2021 AMG Mercedes F1 Team

[adrianjordan]

Time will tell but I can't see it unless Mercedes pull back and only stay as an engine supplier.

I mean where have all the rumours gone about Lewis joining Ferrari, and everyone wants to drive for the Tifosi?

Going from Mclaren to Mercedes was a step up and a step closer to Mercedes who were behind him from day 1, Once they stepped back from Mclaren and started their own team it wasn't a move away from 'home'. So Aston will only be an option if Merc move away, and if that happens Lewis will have to move anyway.

Ferrari was always pretty questionable, not the least thanks to the failed past projects there, and because indeed his loyalty. The Reds now have their seats completely filled and the situation there wouldn't attract any big players right now, with all due respect to the current line-up.

From all the teams, it's RedBull most likely to 'challenge' for another WDC but with Honda's departure and 'freeze' even that is highly questionable.

It's most likely Hamilton will stay with Mercedes, unless things aren't certain to be the best for him the coming seasons.
And that one-year contract is a sign things aren't that clear cut at all.

One would argue that nobody would even hesitate to sign Hamilton's 'demands'. The fact that the same team that they were ultra-successfull with, actually doesn't, and that in the end they come up with a one-year deal because they couldnt 'agree' on the 'rest' (the following years) shows there's more to it than at first sight.

This, to me, opens up options to look / go elsewhere / just stop.

Every driver will look at his options, so that's really not important. Stopping is an option, but if he wanted to, he would have announced it and stopped right now already. He's definately going to atleast TRY for getting 10 titles.
He also has weight behind him, and he was denied. And let's not forget also some past serious friction with Mercedes.

Again, he can essentially get 95% of what he's driving now at Aston.
Bottas is trash and i'm confident Lewis in an Aston can beat Bottas in a Mercedes.
The only remaining variables are:
Russel / Verstappen.

Lewis plays it safe for 2021, stay at Merc. 2022 will see changes, and Aston Martin is certain to invest more than Mercedes is willing to. Merc has met their goals, Aston wants to meet them. Aston Martin also is the team that has shown to do the most with the smallest budget (ForceIndia legacy).
Building a pink Merc and now a green Merc is clearly part of a plan.

I am certain Hamilton would happily jump in on this plan given the right circumstances and offer.
Circumstances are already there, now all that's missing is the offer.

And Stroll Sr has already indicated an offer would definately be worth putting on the table.

Again, i'm not saying that it will happen.
However, thinking that 'loyalty' will keep him at Mercedes is just plain wrong.
Don't forget, 2016, Hamilton very much remembered how much loyalty Mercedes gave back to him.

Budget cap means AM CAN'T spend more than Merc, plus Merc will always have the advantage of PU integration. Also AM can't copy the Merc next year so will be back to relying on the same design team that was so good they felt the need to abandon their own designs and copy Merc.

Sorry, I don't see AM having anywhere near the success of Merc and I would rate McLaren as having more potential than AM from 2022 onwards.

[Manoah2u]

Ehm, perhaps wake up? Driver Salary is NOT in the burget cap.

Hence, Mercedes doesn't want to pay Lewis 80 million or whatever,
Lance Stroll does? Done and dusted.

Also, i'll remind you of AMR essentially still being that same team that is Force India/Racing Point which has managed to squeeze the most performance out of the 'smallest' budget in the past. Something much more important now with a budget 'cieling'. AMR have certainly learned gigantically from the pink mercs, which they will certainly use for the 2022 competitor.
Or, you just need somebody working for Mercedes on the 2022 car that sped off to Aston Martin and take his knowledge 'accidentally' with him. Pair that to the driver who has been there ever since 2013 and well, perhaps 2022 won't be afterburners on but 2023 certainly will.

[Morteza]

[El Scorchio]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mruggFH ... ulaOneTeam

This is the line where the amount of social media becomes too much social media. Unboxing the kit? Really?....

[Morteza]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mruggFH ... ulaOneTeam

This is the line where the amount of social media becomes too much social media. Unboxing the kit? Really?....

I know. But it's not the first time they've done it though

[El Scorchio]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mruggFH ... ulaOneTeam

This is the line where the amount of social media becomes too much social media. Unboxing the kit? Really?....

I know. But it's not the first time they've done it though

Have they done it before? Wow. Well I'm not sorry I missed it

PS, thanks for all the great stuff you always post on these forums! It's such a fantastic source of info.

[Morteza]

[adrianjordan]

Ehm, perhaps wake up? Driver Salary is NOT in the burget cap.

Hence, Mercedes doesn't want to pay Lewis 80 million or whatever,
Lance Stroll does? Done and dusted.

Also, i'll remind you of AMR essentially still being that same team that is Force India/Racing Point which has managed to squeeze the most performance out of the 'smallest' budget in the past. Something much more important now with a budget 'cieling'. AMR have certainly learned gigantically from the pink mercs, which they will certainly use for the 2022 competitor.
Or, you just need somebody working for Mercedes on the 2022 car that sped off to Aston Martin and take his knowledge 'accidentally' with him. Pair that to the driver who has been there ever since 2013 and well, perhaps 2022 won't be afterburners on but 2023 certainly will.

