[ 2020 ] AMG Mercedes F1 Team - Mercedes

[godlameroso]

Hamilton is such a good driver because he approaches his life differently to the other drivers. Others may be more focused on driving to the exclusion of everything else. Hamilton balances his life with his driving, the driving is a central part of his life, but it is not the only part of his life. He does fashion, music, he has a social life outside of F1. Somehow he balances all of those extra-curriculars to his benefit as a driver. His elite social circle gives him political insights that others may not have, which helps him deal with not just the team, but the higher ups, the media, the FIA, etc. The fact he uses his creativity besides driving makes him more well rounded as an individual, his love of music, of creating it, means he understands timing, rhythm, he has a subconscious math that he has integrated into his driving style.

In short, he is not distracted by his activities off track, rather he's found a way to make himself a more complete driver because of those activities. Other drivers are too focused on F1, to the exclusion of other things in life, which limits them in a sense, they are not as complete as if they were able to balance those things like Hamilton seems to do.

[e30ernest]

Hamilton is such a good driver because he approaches his life differently to the other drivers. Others may be more focused on driving to the exclusion of everything else. Hamilton balances his life with his driving, the driving is a central part of his life, but it is not the only part of his life. He does fashion, music, he has a social life outside of F1. Somehow he balances all of those extra-curriculars to his benefit as a driver. His elite social circle gives him political insights that others may not have, which helps him deal with not just the team, but the higher ups, the media, the FIA, etc. The fact he uses his creativity besides driving makes him more well rounded as an individual, his love of music, of creating it, means he understands timing, rhythm, he has a subconscious math that he has integrated into his driving style.

In short, he is not distracted by his activities off track, rather he's found a way to make himself a more complete driver because of those activities. Other drivers are too focused on F1, to the exclusion of other things in life, which limits them in a sense, they are not as complete as if they were able to balance those things like Hamilton seems to do.

While I have no doubt this works for Hamilton, this might not work for others though. Everyone's ability to multi-task differs. Actually, our brains are not wired very well to handle multiple activities at once.

Everyone has their own way of coping with pressure and maximizing their own performance. I've had friends who partied like there was no tomorrow, but got straight A's in school. I've also had friends who did nothing but study, and got similarly high marks. The same goes for work. I've had co-workers who required total silence in their cubicles, and I've had co-workers who'd have a movie playing on their mobile phone while working but they all got their jobs done, and did it well.

[SiLo]

Hamilton has just found the balance that works for him, and has Angela Cullen doing a lot of mental heavy lifting for him so he can be relaxed. I think that relationship is really showing the power of having someone that can take away all the little things to allow people at the top of their game to just focus.

[basti313]

Hamilton is such a good driver because he approaches his life differently to the other drivers. Others may be more focused on driving to the exclusion of everything else. Hamilton balances his life with his driving, the driving is a central part of his life, but it is not the only part of his life. He does fashion, music, he has a social life outside of F1. Somehow he balances all of those extra-curriculars to his benefit as a driver. His elite social circle gives him political insights that others may not have, which helps him deal with not just the team, but the higher ups, the media, the FIA, etc. The fact he uses his creativity besides driving makes him more well rounded as an individual, his love of music, of creating it, means he understands timing, rhythm, he has a subconscious math that he has integrated into his driving style.

In short, he is not distracted by his activities off track, rather he's found a way to make himself a more complete driver because of those activities. Other drivers are too focused on F1, to the exclusion of other things in life, which limits them in a sense, they are not as complete as if they were able to balance those things like Hamilton seems to do.

While I have no doubt this works for Hamilton, this might not work for others though. Everyone's ability to multi-task differs. Actually, our brains are not wired very well to handle multiple activities at once.

Everyone has their own way of coping with pressure and maximizing their own performance. I've had friends who partied like there was no tomorrow, but got straight A's in school. I've also had friends who did nothing but study, and got similarly high marks. The same goes for work. I've had co-workers who required total silence in their cubicles, and I've had co-workers who'd have a movie playing on their mobile phone while working but they all got their jobs done, and did it well.

Well, one can see it also in the complete opposite way, but the interpretations are of course in both ways taken from the sky....in 2015 he completely had the edge on Rosberg in Q. Once he secured the WDC he did not win a Q for the rest of the season. In 2016 he lost too many Qs to Rosberg judging, that from the point of pace he would have had it...
This season he is clearly better than Bot, except for Austria when there were the detractions from BLM.
I do not think Hamilton is in any way more or less unsensitive to distractions. He just had the luxury that it did not matter. In 2016 it mattered...
This summer with the Covid quarantines, the distractions are gone and he is clearly better than Bot.

