2023 Mercedes-AMG | Petronas F1 Team

[AMG.Tzan]

To me Lewis looks more energised and happier than at any point the last 18 months. Don't see him leaving anytime soon

That’s true…and the car seems to be getting more and more to his liking with every update!

Curious to know what he’s expecting and talked about “wanting something certain on his car and just waiting for it to appear sometime”…

[Spoutnik]

To me Lewis looks more energised and happier than at any point the last 18 months. Don't see him leaving anytime soon

I agree.
And he's back to his standards in terms of driving.
For me, if we exclude Verstappen, he's the best driver in this first half of the year.

Very consistent, maximizing the car :
- 4th in Monaco, Budapest, Spa
- 2nd in Spain, Australia
- 3rd in Montreal, Silverstone
- 5th Jeddah, Sakhir
- 6th Baku, Miami
Beaten by Russell on very few occasions (49 pts ahead).
1 pt behind Alonso in his mini championship against him despite a poorer car for most of the first half.

[CHT]

If we’re being honest, I’m pretty sure Hamilton wants out now. There’s just nowhere to go.

Last I heard the current contract talk is about diversity goals within the team.

I don't understand why people look at Lewis and think he'd quit because he wasn't winning. I never saw much of this with other drivers who were winning and then had a slow down. Kimi was the hero of F1 and hardly won anything after his championship.

Must just be Lewis things

The fact that LH and Merc haven't signed a contract could possibly mean that LH may request more time before committing himself to Merc and this is likely to be related to the progress of W14. So retiring or moving to a new team may still be a possibility even though the term of the contract has been ironed out.

The difference between Kimi and LH is that LH is no longer keen on just winning some ad hoc race or F1 racing. His mind and expectation is only about record 8th WDC which he narrowly lost in 2021. I can see that the ghost of Abu Dhabi still haunts him whenever Max wins. For F1 celebrity like LH, he would surely wish to finish at the top of the game before retiring.

Looking at the gap between LH and Max it seems unlikely LH can win his 8th WDC anytime soon.

I reckon this summer break will be crucial for LH to think about his future. To stay, to move, or to quit. Nothing is cast in stone yet I think

[Spoutnik]

If we’re being honest, I’m pretty sure Hamilton wants out now. There’s just nowhere to go.

Last I heard the current contract talk is about diversity goals within the team.

I don't understand why people look at Lewis and think he'd quit because he wasn't winning. I never saw much of this with other drivers who were winning and then had a slow down. Kimi was the hero of F1 and hardly won anything after his championship.

Must just be Lewis things

The fact that LH and Merc haven't signed a contract could possibly mean that LH may request more time before committing himself to Merc and this is likely to be related to the progress of W14. So retiring or moving to a new team may still be a possibility even though the term of the contract has been ironed out.

The difference between Kimi and LH is that LH is no longer keen on just winning some ad hoc race or F1 racing. His mind and expectation is only about record 8th WDC which he narrowly lost in 2021. I can see that the ghost of Abu Dhabi still haunts him whenever Max wins. For F1 celebrity like LH, he would surely wish to finish at the top of the game before retiring.

Looking at the gap between LH and Max it seems unlikely LH can win his 8th WDC anytime soon.

I reckon this summer break will be crucial for LH to think about his future. To stay, to move, or to quit. Nothing is cast in stone yet I think

I agree with you on the importance of the 8th championship. And I think the pole in Hungary was a big uplift for him, as his reaction showed.

Nevertheless there was this story about Toto, whispering to a kid in an interview for the German TV that Lewis had signed for 2 years but they're waiting to make the annoucement.

[Sofa King]

Lewis likely cares about racing and his off track social causes equally, which is exactly why he will be staying. Mercedes and F1 give him a global platform that is hard to find elsewhere. He is the Tiger Woods of motorsports, so F1 and Merc have every reason to entice him to stay and he doesn’t need to play by the same silly season timetable as all the other drivers, perhaps except Max. I’m sure the contract negotiations are around getting Mercedes to maximize support to any cause he champions

[dans79]

They could also just be holding off announcing it to make life difficult for other teams and drivers.

