2021 AMG Mercedes F1 Team

[MKlaus]

Here is an interesting article from F1 analyzing Max and Lewis' qualifying laps:

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... 0OnAd.html

Some informative excerpts:

2. Hamilton makes a mistake into Turn 10 which costs him approximately 0.3s to Verstappen. The balance of the Mercedes seems to be towards oversteer, as represented by Hamilton making several steering corrections.

3. Hamilton is using a different energy deployment strategy to Verstappen, stopping the deployment much earlier on the straights.

With the gap to pole ending up .388, the mistake made by Lewis suggests that the delta was potentially much closer because of the 3 tenths lost by Lewis.

On the subject of tire degradation, the Merc was very impressive in the final stint. Of course, it must be taken into account that Verstappen had a shorter final stint, and was able to push the tires harder.

https://www.formula1.com/content/dam/fo ... /image.png

one need to take into account the floor damage for max, which cost him a tenth.
on the tyre degradation part, as usual mercedes biases their setup towards harder compounds which means, a good tyre life in race and better strategic options for longer stints. but then it hurts qualifying as the car isn't optimized for softer compounds. it's hard to say where the differences are between rb and merc due to difference in compromises.

[El Scorchio]

Since when is failing to corner correctly deemed as great skill? What i saw was that Lewis cracked under the pressure and locked up. If the track would be build to punish mistakes, he would have lost the lead or atleast a fair amount of time. Even Max would go off at some point. But what we have now are tracks that reward mistakemakers without losing too much time. No wonders modern F1 is so predictable in terms of driver and constructor titles.

If you're going to call lock ups in races mistakes, then the whole grid is equally guilty. All drivers make mistakes from time to time. Taking full advantage of allowed track limits is not making a mistake. It's using all the track legally available to you as you see fit. When it was outlawed mid race, he didn't do it any longer. That clearly indicates he wasn't doing it by mistake, otherwise he'd have continued doing it even after being told it was no longer ok. THAT would then be a mistake.

I wasnt talking about 29 times he drove over turn 4. That was the race controls fault since they are not fit to properly direct the race. I was talking about the lockuot that made him go off the track and how diferently would it end if the track would not be made as an airport. And slowly it is becoming frustrating to try to elaborate it, because you are still convinced i am saying this because i somehow dislike him. Let me repeat one more time: i highly dislike modern tracks where mistakes of drivers are unpunished since there are no gravel traps and no grass. And Lewis did a mistake. Luckely for him the track is designed in a way that drivers can continue without losing much time. It applies to all drivers. Can we move on now?

I'm not at all accusing you of not liking him. What I don't get is why you're so fixated on one single minor inconsequential lock up by one driver when they all do it all the time, and they ALL go off track all the time. Especially when the guy following him in the same race made a bigger error of judgement and went further off the track, and when countless other drivers also in the same race made far bigger errors which would have been punished on a 'non airport' track yet you don't seem to be worried about any of that at all. Just one minor lockup which didn't even lead to anything. It's just a bit bizarre.

[les arcs]

Here is an interesting article from F1 analyzing Max and Lewis' qualifying laps:

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... 0OnAd.html

Some informative excerpts:

2. Hamilton makes a mistake into Turn 10 which costs him approximately 0.3s to Verstappen. The balance of the Mercedes seems to be towards oversteer, as represented by Hamilton making several steering corrections.

3. Hamilton is using a different energy deployment strategy to Verstappen, stopping the deployment much earlier on the straights.

With the gap to pole ending up .388, the mistake made by Lewis suggests that the delta was potentially much closer because of the 3 tenths lost by Lewis.

On the subject of tire degradation, the Merc was very impressive in the final stint. Of course, it must be taken into account that Verstappen had a shorter final stint, and was able to push the tires harder.

https://www.formula1.com/content/dam/fo ... /image.png

one need to take into account the floor damage for max, which cost him a tenth.
on the tyre degradation part, as usual mercedes biases their setup towards harder compounds which means, a good tyre life in race and better strategic options for longer stints. but then it hurts qualifying as the car isn't optimized for softer compounds. it's hard to say where the differences are between rb and merc due to difference in compromises.

What floor damage?

[El Scorchio]

Here is an interesting article from F1 analyzing Max and Lewis' qualifying laps:

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... 0OnAd.html

Some informative excerpts:

2. Hamilton makes a mistake into Turn 10 which costs him approximately 0.3s to Verstappen. The balance of the Mercedes seems to be towards oversteer, as represented by Hamilton making several steering corrections.

3. Hamilton is using a different energy deployment strategy to Verstappen, stopping the deployment much earlier on the straights.

With the gap to pole ending up .388, the mistake made by Lewis suggests that the delta was potentially much closer because of the 3 tenths lost by Lewis.

