2023 Mercedes-AMG | Petronas F1 Team

[Just_a_fan]

What's strange is talk about the car happening in the team thread...

[Cs98]

The zeropod is gone. Strange seeing as it “wasn’t the problem”.

I think it's more strange that it's appeared when many "experts" on these very threads said it wasn't possible....

What's strange is how many people have been defending a sidepod on these threads, like it's their pride and joy. The zeropod was an utter failure, and leaving it behind is good. Despite all the nonsense talk from the team and fans that "the sidepod isn't performance defining". Huh? 4th major change in less than 1,5 years to a non-performance defining part. This narrative is ridiculous.

[Cs98]

What's strange is talk about the car happening in the team thread...

Merely contrasting the upgrade to statements made by the team. 100% belongs in the team thread.

[taperoo2k]

The zeropod is gone. Strange seeing as it “wasn’t the problem”.

I think it's more strange that it's appeared when many "experts" on these very threads said it wasn't possible....

I'm sure it was no easy to task to move the cooling systems and other bits around to accommodate the change in shape to the sidepods but it's not an impossible thing to do. The only thing that's not possible for Mercedes to do due to the cost cap is to change the chassis design for this season.

[ValeVida46]

What's strange is how many people have been defending a sidepod on these threads, like it's their pride and joy. The zeropod was an utter failure, and leaving it behind is good. Despite all the nonsense talk from the team and fans that "the sidepod isn't performance defining". Huh? 4th major change in less than 1,5 years to a non-performance defining part. This narrative is ridiculous.

It's almost like Mercedes can't make mistakes.

Or if they find a problem, and correct it, they must be beholden to statements made months before

[Cs98]

What's strange is how many people have been defending a sidepod on these threads, like it's their pride and joy. The zeropod was an utter failure, and leaving it behind is good. Despite all the nonsense talk from the team and fans that "the sidepod isn't performance defining". Huh? 4th major change in less than 1,5 years to a non-performance defining part. This narrative is ridiculous.

It's almost like Mercedes can't make mistakes.

Or if they find a problem, and correct it, they must be beholden to statements made months before

These statements are not months old though. They've been saying the same thing non-stop since the start of 2022 until here and now. Some fans have been lapping it up. As is always the case in F1 though, talk is cheap. Look at what a team does, not what it says. Their actions have been screaming since the start of last season they believe the sidepod is very performance defining. You don't hide something you don't believe is important. And you certainly don't change it twice in the span of less than half a year if it's not defining.

[ValeVida46]

The zeropod is gone. Strange seeing as it “wasn’t the problem”.

I think it's more strange that it's appeared when many "experts" on these very threads said it wasn't possible....

I'm sure it was no easy to task to move the cooling systems and other bits around to accommodate the change in shape to the sidepods but it's not an impossible thing to do. The only thing that's not possible for Mercedes to do due to the cost cap is to change the chassis design for this season.

Absolutely. I don't think anyone suggested a new chassis. But there were a few that did say that because of the pod wing, it would be impossible to have a more traditional sidepod.
Given that Toto said there are "No sacred cows" ...everything is up for review. As it should be.

[SiLo]

The zeropod is gone. Strange seeing as it “wasn’t the problem”.

I think it's more strange that it's appeared when many "experts" on these very threads said it wasn't possible....

It's all about the rules for radius allowances on the sidepods. The midwing stops them being able to come back in again because the bottom of the wing already does. Looks like they have incorporated it into the top of the inlet, which stops this being an issue.

[ValeVida46]

What's strange is how many people have been defending a sidepod on these threads, like it's their pride and joy. The zeropod was an utter failure, and leaving it behind is good. Despite all the nonsense talk from the team and fans that "the sidepod isn't performance defining". Huh? 4th major change in less than 1,5 years to a non-performance defining part. This narrative is ridiculous.

It's almost like Mercedes can't make mistakes.

Or if they find a problem, and correct it, they must be beholden to statements made months before

These statements are not months old though. They've been saying the same thing non-stop since the start of 2022 until here and now. Some fans have been lapping it up. As is always the case in F1 though, talk is cheap. Look at what a team does, not what it says. Their actions have been screaming since the start of last season they believe the sidepod is very performance defining. You don't hide something you don't believe is important. And you certainly don't change it twice in the span of less than half a year if it's not defining.

So you say in F1 talk is cheap and actions are louder than words...yet you want to prioritise what they're saying instead of what they're doing?
Surely instead of kicking them, you can say that they're at least trying to figure out a way to get faster?

[ValeVida46]

The zeropod is gone. Strange seeing as it “wasn’t the problem”.

I think it's more strange that it's appeared when many "experts" on these very threads said it wasn't possible....

It's all about the rules for radius allowances on the sidepods. The midwing stops them being able to come back in again because the bottom of the wing already does. Looks like they have incorporated it into the top of the inlet, which stops this being an issue.

Which is a very simple solution, and one that was proposed on the W14 thread(from memory)...either there or twitter.

[Cs98]

It's almost like Mercedes can't make mistakes.

Or if they find a problem, and correct it, they must be beholden to statements made months before

These statements are not months old though. They've been saying the same thing non-stop since the start of 2022 until here and now. Some fans have been lapping it up. As is always the case in F1 though, talk is cheap. Look at what a team does, not what it says. Their actions have been screaming since the start of last season they believe the sidepod is very performance defining. You don't hide something you don't believe is important. And you certainly don't change it twice in the span of less than half a year if it's not defining.

So you say in F1 talk is cheap and actions are louder than words...yet you want to prioritise what they're saying instead of what they're doing?
Surely instead of kicking them, you can say that they're at least trying to figure out a way to get faster?

No, I want to highlight how meaningless those words were, and point out how silly it was to blindly believe it as so many in these threads did. The "it's not even the problem" sentiment was pervasive, because people listened to words instead of analysing what was happening with the car.

[Hammerfist]

If you paid attention to Toto’s words recently it was clear they would change their side pod philosophy. They said they wanted to make sure it wasn’t an issue, to paraphrase. Looking forward to see the whole car now. Most awaited upgrade ever.

[chrisc90]

I thought Toto said that the side pods weren’t the issue.

[ValeVida46]

No, I want to highlight how meaningless those words were, and point out how silly it was to blindly believe it as so many in these threads did. The "it's not even the problem" sentiment was pervasive, because people listened to words instead of analysing what was happening with the car.

People can analyse independently of statements. I think the struggle to find solutions is the same applied to every single team.

Isolating problems and dealing with them is nothing new. I simply don't get why (some)people week in week out just come here to jump on what was said. It's like a sport within a sport to sharpen knives on media questions to team bosses.

[Hammerfist]

I thought Toto said that the side pods weren’t the issue.

Just two weeks ago posted here:

Toto Wolff:
It's a lack of comprehension of what it is that makes this car such a nasty piece of work

I think what we're trying to do with the upgrade is to create a new baseline and for us to take question marks out of the equation and say, this is not the problem now that we have gone to a different concept.

This is what is happening with the front suspension and we are looking at bodywork solutions that are more conventional than ours, and that are going to create a different airflow.
https://au.motorsport.com/f1/news/wolff ... /10466352/


People on this site have very short memories.