Lewis's status being unknown for sure has other drivers checking their contracts.

[Willy]

Last I heard the current contract talk is about diversity goals within the team.

Source?

[AR3-GP]

[CHT]

Lewis likely cares about racing and his off track social causes equally, which is exactly why he will be staying. Mercedes and F1 give him a global platform that is hard to find elsewhere. He is the Tiger Woods of motorsports, so F1 and Merc have every reason to entice him to stay and he doesn’t need to play by the same silly season timetable as all the other drivers, perhaps except Max. I’m sure the contract negotiations are around getting Mercedes to maximize support to any cause he champions

As long LH is fine with not winning another WDC and taking a big pay cut, I am sure he will hang around for a few more years. Having said that golf and F1 are very different sports, and one can still dream about winning PGA at the age of 50, whereas the oldest F1 driver to have won a WDC in the past 30 years is Nigel Mansell at the age of 39 back in 1992.
LH is 38 this year and realistically he is unlikely to be able to challenge RBR+Max in 2024 or even 2025 unless with FIA help. I think LH will likely head to America after F1 to continue his motorsports career.

[Willy]

They still have problems with their tools?

"The problem is that the downforce measurement tool that worked for the last 10 years no longer works. So why is it reflected in the data?" We need analysis to see if it will.”

[CHT]

So late in the game, they are still struggling with the fundamentals. Is Merc wind tunnel outdated?

[SparkyAMG]

The team's design decisions and apparent confusion over their cars' performance the past 2 seasons has always pointed to a simulation issue.

I've no doubt that they'd be able to turn things around if they had tools that allowed them to understand this formula as well as Red Bull have, but unfortunately it feels like they're still a long way off that point.

Taking the positives out of that though; they have at least managed to produce a car at the sharp end of the chasing pack despite this fundamental issue so if they can get their tools sorted I'd fully expect them to get a lot closer than anyone else can.

[ValeVida46]

Yes the bouncing returned and was the limiting factor with it's ramifications on tyre usage.
With one free practice session that had limited feedback due to the weather, and some updates thrown into the mix, Merc were always going to have difficulties. Mercedes prep form has been consistent this year, and FP is a place they start off on the back foot, collate their data and move forwards as the weekend progresses. No coincidence the less FP running they have the worse they perform.
Even with all the issues, the Ferrari couldn't get away from Hamilton at a track Ferrari were very confident at.


https://racingnews365.com/mercedes-trap ... rcle-wolff

[CHT]

The team's design decisions and apparent confusion over their cars' performance the past 2 seasons has always pointed to a simulation issue.

I've no doubt that they'd be able to turn things around if they had tools that allowed them to understand this formula as well as Red Bull have, but unfortunately it feels like they're still a long way off that point.

Taking the positives out of that though; they have at least managed to produce a car at the sharp end of the chasing pack despite this fundamental issue so if they can get their tools sorted I'd fully expect them to get a lot closer than anyone else can.

Merc may be handicapped by the lack of experience in ground effect?

[F1Krof]

The team's design decisions and apparent confusion over their cars' performance the past 2 seasons has always pointed to a simulation issue.

I've no doubt that they'd be able to turn things around if they had tools that allowed them to understand this formula as well as Red Bull have, but unfortunately it feels like they're still a long way off that point.

Taking the positives out of that though; they have at least managed to produce a car at the sharp end of the chasing pack despite this fundamental issue so if they can get their tools sorted I'd fully expect them to get a lot closer than anyone else can.

Merc may be handicapped by the lack of experience in ground effect?

Everybody is. I'm not saying it's a conspiracy, but the rules are made as if they were specifically devised by Adrian Newey. It's going to a be a while before anybody catches up, and it's quite possible that nobody will be able to until the regulations are changed again. But as I heard, the 26' regulations are also about ground effects, so... yeah tough luck anybody besides RBR.