Winners & Losers
 

Winners

Vettel
Honda
The City of Baku


Losers

Pirelli
Petronas Mercedes Benz AMG
All top 3 in standings before Baku

Interesting Hamilton has made his 2nd opps/errors for the year.
I know that it is early, but makes me wonder if he is feeling the pressure...

Will be interesting to hear what happen to the tires...

Lots of pressure for Max, LH, Bottas and Checo but of all of them, Checo has the least to lose. Most think he is average. So they said about Button.

The F1 Genie of Racing launched many surprises so far this year. WE are NOT BORED LOL :)

Agreed! MB does not want their run to end. Their car is not the best overall in the sense that they can dominate at all tracks. As stated earlier they simply have the best team and are the best at overcoming obstacles and most the time when they lose it is self inflected. They learn and recover quickly! I have to say with all the buttons and knobs on the steering wheel I wonder how many times a driver does what Lewis did and we don't hear about it other than the driver saying I'm sorry on the radio lol.

I could not be happier for Vettel. He drove his a$$ off. He still has the stuff and will make AM a better team. Gasley continues to lemonade out of lemons after RB did him wrong or right sense he keeps putting that decision to demote him back in there face! Also can't be happier for Sergio! Good stuff this weekend but I'm not sure about the last two road courses as they are either accident prone or just lead follow races.

Looking forward to more drama lol!

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Always the tires -

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/86443...pressures.html

:facepalm:

Red Bull possibly played with tyre pressure, FIA never checks during races'

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/86512...ing-races.html

Saturday there were rumours that Red Bull Racing were to blame for the crash of Max Verstappen at the Baku City Circuit. The Austrian team would have played with the tyre pressures and that would have cost the Dutchman his head. The Italian branch of Motorsport.com confirms the rumours that tyre pressure can be manipulated.

Since the British Grand Prix in 2013, Pirelli has added a rule to the regulations that requires F1 teams to observe a minimum tire pressure at the start of the race. The level of tyre pressure is determined by Pirelli, depending on the circuit.

Before the start of the race on Sunday, the FIA will randomly check if the teams meet this requirement. The officials of the international motorsport federation are also allowed to visit the garages of the teams during the Grands Prix to check if the tyre pressures of the other available sets of tyres comply with the regulations.

Red Bull themselves at fault?
However, according to the aforementioned medium, the problem is that this check is currently carried out very rarely, so little in fact that there are those in the paddock who claim they have never experienced it. It could be a signal that teams are going below the minimum tire pressure in order to get more grip. It is possible that Red Bull Racing (with Verstappen) and Aston Martin (with Lance Stroll) have been fiddling with this and are to blame for the crashes.


Max Verstappen was very clear on Ziggo Sport after his DNF in Azerbaijan. He didn't have much faith in an investigation of Pirelli: "I already know the outcome. That's hard to accept. But it will have to do with 'debris' again." Pirelli and the FIA are expected to release the final investigation report within 48 hours.

DRAMA!!!

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On a street circuit like Monaco, or maybe (but less so with it's one eternally long straight) Baku, perhaps the idea has some merit. And especially on these types of courses, where teams have reason to expect a free pit stop due to safety car at some point, as lower inflation will lead to premature failure, guaranteed.

But now that we are back to proper race circuits, the FIA can check all the like but I doubt anyone would have monkied around with dropping pressures anyway. You might gain a fraction in the corners, but you'll lose out on straight line speed and that's where most of the passing opportunities are going to be. And you'll never make up the 25 seconds or so, for an extra stop to cover off premature degradation.

Agreed! Really doesn't make much since as it happened to two different teams and on the same tire or position with similar laps on the tire. Two is a pattern! RB had nothing to gain as they were fast and the same for AM. Both teams had nothing to gain by "cheating" in that fashion.

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https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/ty...eport/6570971/


Tyre pressures in the spotlight as F1 awaits Pirelli Baku report
By:
Jonathan Noble
Jun 15, 2021, 6:08 AM
Scrutiny over Formula 1 teams playing around with tyre pressures looks almost certain to increase in the wake of the failures that marred the Azerbaijan Grand Prix


While F1 is still waiting for an official answer from Pirelli and the FIA over the causes of the blowouts that put Lance Stroll and Max Verstappen out of the Baku race, the topic of tyre pressures and teams trying to get around the limits has become a talking point again.

