Mercedes GP 2011

[xpensive]

I see those idiots at mercedes finished a credible 5th and 6th.
Why are these guys even bothering?
Beating a Ferrari and even leading a couple of laps... Wow how disastrous.

Brilliant by Schumacher and about time Eddie Jordan ate his words.

As I had my warnings from Tomba for making an arse of myself recently, it's rewarding to notice I'm in such good company.

[marcush.]

=D> =D> =D>
Now that was punching above weight by Mercedes .My full respect to drivers and engineering to work out brilliant strategies and the drivers performing in a championworthy style.I´m impressed and happy .
Not a win not even a podium ,but P5 from startimng last proves two things :
Schumacher has not lost anything .He drove a serene race and kept it under control perfectly beating his teammate who started from P5.Not bad for an old fart who should retire .And Rosberg surely was not off the boil ...but maybe he had something not working properly so he can live with it(perhaps short fueled again for the show in the beginning?)
the second:As I said :minimum driving in Qualy and starting on prime tyres for a short first stint is a very viable option in the race .Qualy has no worth anymore .Schumacher outperformed Rosberg who led the race ...says it all .There is more in saving the tyres than using up the gold in Q3 .Qualy does not earn points it´s just for ego these days.

And I feel robbed of Schumacher starting from p6 .Imagine him battling it out with Vettel Rosberg Hamilton Alonso Massa ...that would have been even more of a cracker.

[samoth]

Oh, mostly here of all are all better than the designer of a f1 car... or? Today a f1 car is so difficult to understand. Maybe Mercedes made a failure with her short wheelbase... the balance is all with the best momentum from the tyres.. It´s not Rosberg and not Schumacher. It´s the car that failed! To many examples leaders last year, looser next year. In my mind Adrian Newey designed the March 90. Best chassis, but no money... same Tyrell 90 with the old DFV.Byrne designed Toleman 1984. Red Bull need 4 years to be the best. Please take your prejudictions away and think clear!

[marcush.]

You miss the point here.MGP has announced to fight for podiums not just points this year and possibly bag a lucky win AFTER testing the thing and after a disatrous debut season ....in which they already failed to deliver what THEY had promised to do.
I would never think I could build a better car .Look at Virgin ,HRT,Lotus (!),TR,Sauber and Force India +Renault...their car is worse than MGPs in results ..so it´s globally not a bad but only the 4 th best package ..
And that´s not enough for the second year of Mercedes GP by THEIR own targets as they are out to win the pot ...The plan was to be fighting for the crown in year 3 at latest...if I remember correctly.

[beelsebob]

You miss the point here.MGP has announced to fight for podiums not just points this year and possibly bag a lucky win AFTER testing the thing and after a disatrous debut season ....in which they already failed to deliver what THEY had promised to do.
I would never think I could build a better car .Look at Virgin ,HRT,Lotus (!),TR,Sauber and Force India +Renault...their car is worse than MGPs in results ..so it´s globally not a bad but only the 4 th best package ..
And that´s not enough for the second year of Mercedes GP by THEIR own targets as they are out to win the pot ...The plan was to be fighting for the crown in year 3 at latest...if I remember correctly.

As far as I'm aware, there's only a single team on the grid that is meeting their targets.
Ferrari aimed to be winning.
McLaren aimed to be winning.
Merc aimed to be podiuming and/or winning.
Renault aimed to be podiuming.
FI aimed to be beating Merc.
Sauber aimed to be 4th best.
TR aimed to be not right at the back.
Lotus aimed to bridge the gap to the midfield.
Virgin aimed to bridge the gap to the midfield.
HRT aimed to not suck totally.

None of these teams have achieved their goals. In F1 it's way more common for a team to not achieve the goal their marketing department sets out for them than to succeed.

[xpensive]

The Mercedes fanboys must be over the moon when MS came home in a sensational fifth place on his legendary favourite track,
a track where he made his first mark in F1 twenty years ago and where he has won 13 or 14 GP's since, I lost count years ago.

