Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team 2014

[KeiKo403]

I was thinking, would Mercedes now stop the datasharing between Nico and Lewis? Would that meen that the fight would become more fair or even benefit Lewis as a punishment for Nico?

Just a thought, would this be feasible as a solution?

I think it would be a very feasible solution, though I think Nico would go off the deep end, as this would for sure hand the tittle to Lewis as far as I'm concerned.

Do we know if LH uses NR's setup data more that NR uses LH's? Who would benifit the most from data not being shared? Plus if no data is shared then doesn't that mean more running in free practices? Which could only hamper Hamilton as he has less PU components left?

[dans79]

Do we know if LH uses NR's setup data more that NR uses LH's? Who would benifit the most from data not being shared?

They both benefit, but in my opinion Nico benefits more, as can be seen how he is usually slower in practices. After looking at the data Friday night he is usually much improved, and denying him his teammate's data would make his ability to improve much harder.

[astracrazy]

Do we know if LH uses NR's setup data more that NR uses LH's? Who would benifit the most from data not being shared?

They both benefit, but in my opinion Nico benefits more, as can be seen how he is usually slower in practices. After looking at the data Friday night he is usually much improved, and denying him his teammate's data would make his ability to improve much harder.

I think Brundle even mentioned this right after quali, that it is as if nico ponders over the data all friday night and improves himself on Sat

[KeiKo403]

Plus if no data is shared then doesn't that mean more running in free practices? Which could only hamper Hamilton as he has less PU components left?

Is this point relevant then if we think Nico benefits more from Hamilton's data than vice versa?
What is the PU components used table looking like for these 2?

[SectorOne]

Hamilton said he would "have to make sure we're not racing wheel-to-wheel" to try and avoid any potential further conflict with championship leader Rosberg.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/28934044

That's worrying. I don't see how he's going to avoid wheel-to-wheel racing with his championship rival, unless he agrees not to race his team mate... which would essentially be him saying he's thrown in the towel "for the good of the team". Unfortunately I think the only hope Hamilton has now is a string of DNFs for his team mate, which although possible, I think it's unlikely.

He´s talking about being so far ahead that Nico can´t have a battle with him.
Think Malaysia type stuff.
Even if Rosberg wanted to have a battle he was 15 seconds down the road hence "making sure we are not racing wheel to wheel"

[dans79]

I think the big thing is the team has to publicly do something at this point to punish Nico, because they are falling into a PR black hole. As much as I would like to see him get a race ban, I can't see that happening, but the team must to something to atone for the points Lewis lost.

[elf341]

Toto Wolff apparently stated that Rosberg would not just receive a slap on the wrist, but that the team would implement other penalties.

It got me to wondering whether they would implement performance penalties? Would the team dare to do that? I'm thinking along the lines of having Rosberg run with a different engine mode or fuel mix to ensure the cars are not near each other?

[Chuckjr]

I doubt they choose to remove either driver at any time to try and equalize points. If it happened that Dan won the drivers championship because Merc management 7 races out decided to play god, they would look like the biggest fools to ever enter F1. They can't risk that. Talk about a PR black hole...

I think hit em hard in their bank account--I mean hard...like millions upon millions in fines for causing collision. I can't think of much else that would not interfere directly with championship points risk/reward that Lewis or Nico will recognize. Since they both are insanely rich, make the fines equal to something on the order of 10-20% of their net worth. That would make them think before hitting the other guy.

[Maynard G. Krebs]

I think Nico WAS backing off. He was further alongside early in the corner and was backing out as they went through it. Just turned in to get behind Lewis a little too soon.
The point NR was making was that he was going to be more aggressive and just treat LH like anyone else- not a teammate. I think the point was made too.

Anyway, I was talking with someone the other day about LH's string of mechanical problems and I suggested there might be a weak link or two on his mechanic staff. This person said that they share mechanics. Is that true? I can see them sharing pit stop crew, but mechanics? What if one car needs major work overnight, does that mean they don't get to work on the other car?

[marcush.]

the penalty will be imposed later on in the year-when constructors and drivers title is safely in the hands of the team, they will make their point and let him sit out at least one race..
Who might be sitting in the car for thaat race? any suggestions?

[SectorOne]

I think hit em hard in their bank account--I mean hard...like millions upon millions in fines for causing collision. I can't think of much else that would not interfere directly with championship points risk/reward that Lewis or Nico will recognize. Since they both are insanely rich, make the fines equal to something on the order of 10-20% of their net worth. That would make them think before hitting the other guy.

That sort of thing needs to be in the contract.
Imagine if you are at work and forget to turn off the coffee machine and the boss just makes up a thousand dollar fine on the spot.

This person said that they share mechanics. Is that true? I can see them sharing pit stop crew, but mechanics? What if one car needs major work overnight, does that mean they don't get to work on the other car?

Sometimes they do. For example when Hamilton had the fire in Qualifying the whole team, both sides helped restore the car for the next day.
Toto on raceday i believe said this.

[elf341]

Anyway, I was talking with someone the other day about LH's string of mechanical problems and I suggested there might be a weak link or two on his mechanic staff. This person said that they share mechanics. Is that true? I can see them sharing pit stop crew, but mechanics? What if one car needs major work overnight, does that mean they don't get to work on the other car?

I believe each side of the garage has its own mechanics who tend to their own car. I can believe the weak mechanic hypothesis - especially since Schumacher also had numerous qualy and race issues whilst at Mercedes with essentially those same guys. In fact, I believe after Canada 2012 (*1), Ross Brawn got so fed up he assigned a specific engineer to Schumacher whose sole job it was to double-check the work they were doing on that car.


(*1) - iirc DRS stuck open permanently mid-way through the race, forcing retirement

[SilverArrow10]

Same pit crew made up of two different groups of Mechanics that build and maintain the two car through the weekend. Sometimes they join forces like in Hungary where the fire absolutely wrecked Hamilton's car and both sides of the garage worked late to fix the car. People make mistakes so maybe.

[CHT]

Do we know if LH uses NR's setup data more that NR uses LH's? Who would benifit the most from data not being shared?

They both benefit, but in my opinion Nico benefits more, as can be seen how he is usually slower in practices. After looking at the data Friday night he is usually much improved, and denying him his teammate's data would make his ability to improve much harder.

Friday timing doesn't mean a thing as some drivers will choose to conceal their true pace from their opponent until sat. You can see that from the timing gap between merc and the rest on sat.

[dans79]

Friday timing doesn't mean a thing as some drivers will choose to conceal their true pace from their opponent until sat. You can see that from the timing gap between merc and the rest on sat.

This is true, but earlier in the year Nico said he looks at Lewis's data if my memory serves me correctly. I think it was right after Malaysia.