[ 2020 ] AMG Mercedes F1 Team - Mercedes

[GPR-A]

[zibby43]

@f1debrief

[GPR-A]

A comparison between Bottas' Race sim of W10 from 2nd Winter Test of 2019 Vs Hamilton's 1st Race Sim of W11 from 1st Winter Test of 2020. I chose second winter test from last year as their actual W11 came in that test.

The first stint comparison is rather interesting. While on Softer C3 rubber, the times were almost 2 seconds slower (translated for compound) in comparison. But the second stint on same compound and at almost similar interval, the difference gets halved. At the end of the race sim, the times are almost a match.

Link -> 2019 F1 PIRELLI COMPOUNDS PACE DIFFERENCE
C1 – C2: 0.8 – 1.0 s
C2 – C3: 0.7 s
C3 – C4: 0.6 s
C4 – C5: 0.6 s

[Holm86]

They've got some humor in this team

[Just_a_fan]

https://preview.redd.it/q966n0u2h2i41.p ... d6c4d70e93

@f1debrief

That's some serious delta driving. That last stint is all, bar the odd lap, sat at around 20.3 with no sign of tyre deg or fuel burn off showing (unless one is matching the other almost perfectly). Makes one wonder what they could do if they were pushing.

[Morteza]

Test 1, Day 3: Valtteri and Lewis Conclude First Pre-Season Test


Valtteri Bottas
It’s been really fun today, especially getting to do some shorter runs and being able to push the car a little bit closer to the limits – seeing a little bit more of the performance of the car. I enjoyed it and it felt really good out there. It feels like we made a step with the set-up since yesterday. The car is very driveable and I’m sure with some more hard work next week, we can make it better, which will be the goal. Overall, it’s been a really good first test, we have made some improvements every day with the car. A big well done to every single team member to deliver the car and engine – great job! I’m looking forward to getting back in the car next week.


Lewis Hamilton
It’s been a great effort from the team and great to see that the reliability is as strong as it is. The car has felt pretty good out there. It’s been a solid first week and we’ve got some good mileage. It’s a true showing of all the incredible work everyone has done back at the factory and here at the track. I’m really proud of everyone. We’ve got to keep working hard, analyse all the data from this week and figure out how we can move the car forward and build on everything next week.


James Allison
After the brief hiatus of yesterday, it was good to get a solid day of uninterrupted, reliable running today. Both drivers completed a programme of set-up work and an early look at the softer compound range. Just a very quick glimpse of that, but really useful preparation for the second week of testing where we have more of the soft rubber to bring. It’s been a good first week, the car has been broadly reliable, and the performance has been reasonably good throughout the week. There are, of course, many things to work on and we’ll be trying to do that in week two. But it’s a really good baseline. At the end of this first week, we start to get some sort of feeling for where all the teams are in the pecking order and especially now a few race distances have gone down. But it will be really interesting in the second week as our estimates start to refine further.

[Avocado]

I have a feeling that they will win every race of the season.

[bosyber]

Nah, Bottas will have a single technical gremlin, and Vettel will spin them off

[Wass85]

I have a feeling that they will win every race of the season.

Wow

[Pyrone89]

I am looking forward to people somehow arguing it still isn't about the dominant car performance but on drivers skill when they get the titles again this year, for a 7th year in a row.

I have a feeling that they will win every race of the season.

I am sure there will be a strange race this year that throws a curve ball, like every year. So don't see them winning every race, but I think they will get very close. Officially the most successful/dominant team in history for a consecutive period and racking up the titles and race wins quickly in their pursuit of the all time records (still some way to go, because of their disappearance after 1955).

[Just_a_fan]

I am looking forward to people somehow arguing it still isn't about the dominant car performance but on drivers skill when they get the titles again this year, for a 7th year in a row.

Looking forward to examples of drivers in bad cars, or even just second/third best cars winning titles.

[zibby43]

https://preview.redd.it/q966n0u2h2i41.p ... d6c4d70e93

@f1debrief

That's some serious delta driving. That last stint is all, bar the odd lap, sat at around 20.3 with no sign of tyre deg or fuel burn off showing (unless one is matching the other almost perfectly). Makes one wonder what they could do if they were pushing.

I agree.

On a side note, remember when Ferrari let James Allison walk?

Before Allison's arrival, one of the Merc's most glaring weaknesses (and there weren't many) was its propensity to chew through its tires - particularly the rears. Now, Merc are the class of the field in terms of tire management in race trim.

[LM10]

https://preview.redd.it/q966n0u2h2i41.p ... d6c4d70e93

@f1debrief

That's some serious delta driving. That last stint is all, bar the odd lap, sat at around 20.3 with no sign of tyre deg or fuel burn off showing (unless one is matching the other almost perfectly). Makes one wonder what they could do if they were pushing.

I agree.

On a side note, remember when Ferrari let James Allison walk?