F1 teams have long known that there is a pace advantage from running tyres at low pressures, so there has always been an incentive to try to find ways to keep the Psi down.

However, low pressures can put tyres under incredible structural strain as the construction deforms more under load, and too much of that can trigger problems.

Throw together a combination of the current high downforce, super heavy F1 cars with ultra low tyre pressures - plus potentially teams taking liberties - and that can be a recipe for trouble.

One way for Pirelli to head off the risk of such threats has been to increase the minimum starting pressures that teams have for the tyres, but teams don't like that because its means lost lap time.

Teams know that the best way to extract performance is to be bang on the limit when the tyre pressures are measured, and then be under it when the car is out on track and needing to perform.

The minimum starting pressure requirement was famously thrust in to the spotlight when Mercedes was investigated after its victory in the 2015 Italian Grand Prix when Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg's tyres were found to be under the 19.5PSi limit when they were measured before the start.


In the end the team was cleared, with the FIA satisfied the tyres had been at the correct pressure when first fitted to the cars, but the Psi had dropped as the tyres cooled on the grid.

What that brief controversy did highlight, however, was how much tyre pressures can move around from when tyres are first fitted to the cars to when they are actually running on track.

All the checks and procedures that have been in place since firm guidelines were laid down in 2015 have been about tyres when they are first fitted.

So the checks take place just before a car leaves the garage, or shortly before the start of the race on the grid.

That, of course, leaves an opportunity for teams that can reduce the pressure after such checks have taken place to potentially gain an advantage.

Plus, not every tyre can be checked when first fitted to the car, especially when it comes to those tyres put on during pitstops in the race.

One tactic used in the past was for teams to use excessive temperatures with their tyre blankets, so they would end up heating the air inside the tyre. The hot air would expand and increase the pressure for when the measurement was taken, prior to the tyre then being allowed to cool and the pressure dropping for when the tyre was needed.

This tactic prompted the FIA to step in and put in place a maximum tyre temperature allowance for the blankets to ensure teams weren't tricking the system this way.

But, F1 teams are immensely clever and it appears that, with clear performance on the table from being able to lower tyre pressures after the checks, they may have found other ways to get below the limits.

And the likelihood is that the whole grid is doing it, not just one or two of them, as F1 teams do not spend hundreds of millions of pounds a year to leave performance gains on the table.

As Hamilton remarked in the wake of the Monza 2015 controversy: "We run to the bare minimum, all the time it is above but as low as we can go. If it's 20, we'll be 20.1 or 20.001, whatever. It's what F1 is all about."
T

The difficulty in judging what teams are up to right now is that the teams are in charge themselves of all the data regarding their tyre pressures.

So, if they are getting around the regulations by getting the tyres under the minimum starting pressures, there is no way for the FIA and Pirelli to have reliable independent data to verify it.

There is also nothing in the regulations stopping them doing it, as the current rules only stipulate the minimum starting pressures, not minimum running pressures.

Interestingly, for 2022, F1 is introducing mandatory standard tyre pressure and temperature monitoring devices that will give the FIA and Pirelli the exact insight they need to better judge the situations.

In a recent amendment to the 2022 technical regulations, Article 10.7.3 states: "All cars must be fitted with tyre pressure and temperature monitoring sensors which have been manufactured by an FIA designated supplier to a specification determined by the FIA.

"Wheel rims and tyre pressure and temperature sensors should be marked according to the corner colouring and labelling scheme defined in the Appendix to the Technical and Sporting Regulations."

While such a move should bring some clarity to what teams are doing, in the short term it is unclear what the response will be.

Next month, F1 is returning to the British Grand Prix, with the high-speed Silverstone swoops known to be one of the most punishing tracks of the year for Pirelli tyres.

A repeat of last year's British GP dramas, where a number of tyres failed in the closing stages, will be something that Pirelli will want to avoid.

