvy to respond, at least sometimes.

Hang on. I just took the thread seriously. In summary, Mercedes are team of Australian, Bahrain, Chinese and Azerbaijan Grands Prix because they're British.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Born Racer

In summary, Mercedes are team of Australian, Bahrain, Chinese and Azerbaijan Grands Prix because they're British.

Just realised when looking at the string of results - it's only down to them matching their team's efforts to alphabetical sequencing.

Aus, Bah, Chi, Aze

so to keep their success aligned, they need to keep up the A,B,C,A,B,C sequence. They might get results at the next round as long as they only ever refer to it as the Barcelona GP.

Then they have to accept bad results as Monaco, before they return to Canada.
France will be a right-off, and then the string of results resumes with Austria and Britain.
Poor results at Germany and Hungary.
Dominate again at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Autodromo Nazionale Monza and Bay Street Circuit (Singapore).

They then need to have a full reset back at the factory, before a finishing run of results at America, Brazil and struggle in Abu Dhabi

So in summary, and in answer to the original thread question, Mercedes will dominate at

Australia,
Bahrain
China
Azerbaijan
Barcelona
Canada
Austria
Britain
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
Autodromo Nazionale Monza
Bay Street Circuit (Singapore)
Collective reset
America
Brazil


What chance of Mercedes trying to line up a sponsorship deal at tracks to have them renamed AMG Circuit *****, Bose Cicruit ***** or Crowdstrike Circuit *****???

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Just realised when looking at the string of results - it's only down to them matching their team's efforts to alphabetical sequencing.

Aus, Bah, Chi, Aze

so to keep their success aligned, they need to keep up the A,B,C,A,B,C sequence. They might get results at the next round as long as they only ever refer to it as the Barcelona GP.

Then they have to accept bad results as Monaco, before they return to Canada.
France will be a right-off, and then the string of results resumes with Austria and Britain.
Poor results at Germany and Hungary.
Dominate again at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Autodromo Nazionale Monza and Bay Street Circuit (Singapore).

They then need to have a full reset back at the factory, before a finishing run of results at America, Brazil and struggle in Abu Dhabi

So in summary, and in answer to the original thread question, Mercedes will dominate at

Australia,
Bahrain
China
Azerbaijan
Barcelona
Canada
Austria
Britain
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
Autodromo Nazionale Monza
Bay Street Circuit (Singapore)
Collective reset
America
Brazil

Interesting, as Ferrari won 6 of those races last season.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Interesting, as Ferrari won 6 of those races last season.

This year looks like it will hang on whether Mercedes can get their efforts aligned after Singapore.

If so - then it will be 13-8 to Mercedes. Could this be why Ferrari are putting everything behind Vettel already, they are lining him up to take all 8 Ferrari wins, and hope that Bottas and Hamilton share their results 7-6.
Will 8 wins be enough for Vettel to take the WDC though?

On the other hand, if it all ends at Singapore, then it will be 11-10 to Mercedes. This will mean that they could not be considered as dominant, and Vettel's 10 wins compared to only 6 from either Mercedes driver should see him take the WDC.

Mercedes need to get behind one driver now if they want to beat Ferrari in the WDC - and because Bottas is currently top of the pile, Lewis's chance of a WDC this year may have been lost at T1 in Baku??

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

This year looks like it will hang on whether Mercedes can get their efforts aligned after Singapore.

If so - then it will be 13-8 to Mercedes. Could this be why Ferrari are putting everything behind Vettel already, they are lining him up to take all 8 Ferrari wins, and hope that Bottas and Hamilton share their results 7-6.
Will 8 wins be enough for Vettel to take the WDC though?

On the other hand, if it all ends at Singapore, then it will be 11-10 to Mercedes. This will mean that they could not be considered as dominant, and Vettel's 10 wins compared to only 6 from either Mercedes driver should see him take the WDC.

Mercedes need to get behind one driver now if they want to beat Ferrari in the WDC - and because Bottas is currently top of the pile, Lewis's chance of a WDC this year may have been lost at T1 in Baku??

Why hanging on whether Mercedes get their efforts aligned, after Singapore?

I don't see Mercedes getting behind Bottas. That will surely antagonise Hamilton and I'm sure Mercedes would like to have Hamilton equal, if not beat Schumacher's 7 WDCs; he is potentially only 2 seasons, including this one, from at least equaling that achievement. Bottas isn't even in the running.

[ApexTurtle]

Someone is taking this too seriously

I think Ferrari should go for Abacab as a tribute to Genesis.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Why hanging on whether Mercedes get their efforts aligned, after Singapore?

Easy as 1,2,3

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Easy as 1,2,3

That's too cryptic for me.

If they continue with their current form, it be before Singapore.

[Anyopenroad]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

That's too cryptic for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diu8i5UKTHc

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Anyopenroad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diu8i5UKTHc

But there is no more Jackson 5 and even if they wanted to, they couldn't reform.

[S griffin]

Yeah, their lead man is gone and it wouldn’t be the same without them

[Born Racer]

Will motown ever dominate again?

[S griffin]

Probably not in this age

[Born Racer]

Anything can happen, though, don't you think, S griffin? We will see.

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Probably not in this age

In which age then?