Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team 2015

[Jolle]

Giantfan

Next time you post, please read the post in its entirety rather than surmising false conclusions.
Nowhere did I write of a "massive theoretical advantage" Nor did I intimate there being close to one.

"I don't think Mercedes are runnning at full tilt because it is not in their interest to win by 30 seconds. They maybe close to maximum, but they aren't showing everything yet."
Those are your words and they explain my response quite well... let me explain below.
using your logic if mercedes runs at full tilt they would have a massive 30 second advantage.
Since its all in your head and not based on fact it is therefore theoretical.
That should explain in detail how i came to the conclusion that i did.
Look mercedes is ahead, there is really no need to try to exaggerate by how much they are ahead .. what i dont get is why so many people do it

To me it feels like the Mercedes strategists were aware of Vettel and less of Kimi, in his middle stint he was matching Hamilton (and Rosberg) on the medium tire. Hamilton is really playing a "going to win as slow as possible" game, and that will blow up in his face sooner or later. But said that, with only 4 engines this year, it might be very wise.
Don't forget, much of the laptime comes from in which mode the gearbox is in. If you have it in real seamless shift, it suffers much strain but it'll give you a few tenths a lap. If the ferrari gearboxes will break in spain or monaco, we'll know...

[skoop]

i think you can't just say "they were cruising" or "they were flat out attacking". i'm sure nico was racing as fast as he could, becouse he was fighting 2 ferraris. lewis on the other hand seemed to control the race. i'm pretty sure he had some pace left. just look at how he pulled away from nico and seb after the first pitstops. for me the conclusion is that merc isn't holding anything back, but lewis is. he's just untouchable right now, everything he does seems to work perfectly. i have to say i'm disappointed in rosberg. he really needs to up his game. of course he overtook the ferraris a couple of times, but he shouldn't have needed (need?) to in the first place. he screwed up his qualifying and screwed up his start after that. so, jeah. nice drs manouvers, but given the cars potential completely unnecessairy.

[giantfan10]

Giantfan

Next time you post, please read the post in its entirety rather than surmising false conclusions.
Nowhere did I write of a "massive theoretical advantage" Nor did I intimate there being close to one.

"I don't think Mercedes are runnning at full tilt because it is not in their interest to win by 30 seconds. They maybe close to maximum, but they aren't showing everything yet."
Those are your words and they explain my response quite well... let me explain below.
using your logic if mercedes runs at full tilt they would have a massive 30 second advantage.
Since its all in your head and not based on fact it is therefore theoretical.
That should explain in detail how i came to the conclusion that i did.
Look mercedes is ahead, there is really no need to try to exaggerate by how much they are ahead .. what i dont get is why so many people do it

To me it feels like the Mercedes strategists were aware of Vettel and less of Kimi, in his middle stint he was matching Hamilton (and Rosberg) on the medium tire. Hamilton is really playing a "going to win as slow as possible" game, and that will blow up in his face sooner or later. But said that, with only 4 engines this year, it might be very wise.
Don't forget, much of the laptime comes from in which mode the gearbox is in. If you have it in real seamless shift, it suffers much strain but it'll give you a few tenths a lap. If the ferrari gearboxes will break in spain or monaco, we'll know...

im not quite sure i follow you about gearboxes

[giantfan10]

i think you can't just say "they were cruising" or "they were flat out attacking". i'm sure nico was racing as fast as he could, becouse he was fighting 2 ferraris. lewis on the other hand seemed to control the race. i'm pretty sure he had some pace left. just look at how he pulled away from nico and seb after the first pitstops. for me the conclusion is that merc isn't holding anything back, but lewis is. he's just untouchable right now, everything he does seems to work perfectly. i have to say i'm disappointed in rosberg. he really needs to up his game. of course he overtook the ferraris a couple of times, but he shouldn't have needed (need?) to in the first place. he screwed up his qualifying and screwed up his start after that. so, jeah. nice drs manouvers, but given the cars potential completely unnecessairy.

hamilton has it made right now.
he has the fastest car over one lap in formula one and his team mate cant seem to challenge him... so start the race first get out into clean air and manage the race with minimal issues... cars 2,3 and 4 following are dealing with loss of front grip due to dirty air and higher tire degradation than hamilton....
this isnt last year where merc roared off into the distance... they now have to keep a close eye on ferrari so instead of challenging hamilton rosberg is constantly looking over his shoulder at whatever ferrari is sniffing around...all the while hamilton is up front in clean air thinking about what he will do with this races trophy : )

[atanatizante]

There are some speculations on other forum that I`m willing to share with you guys for having your opinion on that.

Someone said that 2015 Merc PU has indeed gain some HP – not much over the 50HP limit – but that is not due to their new Bosch 500bar injection system and it`s rather to an increase in fuel consumption …

It`s a fact that in 2014 one of their big advantages was Ferrari and Renault having had many issue regarding both PU and ERS this ending to the fact that they were down on power. Therefore factory Merc cars need to carry less fuel and is speculated that they could start with 12 to 17kg less gasoline race depending. And that is worth somewhere between 4 and 6 tenth per lap …

Now in 2015 they have more HP but despite having a better DI system and even a more efficient ERS in general and MGU-H in particular (that could give them almost anytime those 160HP allowed by the rules) these things above mentioned didn`t cut fuel consumption more they`d have liked …

In addition to that they increased also the DF levels from last year – one reason being in order to have better rear tyre management for 2015 improved rear Pirelli tyres - hence having now a draggier car this added to the fuel consumption issue … and not to mention the rule for having a PU or ERS for 5 races they have to strength both PU and ERS components with a bad effect on fuel consumption from PU perspective, at least …

So now they have to carry more fuel into the start of the race but at least they are faster on the straights (one of their weak point last year) and have better tyre wear and balance.