So one option may well be for Pirelli to have to play things safe and increase the minimum starting pressures far beyond what is ideal, knowing full well that teams will likely try to work their way around it.

Alternatively, the events of Baku may well be enough for the FIA to increase its checking of what teams are up to on grand prix weekends – with a greater scrutiny on all the tyre sets being used.

Because nobody was smart enough to figure this out before Baku??? ReallY???
C'mon, when I run open lapping at half these speeds, I get tremendous variations in pressure. Seems that this would be pretty obvious to anyone in the sport or even a casual observer.

Given that almost every Toyota can give TPMS data showing real time pressure AND temperature at each corner, is it reasonable to assume that teams are not tracking this data? So why not say that the minimum pressure is "X" PSI / BAR at Y Degrees C? Unless it leaks out under extreme heat and pressure, it is going to return to that pressure whenever the air is that temperature. And for a group that prides itself on engineering, it isn't likely too big of a stretch to figure out what the pressure curve on these tires (likely varies by compound) would be at any given temperature. Wheel size and tires are all regulated, and tire construction is known.

Sounds like a load of horse pucks to me!

This one of those things that happen in all sports. Teams will take chances on the fringes to gain an advantage and there consequences to doing so and if everyone is doing it is it really a problem? Both RB and AM suffered their fate if they indeed ran low tire pressures. The only real issue is safety of the driver and that is on the team and the driver. It is a lot to do about nothing if everyone as they say is doing it!

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Small old wheels. No sensors and CPU. Save weight. They, the teams probably fought to NOT have this installed. The FIA gave up until the new regs and cars in 2022.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/th...p-out/6574262/

The F1 tyre tricks that the new clampdown will stamp out
By: Jonathan Noble
Jun 16, 2021, 6:51 AM
Pirelli’s carefully worded statement on Baku’s Formula 1 tyre failures may not have explicitly blamed teams, but the strength of the FIA’s response tells us all we need to know.

For while Pirelli only went as far as talking about generic ‘running conditions’ triggering the blowouts for Red Bull and Aston Martin, the swift move from the FIA to impose a raft of new measures is a clear indication of the areas it suspects teams could be operating in.

In the lengthy updated FIA Technical Directive that was issued to teams on Tuesday, in response to what happened in Baku, it is obvious that tyre pressures are at the centre of this most recent storm.

Sure there are no suggestions Red Bull nor Aston Martin had been doing anything illegal, but the manner of what is changing from this weekend’s French Grand Prix offers us clues about what may have been going on.

Red Bull may have been correct in stating that it has followed the rules and Pirelli’s guidance to the letter, but part of the problem is way that the current situation those parameters are judged left some grey areas.

With the only requirement being for a limit on tyre temperatures in the blankets, and starting pressures when tyres are still fitted, that still left room for teams to do things once those checks had taken place.

If a team could drop pressures below the recommendation by the time the car left the pits, and then managed to find a way of them not rising too much out on track as the tyres warmed up, it could fully comply with the rules and yet not be at a pressure level where Pirelli would normally expect them to be.

So in looking at what the FIA is bringing in for the French GP, and new limits for teams, we can perhaps get some clues about what tricks may have been used for performance gains.

And irrespective of what teams may or may not be doing, the new cold pressure checks on tyres after they have been removed from cars should clampdown on anyone trying to get around the system by running lower than Pirelli intended.

Here then we look at four theories on what teams could have been doing that will no longer be allowed.



Removing the blankets early

The most obvious way for teams to play around with tyre pressures is with temperature – for if the air in the tyre is heated up, then it will expand to increase the pressure to pass the pre-running checks.

Then, if it is left to cool, the air will contract and the tyre pressure drop down to a level that is better for car performance.

Many years ago, the FIA moved to stop teams doing this through dramatically heating up their tyres, which is why there is now a limit on how hot the tyres can be heated in the blankets.

However, that has not stopped some teams still trying to take things to the limit in terms of heating the tyres – and then cooling them as much as they can prior to the cars running.

One way to do this would be to remove tyre blankets from cars in the garage well before they intend to go out on track.

This is something that Lewis Hamilton highlighted in Monaco when he told Sky F1 that Red Bull had done this in Spain.