It's not yet, but a separate cap on salaries for key personnel is being discussed from 2023 onwards, so maybe cool your horses a little as that is what we're discussing here.

[Manoah2u]

Ehm, perhaps wake up? Driver Salary is NOT in the burget cap.

Hence, Mercedes doesn't want to pay Lewis 80 million or whatever,
Lance Stroll does? Done and dusted.

Also, i'll remind you of AMR essentially still being that same team that is Force India/Racing Point which has managed to squeeze the most performance out of the 'smallest' budget in the past. Something much more important now with a budget 'cieling'. AMR have certainly learned gigantically from the pink mercs, which they will certainly use for the 2022 competitor.
Or, you just need somebody working for Mercedes on the 2022 car that sped off to Aston Martin and take his knowledge 'accidentally' with him. Pair that to the driver who has been there ever since 2013 and well, perhaps 2022 won't be afterburners on but 2023 certainly will.

It's not yet, but a separate cap on salaries for key personnel is being discussed from 2023 onwards, so maybe cool your horses a little as that is what we're discussing here.

cool your horses? i'm cool as a cucumber, i guess you're taking this way too serious

[MtthsMlw]

Great read:
https://racer.com/2021/03/11/elias-merc ... et-weapon/

[Just_a_fan]

Great read:
https://racer.com/2021/03/11/elias-merc ... et-weapon/

There were years that went really smoothly, and then we’ve had years… I can remember in 2017, we broke so many floors. We were cracking the diffuser off the rearward portion of the floor. That’s ridiculously scary, because that’s a cat1 fault, or a DNF fault. If the floor breaks, your car is done. Those breaks were happening at the first test, and the reason why they were happening was because we were making 40% more downforce, and we didn’t match the strength of the floor correctly for the new downforce level that we were experiencing.

A 40% increase in downforce from the floor from 2016 to 2017. That's some increase!

[Zynerji]

Great read:
https://racer.com/2021/03/11/elias-merc ... et-weapon/

There were years that went really smoothly, and then we’ve had years… I can remember in 2017, we broke so many floors. We were cracking the diffuser off the rearward portion of the floor. That’s ridiculously scary, because that’s a cat1 fault, or a DNF fault. If the floor breaks, your car is done. Those breaks were happening at the first test, and the reason why they were happening was because we were making 40% more downforce, and we didn’t match the strength of the floor correctly for the new downforce level that we were experiencing.

A 40% increase in downforce from the floor from 2016 to 2017. That's some increase!

The cars changed dramatically, with the express, written intent of obscenely increasing downforce.

2017 cars are probably my favorite of all time after the 2008 cars.

[Just_a_fan]

Great read:
https://racer.com/2021/03/11/elias-merc ... et-weapon/

There were years that went really smoothly, and then we’ve had years… I can remember in 2017, we broke so many floors. We were cracking the diffuser off the rearward portion of the floor. That’s ridiculously scary, because that’s a cat1 fault, or a DNF fault. If the floor breaks, your car is done. Those breaks were happening at the first test, and the reason why they were happening was because we were making 40% more downforce, and we didn’t match the strength of the floor correctly for the new downforce level that we were experiencing.

A 40% increase in downforce from the floor from 2016 to 2017. That's some increase!

The cars changed dramatically, with the express, written intent of obscenely increasing downforce.

2017 cars are probably my favorite of all time after the 2008 cars.

Ah, of course! I'd forgotten that that was the season where there were big changes to the cars - wider floors, higher diffuser roof etc.

[El Scorchio]

Great read:
https://racer.com/2021/03/11/elias-merc ... et-weapon/

That's great! Thanks for posting. Really good insights.

Seems ironic that Honda have helped inadvertantly pave the way for Mercedes to beat them since they returned as engine suppliers.

[adrianjordan]

Ehm, perhaps wake up? Driver Salary is NOT in the burget cap.

Hence, Mercedes doesn't want to pay Lewis 80 million or whatever,
Lance Stroll does? Done and dusted.

Also, i'll remind you of AMR essentially still being that same team that is Force India/Racing Point which has managed to squeeze the most performance out of the 'smallest' budget in the past. Something much more important now with a budget 'cieling'. AMR have certainly learned gigantically from the pink mercs, which they will certainly use for the 2022 competitor.
Or, you just need somebody working for Mercedes on the 2022 car that sped off to Aston Martin and take his knowledge 'accidentally' with him. Pair that to the driver who has been there ever since 2013 and well, perhaps 2022 won't be afterburners on but 2023 certainly will.

It's not yet, but a separate cap on salaries for key personnel is being discussed from 2023 onwards, so maybe cool your horses a little as that is what we're discussing here.

cool your horses? i'm cool as a cucumber, i guess you're taking this way too serious

Your post was blatantly aggressive "perhaps wake up" and use of capitals etc.