2026 Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team

[Lasssept]

[Jambier]

https://i.postimg.cc/j5scQ0Wg/HMi-Kvs7WIAAym9P.jpg

Both drivers lost a ton of points with the reliability...

[Matt2725]

The gaps are too far off between the 2 Mercs. There is references to battery issues throughout the weekend for Russell, but this isn't the first time this season that there have been discrepancies. The 2 by 2 nature of the Silverstone track was evident for all team mates having similar values to the other in terms of top speed and speed across the start finish line. The only standout was Russell. A very peculiar situation which is going to be a breeding ground for conspiracy.

11:46 onwards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6_7kVuIALE&t=897s

A few megaminds on other forums tried to hand wave it away as being different deployment strategies. Because of course, Russell wanted his deployment setup to ensure he had no performance in the two main overtaking points.

Wolff was a bit shameless claiming it was "fine" post-race, but even he must know that isn't the case. Felt a bit like he was taking his upset over Kimi out on the other driver.

[Quantum]

A few megaminds on other forums tried to hand wave it away as being different deployment strategies. Because of course, Russell wanted his deployment setup to ensure he had no performance in the two main overtaking points.

Wolff was a bit shameless claiming it was "fine" post-race, but even he must know that isn't the case. Felt a bit like he was taking his upset over Kimi out on the other driver.

I'm making no assertion, but the cold hard evidence is glaring unfortunately.
The trace shows it's a linear difference on every straight. Absolutley no way you drive around that or excuse it as "deployment strategies".

The other thing that really stands out is Russell mentioned this in Free Practice. The team had time to fix it or ascertain what the problem is. This carried on into Sprint Q, Sprint and Q and then of course into the race.
How can there be a persistent battery issue through the weekend that doesn't get fixed?

The team needs to come out and explain firstly why there was battery problem and then why it couldn't be fixed for the duration of the weekend.

[nitrotech]

A few megaminds on other forums tried to hand wave it away as being different deployment strategies. Because of course, Russell wanted his deployment setup to ensure he had no performance in the two main overtaking points.

Wolff was a bit shameless claiming it was "fine" post-race, but even he must know that isn't the case. Felt a bit like he was taking his upset over Kimi out on the other driver.

I'm making no assertion, but the cold hard evidence is glaring unfortunately.
The trace shows it's a linear difference on every straight. Absolutley no way you drive around that or excuse it as "deployment strategies".

The other thing that really stands out is Russell mentioned this in Free Practice. The team had time to fix it or ascertain what the problem is. This carried on into Sprint Q, Sprint and Q and then of course into the race.
How can there be a persistent battery issue through the weekend that doesn't get fixed?

The team needs to come out and explain firstly why there was battery problem and then why it couldn't be fixed for the duration of the weekend.

The problem of George lacking straight line speed is not just limited to British gp, it was there in almost every race and almost every lap. Just that it was glaringly obvious in British gp. Even in Austria race where he was leading, the gains that Kimi made was always on straights. There again, George was faster through most corners.

Here are some laps from lap 9 to 14 Austria. Kimi was in clear air in these laps.

[Quantum]

Here are some laps from lap 9 to 14 Austria. Kimi was in clear air in these laps.

No dispute with those 5 laps, but sample size needs to be greater.
From Race 1 to Race 9, every lap.

Discrepancies will also arise naturally.
Because Kimi took the new improved battery in Austria, and George took a new battery for Monaco after the Canada failure. If there is such a large difference between the 2 specs then George has to take a new one for Spa.
But there wasn't such a marked difference in Austria....a feature of track differences?

[nitrotech]

Here are some laps from lap 9 to 14 Austria. Kimi was in clear air in these laps.

No dispute with those 5 laps, but sample size needs to be greater.
From Race 1 to Race 9, every lap.

Discrepancies will also arise naturally.
Because Kimi took the new improved battery in Austria, and George took a new battery for Monaco after the Canada failure. If there is such a large difference between the 2 specs then George has to take a new one for Spa.
But there wasn't such a marked difference in Austria....a feature of track differences?

