Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team 2015

[MercedesAMGSpy]

Not sure if this comment should be in the car thread or team thread -

We all know that F1 teams engineer cars around the #1 driver. Nico's qualifying in 2014 was very impressive. Although Hamilton outscored him in 2013 by a bit, it seems that the W06 is an ideal fit for Hamilton.

I don't dislike Lewis, and he a deserving champion in my opinion, but I do feel for Nico. On raw talent I don't think he's that far behind Lewis, but in F1 as we've seen before, as amongst the fastest 2-3 teams, the car in front stays in front absent an error. a faster driver won't necessarily be able to pass.

Put it this way, If Lewis were made to start one position behind Nico at every round, I don't think it certain that he would have passed Nico.

How much of that is down to the design of the car? Ferrari designed their car for Alonso, RB for Vettel etc... Clearly this Merc is for Hamilton. But I've never read any commentary about it? Can anyone comment on any engineering tailored to Lewis?

Cheers,
DRP

Your post has a contradiction. Nico was better in qualifying in 2014 and you mention that Lewis wouldn't pass Nico many times during a race starting behind him. That's exactly what happened in 2014. Nico the poles, Lewis the race wins and it's exactly the same scenario in the last three races.

Rosberg is a good driver, better than a lot of people think, but there is a difference between being a good driver and a good racer. When everything is perfect for Nico he can dominate a weekend, but put 2 or 3 cars in front of him and he doesn't look that strong anymore.

He can be very fast in qualifying, but his races are disappointing.

[monsi]

I do not think your conclusion is valid. Yes, Lewis is much better than Nico since FRIC is removed, but there is basically not that general influence on the balance.
I would, like the posters before, put my bet on breaking. Lewis is just making more laptime on the brakes,

Lewis's biggest gripe when he first came to Mercedes, was that FRIC made the car handle differently under breaking.

http://en.espn.co.uk/mercedes/motorspor ... 23395.html

http://writingexplained.org/break-vs-brake-difference

[Vasconia]

Your post has a contradiction. Nico was better in qualifying in 2014 and you mention that Lewis wouldn't pass Nico many times during a race starting behind him. That's exactly what happened in 2014. Nico the poles, Lewis the race wins and it's exactly the same scenario in the last three races.

Rosberg is a good driver, better than a lot of people think, but there is a difference between being a good driver and a good racer. When everything is perfect for Nico he can dominate a weekend, but put 2 or 3 cars in front of him and he doesn't look that strong anymore.

He can be very fast in qualifying, but his races are disappointing.

Exactly. He is, like other few good drivers, the sort of guy who needs everything to be perfect. Give him a good balanced car and clean air and he can dominate the race without problems. But he lacks what Lewis has to overtake cars under special and difficult conditions.

Anyway, Nico´s mistakes in the last races are not usual, I think that mentally he is not in a good shape and he internally thinks that he cant beat Lewis.

[Jolle]

Your post has a contradiction. Nico was better in qualifying in 2014 and you mention that Lewis wouldn't pass Nico many times during a race starting behind him. That's exactly what happened in 2014. Nico the poles, Lewis the race wins and it's exactly the same scenario in the last three races.

Rosberg is a good driver, better than a lot of people think, but there is a difference between being a good driver and a good racer. When everything is perfect for Nico he can dominate a weekend, but put 2 or 3 cars in front of him and he doesn't look that strong anymore.

He can be very fast in qualifying, but his races are disappointing.

Exactly. He is, like other few good drivers, the sort of guy who needs everything to be perfect. Give him a good balanced car and clean air and he can dominate the race without problems. But he lacks what Lewis has to overtake cars under special and difficult conditions.

Anyway, Nico´s mistakes in the last races are not usual, I think that mentally he is not in a good shape and he internally thinks that he cant beat Lewis.

Looking at 2014, especially the second half of the season, there were a few races where Nico had the lead and Lewis just waited behind him to make a mistake (like, Monza, Japan and Austin), just Brazil was the exeption.

I imagine that drivers like Button and Rosberg are very fast drivers when they have a car that is predictable. By that I mean, the car reacts to drivers inputs the same every time. They are very methodical and sometimes have to make the car a bit slower to make it predictable. For Nico it's a huge advantage that the W06 is a very well
Balanced car. If you have a driver like Lewis, he can wrestle a car a bit more and needs less of a predictable car (or circumstances). There was a GP this year where the wind changed direction and he was .5 of a second faster then Nico. That's also why I think he had some crazy crashes in a not so predictable McLaren in the past (Monza 09 comes to mind).