“If you look at the last race (in Spain), for example, we were supposed to all keep our (tyre) blankets on in qualifying,” he said.

“Red Bull were allowed to take theirs off, and no-one else is allowed to. So I think we just need to make sure it’s consistent for everyone.”

From the French GP, such activity will no longer be permitted with teams told that the removal of blankets prior to the cars getting ready to leave the garage will be interpreted as them trying to cool tyres.

The FIA TD states: “The removal of any blankets when the tyres are not yet fitted on the car, their untimely removal with the tyres fitted on the car, or delaying the release of a car from the garage for no valid reason with the tyre blankets removed will be considered as a way to cool the tyres.

“Teams will need to justify a valid reason for any delayed release of over 30 seconds, or frequent delayed release.”



Using leeway
While teams have always had to use tyre pressure gauges calibrated by Pirelli and sealed by the FIA, that in theory has not stopped them making use of any leeway in the readings to push the tyre pressure margins.

Small variances can creep in to the system when checks are made, and previously teams knew that if there was any ‘small discrepancy’ with a set of tyres they would be allowed to inflate them – so there was nothing to lose by pushing the limits.

Now though the FIA is getting tougher and will not allow any additional tolerances that result in the tyres being outside the prescriptions.

“It is the teams' responsibility to add any additional margin to operate tyres within the prescription limits,” it said.

Now any team found to be outside the limits will still be asked to inflate the tyres more, but cases of large and/or systematic discrepancies will be reported to the stewards.


Overheating the blankets
The teams’ abilities to use temperatures to control the pressures means that tyre blankets are an obvious way of managing the situation.

The FIA TD also restricts teams using the blankets for too long – or playing innocent over a blanket control reading that gives a lower temperature than the tyre is at.

From France, teams will no longer be allowed to heat the tyres for a lengthy period of time. They can now only be heated when they are intended to be used in the following session.

Furthermore, teams will not be allowed to keep their tyre blankets running overnight and above temperature, so that when tyres are fitted in the morning they are already roasting away better than teams who have just switched theirs on.

The FIA says tyre blankets must now be physically disconnected except for a period allowed by Pirelli.

Further, they must ‘make sure temperature displays of all control boxes in use are switched on and easily visible.”



Using special gases
Another way for tyre pressure to be changed is through the use of special gases or their moisture content as they are inflated.

This could potentially change the way that temperature affects the expansion of the air inside the tyre. Now, such behaviour will no longer be allowed.

The FIA noted said that: “Any modification to the inflation gas composition or moisture content aimed at reducing on-circuit pressures is not permitted.

“This includes increasing as well as reducing inflation gas moisture content, and the addition of any solid, liquid or gas not permitted for this use in the Technical Regulations.”

The FIA also reminded teams that they must follow Article 12.5.1 of the technical regulations at all times which states that: “any modification or treatment such as cutting, grooving, the application of solvents or softeners is prohibited.”

https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12...at-paul-ricard

SKY F1 preview

Get Rid of the Tire Warmers. Problem Solved for all teams. :tup:

Agreed!

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Today was basically....uhh, dang Mercedes

Credit to RB. though. Both drivers looking good.

Pretty much knew what the top of the grid would like like at the end (though great dramas during final laps), but greatly disappointed in Charlie’s race today. Did not think he would be out of the points, let alone in 17th. Tsk tsk.

Ferrari stop all development on their 2021 car

Date published: June 19 2021


All eyes have turned to 2022 at Ferrari, with the Scuderia confirming they are no longer developing their 2021 challenger – the SF21.

The SF21 has represented progress at the Prancing Horse as they have emerged from the boggy bottom of the midfield battle in 2020 and propelled themselves into a fight for P3 in the Constructors’ standing with McLaren.

But, if they are to see off their age-old rivals for the top spot behind Red Bull and Mercedes in 2021, they will be doing it with pretty much the same car now throughout the rest of the campaign.

With a regulation reset on the way in 2022, Ferrari want to have as much time and resources possible working on their new car for next season.


“From a car development point of view, we have already made our decisions,” Mekies said via Formula1.com.

