2023 Mercedes-AMG | Petronas F1 Team

[atanatizante]

Hamilton might have gone the wrong way with setup:

“I really don’t know,” said Hamilton. ”The car didn’t feel too great after P2. It felt great in P1 and I’ve just not had that feeling ever since. So I’m not really sure what it is.”

He believes he is “too far from the front runners” to challenge for a podium finish in tomorrow’s race and said he isn’t feeling confident about his chances. “The car has just been difficult. I’ll try and turn the negative from today into a positive tomorrow.”

https://www.racefans.net/2023/08/26/i-w ... -reach-q3/

In FP3, according to S1, S3 times and the speed trap, HAM tried a wet setup for the race with RUS the other way around ... then in all qualy sessions I was listening to all HAM`s commentary and he was constantly complaining to Bono that he has no grip ... so I think that after his post qualy statements, it seems that he opted for a low DF/dry race setup and RUS for a high DF/wet which would pay the evidence even in interchangeable track conditions ... in conclusion, HAM is heading for an M-H 1-stop race with RUS on a more flexible 2 stop strategy (S-M-M/S) like resembling what he did last year after that 2 SC phase...

[Cs98]

In FP3, according to S1, S3 times and the speed trap, HAM tried a wet setup for the race with RUS the other way around ... then in all qualy sessions I was listening to all HAM`s commentary and he was constantly complaining to Bono that he has no grip ... so I think that after his post qualy statements, it seems that he opted for a low DF/dry race setup and RUS for a high DF/wet which would pay the evidence even in interchangeable track conditions ... in conclusion, HAM is heading for an M-H 1-stop race with RUS on a more flexible 2 stop strategy (S-M-M/S) like resembling what he did last year after that 2 SC phase...

They were running the same wing levels and hitting the same top speeds in Quali. This is a high downforce track regardless whether it's wet or dry, so set-up differences for different conditions will be minimal.

[atanatizante]

I beg to differ:

[DGP123]

Team has had a mare at the start of this race

Hamilton did a solid job doing his best to undo the damage

[214270]

The team needs to be much sharper on strategy, quite a painful viewing experience frankly.

[Hammerfist]

Why wouldn't they pit Lewis at the start? He was p14, nothing to lose. The car was quick. Russell was good until he might have gotten overly ambitious. Probably the second best car. Mercedes strategy team and pit stops are clearly some of the worst on the grid and it's been that way for a long time.

[Tvetovnato]

Why wouldn't they pit Lewis at the start? He was p14, nothing to lose. The car was quick. Russell was good until he might have gotten overly ambitious. Probably the second best car. Mercedes strategy team and pit stops are clearly one of the worst on the grid and it's been that way for a long time.

Russell was the one taking the decision to stay out one lap too long in the early laps when the team asked him to box, which made him lose many unnecessary positions. But the team should have been way more decisive anyway when it comes to these situations, telling the drivers and not asking them.

And Hamilton chose the worst weekend to be slow in qualifying since he had pretty good pace in all conditions today.

[Hammerfist]

Why wouldn't they pit Lewis at the start? He was p14, nothing to lose. The car was quick. Russell was good until he might have gotten overly ambitious. Probably the second best car. Mercedes strategy team and pit stops are clearly one of the worst on the grid and it's been that way for a long time.

Russell was the one taking the decision to stay out one lap too long in the early laps when the team asked him to box, which made him lose many unnecessary positions. But the team should have been way more decisive anyway when it comes to these situations, telling the drivers and not asking them.

And Hamilton chose the worst weekend to be slow in qualifying since he had pretty good pace in all conditions today.

I understand Russell not wanting to pit because he was at the front, but Hamilton pitting should have been a no brainer.

[sport777]

my opinion is that today in dry weather Mercedes was the second fastest car after RB

[j_ste]

Why wouldn't they pit Lewis at the start? He was p14, nothing to lose. The car was quick. Russell was good until he might have gotten overly ambitious. Probably the second best car. Mercedes strategy team and pit stops are clearly some of the worst on the grid and it's been that way for a long time.

Whats even crazier. Is that if the teams knew rain was going to come early...why the hell was lewis on the medium tyre?

So hes on the medium in the rain...and then they try and see the rain out, while on the medium. Only to then pit.
Now credit, after that on lewis' side. Everything went well. But that early part was terrible strategy.

[organic]

Lewis post-race seemed to be suggesting that he thinks they were very close to RB in race pace today, but couldn't show it. Interesting

[clownfish]

Why wouldn't they pit Lewis at the start? He was p14, nothing to lose. The car was quick. Russell was good until he might have gotten overly ambitious. Probably the second best car. Mercedes strategy team and pit stops are clearly one of the worst on the grid and it's been that way for a long time.

Russell was the one taking the decision to stay out one lap too long in the early laps when the team asked him to box, which made him lose many unnecessary positions. But the team should have been way more decisive anyway when it comes to these situations, telling the drivers and not asking them.

And Hamilton chose the worst weekend to be slow in qualifying since he had pretty good pace in all conditions today.

I understand Russell not wanting to pit because he was at the front, but Hamilton pitting should have been a no brainer.

Russell said the team told him the rain was only staying for 1 or 2 minutes so with that in mind it must have seemed a good call to stay on slicks.

[organic]

Russell was the one taking the decision to stay out one lap too long in the early laps when the team asked him to box, which made him lose many unnecessary positions. But the team should have been way more decisive anyway when it comes to these situations, telling the drivers and not asking them.

And Hamilton chose the worst weekend to be slow in qualifying since he had pretty good pace in all conditions today.

I understand Russell not wanting to pit because he was at the front, but Hamilton pitting should have been a no brainer.

Russell said the team told him the rain was only staying for 1 or 2 minutes so with that in mind it must have seemed a good call to stay on slicks.

It's unfortunate. I think most teams believed the same, but different teams overruled or deferred to their drivers to different extents. And different drivers were more/Less pushy.

Gasly for instance demanded to come in for inters. Whilst Norris requested to box for inters and was told no and he didn't force it until lap 3.

Ultimately it is up to the driver imo to feel when the track is just too wet to dry quickly and you're losing 10s per lap..

[Big Tea]

We need to remember ( as the teams and drivers must have) that when a car pits and has tyres it then has to have room to get back onto the out lane. A 4-5 second stationary for the work can easily be doubled by the time the car is underway again. There is also the possibility of his own or someone's car having an incident anywhere along the pit road, and in that rain it was not that unlikely. A tough decision.

[Shrieker]

Should've pitted at the end of lap 1. You only needed common sense, and a pair of eyes. Not a super computer and loads on loads of data.

This has been a reoccurring theme for a long time now, which they've been unable to address.

Ok I can maybe understand with Russell, cause if you get it wrong, you have something to lose - you get fumbling your b@lls instead of 3rd. But with a car down in 14th place, it was inexcusable. Kudos to Hamilton for a decent recovery in a difficult race tho.