I'm sure MS was just as delighted himself, throwing one helluva party to celebrate those sacred points added to his tally.

[Mr.S]

Sauber never realistically expected to be 4th,they just wanted regular points. Force India want to fend off Williams off & hopefully catch up to Renault.


Look Mercedes has got no idea what they are doing. Michael chaimed they will be leading the pack against Red Bull & that a World Title might not be a certainty this year but there is a very good chance of winning races.I remember in the first season during pre-season testing Nico said from the 1st race we are bound to be on top.

This is just not marketing department. Ross himself had very high hopes. & WO2 is a step down from W01. W01 was 0.5-0.6 s behind the pole guy at the begining. W02 is 2 seconds. W01 initially was quicker than Mclaren & Ferrari on quite a few races. They were 1 second odd behind but had freezed all in-season development unlike the rest.

Look at W02. We are 2.5 s behind in qualy & 1.2 s behind in the race(per lap) in Spa,a circuit which should suit the Merc best. This is not about a 100 odd manpower. Force India's car is almost as good as Mercedes with much much less manpower. This is about the team having no idea what it takes to make a championship winning car,wrong concept. THE SWB almost killed the whole season,why are we not seeing firings???

Ferrari,Mclaren & Red Bull are all winning. Merc is getting lapped in certain races. This is even more a screw up than last year. Brawn is giving idiotic reasons like it has 6 months less of development when they started atleast a SOLID 2-3 months earlY & were fully devoted to W02 unlike the others who had to share resources.

The drivers are saying Merc's a**. Renault & Force India cars are as good as Merc & if you switch drivers between the teams Merc would have gone pointless.

[Mr.S]

The Mercedes fanboys must be over the moon when MS came home in a sensational fifth place on his legendary favourite track,
a track where he made his first mark in F1 twenty years ago and where he has won 13 or 14 GP's since, I lost count years ago.

I'm sure MS was just as delighted himself, throwing one helluva party to celebrate those sacred points added to his tally.

We are surely hell a lot feeling better Lewis thickhead Hamilton fanboys who are trying to find 100 more excuses for Lewis' lack on intelligence & maturity.

[marcush.]

You miss the point here.MGP has announced to fight for podiums not just points this year and possibly bag a lucky win AFTER testing the thing and after a disatrous debut season ....in which they already failed to deliver what THEY had promised to do.
I would never think I could build a better car .Look at Virgin ,HRT,Lotus (!),TR,Sauber and Force India +Renault...their car is worse than MGPs in results ..so it´s globally not a bad but only the 4 th best package ..
And that´s not enough for the second year of Mercedes GP by THEIR own targets as they are out to win the pot ...The plan was to be fighting for the crown in year 3 at latest...if I remember correctly.

As far as I'm aware, there's only a single team on the grid that is meeting their targets.
Ferrari aimed to be winning.
McLaren aimed to be winning.
Merc aimed to be podiuming and/or winning.
Renault aimed to be podiuming.
FI aimed to be beating Merc.
Sauber aimed to be 4th best.
TR aimed to be not right at the back.
Lotus aimed to bridge the gap to the midfield.
Virgin aimed to bridge the gap to the midfield.
HRT aimed to not suck totally.

None of these teams have achieved their goals. In F1 it's way more common for a team to not achieve the goal their marketing department sets out for them than to succeed.

Of course only one team can win the pot.So not bagging the title is one thing but you can hardly say Mclarens campaign is a failure or their car is not competitive.
Both their drivers have won races on merit this year .Ferarri have one a race this year as well on merit but have not been able to turn around things as last year -
BUT this ALREADY has cost Costa his job.

Renault is a mess this year and I wonder how much Kubica would have done with that car.Winning races ? in your dreams.So Renault is an underachiever as well.
so sure you are right, F1 teams tend to announcing much more than realistically possible.