[e30ernest]

Hamilton is such a good driver because he approaches his life differently to the other drivers. Others may be more focused on driving to the exclusion of everything else. Hamilton balances his life with his driving, the driving is a central part of his life, but it is not the only part of his life. He does fashion, music, he has a social life outside of F1. Somehow he balances all of those extra-curriculars to his benefit as a driver. His elite social circle gives him political insights that others may not have, which helps him deal with not just the team, but the higher ups, the media, the FIA, etc. The fact he uses his creativity besides driving makes him more well rounded as an individual, his love of music, of creating it, means he understands timing, rhythm, he has a subconscious math that he has integrated into his driving style.

In short, he is not distracted by his activities off track, rather he's found a way to make himself a more complete driver because of those activities. Other drivers are too focused on F1, to the exclusion of other things in life, which limits them in a sense, they are not as complete as if they were able to balance those things like Hamilton seems to do.

While I have no doubt this works for Hamilton, this might not work for others though. Everyone's ability to multi-task differs. Actually, our brains are not wired very well to handle multiple activities at once.

Everyone has their own way of coping with pressure and maximizing their own performance. I've had friends who partied like there was no tomorrow, but got straight A's in school. I've also had friends who did nothing but study, and got similarly high marks. The same goes for work. I've had co-workers who required total silence in their cubicles, and I've had co-workers who'd have a movie playing on their mobile phone while working but they all got their jobs done, and did it well.

Well, one can see it also in the complete opposite way, but the interpretations are of course in both ways taken from the sky....in 2015 he completely had the edge on Rosberg in Q. Once he secured the WDC he did not win a Q for the rest of the season. In 2016 he lost too many Qs to Rosberg judging, that from the point of pace he would have had it...
This season he is clearly better than Bot, except for Austria when there were the detractions from BLM.
I do not think Hamilton is in any way more or less unsensitive to distractions. He just had the luxury that it did not matter. In 2016 it mattered...
This summer with the Covid quarantines, the distractions are gone and he is clearly better than Bot.

That doesn't account for the last 2 years though. He's had a lot of extracurricular activities during that period.

Hamilton tends to start slow and ramp things up towards the end. He's like that over a race weekend and he's like that over the season as well. He even said he likes starting from behind as it gives him motivation to chase the leaders up the points. This year was different though.

[El Scorchio]

Hamilton is such a good driver because he approaches his life differently to the other drivers. Others may be more focused on driving to the exclusion of everything else. Hamilton balances his life with his driving, the driving is a central part of his life, but it is not the only part of his life. He does fashion, music, he has a social life outside of F1. Somehow he balances all of those extra-curriculars to his benefit as a driver. His elite social circle gives him political insights that others may not have, which helps him deal with not just the team, but the higher ups, the media, the FIA, etc. The fact he uses his creativity besides driving makes him more well rounded as an individual, his love of music, of creating it, means he understands timing, rhythm, he has a subconscious math that he has integrated into his driving style.

In short, he is not distracted by his activities off track, rather he's found a way to make himself a more complete driver because of those activities. Other drivers are too focused on F1, to the exclusion of other things in life, which limits them in a sense, they are not as complete as if they were able to balance those things like Hamilton seems to do.

While I have no doubt this works for Hamilton, this might not work for others though. Everyone's ability to multi-task differs. Actually, our brains are not wired very well to handle multiple activities at once.

Everyone has their own way of coping with pressure and maximizing their own performance. I've had friends who partied like there was no tomorrow, but got straight A's in school. I've also had friends who did nothing but study, and got similarly high marks. The same goes for work. I've had co-workers who required total silence in their cubicles, and I've had co-workers who'd have a movie playing on their mobile phone while working but they all got their jobs done, and did it well.

Well, one can see it also in the complete opposite way, but the interpretations are of course in both ways taken from the sky....in 2015 he completely had the edge on Rosberg in Q. Once he secured the WDC he did not win a Q for the rest of the season. In 2016 he lost too many Qs to Rosberg judging, that from the point of pace he would have had it...
This season he is clearly better than Bot, except for Austria when there were the detractions from BLM.
I do not think Hamilton is in any way more or less unsensitive to distractions. He just had the luxury that it did not matter. In 2016 it mattered...
This summer with the Covid quarantines, the distractions are gone and he is clearly better than Bot.

