Mercedes AMG F1 Team 2012

[ArchAngel]

Bigois' movement should pretty much ensure that the W04 won't be just a 'conventional' (read conservative) evolution (or so I hope) of its predecessor.

On the Concorde front... Mercedes says F1 deal talks progressing

Surely encouraging signs of the marquee's serious intent to continue their F1 program for the foreseeable future?

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

I'm a bit mixed about Bigois leaving. I'm a fan of continuity, unless their are reasons to change.

Mercedes and Brawn will know full well what they are letting go. In the end, the W01/02/03 cars all had similar flaws, with High speed downforce deficiencies. How lond did we all wait for Mercedes to run a mk3 wing? Until Willis and Costa arrived....

Not saying Bigois is bad, but I think we could see a very different W04 without Bigois influence.

[marcush.]

a fitting answer to all those who seem to be at ease to write him off .If he needs to retire then tell me who not.
With all that age talk one can only conclude Schumachers performance devalues the performance levels shown by the young generation,right?
I look forward to tomorrows fireworks.
JET ,did you place your bet?

[elf341]

I'm a bit mixed about Bigois leaving. I'm a fan of continuity, unless their are reasons to change.

Mercedes and Brawn will know full well what they are letting go. In the end, the W01/02/03 cars all had similar flaws, with High speed downforce deficiencies. How lond did we all wait for Mercedes to run a mk3 wing? Until Willis and Costa arrived....

Not saying Bigois is bad, but I think we could see a very different W04 without Bigois influence.

I agree. Bigois IMO was far, far too conservative. I don't know if the BGP001 front wing was Bigois' or Zander's idea - it was innovative for a time, but there was just no evolution of the FW under Bigois when compared to other cars. Time and time again you hear from TDs and Head of Aeros that the Front Wing can be viewed of as one of, if not, the most important aero aspect of the car because it is the first piece of the car that hits airflow and conditions the flow for the rest of the car.
Also Bigois, as Head of Aero, was ultimately responsible for pushing the SWB idea of the W02 (as Ross Brawn indicated in the past that they took the view that SWB was optimal for for single-diffuser/aero-reasons). My personal view was that Bigois was too scared to deviate too far from BGP001's philosophies, which resulted in the ridiculously short W01 and W02 (even with no refuelling!).

Either way, Merc has real aero gems with Bell and Willis - I have no doubt they are moving in the right direction - and this move may even have been instigated by Mercedes actions through potential marginalisation of Bigois' position, since Willis has essentially been installed above him with a definitive aero remit.

[ArchAngel]

@JET: I don't believe you're being singled out as a 'hater,' since you've already expressed respect & appreciation for Schumacher's past accomplishments, as well as belief in his ability to deliver the goods once he finally shakes off his lousy luck. It was just unfortunate that recent past discussions in this thread about the matter got a bit out of hand. Might be best to just chill and let these boys have their moment.

The team certainly did very well in qualy today, with Rosberg also performing strongly in all sessions. Minus any of the attention that went into the countless iterations of exhaust configurations that the other teams have been 'copying' off each other, Merc stuck to their solutions and succeeded once more (as in China) in getting the most out of the Pirellis in qualifying.

Whatever the weather tomorrow, let's hope their form holds and the team manages to maximize their chances & results tomorrow... And that the tyres don't treacherously desert them in favor of another lottery. [-o<

[marcush.]

As I was the single guy directing my words towards JET:
I may have a very soft spot for Schumacher , but my remark was more intended to cheer you up mate ,as I know how much you had to suffer over the long period of mediocre results for your favourite team.
you may have lost patience or confidence in Schumi over time but I ´m still very much posessed with the feeling that schumacher is a real asset to the team more than most are prepared to give him credit.
What I cannot accept is the claim that Schumacher is slower or in any ways a lesser driver than Rosberg or guys who have not even showed anything really special in Formula 1 yet.
Make no bones about it ,if MGP had any hint there was a better driver out there available tSchumacher had lost his drive after year one .

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

As I was the single guy directing my words towards JET:
I may have a very soft spot for Schumacher , but my remark was more intended to cheer you up mate ,as I know how much you had to suffer over the long period of mediocre results for your favourite team.
you may have lost patience or confidence in Schumi over time but I ´m still very much posessed with the feeling that schumacher is a real asset to the team more than most are prepared to give him credit.
What I cannot accept is the claim that Schumacher is slower or in any ways a lesser driver than Rosberg or guys who have not even showed anything really special in Formula 1 yet.
Make no bones about it ,if MGP had any hint there was a better driver out there available tSchumacher had lost his drive after year one .

Not directed at you Marcush. I fully appreciate there have been occassions that Schumacher has been better than Rosberg.
And Schuamcher has the potential for more. But there where accusations that the team was responsible for Schumachers woes.
This is very far from the case.
I'm glad at least that debate is possible with you marcush.

And I hope Schumacher has the race of his life tommorow.

[Red Schneider]

Like I said before... it's not about reflexes. He knows what to do. Brilliant job. Also bodes well for the team's chances for the rest of the year.

Also pure class from Michael when he refused to slag the team in the press conference earlier in the week. "We win as a team, we lose as a team" indeed. Whatever you say about his conduct outside the team, within the team he is A+ 100%.

[marcush.]

If anything one can learn a lot of how a driver should conduct himself within a team when looking at Schumacher in his first and second careeer .
He had more than once reason to lament or dismiss the teams failings to deliver -be it a car worthy of a win on merit or things going wrong without him having any influence.
BUT today when he is back on pole he is quick to thank the boys around him for pulling together and supplying the perfect tool to make it happen .
I´m happy to count his refusal to accept blame for things "happening" during races to his dedication and love of the sport .
My bet is for a Schumacher win on sunday he has the force with him this weekend obviously.

[Richard]

The explosive schumi fanboy diarrhea was going to go to the cesspit until I heard the normally happy digesting microbes squeal in terror. So those posts have been dispatched back to the owners. Hopefully the resulting escherichia coli infestation will keep them off this forum.

Posts about the race (inc quali) are in the race thread.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

As suspected, Brawn pushed Bigois sideways in favour of Willis. Bigois was not interested and a mutual departure was the outcome.
Could it be that Bell and Willis were keeping a close eye on his work and came away unimpressed, leaving Brawn with the decision to offer this "new role".
If he is off to Ferrari, I hope the tifosi dont expect countless front wing iterations. I wish him the best though.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/99920?

[snoop1050]

sack all of schumachers side of the garage.
give your QA guys eye tests

[zyphro]

sack all of schumachers side of the garage.
give your QA guys eye tests

There's no need for comments such as this. They need to unify as a team, which no doubt Schumacher will be spear-heading.

It's tough times, but I'm confident for Montreal. This weekend Schumacher shut up a lot of his critics.

[snoop1050]

sack all of schumachers side of the garage.
give your QA guys eye tests

This weekend Schumacher shut up a lot of his critics.

pitty the team didnt do the same....

[marcush.]

for whatever reason ,Schumacher´s car has more issues than Rosbergs but as I understand both have just too many things going wrong.
If and what does not count so it´s Montreal as the next opportunity.schumi has already claimed this will be a good opportunity to score a win..,.

As for Bigois ..when outsiders question the apparent overflow of TDs how do those people in charge feel? Brawn finally reducing himself to team principal got an elegant solution out of the dilemma ,but Bigois certainly had nowhere to go with first Bell ,than Costa and finally Willis arrival he was pushed back into the third or fourth row ...not acceptable for him methinks.