87 replies to this topic

[Marklar]

Mazepin has gone off

Pretends to be shocked

Edited by Marklar, 15 May 2019 - 11:09.

[Requiem84]

Mazepin has gone off

Good, shows even the best car needs a proper driver.

[CPR]

Day 2 - standings at lunch time:

[SenorSjon]

Mazepin has gone off

 

 

So that is the first scratch on a Merc this season... First blood is drawn.   

[IceSpeed]

So that is the first scratch on a Merc this season... First blood is drawn.   

 

I think Bottas Spun in FP3? (sorry to spoil it for you )

[SenorSjon]

Didn't see FP3.

[SonGoku]

I guess the money is worth it for Merc, otherwise I don't know why you would let drive a clown your car where any moment he can write off a whole chassis in a blink of an eye...

[JeePee]

Toto Wolff: "We spent some time in the gravel and lost valuable time, and Red Bull and Ferrari did not. So we are definitely, definitely not the favorites for the race win next weekend. Will be very close. Very exiting"

 

/s

Edited by JeePee, 15 May 2019 - 13:23.

[Piif]

Mazepin was what, 4 secs slower than Bottas?

[Piif]

will lol if Latiffi is faster than Kubica.

 

He was 0.3 secs faster today than Kubica in qualifying. 

[Pimpwerx]

Is Mazepin the top Mercedes rookie at this moment? I question anyone who bins a car of that quality, while being criminally slow in it.

[Marklar]

Is Mazepin the top Mercedes rookie at this moment? I question anyone who bins a car of that quality, while being criminally slow in it.

Mercedes has no rookie driver rn (Ocon/Russell dont qualify) and Mazepin's dad brought a super expensive testing program with the 2017 car for his son, so it was convenient to put him in. Gives them some extra cash too.

Tells you how much teams rate in-season testing.

[Berner]

Fuoco to Alfa? Hmmm.....

[Heyli]

Day 2 - standings at lunch time:

82 laps

[Marklar]

Mazepin quicker than Hamilton confirmed

[IceSpeed]

Mazepin quicker than Hamilton confirmed

Wow! How did he manage that time. That will definitely be a talking point for a while I suspect... he hasn’t driven the merc before correct? If so then that’s impressive ie he was able to get upto speed that quickly.

[Ivanhoe]

Mazepin into the 1:15’s. This is getting scary, did Merc introduce some upgrades?

On a side note: are teams allowed to test new spec engines?

Edited by Ivanhoe, 15 May 2019 - 16:42.

[rdebourbon]

Wow! How did he manage that time. That will definitely be a talking point for a while I suspect... he hasn’t driven the merc before correct? If so then that’s impressive ie he was able to get upto speed that quickly.

Or maybe HAM hasn't pushed to his ultimate limit.. For all we know Merc have only been going at 90% to dangle a carrot of hope for the media..

[Starish]

Wow! How did he manage that time. That will definitely be a talking point for a while I suspect... he hasn’t driven the merc before correct? If so then that’s impressive ie he was able to get upto speed that quickly.

Its on C5 tyres, Q3 they were on C3. 

[Heyli]

Mazepin into the 1:15’s. This is getting scary, did Merc introduce some upgrades?

On a side note: are teams allowed to test new spec engines?

We didnt have the C5 at spain last weekend though, right?

[Ivanhoe]

Nope, C3. Still Bottas did a 1:15.5 yesterday on C5.

[Marklar]

Wow! How did he manage that time. That will definitely be a talking point for a while I suspect... he hasn’t driven the merc before correct? If so then that’s impressive ie he was able to get upto speed that quickly.

Has been testing all year the 2017 car + C5 tyres.

Also you are allowed to run cars illegally in testing. Many teams are for example using traction control for drivers who are testing the first time in order to minimize the risk.

Mazepin into the 1:15’s. This is getting scary, did Merc introduce some upgrades?

On a side note: are teams allowed to test new spec engines?

Yes (chassis and PU)

And yes, they are

[GrumpyYoungMan]

Or maybe HAM hasn't pushed to his ultimate limit.. For all we know Merc have only been going at 90% to dangle a carrot of hope for the media..

or less...

[statman]

Laps today (excl. Pirelli cars):

 

Mercedes (Mazepin): 128

Ferrari (Fuoco): 120

Toro Rosso (Albon): 110

Alfa (Raikkonen): 110

Haas (Magnussen): 106

Williams (Latifi): 88

Racing Point (Yelloly): 83

Red Bull (Ticktum): 79

Renault (Aitken): 75

McLaren (Turvey/Sette Camara): 71

 

 

Total laps in testing (excl. Pirelli cars):

 

Mercedes: 259

Ferrari: 251

Toro Rosso: 231

Williams: 221

Haas: 204

Racing Point: 194

Red Bull: 187

McLaren: 179

Alfa: 151

Renault: 143

[Ivanhoe]

Mercedes wants to top every list this season...

[Ramses1348]

Mazepin into the 1:15’s. This is getting scary, did Merc introduce some upgrades?

On a side note: are teams allowed to test new spec engines?