Reliability mattered most in determining 2016. Whatever distractions he may or may not have had wouldn't have stopped him winning the title again had his car not let him down at a few vital moments. Notably Malaysia where he had a 25 second lead over everyone else and lost 28 points net to Rosberg because of his engine failing, and missing out by only five points at the end of the season subsequently. All the talk about tricks and mindgames is hugely overblown, that DNF- just pure bad luck- was what actually cost him the title.

[basti313]

That doesn't account for the last 2 years though. He's had a lot of extracurricular activities during that period.

Hamilton tends to start slow and ramp things up towards the end. He's like that over a race weekend and he's like that over the season as well. He even said he likes starting from behind as it gives him motivation to chase the leaders up the points. This year was different though.

Yes, I do not think we saw Hamilton at his best in 2019. This season he is really good and we see a huge gap. Last year he was just driving it home with some flaws and imperfections that still were eaysily enought to beat Bot well.

I can not see a ramping to be honest...2015 he won everything he could, 2016 he lost the first 4-5 races...there is no ramping visible to me. Same on the weekend, we know Merc drives a reduced engine program on Fridays, still in the last years a Merc was on top of the tableau. No idea where you can interpret a ramping...

Reliability mattered most in determining 2016. Whatever distractions he may or may not have had wouldn't have stopped him winning the title again had his car not let him down at a few vital moments. Notably Malaysia where he had a 25 second lead over everyone else and lost 28 points net to Rosberg because of his engine failing, and missing out by only five points at the end of the season subsequently. All the talk about tricks and mindgames is hugely overblown, that DNF- just pure bad luck- was what actually cost him the title.

Yes, just 5 points difference. Sidenote: That also means, that not bottling the starts in Oz or Italy would have won him the title.
He was taking it easy or he was not concentrated end of 2015. This is in my point of view not even discussed away here. The same happened in my point of view in the beginning of 2016. Usually Ros won when Ham had a problem...not at the beginning of 2016, there Ros won because he was better and without the faults at Barcelona after the start, he would have won 5 in a row. An issue that could not be solved by Ham over the rest of the season, yes, mainly because of the car not being stable.

[TAG]

Some interesting commentary from Paddy here about Lewis and the longevity of Lewis remaining in the two teams he's raced for being uncommon nowadays.

[El Scorchio]

That doesn't account for the last 2 years though. He's had a lot of extracurricular activities during that period.

Hamilton tends to start slow and ramp things up towards the end. He's like that over a race weekend and he's like that over the season as well. He even said he likes starting from behind as it gives him motivation to chase the leaders up the points. This year was different though.

Yes, I do not think we saw Hamilton at his best in 2019. This season he is really good and we see a huge gap. Last year he was just driving it home with some flaws and imperfections that still were eaysily enought to beat Bot well.

I can not see a ramping to be honest...2015 he won everything he could, 2016 he lost the first 4-5 races...there is no ramping visible to me. Same on the weekend, we know Merc drives a reduced engine program on Fridays, still in the last years a Merc was on top of the tableau. No idea where you can interpret a ramping...

Reliability mattered most in determining 2016. Whatever distractions he may or may not have had wouldn't have stopped him winning the title again had his car not let him down at a few vital moments. Notably Malaysia where he had a 25 second lead over everyone else and lost 28 points net to Rosberg because of his engine failing, and missing out by only five points at the end of the season subsequently. All the talk about tricks and mindgames is hugely overblown, that DNF- just pure bad luck- was what actually cost him the title.

Yes, just 5 points difference. Sidenote: That also means, that not bottling the starts in Oz or Italy would have won him the title.
He was taking it easy or he was not concentrated end of 2015. This is in my point of view not even discussed away here. The same happened in my point of view in the beginning of 2016. Usually Ros won when Ham had a problem...not at the beginning of 2016, there Ros won because he was better and without the faults at Barcelona after the start, he would have won 5 in a row. An issue that could not be solved by Ham over the rest of the season, yes, mainly because of the car not being stable.

All the stuff about bad starts is irrelevant given the engine failure in Malaysia. In terms of what he had control over, he did enough to win the title over the course of the season. So he did 'solve the problem', but the car let him down one too many times.

You can't put Hamilton's poor starts as a reason for him not winning and then in the same breath say if Rosberg hadn't have made that poor start (driver error) in Spain that he'd have won 5 in a row. The 'coulda woulda shoulda' thing can't only work one way.

