[ 2020 ] AMG Mercedes F1 Team - Mercedes

[nacho]

Well, you never know, he said they were human errors. He said he's gonna know more about fuel thing on tuesday or wednesday.

[bosyber]

Source?

Interview in Finnish after the race:
https://www.is.fi/formula1/art-2000006576359.html

Ok sounds like scrambling for excuses.

Just a bit, guess that's why it is from a Finnish site. Now, I doubt Bottas will lean too much into those excuses , more than that it's Mercedes and him that look at where to improve all the time. It is a bit surprising, but given Hamilton last week would have still blitzed him in quali (rain) and Bottas got 2nd anyway, not sure it was a big thing anyway. This week, with only 0.1s between pole and 2nd, a bit more of a possibility.

[GPR-A]

This is obvious that Bottas is treated like driver no. 2. Only one year contracts one by one, "miastakes" like these above... It's clear.

Do you think anyone would read your comments seriously?

In any team, a driver has to earn a No. 1 position. Look at Leclerc. Last year, he was brought as a potential side kick to Vettel as he was still too young, but with his skills, determination and performances, he displaced the No.1 guy and took over the team as his own. If Bottas can't do it, then he is No.2! That's no brainer.

Sh** happens to drivers and there are times when a driver gets screwed by his garage. There have been numerous times when Lewis got screwed with bad setup, bad strategy calls and reliability issues. But he gets over it, bounces back and goes about his business. Bottas is No.2, not because the team treats him that way, but because his performances doesn't merit to be No.1.

So get over it.

[Unf]

This is obvious that Bottas is treated like driver no. 2. Only one year contracts one by one, "miastakes" like these above... It's clear.

Do you think anyone would read your comments seriously?

If you are trying to say that Bottas has excatly the same rights in Mercedes as Hamilton - sorry but I am not going to take your posts seriously, cause it's so naive...

It's obvious that Bottas is "slower" than Hamilton - I don't deny it. But somebody must be totally newbie in F1 world to trying to make a statement that Bottas is treated equally next to Lewis.

[El Scorchio]

This is obvious that Bottas is treated like driver no. 2. Only one year contracts one by one, "miastakes" like these above... It's clear.

Do you think anyone would read your comments seriously?

If you are trying to say that Bottas has excatly the same rights in Mercedes as Hamilton - sorry but I am not going to take your posts seriously, cause it's so naive...

It's obvious that Bottas is "slower" than Hamilton - I don't deny it. But somebody must be totally newbie in F1 world to trying to make a statement that Bottas is treated equally next to Lewis.

If it’s true, it’s a lot less obvious than at RBR or Ferrari.

What are you suggesting Bottas doesn’t get equal treatment with? They certainly aren’t taking parts off his car to give to the other driver or anything like that.

[nacho]

I would not think much of it, probably just small mistakes. There has been some strategy calls in recent years that felt a bit "off" though.

[basti313]

Do you think anyone would read your comments seriously?

If you are trying to say that Bottas has excatly the same rights in Mercedes as Hamilton - sorry but I am not going to take your posts seriously, cause it's so naive...

It's obvious that Bottas is "slower" than Hamilton - I don't deny it. But somebody must be totally newbie in F1 world to trying to make a statement that Bottas is treated equally next to Lewis.

If it’s true, it’s a lot less obvious than at RBR or Ferrari.

What are you suggesting Bottas doesn’t get equal treatment with? They certainly aren’t taking parts off his car to give to the other driver or anything like that.

Well, Merc is simply in a completely different position. They are so far ahead that the development plans follows a clear structure, that the processes are in perfect shape and mostly the only strategic issue is "do not undercut the other car".
When Merc was starting, of course they gave the new front wing to Rosberg, especially when they started with the F-duct wing. Now they do not have this development pressure and arrive with 4 front wings of the same spec...

[El Scorchio]

If you are trying to say that Bottas has excatly the same rights in Mercedes as Hamilton - sorry but I am not going to take your posts seriously, cause it's so naive...

It's obvious that Bottas is "slower" than Hamilton - I don't deny it. But somebody must be totally newbie in F1 world to trying to make a statement that Bottas is treated equally next to Lewis.

If it’s true, it’s a lot less obvious than at RBR or Ferrari.

What are you suggesting Bottas doesn’t get equal treatment with? They certainly aren’t taking parts off his car to give to the other driver or anything like that.

Well, Merc is simply in a completely different position. They are so far ahead that the development plans follows a clear structure, that the processes are in perfect shape and mostly the only strategic issue is "do not undercut the other car".
When Merc was starting, of course they gave the new front wing to Rosberg, especially when they started with the F-duct wing. Now they do not have this development pressure and arrive with 4 front wings of the same spec...

