2023 Mercedes-AMG | Petronas F1 Team

[AR3-GP]

In what way do you mean?

Merc lost at COTA in '21 by staying out and "extending" stints. Hamilton himself lost to Bottas here in '19 because they tried to 1 stop. The race winning strategy for the last 4 years in COTA has been 2 stop with undercuts or stopping before the opposition. Merc has either left Hamilton on the 1 stop ('19), or done their purposeless stint extending ('21,'23).

Once you've been undercut by a car of similar pace and if you don't have a top speed advantage - in merc's case a deficit - you just have to extend to generate a tyre age offset which then will give you more pace delta to overtake when you do catch them. It's completely standard pitstop strategy and everyone does it. We don't tend to see RB do the extend strategy because they rarely get undercut because they have the fastest car and can afford to trigger an early undercut knowing they will be able to pull enough of a gap in clean air such that they won't be at risk at the end of the stint.

No one attempting this in the last 4 years at COTA has won.

[AR3-GP]

Oh dear Hamilton could be disqualified

****

[Spoutnik]

Merc didn't learn anything from 2021 US GP.

I firmly believe that they didn't think they had enough pace to win (which goes back to my comment about VER's brake change making gaps appear closer than they should have been).

It was quite clear from Bono's commentary, too, when he said that the fight for P2 was on, and "perhaps the win". They clearly thought Max was going to run away with it and that they would only fight NOR for P2.

Whether it was Ver or Nor that they were fighting, the better strategy was the 2 stop and undercut. This was proven in the 2019, 2021, and 2022 races at COTA.

Totally on point.
It was clear for me when Lewis closed the gap to Norris under 2 seconds that they had to pit immediately.

I mean this is a chronic issue at Mercedes to mistime the pit window and end up stuck with worn tyre but a potential offset... the issue is they push the thing way to far Lewis was losing 2 seconds a lap
To give a few examples :
- Brazil 2021 : They stopped Lewis 3 or laps after Max for the 2nd stop which was useless but again they didnt expect an early stop
- Singapore 2019 : Hamilton 2nd within 2 sec behind Leclerc. Vettel pit in first then Leclerc and Verstappen, it's too late for Hamilton he ends up 4th on a street circuit having started 2nd, waiting for a SC who came too late to salvage his strategy
- Austin 2021 : No need to comment you know the story
Etc..

[Spoutnik]

Oh dear Hamilton could be disqualified

****

Mega job by Merc once again

[organic]

Merc lost at COTA in '21 by staying out and "extending" stints. Hamilton himself lost to Bottas here in '19 because they tried to 1 stop. The race winning strategy for the last 4 years in COTA has been 2 stop with undercuts or stopping before the opposition. Merc has either left Hamilton on the 1 stop ('19), or done their purposeless stint extending ('21,'23).

Once you've been undercut by a car of similar pace and if you don't have a top speed advantage - in merc's case a deficit - you just have to extend to generate a tyre age offset which then will give you more pace delta to overtake when you do catch them. It's completely standard pitstop strategy and everyone does it. We don't tend to see RB do the extend strategy because they rarely get undercut because they have the fastest car and can afford to trigger an early undercut knowing they will be able to pull enough of a gap in clean air such that they won't be at risk at the end of the stint.

No one attempting this in the last 4 years at COTA has won.

I guess so but that's not a very large sample size and in 2022 this example does not stand up to scrutiny if you consider rb's 4 tenths per lap advantage there and was only "close" thanks to a >10s stop for max and mid-race safety car

Everyone knows the undercut is the better situation. But the earlier you trigger it, the worse it can be for you tyre-wear wise later. RB seems to always hit that window on the dot, but it looks easier when you have a faster car that can pull a larger gap out to make the long stints easier

[AR3-GP]

Once you've been undercut by a car of similar pace and if you don't have a top speed advantage - in merc's case a deficit - you just have to extend to generate a tyre age offset which then will give you more pace delta to overtake when you do catch them. It's completely standard pitstop strategy and everyone does it. We don't tend to see RB do the extend strategy because they rarely get undercut because they have the fastest car and can afford to trigger an early undercut knowing they will be able to pull enough of a gap in clean air such that they won't be at risk at the end of the stint.

No one attempting this in the last 4 years at COTA has won.

I guess so but that's not a very large sample size and in 2022 this example does not stand up to scrutiny if you consider rb's 4 tenths per lap advantage there and was only "close" thanks to a >10s stop for max and mid-race safety car

Everyone knows the undercut is the better situation. But the earlier you trigger it, the worse it can be for you tyre-wear wise later. RB seems to always hit that window on the dot, but it looks easier when you have a faster car that can pull a larger gap out to make the long stints easier

oh by 2022, I was just highlighting how the 1 stop is simply delusional. Remember that Merc (and Ferrari) wanted to 1 stop.

[Juzh]

I guess both ham and lec are in trouble then? There's no specific mention which one was in supposed breach.

[Hammerfist]

Yeah i mean you lose so much time by staying out. Youre losing time while on 20+ laps tires against guys who just bolted on new tires. With the offset strategy the tire age difference is usyally not that big. It only works when you have a decisive car advantage imo.

[Luscion]

I guess both ham and lec are in trouble then? There's no specific mention which one was in supposed breach.

Yea it's both of their cars

[f1jcw]

Be nice to know which others passed, for all we know only these two were picked for this test. If it’s 100% failure, they should test more.

[ringo]

I guess both ham and lec are in trouble then? There's no specific mention which one was in supposed breach.

Jo Bauer is a hater man. He had to go check the cars then report it!
I can see him kneeling up from under the cars then scrambling up and running towards to stewards office with the great news.

Sorry Lewis, but it's like that sometimes. Reminiscent of Brazil 2021 and the wing deflection breach.
It may even be a sign that Hamilton will win in Mexico.

[organic]

I wonder if the issue comes from excessive wear or excessive movement or deflection of the skid blocks.

With the new floor being here and now running into issues, it might point at Merc pushing limits on deflection of bodywork

OTOH COTA having so many bumps points at plank wear

[chrisc90]

Be nice to know which others passed, for all we know only these two were picked for this test. If it’s 100% failure, they should test more.

The rest passed. It’s a document to state that 2 cars failed the checks and was being reported to the stewards.

There will likely be another few documents that says xyz was checked on all cars and found to be passed.

[f1jcw]

Be nice to know which others passed, for all we know only these two were picked for this test. If it’s 100% failure, they should test more.

The rest passed. It’s a document to state that 2 cars failed the checks and was being reported to the stewards.

There will likely be another few documents that says xyz was checked on all cars and found to be passed.

Yeah but usually they don’t test every car for everything, they usually pick at random

[organic]

Be nice to know which others passed, for all we know only these two were picked for this test. If it’s 100% failure, they should test more.

The rest passed. It’s a document to state that 2 cars failed the checks and was being reported to the stewards.

There will likely be another few documents that says xyz was checked on all cars and found to be passed.

Yeah but usually they don’t test every car for everything, they usually pick at random

Is it possible that if they randomly find one driver is in breach of plank wear that they check all of the cars in this department?