All during the greenwashing era, though--not an insignificant detail. Brackley only found success after the engine formula change in 2014; their power unit was the source of their record. As engine parity has been achieved over time, their leads diminished. Parity is such that even Audi are now considering entering the sport.dialtone wrote: β06 Apr 2022, 19:11As I said it already in this thread in the past, in my opinion any commentary that assumes Merc isn't smart, or hasn't thought of something obvious, is likely wrong or simplifying the problem too much. It should be obvious to assume that a team that won 8 WCCs in a row is stacked,
They weren't known for being aero leaders compared to RB for example, who won their titles prior to 2014 when aero was more critical, and engines were at closer to parity. As parity sets in again RB and Ferrari rise back in the ranks. That RB were able to keep up while using the early Renault PUs says something about the level of their chassis and aero work. Merc cars' aero usually had a bit of a design by brute force computation look to them. Staff size and money do not necessarily equate to good design leadership, so it's possible they could be barking up the wrong tree with these anhedral sidepods.
Had FIA stays against stays remained stayed they might be looking even less staid than what's already been displayed.