Mercedes AMG F1 Team 2012

[prince]

Lots of you guys are so pumped about the new Mercedes... I've seen no evidence so far that suggests they will be any better than 5th and 6th.
f ducts, w ducts, blown rear wings activated by drs and so on...

I hope you guys are right because I'd love to see the Schum at least get another win. Championship.... well thats a dream but another win... is not so far in the clouds to see it happen.

Nico's race Simulation was Extra-ordinary & by far the best among all teams,his long tuns were excellent too. If he does that Mercedes are going to get a 1,2. I think the evidence suggests that Mercedes has the pace to even win,I would not rule out 1st place.

But the reality is last season they had a the Quickest Lap in Pre-season testing & failed to get anywhere near that time throughout the season. So Mercedes could well fade & I seriously dont think Mercedes can overhaul Red Bull at the start of the season. So 2nd or 3rd for me fighting with Mclaren in the initial 3-4 races atleast till Ferrari or if Ferrari can sort out their car.

Last year's story was known to everyone. The quickest lap in pre-season was very obvious that it was a "glory run". The body language was not positive, team conceded that they were not ready for podiums. They knew they have cooling and tyre degradation issues. It was admitted. But this year, their overall performance looks far more improved. There is an optimism in the mood. No colling or tyre degradation worries. To know if a car is good for podium contentention, you would ideally look at their long runs and handling of car in turns. By what analysts have seen and what statistics show this year, it really looks like a podium contender. If middle step is possible, time will tell.

[dren]

Things are certainly looking good for Mercedes from everything I have read. I am expecting a close fight for third place with Mercedes at the head of it.

[retpog55]

Well this is a Mercedes team thread and its fairly stale this week so lets have a bit of a laugh and predict where we think Mercedes will qualify and finish in Australia. I'm gonna go with:-

Qualifying

Rosberg 2nd
Schumacher 5th

Race

Rosberg 3rd
Schumacher 5th

[dren]

Very possible indeed. I will take a huge leap of faith here...

Qualifying:
Rosberg P1
Schumacher P5

Race:
Rosberg P3
Schumacher P4

[Ferraripilot]

This year will be more interesting than the last two IMO as we will see who really knows how to control the back end of their car out of slower corners. EBD was brilliant in lower speed corners and if W02 in its early days did anything with its obvious twitchyness, it made both Merc drivers extremely cognisant of their rear traction. W03 in the hands of these drivers will be brilliant. Michael loves them a little loose at the back (no sexual pun intended!) and should be at the sharp end of controlling things.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Qualy
Rosberg 4th
Schumacher 6th

Race
Rosberg 3rd
Schumacher 5th

And thats with my optimistic hat on.

[Pierce89]

"Put your medals on the table Nico." That's all i'd be thinking if i was MSC. Mercedes, Sauber and Mclaren have the closest battle in the field for their number one driver slot.

Schumacher has something that Nico doesnt and that is a more competitive edge. He has not been able to unleash this side of himself for Mercedes yet. In Monza and Canada we witnessed glimpses of his alter-ego and true racing persona. Even in his final year or two for Ferrari you saw that the car was not as competitive due to tyres etc and Schumacher spent much of his time during races cruising along in 5th, 6th, 7th relatively care free. Nico is very talented and competitive but he has had a strong motivation even if the car has not been able to challenge for championships, he wants to beat the seven time world champion Michael Schumacher. He has done that two years in a row but i think there is more motivation there for Nico than there is for Michael to beat a youngster, Schumacher needs bigger fish to fry in order to really get himself switched on into competitive mode.

If the W03 is competitive and MSC gets the bit between his teeth then you will see a completely different Michael. At the moment we have the relaxed and more mellow Schumacher "i'm having fun" "i enjoyed the race today" etc. Give him the motivation and the competitive car he requires and then let the fun really begin.

If the W03 is competitive, you'll see a new extremely badass Nico. Ready to wipe the floor with Mike.

[snoop1050]

"Put your medals on the table Nico." That's all i'd be thinking if i was MSC. Mercedes, Sauber and Mclaren have the closest battle in the field for their number one driver slot.

Schumacher has something that Nico doesnt and that is a more competitive edge. He has not been able to unleash this side of himself for Mercedes yet. In Monza and Canada we witnessed glimpses of his alter-ego and true racing persona. Even in his final year or two for Ferrari you saw that the car was not as competitive due to tyres etc and Schumacher spent much of his time during races cruising along in 5th, 6th, 7th relatively care free. Nico is very talented and competitive but he has had a strong motivation even if the car has not been able to challenge for championships, he wants to beat the seven time world champion Michael Schumacher. He has done that two years in a row but i think there is more motivation there for Nico than there is for Michael to beat a youngster, Schumacher needs bigger fish to fry in order to really get himself switched on into competitive mode.

