2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku, June 04 - 06

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zibby43
613
Joined: 04 Mar 2017, 12:16

Re: 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku, June 04 - 06

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b2bL44 wrote:
31 May 2021, 07:47
zibby43 wrote:
31 May 2021, 07:01
nzjrs wrote:
31 May 2021, 05:53
So, predictions? I think MB won't protest because the Ross Brawn statement existence was not accidental - the zeitgeist is that it won't be upheld and they won't want to take it to ICA either.
Hard to say, but I feel like it's worth pointing out that Ross Brawn is with FOM, not the FIA.

As far as I'm aware, it's a big no-no if the promotion arm meddles in the rule-making. I believe that when Aston was threatening litigation earlier this season, one of the reasons was because they were investigating impropriety regarding whether FOM influenced the '21 regulation changes.
Notice how the Aston Martin litigation threat has quietly disappeared. I wonder what deal was made to-- 18 LANCE STROLL!

I cannot see the same happening in the flexi-wing fight between Mercedes and Red Bull, especially if Red Bull win in Baku this weekend. There's a championship on the line and they'll fight it out to gain an advantage wherever possible.
I've wondered the same. At this point, it's irrefutable that the 2 low-rake concepts were hurt the most. If the changes were really implemented on the basis of purely slowing the cars down for safety purposes, a reduction in rear wing size would've had an equal impact on all the cars, as opposed to changing one of the most aerodynamically sensitive areas on the car.

It just smacks of FOM intervening for the sake of the show since the '22 rules were delayed. But, that being said, it's no fault of the high-rake teams that their concepts were better suited, and they still had to do the job to build quick cars, so fair play to them.

And Mercedes will be prepared to play out every possible contingency. I imagine some of it will depend on data gathered/observations made in FP1 and FP2.

LM10
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Joined: 07 Mar 2018, 00:07

Re: 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku, June 04 - 06

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zibby43 wrote:
30 May 2021, 21:07
LHamilton wrote:
30 May 2021, 12:30
Mercedes will be eager to get a win here, and I'm expecting a somewhat comfortable 1-2, bar any mistakes.
Nice write-up. I agree with your assessment re: who will be competitive in Baku.

Merc are bringing their first major upgrade of the year per Rob Smedley.
Is Rob Smedley one of the reliable sources? Few days ago Toto told that they are flat out focusing on 2022 and will only bring small updates here and there throughout the season. The major performance improvement will come from understanding car and tires, as per him.

But then again, Toto is the mind game expert himself, so who knows.

zibby43
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Joined: 04 Mar 2017, 12:16

Re: 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku, June 04 - 06

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LM10 wrote:
31 May 2021, 08:46
zibby43 wrote:
30 May 2021, 21:07
LHamilton wrote:
30 May 2021, 12:30
Mercedes will be eager to get a win here, and I'm expecting a somewhat comfortable 1-2, bar any mistakes.
Nice write-up. I agree with your assessment re: who will be competitive in Baku.

Merc are bringing their first major upgrade of the year per Rob Smedley.
Is Rob Smedley one of the reliable sources? Few days ago Toto told that they are flat out focusing on 2022 and will only bring small updates here and there throughout the season. The major performance improvement will come from understanding car and tires, as per him.

But then again, Toto is the mind game expert himself, so who knows.
He was Felipe Massa's race engineer at Ferrari and the Head of Vehicle Performance at Williams (Merc customer) from 2014-2018, and now works as the Director of Data Systems for FOM.

Brilliant engineer and very plugged into the paddock. So I'd consider him very reliable.

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Wouter
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Joined: 16 Dec 2017, 13:02

Re: 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku, June 04 - 06

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zibby43 wrote:
31 May 2021, 09:36
LM10 wrote:
31 May 2021, 08:46
zibby43 wrote:
30 May 2021, 21:07


Nice write-up. I agree with your assessment re: who will be competitive in Baku.