[tangodjango]

Don't know how trustworthy this is.

Mercedes: the 2021 aerodynamics cut has already been recovered

Translation:

Brackley's team in CFD and wind tunnel work has already found this year's downforce on the W11 that will race next year, despite the limitations on the bottom and rear diffuser decided by the FIA ​​which should cost 10% by downforce. James Allison's technicians have already closed the gap and will also be able to count on a power unit capable of about 25 more horsepower. Who will be able to question their supremacy?

The Mercedes is literally scary: it is a war machine that has no intention of stopping. According to rumors filtered by Brackley, the world champion team for the seventh time in a row in the Constructors' championship has already recovered the downforce that the FIA ​​plans to cut on next year's cars.

The developments that have been brought into the wind tunnel have given extraordinary results, because the W11 that will start next season will have a downforce no less than that of the black arrows that are dominating this 2020.

The International Federation had approved a reduction in aerodynamic load which was to be 10% thanks to the disappearance of the slots on the bottom and the cutting of a part of the pavement in front of the rear wheels.

To this provision, the intervention on the rear diffuser was subsequently added with the vertical bulkheads which must be shorter by 50 mm compared to the abutment plane and to the reduction of the flaps that make up the rear brake duct.

Well, the scope of these legislative interventions approved by all the teams and proposed by Ferrari will be nil, given that the Star has already found the record load values ​​that characterize the W11.

And, therefore, Pirelli did well to develop new tire carcasses with a more rigid construction, because the Milanese manufacturer would have risked going into crisis with the obligation to deploy the same products already approved in 2019.

The decrease in downforce was wanted by the FIA ​​precisely to preserve the life of the tires and to avoid that, in order to maintain safety standards, the Bicocca technicians were forced to resort to higher inflation pressures, such as to make the cars more slippery.

All the teams will have the opportunity to try out the tires that were homologated on 2 November in the free 2 sessions of Bahrain and Abu Dhabi, but the Milanese manufacturer did well to take the side of the buttons by deliberating new tire specifications, because the aerodynamics of Brackley have found that there is ample room for development on the world champion car, far from reaching the limit of its development.

If we consider that even the information relating to the new power unit that is being gestated in Brixworth indicates very interesting developments in the field of new materials and fuel, it is easy to foresee a big leap in performance which, substantially with the same rules, should not allow the gain. of a second on the cars that are already the fastest ever in the history of Formula 1.


https://it.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-me ... 1/4914794/

[Just_a_fan]

Don't know how trustworthy this is.

Mercedes: the 2021 aerodynamics cut has already been recovered

[...]

https://it.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-me ... 1/4914794/

If that's true then it's impressive. And for the other teams it must be scary. I don't doubt that RedBull will be similarly improving their car's aerodynamics, as will Ferrari. The question is: who has done the best overall job of developing for the new regs? We don't have to wait too long to find out, of course.

[zibby43]

This source claims that not only have the aero losses been recovered, but that the W12 will be about 1s faster than the W11 to start the year.

[dans79]

This source claims that not only have the aero losses been recovered, but that the W12 will be about 1s faster than the W11 to start the year.

If even half true, there will be a lot of unhappy people around here.

[zibby43]

This source claims that not only have the aero losses been recovered, but that the W12 will be about 1s faster than the W11 to start the year.

If even half true, there will be a lot of unhappy people around here.

Undeniably true. Mercedes said they started to empty out the design drawers when building the W11 (due to the anticipated reg. changes). In terms of things we can actually see/are aware of, that process gave us DAS, the new rear suspension, etc.

Wonder if they have anything left . . .

[cheeRS]

This source claims that not only have the aero losses been recovered, but that the W12 will be about 1s faster than the W11 to start the year.

If even half true, there will be a lot of unhappy people around here.

Undeniably true. Mercedes said they started to empty out the design drawers when building the W11 (due to the anticipated reg. changes). In terms of things we can actually see/are aware of, that process gave us DAS, the new rear suspension, etc.

Wonder if they have anything left . . .

I certainly hope it's true, for no other reason than to continue seeing the incredible pole laps that LH puts down. Hungary 2020, SPA 2020, Monza 2020, etc. etc. Just so incredible to watch a driver than skilled and a car that well engineered. I know this phrase gets overused, but it really does look like it's on rails. Mindblowing.