It's actually easy. You can go to F1 insights hub and find the truth for yourself. Its a bit time consuming. I gave a couple of samples from Austria and British GPs. I think I made my point and if time permits, i may do further analysis on other races. Anyone interested in knowing the whole truth, would find it in data and they have to do some work to go do it themselves. Those that are happy consuming Toto's smoke screen would think it's a "talent gap".

[Tonino]

Hopefully the big news today is Max in, George out.

[zibby43]

Not sure Kimi's issue was reliability. I suspect his car was damaged because as he's done all year, he rides his car over the kerbs a lot more aggressively than others. He broke his car riding the car over the larger green and white serrated kerbs beyond the red and white kerb on the outside of Copse.

Good point but I guess I was hoping the team would know this and ensure the car was robust enough to handle it.

[nitrotech]

Hopefully the big news today is Max in, George out.

I would love to see this happen! We would have another worthless No.2 at the end of next year, like all those Red Bull team mates of Max. I can't wait to see Toto throwing everything he has, to build the car exclusively for Max's preferences. It would be sight to behold.

We would also have Max fans telling us that it's waste of time to prioritize 2 drivers and only Max should be preferred, any argument otherwise would be branded as anti-team content. I think that would be cool stuff.

[AR3-GP]

The problem of George lacking straight line speed is not just limited to British gp, it was there in almost every race and almost every lap. Just that it was glaringly obvious in British gp. Even in Austria race where he was leading, the gains that Kimi made was always on straights. There again, George was faster through most corners.

Maybe that is the issue. Isack Hadjar pointed this out during FP1 at Silverstone:

Isack : "The faster I go [corner], the less I have in the straights. It's unbelievable, there's no power."
Wood : "Yep, unfortunately that's the error. Go slow to go fast. Currently P1."

Qualifying in Silverstone was not representative because George Russell damaged his car in Q1. Aero damage can increase aerodynamic resistance.

[nitrotech]

The problem of George lacking straight line speed is not just limited to British gp, it was there in almost every race and almost every lap. Just that it was glaringly obvious in British gp. Even in Austria race where he was leading, the gains that Kimi made was always on straights. There again, George was faster through most corners.

Maybe that is the issue. Isack Hadjar pointed this out during FP1 at Silverstone:

Isack : "The faster I go [corner], the less I have in the straights. It's unbelievable, there's no power."
Wood : "Yep, unfortunately that's the error. Go slow to go fast. Currently P1."

Despite being faster than Isack in corners, Max on average, had better straight line speed. These are laps where both were in clean air, except for one lap on one straight where Isack had power boost on overtake. Unless Isack was also driving a different PU like George or it's a "talent gap".

[Farnborough]

Not sure Kimi's issue was reliability. I suspect his car was damaged because as he's done all year, he rides his car over the kerbs a lot more aggressively than others. He broke his car riding the car over the larger green and white serrated kerbs beyond the red and white kerb on the outside of Copse.

Good point but I guess I was hoping the team would know this and ensure the car was robust enough to handle it.

With the PU regulated for minimum weight removed from equation, high % of remaining contribution is carbon composite structures. Much of this being resin component.

When they reduce weight of overall, I don't know where people think that reduction is coming from, primarily as above in removing anything they judge to be in excess of primary function. Notionally "non structural " component are first in the firing line for this process as durability can be less important, but there are limitations to how far this can go, and how much of a "thumping" it can routinely be exposed to.

Obviously being at minimum weight limit conveys advantage, and across all performance metric. The driver still has a part to play in risk reduction toward component failure though. It's still part of a driver's suite of attributes to recognise and act on this, giving consideration to unnecessary high load exposure is always part of the whole in reliability.

It would have been good to see the race played out in full, without this failure, but maybe a lesson learned from this case will pay dividend in future races.

[Waz]

It's plausible that Kimi would not have been as quick, or kept his tires alive as long as he did without using the kerbs as he was.

[Matt2725]

It's plausible that Kimi would not have been as quick, or kept his tires alive as long as he did without using the kerbs as he was.

This was my thought going forward. Kimi will need to be a lot more careful with the kerbs, meaning he can't carry as much speed through the corners and likely reducing his pace by a fair amount.