On the subject of tire degradation, the Merc was very impressive in the final stint. Of course, it must be taken into account that Verstappen had a shorter final stint, and was able to push the tires harder.

https://www.formula1.com/content/dam/fo ... /image.png

one need to take into account the floor damage for max, which cost him a tenth.
on the tyre degradation part, as usual mercedes biases their setup towards harder compounds which means, a good tyre life in race and better strategic options for longer stints. but then it hurts qualifying as the car isn't optimized for softer compounds. it's hard to say where the differences are between rb and merc due to difference in compromises.

What floor damage?

He went over the curbs in Q1 or Q2 and sustained a bit of damage to the car (something fell off the floor) which they thought was worth a tenth a lap or similar. Well, I’m sure different people will tell you it’s worth a differing amount of time but it will have cost him some small amount.

[SuperCNJ]

Here is an interesting article from F1 analyzing Max and Lewis' qualifying laps:

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... 0OnAd.html

Some informative excerpts:

2. Hamilton makes a mistake into Turn 10 which costs him approximately 0.3s to Verstappen. The balance of the Mercedes seems to be towards oversteer, as represented by Hamilton making several steering corrections.

With the gap to pole ending up .388, the mistake made by Lewis suggests that the delta was potentially much closer because of the 3 tenths lost by Lewis.

I'm not sure that Hamilton's mistake at turn 10 actually cost him 0.3s. His delta was already half that before turn 10. So although he did lose time at turn 10, it's probably more like 0.15s due to the mistake. And with the damage to the RB said to be about the same loss in lap time, it probably more of less cancels out. So the Q3 times are probably a fairly good representation of where they're at albeit I do think Hamilton could have done a bit better as I don't think he did his PB in some of the sectors.

[Juzh]

Per his laptime delta hamilton lost 0.12s in T10 compared to his previous best. That doesn't mean he didn't lose 0.3s to verstappen, which is possible, It just means that without that little error he'd only lose 0.18s. He'd never get those all those 3 tenths there.

[dans79]

Per his laptime delta hamilton lost 0.12s in T10 compared to his previous best. That doesn't mean he didn't lose 0.3s to verstappen, which is possible, It just means that without that little error he'd only lose 0.18s. He'd never get those all those 3 tenths there.

if he lost 0.12 it just the turn, I could see him losing the other .18 down the stait for being slow out of the turn.

The mistake was odd though, it seems like the car had oversteer in that turn, but understeer on the rest of the track.

[SiLo]

It's just a bit unstable, so it's probably that inconsistency that didn't allow him to sort a proper lap out. I still don't think he would have gotten pole anyway.

[Juzh]

Per his laptime delta hamilton lost 0.12s in T10 compared to his previous best. That doesn't mean he didn't lose 0.3s to verstappen, which is possible, It just means that without that little error he'd only lose 0.18s. He'd never get those all those 3 tenths there.

if he lost 0.12 it just the turn, I could see him losing the other .18 down the stait for being slow out of the turn.

The mistake was odd though, it seems like the car had oversteer in that turn, but understeer on the rest of the track.

That's including time lost down the straight due to bad exit. In T10 alone he actually lost almost nothing, but that's expected because he probably went in a little foo fast.
check for for yourself (open in yt)

[NathanOlder]

It's just a bit unstable, so it's probably that inconsistency that didn't allow him to sort a proper lap out. I still don't think he would have gotten pole anyway.

Yeah there was no chance of pole, that RB16B was too fast that day for sure.

[Morteza]

[proteus]

If you're going to call lock ups in races mistakes, then the whole grid is equally guilty. All drivers make mistakes from time to time. Taking full advantage of allowed track limits is not making a mistake. It's using all the track legally available to you as you see fit. When it was outlawed mid race, he didn't do it any longer. That clearly indicates he wasn't doing it by mistake, otherwise he'd have continued doing it even after being told it was no longer ok. THAT would then be a mistake.

I wasnt talking about 29 times he drove over turn 4. That was the race controls fault since they are not fit to properly direct the race. I was talking about the lockuot that made him go off the track and how diferently would it end if the track would not be made as an airport. And slowly it is becoming frustrating to try to elaborate it, because you are still convinced i am saying this because i somehow dislike him. Let me repeat one more time: i highly dislike modern tracks where mistakes of drivers are unpunished since there are no gravel traps and no grass. And Lewis did a mistake. Luckely for him the track is designed in a way that drivers can continue without losing much time. It applies to all drivers. Can we move on now?

I'm not at all accusing you of not liking him. What I don't get is why you're so fixated on one single minor inconsequential lock up by one driver when they all do it all the time, and they ALL go off track all the time. Especially when the guy following him in the same race made a bigger error of judgement and went further off the track, and when countless other drivers also in the same race made far bigger errors which would have been punished on a 'non airport' track yet you don't seem to be worried about any of that at all. Just one minor lockup which didn't even lead to anything. It's just a bit bizarre.