Merc are bringing their first major upgrade of the year per Rob Smedley.
Is Rob Smedley one of the reliable sources? Few days ago Toto told that they are flat out focusing on 2022 and will only bring small updates here and there throughout the season. The major performance improvement will come from understanding car and tires, as per him.

But then again, Toto is the mind game expert himself, so who knows.
He was Felipe Massa's race engineer at Ferrari and the Head of Vehicle Performance at Williams (Merc customer) from 2014-2018, and now works as the Director of Data Systems for FOM.

Brilliant engineer and very plugged into the paddock. So I'd consider him very reliable.
Do you have a source where Rob said that @Zibby?
The Power of Dreams!

b2bL44
22
Joined: 21 Jan 2019, 02:46

Re: 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku, June 04 - 06

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Wouter wrote:
31 May 2021, 09:45
zibby43 wrote:
31 May 2021, 09:36
LM10 wrote:
31 May 2021, 08:46


Is Rob Smedley one of the reliable sources? Few days ago Toto told that they are flat out focusing on 2022 and will only bring small updates here and there throughout the season. The major performance improvement will come from understanding car and tires, as per him.

But then again, Toto is the mind game expert himself, so who knows.
He was Felipe Massa's race engineer at Ferrari and the Head of Vehicle Performance at Williams (Merc customer) from 2014-2018, and now works as the Director of Data Systems for FOM.

Brilliant engineer and very plugged into the paddock. So I'd consider him very reliable.
Do you have a source where Rob said that @Zibby?
Rob Smedley provided this information towards the end of the Monaco debrief on F1TV.
I like headbuttin’ journos an´ I can not lie.
You otha brothas can´t deny.
That when a journo walks in wit´ some bait an´
A hook right in yo´ face. You get SMACKED.

b2bL44
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Joined: 21 Jan 2019, 02:46

Re: 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku, June 04 - 06

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LM10 wrote:
31 May 2021, 08:46
zibby43 wrote:
30 May 2021, 21:07
LHamilton wrote:
30 May 2021, 12:30
Mercedes will be eager to get a win here, and I'm expecting a somewhat comfortable 1-2, bar any mistakes.
Nice write-up. I agree with your assessment re: who will be competitive in Baku.

Merc are bringing their first major upgrade of the year per Rob Smedley.
Is Rob Smedley one of the reliable sources? Few days ago Toto told that they are flat out focusing on 2022 and will only bring small updates here and there throughout the season. The major performance improvement will come from understanding car and tires, as per him.

But then again, Toto is the mind game expert himself, so who knows.
Depending on the upgrades they can be weeks or even months in the making. What Toto was saying could be completely true, by the Monaco race weekend Mercedes could have in fact switched to 2022 car development. Before that time Mercedes may have had a more even share in development between the two cars. Who knows?

Or as you say, it was all a bluff. We'll have to wait and see.
I like headbuttin’ journos an´ I can not lie.
You otha brothas can´t deny.
That when a journo walks in wit´ some bait an´
A hook right in yo´ face. You get SMACKED.

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Wouter
106
Joined: 16 Dec 2017, 13:02

Re: 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku, June 04 - 06

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b2bL44 wrote:
31 May 2021, 10:03
Wouter wrote:
31 May 2021, 09:45
zibby43 wrote:
31 May 2021, 09:36


He was Felipe Massa's race engineer at Ferrari and the Head of Vehicle Performance at Williams (Merc customer) from 2014-2018, and now works as the Director of Data Systems for FOM.

Brilliant engineer and very plugged into the paddock. So I'd consider him very reliable.
Do you have a source where Rob said that @Zibby?
Rob Smedley provided this information towards the end of the Monaco debrief on F1TV.
Thank you @ b2bL44.
The Power of Dreams!

dxpetrov
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Joined: 24 May 2012, 15:39

Re: 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku, June 04 - 06

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RB was quite competitive in 2019. Until the Q3, when MERC and Ferrari deployed the ''party'' modes, RB were at the top. The tyre choices would suit them as well.