That is true. Everything is a bit easier when you’re at the top of the hill, but as far as I can tell they do try wherever possible to keep parity between their drivers.

[basti313]

If it’s true, it’s a lot less obvious than at RBR or Ferrari.

What are you suggesting Bottas doesn’t get equal treatment with? They certainly aren’t taking parts off his car to give to the other driver or anything like that.

Well, Merc is simply in a completely different position. They are so far ahead that the development plans follows a clear structure, that the processes are in perfect shape and mostly the only strategic issue is "do not undercut the other car".
When Merc was starting, of course they gave the new front wing to Rosberg, especially when they started with the F-duct wing. Now they do not have this development pressure and arrive with 4 front wings of the same spec...

That is true. Everything is a bit easier when you’re at the top of the hill, but as far as I can tell they do try wherever possible to keep parity between their drivers.

Well...as soon as Rosberg used the Ham setup or the other way round parity was clearly gone. What they do is the externally claim parity and make it look like this. Internally the team comes first.

[tangodjango]

Interview in Finnish after the race:
https://www.is.fi/formula1/art-2000006576359.html

Ok sounds like scrambling for excuses.

Just a bit, guess that's why it is from a Finnish site. Now, I doubt Bottas will lean too much into those excuses , more than that it's Mercedes and him that look at where to improve all the time. It is a bit surprising, but given Hamilton last week would have still blitzed him in quali (rain) and Bottas got 2nd anyway, not sure it was a big thing anyway. This week, with only 0.1s between pole and 2nd, a bit more of a possibility.

It makes sense to me, the easier and more predictable a car is to drive even at it's very limits means a coachable driver who studies the data like Bottas can almost replicate Hamilton after studying his data and refining his approach. Also Bottas has his own strengths at certain types of corners (low to medium speed short corner's ?), maybe someone else can clarify that?

[Unf]

What are you suggesting Bottas doesn’t get equal treatment with? They certainly aren’t taking parts off his car to give to the other driver or anything like that.

Valtteri, It's James - from the top of my head. Never forget.

[El Scorchio]

What are you suggesting Bottas doesn’t get equal treatment with? They certainly aren’t taking parts off his car to give to the other driver or anything like that.

Valtteri, It's James - from the top of my head. Never forget.

I can also count more than a few times when Hamilton has been on the disadvantaged edge of strategy decisions. There was one last year when Hamilton most places due to strategy to preserve a Bottas win. Also the first Austrian race this year they hardly favoured Hamilton. If he were a number one driver they’d have made Bottas let him through. In fact they clearly called off the fight so as to keep Hamilton in second before all the safety car craziness happened.

Remember when Bottas let him through to have a go at another car, it didn’t work out, so they gave the place back to Bottas. Those aren’t the actions of a team favouring one driver, no matter how much you’d like to believe it.

They give preference to the driver ahead on the track. It just so happens that it’s usually Hamilton. In fact they gave Bottas pit stop priority yesterday which they wouldn’t normally do.

Far more parity at Mercedes than RBR or Ferrari from what I’ve witnessed over the past few years. They could have easily engineered a WDC for Hamilton in 2016 to make up for his reliability issues but didn’t. Can you honestly say RBR or Ferrari would have behaved in the same way faced with that situation?

[El Scorchio]

Well, Merc is simply in a completely different position. They are so far ahead that the development plans follows a clear structure, that the processes are in perfect shape and mostly the only strategic issue is "do not undercut the other car".
When Merc was starting, of course they gave the new front wing to Rosberg, especially when they started with the F-duct wing. Now they do not have this development pressure and arrive with 4 front wings of the same spec...

That is true. Everything is a bit easier when you’re at the top of the hill, but as far as I can tell they do try wherever possible to keep parity between their drivers.

Well...as soon as Rosberg used the Ham setup or the other way round parity was clearly gone. What they do is the externally claim parity and make it look like this. Internally the team comes first.

Not sure what you’re trying to say? Sharing setup or giving drivers the same set up/strategy suggests parity to me. Don’t forget they swapped drivers’ mechanics in 2016 for parity also. If anything it was to help Rosberg out.

You’re absolutely right that the team comes first. Over any preference toward one driver or another.

[tangodjango]

What are you suggesting Bottas doesn’t get equal treatment with? They certainly aren’t taking parts off his car to give to the other driver or anything like that.

Valtteri, It's James - from the top of my head. Never forget.

Yeah when he was nowhere in the WDC against a Ferrari that had proved a big threat in the championship, fully justified.

[Phil]

Bottas has every equal opportunity to become WDC. Why wouldnt he? He has the same car and the same equipment. He even gets priority on pit strategy if he is in front. What exactly is the problem or where does he not have equal treatment?