[Mr.S]

I do agree with Macush here too. Mercedes are not ready to own up responsibility & their faulty designs??? Why no firings as yet???

If the lack of TD was an issue then they should come up & accept it. I think they know Bob alone cant turn this team around & they dont want to put furthur attention & pressure on him.

The whole Red Bull example is seeming bogus. Look Jaguar was always a very average team. Honda atleast in pure resources was much bigger. They had a very successful guy in Brawn who should know what he is doing.Merc are a huge automobile giant with the best engine & KERS. The comparisons dont hold ground. With or without the DD BRAWN GP was a decent team maybe not great but pretty good.

Red Bull created a World Title worthy car from the 4th season & could have well have won. Merc should really do it in 3 season. Create a potential winning car. Bob has sufficient time. They can switch focus onto W03. They have all the backing from Stuggart & are recruting big to compete with the in-season developmental pace.

If they cant win races then there is VERY LITTLE HOPE. MAYBE A COMPLETE OVERHAUL is needed

[Mr.S]

Btw what justification is there for not having a Technical Director for more than a year for a team who wants to win the Formula 1 Championship. Seriously that is completely suicidal.

[MIKEY_!]

Guess they are trying to drum up business, psych out the opposition, and generally look confident. Sometimes they are less realistic than others and of course it matters hugely when they set these targets. If they set them before any cars run then they can hardly be blamed for not being where they said.

[Mr.S]

I also have big doubts about Bob Bell completely tranforming Merc. I dont really know if he is half worth the hype. When I remember 2005 & 2006 I remember that Mclaren was more quicker than Renault than what Red Bull are this year. They could carry double the fuel load & still get pole. They won the most races too. But Kimi had massive reliability issues & lost the plot.

Also Michelin's were kicking Bridgestone's ass making it very hard for Ferrari to win. The car was good thought. VERY GOOD but completely thumping out the opposition???I dont think so. Then what happened in 2007 & 2008??? They were nowhere.

So I am not sure that Bob alone can turn Merc around. Maybe if they have Costa as Assistant TD & Prodromou as head of aerodynamics & a bunch of good engineers from Renault,Force India & Sauber then maybe.

[marcush.]

Maybe a onform Schumacher can stirr up the complacent people in Brackley to go the extra mile ...

[beelsebob]

I do agree with Macush here too. Mercedes are not ready to own up responsibility & their faulty designs??? Why no firings as yet???

If the lack of TD was an issue then they should come up & accept it. I think they know Bob alone cant turn this team around & they dont want to put furthur attention & pressure on him.

The whole Red Bull example is seeming bogus. Look Jaguar was always a very average team. Honda atleast in pure resources was much bigger. They had a very successful guy in Brawn who should know what he is doing.Merc are a huge automobile giant with the best engine & KERS. The comparisons dont hold ground. With or without the DD BRAWN GP was a decent team maybe not great but pretty good.

Red Bull created a World Title worthy car from the 4th season & could have well have won. Merc should really do it in 3 season. Create a potential winning car. Bob has sufficient time. They can switch focus onto W03. They have all the backing from Stuggart & are recruting big to compete with the in-season developmental pace.

If they cant win races then there is VERY LITTLE HOPE. MAYBE A COMPLETE OVERHAUL is needed

I'd love to see you run a company. Didn't achieve our goals? FIRE EVERYONE! The way to achieve success is not to run around blaming people and firing them when you don't get to where you hoped you might. Instead, it's to breed a culture where people are comfortable working hard on the problems, and where you have people consistently there, with an understanding of what the problems are. All you do by firing people is 1) get rid of the people who are getting to grips with the problems in their mind 2) make everyone else nervous and less motivated 3) get a bunch of people in who you probably rejected when you were last interviewing for the position because they weren't as good!

It never ceases to amaze me how many idiots call for people to be fired for not getting it dead right.