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mclaren111
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Joined: 06 Apr 2014, 10:49
Location: Shithole - South Africa

Re: 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku, June 04 - 06

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Go Lando... :D :D

LM10
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Joined: 07 Mar 2018, 00:07

Re: 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku, June 04 - 06

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zibby43 wrote:
31 May 2021, 09:36
LM10 wrote:
31 May 2021, 08:46
zibby43 wrote:
30 May 2021, 21:07


Nice write-up. I agree with your assessment re: who will be competitive in Baku.

Merc are bringing their first major upgrade of the year per Rob Smedley.
Is Rob Smedley one of the reliable sources? Few days ago Toto told that they are flat out focusing on 2022 and will only bring small updates here and there throughout the season. The major performance improvement will come from understanding car and tires, as per him.

But then again, Toto is the mind game expert himself, so who knows.
He was Felipe Massa's race engineer at Ferrari and the Head of Vehicle Performance at Williams (Merc customer) from 2014-2018, and now works as the Director of Data Systems for FOM.

Brilliant engineer and very plugged into the paddock. So I'd consider him very reliable.
Oh of course, alright, thank you!

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RedNEO
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Joined: 09 Jul 2016, 12:58

Re: 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku, June 04 - 06

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I hope we are not heading towards protests from Mercedes and there minions

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dans79
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Joined: 03 Mar 2013, 19:33
Location: USA

Re: 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku, June 04 - 06

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RedNEO wrote:
31 May 2021, 18:38
I hope we are not heading towards protests from Mercedes and there minions
Toto basically said if Red Bull runs a wing that they think flexes to much they will protest.
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Chuckjr
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Re: 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku, June 04 - 06

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Updates are planned well in advance of the season. I’m sure Merc thought they would carry their advantage and likely didn’t plan on upgrading the car much as Toto said because I doubt they expected RB to be the car it is nor Honda the power unit it has become. Surprises happen even in F1.

I think Merc will get the car faster and calmer over the season and they will continue to improve. They won’t make strategy mistakes like Monaco many more times this season. The car is fast but maybe not as fast as expected.

Red Bull I think planned a few more upgrades than Merc expecting needing the improvements as they felt they had a competitive car for the season and would need to continue to upgrade. They knew the time they found and they knew they would likely be quicker than many expected. So I’m guessing they may bring a few more weeks/months of upgrades than Merc so will equal whatever improvements Merc finds in their car over the season.

Bottom line I think both teams remain competitive the rest of the season only in different ways. I’m still not convinced the RB is the match for the Merc but the next few races will make that much more clear. I think the Red Bull is more fragile and a DNF could maybe cost the season this year. Clawing back 25 points in a season like this would be very difficult.

I expect the RB to be fast this weekend — especially with their ingenious flexi back wing — as Lewis stated. The track is tight twisty and that that lends itself to the shorter Red Bull. But, Merc clearly have a straight line advantage as their passing in DRS zones has been insane. They have a great DRS package. I really see them having an advantage in power unit strength and DRS efficiency at this track which will give them a strong advantage if Lewis can follow within the 1 second needed to use DRS should he falter in quali or race start. It seems the Merc doesn’t like to follow so much, but again, we will know more after here and the next GP.

I’m actually excited about the race because the winner isn’t already in the bag. It’s nice to have this feeling again after nearly a decade. I’d forgotten what race anticipation felt like. 🤷‍♂️

Thanks Honda and A. Newey for not just resigning to 2022.
Watching F1 since 1986.

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Unf
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Joined: 19 Jul 2018, 21:56

Re: 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku, June 04 - 06

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Wonder if we will se Bottas delivering tow for his glorious teammate just on 5th race this season. As well as Perez...

politburo
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Joined: 09 Mar 2021, 11:46

Re: 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku, June 04 - 06

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Slow corners plus 2 long straights will lend very well for Aston Martin, and McLaren. I will not be surprised if both are ahead of Ferrari and maybe McLaren can even push RedBull.

If the practice sessions are even half as intriguing as the Monaco ones it will be exciting, but Baku seldom disappoints.
"Nosotros diferimos, pero nosotros todos son iguales"

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