I just hope RB can compete with them this year, because I am pretty sure that Mercedes will be the first one, these "problems" more related to Hamilton look like minor adaptation problems rather than core problems. If the car would be difficult to handle I am pretty sure that Bottas would have much bigger problems, which is not the case.cheeRS wrote: ↑15 Mar 2021, 06:08^This^JPBD1990 wrote: ↑15 Mar 2021, 05:50Remember Mercedes HAS spent their 2 tokens, but nobody knows (or can see) where. I’d say it’s probable that they’ve spent them on the critical area at the rear with the reg changes for this year, and it’s likely we’ll see something more about this on/after their ‘filming day’.
I feel that this year, perhaps Mercedes has one of those game-changing innovations that they're really hiding this year. No one can see where Merc spend their tokens, but James Allison said they'd become obvious "in good time" or something to that effect.
Every year it's the same story: "Testing doesn't mean much; testing doesn't tell the whole story". But then everyone throws that out the windows at the end of testing and tries to predict the results of season's end.
Just wait for Q3 in a couple weeks, at least.
Be ready for another "mighty comeback" by Mercedes, being able to miracously find a solution for their problems.JordanMugen wrote: ↑14 Mar 2021, 18:03It would be a welcome change, if the 2021 regulations have made Mercedes go to a somewhat higher rake to get performance back, and their lack of experience and understanding with higher rake designs has tripped them up somewhat.Juzh wrote: ↑14 Mar 2021, 18:00Sky and mark hughes are clueless, i don't know what screens they are watching. On his currently fastest lap 1.30.0 Hamilton was using 8th gear as usual and had the same top speed more or less as verstappen did on his fastest lap 1.28.9. Both around 308-310 kmh on main straight.
It does seem there is something wrong with the balance of the Mercedes, but the question is if they can fix it already in two weeks, or if it will take much longer and give Verstappen (or others) the chance to build a WDC lead.
I’m not saying Mercedes are lost or slow, however If they do have a serious car flaw, they won’t be able to throw money and resources at the problem like they could in seasons past.Vasconia wrote: ↑15 Mar 2021, 08:50Be ready for another "mighty comeback" by Mercedes, being able to miracously find a solution for their problems.JordanMugen wrote: ↑14 Mar 2021, 18:03It would be a welcome change, if the 2021 regulations have made Mercedes go to a somewhat higher rake to get performance back, and their lack of experience and understanding with higher rake designs has tripped them up somewhat.Juzh wrote: ↑14 Mar 2021, 18:00Sky and mark hughes are clueless, i don't know what screens they are watching. On his currently fastest lap 1.30.0 Hamilton was using 8th gear as usual and had the same top speed more or less as verstappen did on his fastest lap 1.28.9. Both around 308-310 kmh on main straight.
It does seem there is something wrong with the balance of the Mercedes, but the question is if they can fix it already in two weeks, or if it will take much longer and give Verstappen (or others) the chance to build a WDC lead.
When has Binotto told they have the highest top speed? What he told was that the speed on the straights is not a problem for them anymore.
If you read Binotto’s quotes it does not say that they have or had the highest top speed. It’s the reporter who wrote that Ferrari was one of the the cars with highest top speeds in testing.
They don't even have to pay extra money for unloading the sandbags like the last seasons. This is included now in Bot's contract, he has to do it as a training session to go to Bottas 5.0.djos wrote: ↑15 Mar 2021, 09:00I’m not saying Mercedes are lost or slow, however If they do have a serious car flaw, they won’t be able to throw money and resources at the problem like they could in seasons past.Vasconia wrote: ↑15 Mar 2021, 08:50Be ready for another "mighty comeback" by Mercedes, being able to miracously find a solution for their problems.JordanMugen wrote: ↑14 Mar 2021, 18:03
It would be a welcome change, if the 2021 regulations have made Mercedes go to a somewhat higher rake to get performance back, and their lack of experience and understanding with higher rake designs has tripped them up somewhat.
It does seem there is something wrong with the balance of the Mercedes, but the question is if they can fix it already in two weeks, or if it will take much longer and give Verstappen (or others) the chance to build a WDC lead.
They have a 25% of their old budget due to the cost cap and a lot less staff now.