Before Allison's arrival, one of the Merc's most glaring weaknesses (and there weren't many) was its propensity to chew through its tires - particularly the rears. Now, Merc are the class of the field in terms of tire management in race trim.

Mercedes already was amazing in slow corner performance last season (and also before), but they seem to have still managed to make an even bigger jump this year. Juzh, the onboard-video provider of the forum, told that he has observed Mercedes already in testing having a significantly higher minimum corner speed in slow speed corners than in last year's Q3.
It's safe to say that James Allison is a big blessing for Mercedes. He's a suspension genius and it seems like that area still is one where you can gain big chunks of time in. Their "adventurous" suspension system at the rear and DAS at the front make it two innovations which in combination could already mean game over for this year.

RBR seems to be very upset about DAS and will desperately try to get it banned. They know they can't argue on a mechanical level as it is not against the rules so they try to do it by bringing the argument that it primarily has an aerodynamic benefit rather than mechanical. They really want to make Max the youngest champions in history. They worked so hard to improve their car and have been fairly optimistic the last weeks.

On another note, I think Ferrari should eye the situation closely and if their car turns out to be significantly behind, they should just be honest to themselves, be clever, let Mercedes and RBR fight and turn their focus on 2021.

[GPR-A]

That's some serious delta driving. That last stint is all, bar the odd lap, sat at around 20.3 with no sign of tyre deg or fuel burn off showing (unless one is matching the other almost perfectly). Makes one wonder what they could do if they were pushing.

I agree.

On a side note, remember when Ferrari let James Allison walk?

Before Allison's arrival, one of the Merc's most glaring weaknesses (and there weren't many) was its propensity to chew through its tires - particularly the rears. Now, Merc are the class of the field in terms of tire management in race trim.

Mercedes already was amazing in slow corner performance last season (and also before), but they seem to have still managed to make an even bigger jump this year. Juzh, the onboard-video provider of the forum, told that he has observed Mercedes already in testing having a significantly higher minimum corner speed in slow speed corners than in last year's Q3.
It's safe to say that James Allison is a big blessing for Mercedes. He's a suspension genius and it seems like that area still is one where you can gain big chunks of time in. Their "adventurous" suspension system at the rear and DAS at the front make it two innovations which in combination could already mean game over for this year.

RBR seems to be very upset about DAS and will desperately try to get it banned. They know they can't argue on a mechanical level as it is not against the rules so they try to do it by bringing the argument that it primarily has an aerodynamic benefit rather than mechanical. They really want to make Max the youngest champions in history. They worked so hard to improve their car and have been fairly optimistic the last weeks.

On another note, I think Ferrari should eye the situation closely and if their car turns out to be significantly behind, they should just be honest to themselves, be clever, let Mercedes and RBR fight and turn their focus on 2021.

Ferrari has been so ridiculously stupid to let go of people like Aldo Costa and James Allison, aren't they? These two have been leading figures in the success of Mercedes, which just proves that, the working culture matters the most for generating success out of talented people.

Having a very strong mechanical car is fundamental to the overall performance of the car, most so in the low speed sectors. There was a time when the all the arm chair experts across were blaming the longer wheel base of Mercedes to be a problem when they struggled in 2017 for low speed performance. Without changing that philosophy, which yields them a great deal of downforce, they have boosted that philosophy with low speed performance. For 2021, that mechanical platform is going to be even more critical.

Allison comes from a background of having created cars at Renault and Ferrari that were kinder on tyres and it's safe to say he probably has contributed in that area for Mercedes.

Mercedes was itching to start the work on 2021 early last year and were pushing for the regulations to be finalized and published as early as possible. FIA and Liberty deliberately delayed it until October last year to deny that opportunity for top 3 teams as the smaller teams wouldn't be in a position to put resources for 2021 that early. Hence, it was finalized in October last year.

https://www.grandprix247.com/2018/12/17 ... 2021-cars/

Mercedes, along with Ferrari and McLaren have tested the 2021 tires for 18 inch wheels. With the approach that Mercedes have for the past so many years followed an approach, where their designers move on to the car that is going to come 2 years later, I don't think Mercedes would be compromised while battling for 2020 crowns. If they go on to win a great deal of races early in this season, it becomes even more easier to move resources to 2021 project. Having virtually sealed the championship in the first half of last year, it was already easy for them to juggle resources between 2020 and 2021.

Since October last year when the 2021 regulations were finalized and published, which is over 4 months now, I doubt if their designers haven't already made a whole lot of progress on the new car. If there is one team which you can bet on coming out with another top draw car in 2021, it is this, regardless of how they will manage 2020.

[Bill]

You giving James Allison too much credits he doesn't design anything he is a project leader he said it himself last year.As for leaving Ferrari he choose to become of personal circumstances Ferrari didn't fire him and Costa is long gone.