[ 2020 ] AMG Mercedes F1 Team - Mercedes

[NathanOlder]

Yeah, Hamiltons feedback must be better to help bring out the best in the engineers

[Manoah2u]

OK fellas I got you, I'm just pointing out the headlines.

He did actually say those words, it wasn't me.

no, you are delibaretly cutting half the article and obviously everybody read the same and call you out on it.

[Wass85]

OK fellas I got you, I'm just pointing out the headlines.

He did actually say those words, it wasn't me.

no, you are delibaretly cutting half the article and obviously everybody read the same and call you out on it.

So what, I emphasised the points that were making the headlines.

[MtthsMlw]

James Allison will do an AMA early next week.
https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comme ... urce=share

[zibby43]

Andrew Shovlin summarizes FP1 and FP2:

“ We’ve had new power units in both cars today and some updated bodywork. So far that all appears to be working as expected. The sessions were a bit messy, although it’s always difficult with such a long circuit as you don’t get many laps in each run. Both drivers have struggled a bit with the balance, mainly with a weak front end and we looked a bit slower than we normally do on a Friday even when the car seems to be working well. We’ve got a few areas that we are already looking into and hopefully we can make some progress for tomorrow. On the high fuel runs the midfield appears a bit closer than they did in previous races, so we can probably find a bit of time there. Looking at the forecast, there’s a good chance of rain on Sunday, which would make this a very exciting race.”

[dans79]

Andrew Shovlin summarizes FP1 and FP2:

“ We’ve had new power units in both cars today and some updated bodywork. So far that all appears to be working as expected. The sessions were a bit messy, although it’s always difficult with such a long circuit as you don’t get many laps in each run. Both drivers have struggled a bit with the balance, mainly with a weak front end and we looked a bit slower than we normally do on a Friday even when the car seems to be working well. We’ve got a few areas that we are already looking into and hopefully we can make some progress for tomorrow. On the high fuel runs the midfield appears a bit closer than they did in previous races, so we can probably find a bit of time there. Looking at the forecast, there’s a good chance of rain on Sunday, which would make this a very exciting race.”

That's interesting, I assumed they would be running the old PU on Friday like they normally do. I wonder if they are trying out new maps for the upcoming ban.

[zibby43]

Andrew Shovlin summarizes FP1 and FP2:

“ We’ve had new power units in both cars today and some updated bodywork. So far that all appears to be working as expected. The sessions were a bit messy, although it’s always difficult with such a long circuit as you don’t get many laps in each run. Both drivers have struggled a bit with the balance, mainly with a weak front end and we looked a bit slower than we normally do on a Friday even when the car seems to be working well. We’ve got a few areas that we are already looking into and hopefully we can make some progress for tomorrow. On the high fuel runs the midfield appears a bit closer than they did in previous races, so we can probably find a bit of time there. Looking at the forecast, there’s a good chance of rain on Sunday, which would make this a very exciting race.”

That's interesting, I assumed they would be running the old PU on Friday like they normally do. I wonder if they are trying out new maps for the upcoming ban.

Once these new units are established in the pool, they’ll definitely revert to utilizing the Spec 1s as Friday engines, as you indicated.

Installing the fresh specifications today gives them a chance to identify any issues without having to scramble or be forced to revert to an old spec if something was discovered between FP3 and quali.

[Sieper]

Yeah, you never do that, when you get the new unit you run it on Friday, just to be sure. After the first weekend All went well you can spare it on fridays.

[zibby43]

According to AMuS, Mercedes is pretty confident that it's going to rain for the race, and have been trying to set up the car accordingly.

"For the race, the forecasts predict a 40 percent probability of rain at the start and 85 percent for the time after 4 p.m (at an even cooler 16 degrees). What should you prepare for on Friday? A setup that gives you a good starting position but problems in the race? Or one where you are on the safe side in the rain?

The vehicle set-up in Spa is already a tightrope walk on a constantly dry road. A little more downforce and you gain two tenths on a lap, but you are vulnerable on the straights in the race.

In this dilemma, the teams prepared differently on Friday. Red Bull, Renault and McLaren switched more towards the starting grid, Mercedes and Alfa Romeo more towards enough downforce for the expected rain. Ferrari is completely in no man's land. Less downforce, more downforce: nothing worked."

And a bit more:

"The sector times clearly show that Mercedes gave priority to downforce. This explains why the Silver Arrows lost a lot of time in Sector 1 and 3, but were outstanding in the middle section. Nevertheless, both drivers complained of understeer. Mercedes registered the greatest loss of time in the chicane. Up to four tenths!

. . . Mercedes was still driving with reduced power. Mercedes had new engines, turbochargers and a new MGU-H in both cars on Friday. Experience teaches us that the defending champion always retracts his new drive units very carefully on the first day of action.

Mercedes drove a different program than its main opponent, and the first day of training did not go smoothly from the perspective of the championship leader. It started with a puncture for Bottas in the first training session.

In the second session, both drivers complained about understeer. In the afternoon, Hamilton and Bottas switched to a larger wing for more downforce. And that falsifies the picture a bit in one go. That something is different than usual can already be seen from the shrinking gap between Mercedes and midfield. Some of the reasons for this are obvious. Others don't.

The biggest puzzle is the chicane. In his fastest lap before Turn 18/19, Hamilton was three tenths less than Verstappen's fastest time. Then he lost four tenths in the right / left combination. Hamilton's slight brake in this passage was too small to explain this huge difference. Mainly because the problem in the chicane was repeated in the long runs. Red Bull is consistently faster than Mercedes there, despite less downforce.

The sector times reveal that Mercedes is almost certain to expect rain on Sunday. In the power sector between start and finish and the end of the Kemmel straight, Hamilton and Bottas only landed in 13th and 19th place."

[bosyber]

So, back to the team/car - I guess that they have that weak front end to fix for today, FP3 will be interesting. If they go into the race losing about 3 tenth in the bus-stop chicane, surely that's quite a bad point just before the straight!

[Wass85]

So, back to the team/car - I guess that they have that weak front end to fix for today, FP3 will be interesting. If they go into the race losing about 3 tenth in the bus-stop chicane, surely that's quite a bad point just before the straight!

Wasn't it the same a couple of year ago, they had terrible traction coming out of the final chicane.

[Unf]

Bottas: "We have one push no?"
"We do but we agreed not to use it against each other"
Bottas: "I never heard of that"

[apexcontrol]

Bottas: "We have one push no?"
"We do but we agreed not to use it against each other"
Bottas: "I never heard of that"

says enough

[Wass85]

Bottas: "We have one push no?"
"We do but we agreed not to use it against each other"
Bottas: "I never heard of that"

He's obviously a number 2 but not like a Ferrari number 2.

[NoDivergence]

Bottas: "We have one push no?"
"We do but we agreed not to use it against each other"
Bottas: "I never heard of that"

This isn't a multi21 situation where the lead driver is told to turn down the engine and the person behind uses max power mode. Or Bahrain 2014