I have absolutely no problem seeing any of the drivers to retire or lose a big chunk of time if they make a mistake. Like i said, modern tracks are cutting the slack too much for drivers and they reward them instead of punishing a mistake. In case of Lewis, i just pointed out that his drive was not as flawless as many are trying to present it. That is all.

[cheeRS]

I wasnt talking about 29 times he drove over turn 4. That was the race controls fault since they are not fit to properly direct the race. I was talking about the lockuot that made him go off the track and how diferently would it end if the track would not be made as an airport. And slowly it is becoming frustrating to try to elaborate it, because you are still convinced i am saying this because i somehow dislike him. Let me repeat one more time: i highly dislike modern tracks where mistakes of drivers are unpunished since there are no gravel traps and no grass. And Lewis did a mistake. Luckely for him the track is designed in a way that drivers can continue without losing much time. It applies to all drivers. Can we move on now?

I'm not at all accusing you of not liking him. What I don't get is why you're so fixated on one single minor inconsequential lock up by one driver when they all do it all the time, and they ALL go off track all the time. Especially when the guy following him in the same race made a bigger error of judgement and went further off the track, and when countless other drivers also in the same race made far bigger errors which would have been punished on a 'non airport' track yet you don't seem to be worried about any of that at all. Just one minor lockup which didn't even lead to anything. It's just a bit bizarre.

I have absolutely no problem seeing any of the drivers to retire or lose a big chunk of time if they make a mistake. Like i said, modern tracks are cutting the slack too much for drivers and they reward them instead of punishing a mistake. In case of Lewis, i just pointed out that his drive was not as flawless as many are trying to present it. That is all.

Let’s move on please. Truce.

[cheeRS]

Here is an interesting article from F1 analyzing Max and Lewis' qualifying laps:

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... 0OnAd.html

Some informative excerpts:

2. Hamilton makes a mistake into Turn 10 which costs him approximately 0.3s to Verstappen. The balance of the Mercedes seems to be towards oversteer, as represented by Hamilton making several steering corrections.

3. Hamilton is using a different energy deployment strategy to Verstappen, stopping the deployment much earlier on the straights.

With the gap to pole ending up .388, the mistake made by Lewis suggests that the delta was potentially much closer because of the 3 tenths lost by Lewis.

On the subject of tire degradation, the Merc was very impressive in the final stint. Of course, it must be taken into account that Verstappen had a shorter final stint, and was able to push the tires harder.

https://www.formula1.com/content/dam/fo ... /image.png

one need to take into account the floor damage for max, which cost him a tenth.
on the tyre degradation part, as usual mercedes biases their setup towards harder compounds which means, a good tyre life in race and better strategic options for longer stints. but then it hurts qualifying as the car isn't optimized for softer compounds. it's hard to say where the differences are between rb and merc due to difference in compromises.

Good point regarding floor damage. And although it’s useful to compare laps, it sort of assumes that Max did the ideal, perfect lap so there is some fudge factor. If there were any possibility that Max could have gone another 2 tenths quicker, then it’s hard to say that if Lewis didn’t make the .3 sec mistake in T10 he’d be right there with Max.

[zibby43]

Here is an interesting article from F1 analyzing Max and Lewis' qualifying laps:

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... 0OnAd.html

Some informative excerpts:

2. Hamilton makes a mistake into Turn 10 which costs him approximately 0.3s to Verstappen. The balance of the Mercedes seems to be towards oversteer, as represented by Hamilton making several steering corrections.

3. Hamilton is using a different energy deployment strategy to Verstappen, stopping the deployment much earlier on the straights.

With the gap to pole ending up .388, the mistake made by Lewis suggests that the delta was potentially much closer because of the 3 tenths lost by Lewis.

On the subject of tire degradation, the Merc was very impressive in the final stint. Of course, it must be taken into account that Verstappen had a shorter final stint, and was able to push the tires harder.

https://www.formula1.com/content/dam/fo ... /image.png

one need to take into account the floor damage for max, which cost him a tenth.
on the tyre degradation part, as usual mercedes biases their setup towards harder compounds which means, a good tyre life in race and better strategic options for longer stints. but then it hurts qualifying as the car isn't optimized for softer compounds. it's hard to say where the differences are between rb and merc due to difference in compromises.

Good point regarding floor damage. And although it’s useful to compare laps, it sort of assumes that Max did the ideal, perfect lap so there is some fudge factor. If there were any possibility that Max could have gone another 2 tenths quicker, then it’s hard to say that if Lewis didn’t make the .3 sec mistake in T10 he’d be right there with Max.

They’re basing the time losses by what they can see visually, and they compared both drivers’ laps. So it’s not assuming Max did the ideal lap. And it doesn’t claim as much either.

Just an FYI.