[ 2020 ] AMG Mercedes F1 Team - Mercedes

[Jackles-UK]

“... even if somehow Bottas would be ahead - Mercedes will do everything to stop him and let Lewis to beat him, just beacuse Hamilton is totally preffered by the team.”

This is the major issue though, during the years that Bottas has been at the team there hasn’t been a single point in time where anyone has ever really felt that Bottas has the making of Hamilton. Flashes of brilliance here-and-there, the odd weekend where he is almost untouchable (Suzuka last year spring to mind) but the relentless pressure you need to break someone like Hamilton has never been there.

Not to say that he’s alone in that, far more successful drivers than Bottas have tried & failed to find that recipe, but it’s no small coincidence that during the 13 full seasons in F1 he has only been beaten by his teammate twice. Between the Austrian and Styrian races, whilst Bottas went off on a jolly down to Monaco, Hamilton stayed at the track and spent three solid days with his engineers going over everything in detail to extract every drop of pace he might have missed in week one and he ended up giving the whole field an education almost all weekend. This mentality is what separates the good from the great - in all forms of sport, not just F1.

Perhaps if “Bottas 2.0/3.0” showed that level of application, Mercedes might have to make a call but, as of yet, they haven’t ever needed to.

[El Scorchio]

even if somehow Bottas would be ahead - Mercedes will do everything to stop him and let Lewis to beat him, just beacuse Hamilton is totally preffered by the team.

You mean like in the Austrian Grand Prix, when Bottas was ahead and the Mercedes team did...... NOTHING to ‘stop’ him?

Even after Hamilton got his penalty they could have ordered Bottas to let him past to even preserve second place for their ‘preferred driver’. But they didn’t. If Mercedes favoured Hamilton above Bottas then they’d have let him past.

Your argument just makes no sense.

[Unf]

You mean like in the Austrian Grand Prix, when Bottas was ahead and the Mercedes team did...... NOTHING to ‘stop’ him?

Even after Hamilton got his penalty they could have ordered Bottas to let him past to even preserve second place for their ‘preferred driver’. But they didn’t. If Mercedes favoured Hamilton above Bottas then they’d have let him past.

Your argument just makes no sense.

Do you really think that I am talking about doing it - like that - in 1st race? How can I take your comment serious then?
It is obvious that I was reffering to situation when Hamilton's WDC would be in danger - then Mercedes are going to do everything for bringing Lewis back to the top, including put Bottas behind if he would be ahead of Ham.

Ps: Jackles-UK - thanks for reasonable post, 1st there from long time.

[Just_a_fan]

It is obvious that I was reffering to situation when Hamilton's WDC would be in danger - then Mercedes are going to do everything for bringing Lewis back to the top, including put Bottas behind if he would be ahead of Ham.

If it is Hamilton and Bottas fighting each other for the title, then they will not favour either driver. If one is far enough ahead of the other and is only fighting e.g. Max for the title, then the behind driver will be asked to help out. That will apply whichever driver is the one fighting Max. If Bottas is leading the title fight and needs Hamilton to let him through, Hamilton will be told to let him through.

Boatta's big problem is making sure he stays close enough to Hamilton to make sure he isn't out of contention for the title.

[NathanOlder]

Just read through all that. Sorry Unf but you are talking no sense. One minute your saying Mercedes will do everything they can to stop Bottas, then you say they wont do anything early in the season. Its blah blah blah rubbish. Mercedes are one of the most fair teams on the grid. The example in Hungary a few years ago when Mercedes told Bottas to let Lewis have a go at the Ferraris, then if he couldn't pass, give the place back shows how Mercedes wanted to be fair, even when Bottas was nowhere in the title hunt and Lewis was fighting Seb. Leave your dislike for Lewis out of it, and you will see how very wrong you are on this one.

[GPR-A]

You mean like in the Austrian Grand Prix, when Bottas was ahead and the Mercedes team did...... NOTHING to ‘stop’ him?

Even after Hamilton got his penalty they could have ordered Bottas to let him past to even preserve second place for their ‘preferred driver’. But they didn’t. If Mercedes favoured Hamilton above Bottas then they’d have let him past.

Your argument just makes no sense.

Do you really think that I am talking about doing it - like that - in 1st race? How can I take your comment serious then?
It is obvious that I was reffering to situation when Hamilton's WDC would be in danger - then Mercedes are going to do everything for bringing Lewis back to the top, including put Bottas behind if he would be ahead of Ham.

What rubbish. Mercedes didn't stop Rosberg from winning in 2016 although Lewis had already won 2 titles before him and based on your logic, he should have been their No.1 and they should have held Rosberg back to allow Lewis win.

You should make a career in writing fiction. Works well for you.

[e30ernest]

Race debrief is out:

[Hammerfist]

Well, your points of discussion don't make any sense imo. In this thread You claimed you have known since he was announced that he is a designated #2.

For you they don't make any sense, for some else maybe they do.

But just last year, you claimed this.

One thing is clear for Bottas now - he can forget about driver championship now. He's a decent driver but... ha has no "x-factor" if you know what I mean.
Only fresh bloods like leclerc, russel or norris could bite Ham in the same car. But Mercedes will never allow to have that combination. THam vs. Ros drama was enough for them, simply.

It's kind of hard to have a discussion when someone's points of discussion are wildly inconsistent.

Where do you see inconsistent? I have never said that Bottas is faster or at least equal to Hamilton's pace. Bottas is slower with no doubt. But like I siad a year ago and I still pointing - even if somehow Bottas would be ahead - Mercedes will do everything to stop him and let Lewis to beat him, just beacuse Hamilton is totally preffered by the team.

