[TheBingoBalls]

Originally Posted by M2CS

Merc should be kicking themselves for not having a decent car to start the season. With Redbull's and Ferrari's reliability woes, if Merc started with a good car they'd be sitting pretty in the championship.

Win some, lose some. You can't always win/be on top. Silver lining for Mercedes that they will get more wind tunnel time and CFD time than Red Bull and Ferrari assuming the order remains the same which is going to be critical if the porpoising is indeed fixed - Mercedes will have a slight advantage with aero tweaking.

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Update !

Well...The Mercedes 'flexible front wing is back !

You can watch the video on this page=> https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/11107...-mercedes.html

FIA ?

So they're back to that flexi wing lark, I saw HAM's f/wing elements vibrate like they were going to fall off in slo mo going over a kerb.

[F87source]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Well ...We'll see what the FIA can see

IMHO : Let us not close our eyes for it because the thing is flexing like crazy ...

Well it passes the load test every time so as per the regulations it is legal.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

So they're back to that flexi wing lark, I saw HAM's f/wing elements vibrate like they were going to fall off in slo mo going over a kerb.

Exactly ...

Check out the pics # 1 vs # 2

IMHO . The thing is moving at least 2 centimeters !

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by F87source

Well it passes the load test every time so as per the regulations it is legal.

As you know the topspeed advantage is huge with such an extreme flexing front wing .

If that is OK for the FIA . It won't take long before we can see it on the RB-18 and the Ferraris as well ...

[F87source]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

As you know the topspeed advantage is huge with such an extreme flexing front wing .

If that is OK for the FIA . It won't take long before we can see it on the RB-18 and the Ferraris as well ...

There isn't a huge top speed advantage with this, it drops some drag but not all of it...

It already is on the RB18 and F1-75...

[Killed by Death]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

As you know the topspeed advantage is huge with such an extreme flexing front wing .

If that is OK for the FIA . It won't take long before we can see it on the RB-18 and the Ferraris as well ...

I seem to remember all the hammys having a complete meltdown when RB had a flexi rear wing that passed all the load tests

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by Jiren

well he did do quite a bit of overtaking apart from dnf/pit stops/team orders. Also managed to deal with those pesky gusts of wind without taking an offroad trip down the gravel

During 'Free Practice 3' DRS malfunctioned on Hamilton's car too. Only once the issue got sorted out he managed to clock a competitive lap. If DRS had malfunctioned during the race, Hamilton could not have moved through traffic the way he did with DRS active. During the Emilia Romagna race he spent most of the race desperately trailing behind Gasly in a so-called 'DRS train'. He finished P14, upgraded to P13 after Ocon got a penalty.

DRS malfunction on Verstappen's car during the first half of the race undeniably impacted that part of his race in an adverse way: stuck behind Russell.

Bottas finished only 5.4 seconds behind Hamilton. Not bad for an Alfa Romeo on worn tires (fitted during lap 34/66).

[TheBingoBalls]

Originally Posted by Killed by Death

I seem to remember all the hammys having a complete meltdown when RB had a flexi rear wing that passed all the load tests

Did it? RBs wing flex was banned exactly last year at the Spanish GP. :

[NickyC]

Shocker of a result honestly, what a huge setback for Ferrari. They were obviously trying to put a good spin on things, but what a disaster for both Championships today especially with Monaco coming up (a traditionally poor race for Leclerc). Max and RB were due for a bit of luck after the first few races so things are evening out, but quite a bit of technical issues for the big teams so soon in the Championship.

Sainz has got to get it going though, he's really letting the team down.

Well done for Max of course. He overtook Leclerc in points much faster than I thought he would after the first few races!

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by TheBingoBalls

Did it? RBs wing flex was banned exactly last year at the Spanish GP. :

=> https://twitter.com/TimCoronel/statu...-mercedes.html

[TheBingoBalls]

Originally Posted by NickyC

Shocker of a result honestly, what a huge setback for Ferrari. They were obviously trying to put a good spin on things, but what a disaster for both Championships today especially with Monaco coming up (a traditionally poor race for Leclerc). Max and RB were due for a bit of luck after the first few races so things are evening out, but quite a bit of technical issues for the big teams so soon in the Championship.

Sainz has got to get it going though, he's really letting the team down.

Well done for Max of course. He overtook Leclerc in points much faster than I thought he would after the first few races!

I think the reality is no one should expect two number 1's on a team. Perez, Sainz, Bottas all show signs of being a number 1 (on another team) but not with Verstappen, Leclerc, Hamilton. One driver usually show more consistency which is why they're given #1 priority. Everyone complaining about Bottas/Hamilton now see it with Perez and Sainz. So the complaining of team orders is justified.

Perez and Sainz are only there to support Verstappen and Leclerc.

