2024 Mercedes-AMG | Petronas F1 Team

[organic]

It felt to me unreasonable to expect the space on the inside to remain there for as long as he needed it to. A disappearing wedge as Brundle would say. It seemed a little too eager to get some "easy" position. But a racing incident none the less.

It reminds me of T1 Spa where the space always is inviting but always disappears. Drivers have been penalised for making reckless moves there iirc

[mwillems]

It felt to me unreasonable to expect the space on the inside to remain there for as long as he needed it to. A disappearing wedge as Brundle would say. It seemed a little too eager to get some "easy" position. But a racing incident none the less.

It reminds me of T1 Spa where the space always is inviting but always disappears. Drivers have been penalised for making reckless moves there iirc

Yeah but I think probably because it tends to cause more chaos due to folks ricocheting off the wall/curb on the inside, and the kerb is quite high if I recall? I think that makes it even more daft.

In this case, if Stroll wasn't squeezing Alonso then everything may have been fine. Stroll I thought was being a bit too aggressive there also, given the chaos of T1, being so aggressive for position can often lead to issues.

Something not mentioned so far is that Hamilton probably trusts Alonso as a racer, but wasn't aware of what Alonso was dealing with on his outside. Nor would Stroll be aware of what Hamilton was doing.

[Space-heat]

i disagree with that tweet, while Lewis did hit into Alonso, the crash between the two Astons happened before he got there because Stroll dove in on Alonso, they were still making contact when Lewis hit Alonso

I think Stroll and Hamilton have to share the blame on this. From the onboard Alonso is clearly aware Hamilton is coming so he turns in late to leave space.

Stroll must assume that Alonso will turn and crashes into him when Alonso leave the gap for Hamilton.

Hamilton full sent it, if Alonso turns in, he would have crashed worse. He was aft of Alonso when Alonso is at the corner.

Edit: looking again Alonso left quite the gap (miles of the apex), he could have turned to avoid more than he did. He might have been carrying to much speed too. Hard to know, 6 of 1, half a dozen...watching the overhead a few times, it almost feels like everyone is at fault.

[j_ste]

Ok...baby steps please. Why end on the medium?

[AR3-GP]

Ok...baby steps please. Why end on the medium?

I don't think they had new softs left.

[mkay]

Ok...baby steps please. Why end on the medium?

I don't think they had new softs left.

Bingo - think they only had 5 new softs left. Used 2 sets in Q1, 2 sets in Q2.

[Luscion]

Ok...baby steps please. Why end on the medium?

I don't think they had new softs left.

Bingo - think they only had 5 new softs left. Used 2 sets in Q1, 2 sets in Q2.

They really didnt even need to use two new sets in Q1 imo at least for Lewis, he ended up aborting his lap anyways and was comfortably through

[j_ste]

Ok...baby steps please. Why end on the medium?

I don't think they had new softs left.

I know that but why set themselves up ( strategy wise ) to be in that position?

The lap he threw down in Q2 was the best lap he has done in an age

[organic]

Ok...baby steps please. Why end on the medium?

I don't think they had new softs left.

I know that but why set themselves up ( strategy wise ) to be in that position?

They needed to guarantee getting to Q3 (which they had previously failed in SQ3)

[zibby43]

Updates worked great. Only about 8-9 tenths off over a single lap.

[Luscion]

Updates worked great. Only about 8-9 tenths off over a single lap.

They werent too bad in quali imo, if Lewis had set the same time he did in Q2 he would have been around 4th iirc, Lewis cooked his tires in the first sector then ran out of grip mid way through the lap on his first Q3 run, Merc also ran out of new softs so just went with new mediums cause they didnt really have much to lose at that point. Seemed like everyone struggled with tire temps, even Max said it was difficult and nobody improved on their last lap

[ringo]

Lewis not doing too bad in qualifying.
The gap to him and Russel is a few hundreds more or less. Russel is doing a better job at tyre prep.
Not bad for a 39 year old vs A qualy specialist.
The car also was racey in the sprint, and had a really nice lap in Q2. The upgrades may be working to some degree.
The razor's edge is still there making the W15 seem undrivable, but it is improved here in Miami.
It she be better on a traditional circuit.

[MDB983]

Updates worked great. Only about 8-9 tenths off over a single lap.

They werent too bad in quali imo, if Lewis had set the same time he did in Q2 he would have been around 4th iirc, Lewis cooked his tires in the first sector then ran out of grip mid way through the lap on his first Q3 run, Merc also ran out of new softs so just went with new mediums cause they didnt really have much to lose at that point. Seemed like everyone struggled with tire temps, even Max said it was difficult and nobody improved on their last lap

LH Q2 - 1:27.697
OP Q3 - 1:27.675

OP position Q3 - 6th

In his Q2 time, LH would have been 7th, ahead of GR instead of 8th and behind GR.

MB elected to use new soft in first run Q3, LH - 1:28.654. As noted, very few improved on last run Q3, there is no indication LH would have placed higher than 7th.

Too early to tell on upgrades. At this track, it wasn't enough to place them higher than 4th best team in quali.

[Zxeros]

Seems pointless to even talk about the driver battle when the car is so inconsistent, and affected by so many different things.

How come George wasn't able to make any moves in the sprint race? I expected him to at least get close to Hamilton.

What changed on the tyre prep for Hamiltons time in Q2 and Q3? It's wild watching the car look decent to awful within a single lap.

At least Hamilton has an escape route next year, George is stuck in a team that seems clueless on how to fix the car.

[CHT]

Seems pointless to even talk about the driver battle when the car is so inconsistent, and affected by so many different things.

How come George wasn't able to make any moves in the sprint race? I expected him to at least get close to Hamilton.

What changed on the tyre prep for Hamiltons time in Q2 and Q3? It's wild watching the car look decent to awful within a single lap.

At least Hamilton has an escape route next year, George is stuck in a team that seems clueless on how to fix the car.

Depends if one chose to look at it half full or half empty.

GR has never come across as a championship winning driver to replace LH at Merc. So it's either GR is better than expected or LH is worst.

We will get a better sense when both drivers have new teammate next year provided LH doesn't shock the world again by deciding to retire from F1 before joining Ferrari.