Goes to show how good that car is, and puts into respective the job that Bottas is doing -> even my grandma would be quick in that car, and when Hamilton is not 100% focussed you can event get poles / wins, but when he eventually wakes up though you’re left into the distance. Has been the same pattern for years now...

Edited by Ramses1348, 15 May 2019 - 17:02.

[Marklar]

And as tradition, this forum will look only at the leaderboard and start claiming who's 'better' based on non-relevant data.

There you go

[IceSpeed]

With regards to times we have a benchmark ie preseason testing and Barcelona pole. Yes C3 vs C5 but softer tires will lose performance over the run so wouldn’t have expected C5’s to hold up all the way through full steam (but could be wrong).

Also didn’t know he was testing the 2017 spec all year. Where are they allowed to test? I thought you were limited to testing Or is that only on the 2019?

Edited by IceSpeed, 15 May 2019 - 17:21.

[statman]

Mazepin into the 1:15’s. This is getting scary, did Merc introduce some upgrades?

On a side note: are teams allowed to test new spec engines?

 

Red Bull Motorsport consultant Helmut Marko says that the performance of Formula 2 driver Nikita Mazepin during the Barcelona test after the Spanish Grand Prix has provided even more evidence that the Mercedes W10 is much better than all other cars on the grid .

 

"That a second-class Formula 2 driver in the Mercedes can go fast shows how superior this car is. Superior than ever," Marko explained. Auto Bild.

 

Mazepin, whose career is financially supported by his father Dmitry, was used by Mercedes as part of the private test he will perform in an older Mercedes in 2019. The program has similarities with the 'training program' that Lance Stroll had in 2016 when he had exclusive preparation for a day in a Williams from 2014. Mazepin will take 12 days behind the wheel of a 2017 W08 this year.

 

[noikeee]

Not the nicest thing Marko ever said but it seems true. I have started to wonder if Mercedes are playing with us all and keeping performance in hand even within race weekends, it's a bit of a conspiracy theory so whisper it very quietly, but then you see laps like that and... looks suspicious.

[Requiem84]

Does anyone understand why they are so fast?

It’s def not the engine.

Is it just very very good aero, or do they have a trick?

[Marklar]

Does anyone understand why they are so fast?

It’s def not the engine.

Is it just very very good aero, or do they have a trick?

 

There were several times whispers about a system that replicates rear steering and they apparently figured it out properly in Baku, but it was also stated that it doesnt have that much impact on the overall time.

Potentially they just backed the right horse concept-wise, while the others didnt. And they get the tyres to work.

Probably all and all just a very good package that works particulary well in slow corners. The races after Monaco will be interesting, since straight line speed will matter more in those. Maybe the limitation of this car will show up in those like it did in Bahrain, maybe not....

Last year Melbourne and Barcelona were their clearly best tracks until october as well (on a lower level though). Would be good if the same happens again....

[Requiem84]

Thanks, hope the same obviously.

Do they still have the longer wheelbase? Perhaps they rear wheel steering ‘thingy’ allows them to benefit from the strength of the long floor, while not suffering from slow corner issues..

It’s remarkable though, makes me feel idd that it’s not only aero.

RB by the way have a similar aero concept, so they should at least be able to get close.

[Astandahl]

Does anyone understand why they are so fast?

It’s def not the engine.

Is it just very very good aero, or do they have a trick?

They have more downforce.

Edited by Astandahl, 18 May 2019 - 13:40.

[Marklar]

Not the nicest thing Marko ever said but it seems true. I have started to wonder if Mercedes are playing with us all and keeping performance in hand even within race weekends, it's a bit of a conspiracy theory so whisper it very quietly, but then you see laps like that and... looks suspicious.

It isnt really shocking me because for various reasons rookies often drive quicker than you would expect them in testing (whether it's because of softer tyres, better track conditions, upgrades, driving aids, underweight etc., many variables here) and while Mazepin is middle class he isnt exactly a Raghunathan either. What shocks me much more is that Mercedes allowed this to happen, the reaction was obviously going to happen, but maybe they just dont want to hide it anymore   

 

 

Thanks, hope the same obviously.

Do they still have the longer wheelbase? Perhaps they rear wheel steering ‘thingy’ allows them to benefit from the strength of the long floor, while not suffering from slow corner issues..

It’s remarkable though, makes me feel idd that it’s not only aero.

RB by the way have a similar aero concept, so they should at least be able to get close.

They still have a longer wheelbase than anyone else, but other teams are now closer to them in this regard at least.

It seems like generating as much downforce as possible is the way to go and that's easier to achieve with a longer car....

[MikeV1987]

There were several times whispers about a system that replicates rear steering and they apparently figured it out properly in Baku, but it was also stated that it doesnt have that much impact on the overall time.

 

 

Considering how good they were through the last sector in Spain, I am pretty skeptical about this part.

[Requiem84]

How does the supposed rw steering work? Where can I read up on this?

[MikeV1987]

How does the supposed rw steering work? Where can I read up on this?

 

Motorsport Italy talked about it last year, other than that I don't think there is much info on it. Some kind of wizardry with the suspension, brake by wire, differential and engine functions.

 

https://it.motorspor...eriori/3186153/

 

tried linking the translated version but it's not working.

Edited by MikeV1987, 18 May 2019 - 14:11.