But they have a price to pay: they lost almost half a second due to the increased fuel consumption and bearing in mind that the total mass of the cars was raised with 10kg from last year this led to more time loss over a lap.

Whatever, what is really interesting is the fact that in spite of of those losses they seem to have some gains after all, but what is more puzzling - in case of myself - is knowing they spent more tokens than anybody else and maybe they were spend more for safety and reliability reasons due to their 2014 issues … but I`m aware of the fact that another reason is the bespoke law of diminishing returns and that`s why Ferrari was catching them so quickly …

Based on what we've seen on track so far this could actually hold some truth. Am I right in saying we haven't actually seen a faster lap time in the races than 2014 yet?

If this is true, then Mercedes need to replace Toto and Paddy, and bring back Brawn. One of my biggest fears was them going into 2015 and completely messing up the car. And the people I'd blame for that is weak management. Paddy Lowe's record of cars is average at best.

Just seen this on another forum:

"Commenter from German TV just said that Rosberg has told him, that in his opinion, they would have been faster with last year's car and apparently they still have some work to do for the season"

It looks like there may be some truth in those comments. The W06 could be slower than the W05 in terms of ultimate lap time.

As you said there is some truth between those lines ...
IMHO W06 this faster than W05 but this year the car is tyre limited and resembles me the 2012 situation with RB 08 in the first part of hte season, coz those 2 hot laps in the end of the first stint Lewis was doing on used soft tyres in China are more than a proof of car is capable of ...
In addition to that me think they are running in conservative mode even for the entire PU system bearing in mind the 4 engine rule if not their PU issues they had last year.
Another issue is their A123 system batteries that is running hotter that last year, now that they could run the ERS more time and more to the maximum 120KW allowed by the rules.
That's why one of the reason why Ferrari is closer to them in the race is the latter advantage having Saft batteries which is supposed to run much cooler hence their ability to run more with ERS engaged.
You could add to the equation the higher fuel consumption & the car mass increase and maybe you could see better the true picture ...

[SectorOne]

Basically every year of Pirelli tires has artificially held back the fastest car, 2013 was the worst case and this year seems to have gotten closer to that year as opposed to last year.

[GPR-A duplicate2]

I seriously wonder, what business value PIRELLI is getting out of all the flak that they are getting in Formula One. There is so much negativity around the product they are manufacturing for F1. They are of course gaining revenue from selling their product to F1, but in doing so, they are obviously taking a big hit to their reputation as they have become epicenter of the inducing artificiality.

While PIRELLI has taken centre stage for not so good reasons, the Constructors (All manufacturers other than PIRELLI) are getting restricted in showcasing their product capabilities. It really feels ironic that, F1 is supposed to be pinnacle of Motorsport innovation and while all manufacturers/suppliers work their a** off to create high performing products, PIRELLI on the other hand, has to work on creating LOW PERFORMING product. For Ex: Till now, no one has really seen what is the optimum performance of Mercedes PU, due to the restricted framework of tyres. A car is made up of so many components from a variety of manufacturers/suppliers, but almost everyone is being held back due to that one critical parameter, tyres.

[PlatinumZealot]

Basically every year of Pirelli tires has artificially held back the fastest car, 2013 was the worst case and this year seems to have gotten closer to that year as opposed to last year.

Good point. I remember the years were the Redbulls went like stink in Qualifying but could barely replicate their advantage in the races. Only on tyre kind tracks like singapore and monaco could the bulls tear away in the races. It could very well be a tyre limit for real.

[evered7]

Basically every year of Pirelli tires has artificially held back the fastest car, 2013 was the worst case and this year seems to have gotten closer to that year as opposed to last year.

Good point. I remember the years were the Redbulls went like stink in Qualifying but could barely replicate their advantage in the races. Only on tyre kind tracks like singapore and monaco could the bulls tear away in the races. It could very well be a tyre limit for real.

All these posts blaming Pirelli would hold true if they provided the fastest car with a different (poorer) compound of tires 'intentionally'. That is not the case here. The compound is the same for all the teams. Some manage to work it better in the race and some in qualifying.

It is not blowing up like in 2013 and there should be no reason for any changes to it as well.

[Phillyred]

Anyone else see this? It's a couple months old, but I just came across it. Thought it was share-worthy!

[Jordan44]

Anyone else see this? It's a couple months old, but I just came across it. Thought it was share-worthy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJrqLMXpef4

Not sure how you haven't seen it. Sky and BBC didn't stop mentioning it for weeks afterwards.

[Phillyred]

Sorry! I live in the US and as you can imagine F1 coverage is sparse at best!

[Jordan44]

Sorry! I live in the US and as you can imagine F1 coverage is sparse at best!

I feel sorry for you. I hear all the time how bad NBCSN is.

[zeph]

Looks like Hamilton is staying on:

http://m.autosport.com/news/report.php/ ... cedes-deal

Lewis Hamilton and the Mercedes Formula 1 team have agreed a new deal to continue their partnership, which will be announced in Monaco later on Wednesday.

The reigning world champion's protracted contract negotiations have been a major talking point during the 2015 season.

Hamilton's team-mate Nico Rosberg announced an extended deal last summer, but talks with Hamilton were paused during the 2014 title fight and then dragged on through the opening grands prix of this year.

AUTOSPORT understands that Hamilton and Mercedes are ready to announce the agreement.

Hamilton joined Mercedes for the 2013 season after spending his F1 career up to that point with the McLaren team that had nurtured him through junior racing.

The 30-year-old Briton has taken 15 grand prix wins since coming to Mercedes and added last year's drivers' crown to his 2008 title with McLaren.

He heads into this weekend's Monte Carlo race with a 20-point lead over Rosberg in the standings.

[skoop]

aaaaand confirmed