Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team 2014

[dans79]

The thing that bothers me the most is very eloquently expressed in this article.

http://www1.skysports.com/f1/report/220 ... ngarian-gp

The teams inability to think on the fly and change tactics/strategies mid race reminds me a lot of the blunders seen at Mclaren in 2012. Other than Lowe, does anyone know what other technical/strategy people might have come over from Mclaren?

[SectorOne]

I believe they'll just drop any sort of teamorder. What else can they do?

Get one more strategy guy so they have one each.

[FoxHound]

The thing that bothers me the most is very eloquently expressed in this article.

http://www1.skysports.com/f1/report/220 ... ngarian-gp

The teams inability to think on the fly and change tactics/strategies mid race reminds me a lot of the blunders seen at Mclaren in 2012. Other than Lowe, does anyone know what other technical/strategy people might have come over from Mclaren?

They gambled on Hamilton's strategy to run the medium compound tyre, and had Rosberg try the softs with an extra stop. This was strategically accurate given the info they had from practice runs.
But the safety cars and rain added the unpredictability which can make you look a hero, or a total twit.

I don't see what else they could've done strategically without hindsight.

[turbof1]

I believe they'll just drop any sort of teamorder. What else can they do?

Get one more strategy guy so they have one each.

That's something they'd need anyhow, team orders or not.

It's too late anyhow. Concerning team orders it's now the same as Vettel and Webber: neither will want to give the other any advantage on track. The team can try to ask it, but it'll end up with "oh well, we tried".

Concerning the strategy of Hamilton: it wasn't all too bad. Mercedes feared for more unpredrctable events and since track position on this circuit is hugely important, the strategy was relative ok. However, they simply put him on the wrong tyres. They should have extended the second stint on softs with a few more laps and then switched to softs again. Practice showed there was very little degredation and concerning tyre wear both the compounds were almost equal. With the softs bringing 1.5s it would have been easy pickings.

[FoxHound]

Agree that Hamilton could've stayed out longer on the softs.
He made a radio call to say the softs were holding up well and that he was doing fine. Had he stayed out longer there could've been a window allowing him to go on the softs for the final stint.

The only problem which was unforseen was that the softs lasted about as long as the medium.
Theoretical longer stint advantage nullified right there. Predicting this before hand on a rubbered in track is difficult at the best of times. The target is always moving, especially given the track conditions.

[Shrieker]

In friday practise softs held up as well as the mediums did if not longer... It was bizzare at best to put him on mediums with the huge performance gap of 1-1.5 seconds a lap.

[FoxHound]

In friday practise softs held up as well as the mediums did if not longer... It was bizzare at best to put him on mediums with the huge performance gap of 1-1.5 seconds a lap.

My impression was the medium ran for 7 laps longer on Rosbergs stint in fp3, I could so totally be wrong.

[dans79]

I don't see what else they could've done strategically without hindsight.

I think the sky article outlines it in the "And Merc missed a winning call" section perfectly. Basically they could have told Lewis to push hard part way through his third stint and maybe take the lead and build a gap, before coming in to switch to the softs for a final short sprint just like Nico did. Worst case senario, they finish exactly how they did.

Hindsight isn't needed, as they have plenty of computing power at the track & back at headquarters with the live links all the teams have. They also had plenty of data to use to make predictions/strategy calls, as they have a ton of data about every car in the race.

like i said, it seems like either they are unwilling or incapable of making strategy decisions based on emerging trends during the race. The possible reasons for this are numerous.

[Emerson.F]

Toto Wolff.
"If Lewis had let Nico go, Nico could have won the race"
Source: http://www.planetf1.com/news/3213/93975 ... -Conundrum

[dans79]

Toto Wolff.
"If Lewis had let Nico go, Nico could have won the race"
Source: http://www.planetf1.com/news/3213/93975 ... -Conundrum

Wolff is an idiot, and I'm pretty sure has less racing experience than some of forum members here. I am about as far from politically correct as a person can get and even I know not to publicly make such accusations.

[FoxHound]

I don't see what else they could've done strategically without hindsight.

I think the sky article outlines it in the "And Merc missed a winning call" section perfectly. Basically they could have told Lewis to push hard part way through his third stint and maybe take the lead and build a gap, before coming in to switch to the softs for a final short sprint just like Nico did. Worst case senario, they finish exactly how they did.
Hindsight isn't needed

Everything you have written there was with the benefit of hindsight. Sky too, can sit and speak of if's and but's....Andy Coulson(News of the World/FOX/RupertMurdoch,Sky) will only agree with me that Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
The track conditions AND temperatures changed from Friday and Saturday. Accept that any meaningful tyre data was not going to be as reliable over the race as is the norm.
Hamilton had 30 odd laps to do on the Medium and he could save a pitstop over the guys infront. With the theoretical car advantage, and his team mate on a different strategy, this was designed more with an eye on Rosberg, and bagging a podium than anything else.

And before anything get's said of the strategy, it worked for Hamilton as he closed the gap on Rosberg starting from the back.

They split the strategy, and Lewis finished ahead. Could they have won the race? Yes, Rosberg should've been home and dry in an uneventful race.

Wolff is an idiot .....even I know not to publicly make such accusations.

Did anything flicker in command control when you wrote this?

[Pierce89]

Wolff is an idiot .....even I know not to publicly make such accusations.

Did anything flicker in command control when you wrote this?

Its pretty clear there wasnt so much as a single warning beep.

[dans79]

I don't work for Merc and they don't work for me so I can say whatever I want whenever I want. However like I said, accusing an employ of screwing over another is something totally different.

[Emerson.F]

Rosberg getting mugged.

Lap 15 http://www.gfycat.com/TemptingBlindAfricanaugurbuzzard#
Lap 16 http://www.gfycat.com/MeatyUnfortunateBellfrog

Lewis on Vergne http://www.gfycat.com/GrotesqueSneakyFinwhale

[iotar__]

Rosberg getting mugged.

Lap 15 http://www.gfycat.com/TemptingBlindAfricanaugurbuzzard#
Lap 16 http://www.gfycat.com/MeatyUnfortunateBellfrog

Lewis on Vergne http://www.gfycat.com/GrotesqueSneakyFinwhale

"Mugged"? For the sake of neutrality: do you have a first lap spin or vs Ricciardo mistake?
Edit: Forget about it, it was probably Sky's coverage.