F1 2022

[BiMGuy]

Another good race. Some good battles all the way down the field. Think at this rate it will be a straight Ferrari v Red Bull battle. Russell did well to get it to 5th but Hamilton looks way off. Will Russell outperform Hamilton this season?

It was another great race.

Hamilton would have been right with Russell if he’d have got in the pits under the VSC. I can’t see him being beaten over a season.

Max and Charlie will surely make contact at some point. We’ll see how friendly they are then.

Hopefully Mercedes sort themselves out quickly. A three way battle with these cars would be cracking.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

It was another great race.

Hamilton would have been right with Russell if he’d have got in the pits under the VSC. I can’t see him being beaten over a season.

Max and Charlie will surely make contact at some point. We’ll see how friendly they are then.

Hopefully Mercedes sort themselves out quickly. A three way battle with these cars would be cracking.

A three battle would be fantastic. I agree that while it is great to see no quarter given racing between Verstappen and Leclerc I think you are right and at some point there will be a coming together as there was last season with Hamilton and Verstappen. It depends if its a racing incident or one of them being too brave/foolish and trying to force the issue

 

[Swango1980]

I remember midway through last season the expert opinion seemed to be that Red Bull were throwing everything at the 2021 car, whereas Mercedes were investing more time in the 2022 car. Therefore, Red Bull were going all out last season, and it was a big gamble as they'd be on the back foot for 2022.

Hmmmm, not what I am seeing at the moment. The Mercedes car looks terrible. It is great that Ferrari look to have put themselves right up there, it is just disappointing there are not 3 big teams up there fighting. A long way to go I guess, but Mercedes may have to do something miraculous if they do not find a solution in the next 3 or 4 races.

 

[SaintHacker]

Its certainly strange to see. You can't help but think sooner or later Merc will 'unlock'the car and put themselves right back in the mix. It cant help with the 1st 3 races being fly aways to get any serious wind tunnel work done or new parts designed and on the car

 

[SaintHacker]

Interesting looking drivers championship at the moment with two 'no.2' drivers in front of the no.1s. Merc will likely let the next few races play out until one driver is obviously far enough ahead before they start invoking team orders, but red bull not so sure. Max wants no.1 driver status and expects the team mate to move over regardless, but Checo i think is likely to tell them where to go if they try that. Could be a fun few races coming up?

 

[Swango1980]

Think Mercedes have done just about as good as they could have done over the first few races. They are certainly walking away with more points than their car deserves.

I do enjoy it when a Red Bull car fails to finish a race. Poor Christian Horner

 

[HomerJSimpson]

You can't help but think sooner or later Merc will 'unlock'the car and put themselves right back in the mix.

Do you think they can and in time? If Verstappen and Leclerc keep racking up the points, will Hamilton be capable of making up the difference. I am not sure Mercedes are close to working it out just yet. Getting better for sure but still seems a way off being competitive

 

[BiMGuy]

Do you think they can and in time? If Verstappen and Leclerc keep racking up the points, will Hamilton be capable of making up the difference. I am not sure Mercedes are close to working it out just yet. Getting better for sure but still seems a way off being competitive

Lewis has more points than Max as it stands.

 

[ColchesterFC]

Do you think they can and in time? If Verstappen and Leclerc keep racking up the points, will Hamilton be capable of making up the difference. I am not sure Mercedes are close to working it out just yet. Getting better for sure but still seems a way off being competitive

I'm not sure that Verstappen is "racking up the points" considering he's only 6th in the standings, has had two retirements and has both of the struggling Mercedes drivers ahead of him. But yes, the Merc is currently uncompetitive if the Red Bull can actually finish a race.

 

[BiMGuy]

I'm not sure that Verstappen is "racking up the points" considering he's only 6th in the standings, has had two retirements and has both of the struggling Mercedes drivers ahead of him. But yes, the Merc is currently uncompetitive if the Red Bull can actually finish a race.

View attachment 42198

What’s the saying. To finish first, first you have to finish.

 

[Blue in Munich]

I'm not sure that Verstappen is "racking up the points" considering he's only 6th in the standings, has had two retirements and has both of the struggling Mercedes drivers ahead of him. But yes, the Merc is currently uncompetitive if the Red Bull can actually finish a race.

View attachment 42198

I'm sure Homer is racking up the post count though.

 

[theoneandonly]

Do you think they can and in time? If Verstappen and Leclerc keep racking up the points, will Hamilton be capable of making up the difference. I am not sure Mercedes are close to working it out just yet. Getting better for sure but still seems a way off being competitive

Perhaps get up early and watch the race next year ?? or even any race for that matter .

 

[Deleted member 23270]

I'm sure Homer is racking up the post count though.

Clear leader in the forum post count rankings ?

 

[Foxholer]

Do you think they can and in time? If Verstappen and Leclerc keep racking up the points, will Hamilton be capable of making up the difference. I am not sure Mercedes are close to working it out just yet. Getting better for sure but still seems a way off being competitive

 

[Canary_Yellow]

Its certainly strange to see. You can't help but think sooner or later Merc will 'unlock'the car and put themselves right back in the mix. It cant help with the 1st 3 races being fly aways to get any serious wind tunnel work done or new parts designed and on the car

Personally, I don’t think merc will “unlock” the car. The issues are more than just the porpoising, the Ferrari also has that issue, and 1 second per lap is massive. Particularly as Ferrari will continue to develop too. I’d love it if merc could do something, just not convinced there is a magic fix and think it is more fundamental.

On your team orders point, i can’t see that coming into play. Verstappen (reliability aside) will out score perez- no team orders needed, Perez would have been behind every race so far and that won’t change. Same for leclerc vs sainz. Merc are miles off the pace so the drivers championship is likely irrelevant, in which case so are team orders as it matters not which driver is getting the points.

 

[bobmac]

The Mercedes engineers now have all the data from the first 3 races and I think with the drivers feedback, it's likely they will sort out their issues over the next race or two.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

The Mercedes engineers now have all the data from the first 3 races and I think with the drivers feedback, it's likely they will sort out their issues over the next race or two.

TBH, I doubt that the Merc engineers needed as many as 3 races to see where the problems are.
Perhaps this new chassis they are using reacts differently to how their previous low rake chassis did compared to RB and Ferrari and their high rake chassis of last year, and their use of it.

 

[cliveb]

TBH, I doubt that the Merc engineers needed as many as 3 races to see where the problems are.
Perhaps this new chassis they are using reacts differently to how their previous low rake chassis did compared to RB and Ferrari and their high rake chassis of last year, and their use of it.

It seems unlikely in the extreme that it's anything to do with the rake of the chassis.
Low v high rake was all to do with how to generate downforce from a flat bottom.
With ground effect now in use, that is history.

 

[Canary_Yellow]

The Mercedes engineers now have all the data from the first 3 races and I think with the drivers feedback, it's likely they will sort out their issues over the next race or two.

I hope you’re right, but that seems unlikely to me. They not just a little bit off the pace, they’re a long way off. I think it’s more fundamental than a tweak here or there, but I’d love to be wrong!

 

[Foxholer]

TBH, I doubt that the Merc engineers needed as many as 3 races to see where the problems are.
Perhaps this new chassis they are using reacts differently to how their previous low rake chassis did compared to RB and Ferrari and their high rake chassis of last year, and their use of it.

I'm pretty certain that they 'found the problem' in the first practice sessions. Designing, building, testing (and getting FIA approval for?) a solution - without simply chucking ground-force benefits away - is the challenge. And the limitations on Wind Tunnel time and overall budget may have implications too!