[NickyC]

Also, I've always admired Lewis for what he's been able to accomplish and the person he is outside the car, but his radio chatter asking if they should essentially shut it down for the day was pretty disappointing. Not just for the potential points he could be giving up, but also because people pay good money to see their heroes so he should want to put up the best performance he can for those folks who pay their hard earned money to come and see the race. I have to imagine it's demoralizing what has happened to him this year and certainly at the beginning of the race, but you have to fight on.

Pretty sweet how he finished however, just shows what a pro the guy is.

[Killed by Death]

Originally Posted by TheBingoBalls

Did it? RBs wing flex was banned exactly last year at the Spanish GP. :

Absolutely, the flex wing was only banned because the FIA changed the test MID-SEASON for hammy.

[Bubbles]

Track Limits King of the Day

Requirements

équation: a + b + c = Score


a. # of track violation warnings: 1 point per warning, 5 points for black and white flag (no more than 3 warnings can be issued).

b. 1 point for every tenth gained. No points for time lost.

c. 5 points if voted driver of the day.


Track Limits King of Catalunya is Lewis Hamilton.

Lewis received 3 track limit warnings and gained nearly 3.5 seconds of the race pace. No other driver gained as much time by violating track limits. He also received driver of the day.


Best performance since his master class performance in Bahrain ‘21.

Great recovery by the 7 WDC

[F87source]

Originally Posted by NickyC

Also, I've always admired Lewis for what he's been able to accomplish and the person he is outside the car, but his radio chatter asking if they should essentially shut it down for the day was pretty disappointing. Not just for the potential points he could be giving up, but also because people pay good money to see their heroes so he should want to put up the best performance he can for those folks who pay their hard earned money to come and see the race. I have to imagine it's demoralizing what has happened to him this year and certainly at the beginning of the race, but you have to fight on.

Pretty sweet how he finished however, just shows what a pro the guy is.

I guess he was used to the w13 being uncompetitive and wanted to preserve the engine.

Originally Posted by Killed by Death

Absolutely, the flex wing was only banned because the FIA changed the test MID-SEASON for hammy.

Just like how in 2020 they banned engine mode switching mid season to help redbull.

[M3WC]

Originally Posted by Artemis

During 'Free Practice 3' DRS malfunctioned on Hamilton's car too. Only once the issue got sorted out he managed to clock a competitive lap. If DRS had malfunctioned during the race, Hamilton could not have moved through traffic the way he did with DRS active. During the Emilia Romagna race he spent most of the race desperately trailing behind Gasly in a so-called 'DRS train'. He finished P14, upgraded to P13 after Ocon getting a penalty.

DRS malfunction on Verstappen's car during the first half undeniably impacted the first half of his race in an adverse way: stuck behind Russell.

Bottas finished only 5.4 seconds behind Hamilton. Not bad for an Alfa Romeo on worn tires (fitted during lap 34/66).

The guy is just trolling. He hates Max and is a butthurt Lewis fan. Today was going his way then his week ahead was ruined by Charles DNF. I’m no Max fan but you have to give to him, every race he has finished he has won.

[M3WC]

I see Lewis and Toto saying they could have won if he hadn’t had contact on first lap.

Is there data to back that up? Because Charles was driving off into distance in first 10 laps, Russell down over 9sec(0.9sec per lap down in race pace).

Seems like hopium from Toto/Lewis.

[TheBingoBalls]

Originally Posted by M3WC

I see Lewis and Toto saying they could have won if he hadn't had contact on first lap.

Is there data to back that up? Because Charles was driving off into distance in first 10 laps, Russell down over 9sec(0.9sec per lap down in race pace).

Seems like hopium from Toto/Lewis.

I think it's a very loose extrapolation given where HAM was and where he finished the race. It's just time-based math. Of course shoulda, coulda, woulda, but given the time he made up, it's not completely far fetched to believe that HAM could have challenged for at least a podium if not P1.

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by Bubbles

Track Limits King of Catalunya is Lewis Hamilton.
Lewis received 3 track limit warnings and gained nearly 3.5 seconds of the race pace. No other driver gained as much time by violating track limits. He also received driver of the day.

Replace all sections beyond the kerbs with gravel and drivers may be less tempted to gain an advantage with track limit violations.

[Killed by Death]

Spain in the AM...Redneck heaven in the PM

[TheBingoBalls]

Originally Posted by F87source

I guess he was used to the w13 being uncompetitive and wanted to preserve the engine.

Just like how in 2020 they banned engine mode switching mid season to help redbull.

I think that's why it was even more disappointing. If Mercedes was more competitive, I would understand the whole live-to-fight-another-day mind set but Mercedes literally has nothing to lose and everything to gain whether it's points or track/vehicle data. So what you blow up a PU, not like that's really going to set you back any further.