2025 Mercedes-AMG | Petronas F1 Team

[Sevach]

Kimi off again in FP.

I've seen analysis online that this car is very hard to drive, so I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. You have to wonder what he needs to do to get some positive momentum going though.

I think he is trying too hard. He has to look at Piastri and learn how to 'build up' through a weekend. He is too anxious to be faster than Russel in every session. Doesn't work out like that for all drivers. He showed this propensity to 'wanting to find the limit right from the word go' in the FP1 session he had in 2024 (forgot which track it was) where he went off brutally. At that time Toto Wolff shielded him by saying something to the effect of 'that's what we like from a young future world champion'

It was Monza, crashed Russell's car in the first 5 minutes of FP1

[OverheatedTurbo]

He’s now realizing that Russell is the real deal. He needs to focus on himself or else he’ll keep crumbling and making mistakes like these. He’s the reason why Merc is not P2.

[SB15]

He’s now realizing that Russell is the real deal. He needs to focus on himself or else he’ll keep crumbling and making mistakes like these. He’s the reason why Merc is not P2.

I don't think it's that. Kimi is more than likely getting a harsh reality check for how these ground effect cars like to be driven. His driving style is almost no different from Lewis's and he's one of the biggest victim to these cars because of their preference for a driving style more suited for oversteer and cater to drivers who's less aggressive on the kerbing (Due to the Floor) and how stiff these cars are (explains the previous PU cuts for Kimi when the cars goes into emergency mode)

As good as Max and George is, I wouldn't be conclusive that they're worlds better. This era of car is a false dawn. Thankfully next year cars will be much more open to many different styles of driving. And I do expect Lewis, Kimi and Alonso to be the biggest gainers.

[Mansell89]

Surprised how poor Mercedes look so far at Monza, thought maybe a low downforce would see them a little bit more in the quali fight but no real sign of that so far this weekend.

[Lasssept]

[OverheatedTurbo]

What a bottle job, honestly.

[Lasssept]

Andrew Shovlin: We are disappointed by finding ourselves starting on the third row as our pace looked more competitive than that in the first two segments of the session. Sadly, our competitors improved more than ourselves in Q3; George suffered some snaps of oversteer in Turn 11 on both of his laps and Kimi felt a lack of rear grip and therefore confidence on his one new Soft tyre run.

We know overtaking is a challenge here so, despite having solid race pace, making progress won’t be straightforward. Degradation looks low so the default is clearly a one-stop for the whole field. We will see what opportunities we can create though and do our best to bring home the best result possible. We are in a tight fight for second in the Constructors’ so any points we can gain on our competitors will be very beneficial.

[MB_Racer]

Andrew Shovlin: We are disappointed by finding ourselves starting on the third row as our pace looked more competitive than that in the first two segments of the session. Sadly, our competitors improved more than ourselves in Q3; George suffered some snaps of oversteer in Turn 11 on both of his laps and Kimi felt a lack of rear grip and therefore confidence on his one new Soft tyre run.

We know overtaking is a challenge here so, despite having solid race pace, making progress won’t be straightforward. Degradation looks low so the default is clearly a one-stop for the whole field. We will see what opportunities we can create though and do our best to bring home the best result possible. We are in a tight fight for second in the Constructors’ so any points we can gain on our competitors will be very beneficial.

Jesus that’s not very optimistic from Shov scary

We will need a miracle to score more points than Ferrari tomorrow

[Cocles]

As of the summer break, Merc now have a McLaren aerodynamicist who can tell them what they missed.
https://x.com/F1TechnicalNews/status/19 ... 2227784782

[OverheatedTurbo]

Kimi again doing crazy things on track. He looks undercooked since Monaco.

[MB_Racer]

Damn Shov was 100% correct!

- Horrible slow pace on every tires…
- Ferrari gained once again a lot more points on us
- slow pit stops…

- Shocking race from Kimi making so many mistakes and errors from start to finish…

Jesus anything positive to take away from this weekend ?

[Lasssept]

[Jambier]

Do you think Antonelli will still be driving next year ?

[OverheatedTurbo]

As of the summer break, Merc now have a McLaren aerodynamicist who can tell them what they missed.
https://x.com/F1TechnicalNews/status/19 ... 2227784782

They also need someone who knows how the tires work

[MB_Racer]

Here is the positive thanks to the admin of Mercedes AMG Passion Club for something finally positive about this crap weekend !

« Next tracks should suit the W16 nicely. »