If the W03 is competitive and MSC gets the bit between his teeth then you will see a completely different Michael. At the moment we have the relaxed and more mellow Schumacher "i'm having fun" "i enjoyed the race today" etc. Give him the motivation and the competitive car he requires and then let the fun really begin.

If the W03 is competitive, you'll see a new extremely badass Nico. Ready to wipe the floor with Mike.

we will see another journey man more like hopefully this year the luck is more equal amongst the drivers and we can see nico crying in the fetal position like that time when alonso did at the brazilian GP when he tried to go flat out through a yellow flag sector and found someones tyre rolling across the track.

[marcush.]

I got the feeling they will bag a podium in australia .

Rosberg will be 3rd in qualy ,Schumacher p5 (beating webber )

in the race it will be Schu who will enjoy his first visit to the rostrum in his 2nd life.

[aduka11]

"Put your medals on the table Nico." That's all i'd be thinking if i was MSC. Mercedes, Sauber and Mclaren have the closest battle in the field for their number one driver slot.

Schumacher has something that Nico doesnt and that is a more competitive edge. He has not been able to unleash this side of himself for Mercedes yet. In Monza and Canada we witnessed glimpses of his alter-ego and true racing persona. Even in his final year or two for Ferrari you saw that the car was not as competitive due to tyres etc and Schumacher spent much of his time during races cruising along in 5th, 6th, 7th relatively care free. Nico is very talented and competitive but he has had a strong motivation even if the car has not been able to challenge for championships, he wants to beat the seven time world champion Michael Schumacher. He has done that two years in a row but i think there is more motivation there for Nico than there is for Michael to beat a youngster, Schumacher needs bigger fish to fry in order to really get himself switched on into competitive mode.

If the W03 is competitive and MSC gets the bit between his teeth then you will see a completely different Michael. At the moment we have the relaxed and more mellow Schumacher "i'm having fun" "i enjoyed the race today" etc. Give him the motivation and the competitive car he requires and then let the fun really begin.

If the W03 is competitive, you'll see a new extremely badass Nico. Ready to wipe the floor with Mike.

wouldn't comment Nico beating Michael, it happened before...so nothing new there..

But Nico being a badass

He's everything.....but not a badass ...

[NewtonMeter]

Realistically, I'm going with:

Qualy:
Rosberg P3
Schum P6

Race:
Rosberg P3
Schum P5

BUT neither of them finishing more than 30 seconds behind the leader.

[retpog55]

General opinion is good with nearly everybody having Rosberg to come up trumps over Michael in the first race. Michael has been a slow starter in the last two years as he tunes himself in over the season so hardly surprising for the first race.

Vettel's Australian pole time last year was a 1:23.529, Rosberg qualified 7th with a 1:25.421, Schumacher 11th with a 1:25.971.

5 tenths difference in qualifying pace last year at Melbourne between Nico and Michael. In the race Schumacher started with fresh softs while everybody in front was starting on used softs. Unfortunately he was tagged by a torro rosso on the opening lap and recieved a right rear puncture. He was then forced to retire from the race from 20th position on lap 19. Rosberg was running in 8th before being plowed into by Rubens Barrichello which ended his race early aswell on lap 23.

At least this year cant be worse than the opening weekend of last.

[Ferraripilot]

I don't think we're giving Schu enough credit on his race pace. Nico has had time to hone is race pace prowess and it's average. Schu on the other hand is as aggressive as they come. I can't imagine Nico having it out with Hamilton the same way we all know Schu is able to. The second half of '11 Schu progressed well in his race prowess and I see no reason why that would not continue. Also, I he was consciously setting up W02 for race pace so I fully expect W03 to be a more balanced car regardless of fuel load meaning Schu can set the car up and essentially 'go' hopefully meaning his qualy pace will pick up a bit. That's all he's missing is qualy speed, which is something he was always pretty good at but he was no Senna. He's just beat Vettel at the race of champions for crying out loud. He's got *it* in him somewhere, he just has to dig it out.

[Mestrades]

So, is the W03 the most innovative car this year?

[Peetbeat]

So, is the W03 the most innovative car this year?

i think that Mercedes did some great job if it is the most innovative car we will see in Melbourne