Clearly you don't watch the races carefully enough. Bottas has won races in front of hamilton. Heck he just did it this year already and will probably do it again.

If you listen to his onboard radio in races, they are always trying to find a way for him to win the race, if the race is there to win, and that's whether Lewis is in front or not.

In fact at CoTa last year, when Lewis got in front of Bottas because of a different strategy, Bottas's engineer very forcefully instructed him to attack Lewis. Bottas did attack Lewis, passed him and won the race. I believe he had to pass him twice in that race too. So why didn't the engineer allow that to happen? And Lewis still hadn't clinched the championship too if I recall.

So I'm afraid your tales are full of delusion or maybe it is ignorance?

[Just_a_fan]

So I'm afraid your tales are full of delusion or maybe it is ignorance?

The word you're looking for is "hatred".

[mafeotul]

So I'm afraid your tales are full of delusion or maybe it is ignorance?

The word you're looking for is "hatred".

I am patiently waiting for title number 8 for Lewis, but probably more than anything, i am waiting for the 2022 regulations so that Mercedes can again start the enraged tear stream upon the fan-dom of the current F1 formula. The wall of hatred has been creeping higher and higher since 2018 when it became clear Mercedes and Lewis were about to take on Schumacher's numbers for real. After such a long time, the mental adaptation required to accept Mercedes and Lewis as a main dominator over the most important numbers in F1 is to say the least... difficult. So we will see a lot more of these so called conspiracy masters plowing through a lot bull-scheise driven only by nothing but built up despair and anger.

As i have stated before, Mercedes has been the best,and yes it hurt the sport, but not by winning, not by being the fastest, but by showing the world the mediocrity of the other teams. W11 is yet another example, so much so that i believe that If Ferrari's engine was still in F1000, the cars would be matched quite evenly.

[Wynters]

...besides his wheel went out just before the start. Of course in next 10min I will recived a lot of jokes and proofs that nothing bad happened...

An interesting breakdown of Bottas' jump start.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ipQheRkOy0

For me, it's the movement of the finger between his false start and completing his final start that is a clincher. But, as the man says, neither he (nor I) are familiar enough with Bottas' wheel to be absolutely certain.

Does anyone know what he might have been holding down?

[LM10]

Just read through all that. Sorry Unf but you are talking no sense. One minute your saying Mercedes will do everything they can to stop Bottas, then you say they wont do anything early in the season. Its blah blah blah rubbish. Mercedes are one of the most fair teams on the grid. The example in Hungary a few years ago when Mercedes told Bottas to let Lewis have a go at the Ferraris, then if he couldn't pass, give the place back shows how Mercedes wanted to be fair, even when Bottas was nowhere in the title hunt and Lewis was fighting Seb. Leave your dislike for Lewis out of it, and you will see how very wrong you are on this one.

Mercedes has no reason to favor Lewis at the beginning of the season. Bottas is such a weak racer that Hamilton eventually will get and overtake him anyway. They just need to wait for the season to progress while saying that they let their drivers race on the track. It's very intelligent actually. This way they're giving the impression of not having a number one. But the reality is that their number one is way too good for number two and their car is too good for the rest of the field that their number two gets more than enough points for the WCC at the end.

[Just_a_fan]

This way they're giving the impression of not having a number one. But the reality is that their number one is way too good for number two and their car is too good for the rest of the field that their number two gets more than enough points for the WCC at the end.

There is no defined number 1. If Bottas could do a Rosberg, he could win the title. This is totally different to Ferrari's position last year where they started out saying Vettel was the chosen one in the team. By the end of the season they'd effectively sacked him (no offer a new contract).

Bottas's title hopes are in his hands. If he's good enough to beat his team mate, he gets to wear the crown. The team won't tell him to move over so long as he has a chance of winning the title. So long as the drivers don't take each other out, they can compete.

If that's not "there is no number 1" then I don't know what is.

[e30ernest]

...besides his wheel went out just before the start. Of course in next 10min I will recived a lot of jokes and proofs that nothing bad happened...

An interesting breakdown of Bottas' jump start.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ipQheRkOy0

For me, it's the movement of the finger between his false start and completing his final start that is a clincher. But, as the man says, neither he (nor I) are familiar enough with Bottas' wheel to be absolutely certain.

Does anyone know what he might have been holding down?

I think what he was seeing is Bottas making fine adjustments on his clutch paddle.

[PlatinumZealot]

You mean like in the Austrian Grand Prix, when Bottas was ahead and the Mercedes team did...... NOTHING to ‘stop’ him?

Even after Hamilton got his penalty they could have ordered Bottas to let him past to even preserve second place for their ‘preferred driver’. But they didn’t. If Mercedes favoured Hamilton above Bottas then they’d have let him past.

Your argument just makes no sense.

Do you really think that I am talking about doing it - like that - in 1st race? How can I take your comment serious then?
It is obvious that I was reffering to situation when Hamilton's WDC would be in danger - then Mercedes are going to do everything for bringing Lewis back to the top, including put Bottas behind if he would be ahead of Ham.

Ps: Jackles-UK - thanks for reasonable post, 1st there from long time.

I am a little confused too. So your claim then, is that Bottas is designated number 2, but he is allowed to steal points of Hamilton until somepoint (which i hope you specify) in the championship where he must pull aside if Hamilton's WDC is in danger?

This is confusing! This is not a number 2 arrangement! This a normal affair between teammates. In a number 2 arrangement Bottas would have to pull aside whether or not Hamilon's WDC is in danger. And as a matter of fact if for whatever reason Hamilton's WDC was in danger by Bottas! himself, Bottas would not even be allowed to lead the race before the first round of pitstops. That is a number 2 contract.

I have never seen contracted Number 2 situation at Mercedes.