Nico has been on the back foot with race speed the last two seasons but somehow he doesn't overdrive the car (a lot). I would expect a bit more risk and some overdriving spins or crashes...

[WaikeCU]

In the meantime in Mexico City...

[PlatinumZealot]

Not sure if this comment should be in the car thread or team thread -

We all know that F1 teams engineer cars around the #1 driver. Nico's qualifying in 2014 was very impressive. Although Hamilton outscored him in 2013 by a bit, it seems that the W06 is an ideal fit for Hamilton.

I don't dislike Lewis, and he a deserving champion in my opinion, but I do feel for Nico. On raw talent I don't think he's that far behind Lewis, but in F1 as we've seen before, as amongst the fastest 2-3 teams, the car in front stays in front absent an error. a faster driver won't necessarily be able to pass.

Put it this way, If Lewis were made to start one position behind Nico at every round, I don't think it certain that he would have passed Nico.

How much of that is down to the design of the car? Ferrari designed their car for Alonso, RB for Vettel etc... Clearly this Merc is for Hamilton. But I've never read any commentary about it? Can anyone comment on any engineering tailored to Lewis?

Cheers,
DRP

Your post has a contradiction. Nico was better in qualifying in 2014 and you mention that Lewis wouldn't pass Nico many times during a race starting behind him. That's exactly what happened in 2014. Nico the poles, Lewis the race wins and it's exactly the same scenario in the last three races.

Rosberg is a good driver, better than a lot of people think, but there is a difference between being a good driver and a good racer. When everything is perfect for Nico he can dominate a weekend, but put 2 or 3 cars in front of him and he doesn't look that strong anymore.

He can be very fast in qualifying, but his races are disappointing.

Nico is a strong racer too. He never have issues overtaking people and cutting through the field. He is just not at the level of a Hamilton or Alonso when it comes to wheel to wheel but I think he is better than most at it. Nico's problem is that Hamilton is extremely good and shares most if not all of his strengths.

Hamilton's problem in 2014 was the brakes not the FRIC.

[Cold Fussion]

Nico's primary problem is that overtaking the same car will always be difficult on pure pace alone, especially when that same car piloted by someone better.

[AnthonyG]

It's not all bad, Nico is actually better than Hamilton in changing conditions this year. At Austin he was better than his teammate troughout the race, same in Silverstone, where Hamilton won only because he couldn't keep his tyres up to temp(by accident pitting on the right moment) and Nico could keep them working for longer.

If Nico were sh*t, someone else would be driving that Merc, tallent enough.

[skoop]

nico definately has his moments, but (at least to me) it seems like he can't keep that level up for a whole season and this year he somehow got a little bit lost. he should have tried maybe he did and i just don't know) to shift focus from race to qualifying. that's where his strenght was last season and it could have worked out last season. allthough the championship seemed closer than it actually was becouse of lewis's early retirements and double points at the last race

[GPR-A duplicate2]

Mercedes is still bolstering their technical staff...

McLaren chief engineer Phil Prew jumps ship to Mercedes

[kooleracer]

nico definately has his moments, but (at least to me) it seems like he can't keep that level up for a whole season and this year he somehow got a little bit lost. he should have tried maybe he did and i just don't know) to shift focus from race to qualifying. that's where his strenght was last season and it could have worked out last season. allthough the championship seemed closer than it actually was becouse of lewis's early retirements and double points at the last race

Nico is one of the quickest guys in F1, i have no doubt in that. He has 20 pole position he is able to beat Hamilton in qualifying. He beat MSC regularly, he is just unlucky that is he Hamilton as a team-mate who is able to raise his game on the right moments especially during races. I honestly think that only Vettel,Hamilton and Alonso would beat hem over a season in equal material.

[Cold Fussion]

But he can't do it any regularity and Hamilton is unquestionably the better racer.

[Schuttelberg]

Read an interview from Lewis where he suggested that Michael was probably hogging a F1 seat while driving for Mercedes. Left a foul taste in my mouth. Really poor form, specially given the medical condition of Michael.

[astracrazy]

perhaps you could link us to this interview?

[Schuttelberg]

perhaps you could link us to this interview?

http://planetf1.com/news/hamilton-will- ... with-merc/