Mercedes AMG F1 Team 2012

[raymondu999]

But I am thinking now that it might not be overheating or underheating. Don't you think the team would have solved that problem after Australia?

How, when the cars fly straight to Malaysia from Australia?

[marcush.]

my thinking is they do cycle the tyres thermaly overnight and have not got it right ,eg what worked for them last year does not anymore?

[Maelstrom]

But I am thinking now that it might not be overheating or underheating. Don't you think the team would have solved that problem after Australia?

How, when the cars fly straight to Malaysia from Australia?

You have a point. But remember Mercedes commenting on the fact that the degradation issue was under control and (was it Schumacher or Rosberg?) them saying that they were working to fix it.

Then after Sepang Brawn almost looked confused about the lack of race pace. Maybe i'm just pulling at straws here but it seemed to me like they had misjudged identifying the problem.

[raymondu999]

That much is pretty clear - they had either misjudged the problem; or they still had another problem that they didn't think of at first.

[kris]

Second year running their testing pace is not matched to race pace? Surely they seem to be overlooking something in testing

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Testing showed Mercedes suffered more from degradation than other teams.

It's not a quick fix, but it can be addressed to save their season from what is intrinsically a promising car.

[raymondu999]

It was weird with them in testing wasn't it? They'd have 3 stonking laps, then suddenly drop off by 2 seconds for the rest of the stint. Some said it was tyre deg but others said it was just Mercedes testing how much they needed to tiptoe and how much they could push...

[Maelstrom]

It was weird with them in testing wasn't it? They'd have 3 stonking laps, then suddenly drop off by 2 seconds for the rest of the stint. Some said it was tyre deg but others said it was just Mercedes testing how much they needed to tiptoe and how much they could push...

During testing everybody was saying that Mercedes was suffering high degradation and Merc said it wasn't a problem and degradation wasn't an issue. Makes me sort of mad at how negligent they are.

[kris]

It was weird with them in testing wasn't it? They'd have 3 stonking laps, then suddenly drop off by 2 seconds for the rest of the stint. Some said it was tyre deg but others said it was just Mercedes testing how much they needed to tiptoe and how much they could push...

During testing everybody was saying that Mercedes was suffering high degradation and Merc said it wasn't a problem and degradation wasn't an issue. Makes me sort of mad at how negligent they are.

During testing they probably believed the degradation was due to the nature of the track and setup issues rather than an issue with the car. Once they hit the race tracks they didn't seem to have a clue about the reason for degradation.

Hoping the two quiet weeks in between helped them identify the reason and hoping they have worked out a solution or a work around to it [-o<

[Maelstrom]

It was weird with them in testing wasn't it? They'd have 3 stonking laps, then suddenly drop off by 2 seconds for the rest of the stint. Some said it was tyre deg but others said it was just Mercedes testing how much they needed to tiptoe and how much they could push...

During testing everybody was saying that Mercedes was suffering high degradation and Merc said it wasn't a problem and degradation wasn't an issue. Makes me sort of mad at how negligent they are.

During testing they probably believed the degradation was due to the nature of the track and setup issues rather than an issue with the car. Once they hit the race tracks they didn't seem to have a clue about the reason for degradation.

Hoping the two quiet weeks in between helped them identify the reason and hoping they have worked out a solution or a work around to it [-o<

If that is the case then it shows a level of incompetence that is astonishing.

[GrizzleBoy]

Or they could have just been saving face and not trying to give their competitors any info about them?

Letting everyone know your tyres fall off the car easily would give them strategic advantage before the first race even started.

Tbh, I cant see Brawn being so stupid as to not recognise any problems. He's been in the game since before internet. BEFORE INTERNET.

I think dealing with the problem is just proving difficult, especially with the lack of smooth running (crashes/rain/gearbox problems etc).

my 2c/2p.

[Ganxxta]

Just a quick question:
Do they have those sensors during a race to measure tire temps?
(You know those things on the floor just infront of the tire)

If they do and if they work properly, then they must have seen atleast on nicos car that the inters are not on temp and not already worn...

[marcush.]

even if they don´t have the temps or don´t know what they need they still have the pressure ,I´d think...and that would be falling from the cliff and trigger the loss of grip-mystery ,mystery...i think they are having us for a ride ..end of discussion at least for me.

[Cocles]

During testing everybody was saying that Mercedes was suffering high degradation and Merc said it wasn't a problem and degradation wasn't an issue. Makes me sort of mad at how negligent they are.

Or maybe Merc was simply lying, because it's no one's dang business but their own and the FIA's.

"Hey Brawn, can you tell us everything that's wrong with the car before the season has even begun? Your rivals would love that. Please?"

[elf341]

The TDs are always going on about the difference between surface temperature and core temperature of the tyres, with the idea being that you want a high core temperature as that provides the right conditions for the tyre to deform under load - e.g. cornering - and that deformation allows more contact, which allows more grip.

It may be that Mercedes are only able to reach optimal core temperature when using their tyres blankets, and under race conditions (when they cannot use the blankets) they are ineffective at generating the optimal core temp.

This scenario would exhibit exactly the behaviour that we seem to observe: fast qualifying, slow race.