“It is all on 2022, and there will be no real upgrade coming to improve these weaknesses [on the SF21].

“However you can always work on the issues by simply understanding them better, and if you understand them better, either because you correlate them better or you simply understand what are the reasons for which we are performing a bit less in those conditions, it can open the door to solutions that you can already apply.”

https://www.planetf1.com/news/ferrar...1-development/

I think even MB and RB are doing the same thing but less conspicuous than Ferrari. MB put it out there early after the rule changes that they would not be as competitive because it didn't make sense to put more effort into a car for one year when major rule changes are coming in 2022. The closeness of the battle at the top will dictate which team blinks first on the we are done trying to make their car better for the rest of the 2021 season.

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Why the FIA rejected calls to ditch Paul Ricard sausage kerbs
By: Jonathan Noble
Jun 22, 2021, 8:51 AM
Formula 1's new feature of offering snapshots of radio messages between teams on the pitwall and race control has been a fascinating addition for fans.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/wh...kerbs/6596579/

Toto Wolff's complaint about Nikita Mazepin in Spain, and Red Bull team manager Jonathan Wheatley's call to red flag the race in Baku, delivered the type of behind-the-scenes team emotion that has previously been hidden.

But the insight hit a new peak during Friday practice at the French Grand Prix when both Mercedes and Red Bull urged F1 race director Michael Masi to change sausage kerbs that were in place at the exit of Turn 2.


That was because a number of drivers had crunched across them over the course of the day, and the damage to front wings and other carbon fibre bits was ramping up.

First to complain was Mercedes sporting director Ron Meadows, who pointed out the excessive financial penalty his team was facing because of the kerbs.

"Those yellow rumble strips on the exit of two have done an awful lot of damage to our car," he messaged to Masi. "They're just too aggressive."

Masi was quick to reply.: "They are the 50mm ones that we normally have in a lot of places Ron."

Meadows then responded: "All I'm telling you is our car is rooted because we went over them and we can't say 'Well, you shouldn't go there' because that's tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage by going three-foot too wide."

Without a moment's hesitation, Masi came back: "It's a bit more than three foot but I'll have a look. Thank you."

In the afternoon session, it was Red Bull's Wheatley who took to the radio to ask for a rethink about the kerbs after Verstappen had run wide at one point – losing some of his front wing that the team wanted back.

"It's been interesting watching the cars going through turn two and thinking about those yellow kerbs on the exit there," said Wheatley.

"We've just done a shed-load of damage to our car and I'm pretty sure Max didn't end up there on purpose. It just seems to be such a huge penalty for a minor indiscretion on the drivers' part. I was wondering whether you would consider, I don't know, removing half of them."

Masi swiftly replied that the kerbs were not a new addition and had been there in 2019 without any complaints.

Wheatley added: "We know that these cars use different areas and, if you look now on these long runs, they're not going anywhere near them. As I say, it just seems the penalty for going wide, which could be a timing loop, is about £100,000."

But Masi bought the conversation to a close with: "I think I've heard a number of team principals and drivers ask for physical limits Jonathan as well….I'll have a look at it all this evening."

Masi's reply was almost certainly in direct reference to comments from a number of senior figures, including Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko, demanding that early season track limits controversies could have avoided by the addition of walls or gravel traps.

But, true to his word to the teams, Masi did go down and inspect the kerbs on Friday night to see if there was any need to remove them.

In the end, he elected not to take them away. And sure enough, the lessons learned from the car damage on Friday meant that drivers steered well clear of them for the rest of the weekend.

Reflecting on why he took the decision to keep them, Masi said that the fact the kerbs were well outside track limits, plus a recent push for more physical deterrents, were key to his call.

"There are probably a number of elements there," explained Masi.

"One was those kerbs were in place last time we were here in 2019. And secondly, they were over two metres from the edge of the track, so you had to be completely off the track to actually come in contact with them.

"But they were reviewed on Friday night following the discussion at the drivers' meeting. I went and physically went to look at them at Turn 2, as much to satisfy myself that everything was correct.

"But more importantly, as we've heard on a number of occasions, particularly this year, they want physical limits and that is very clearly a physical limit.

"Having come off two street circuits at Baku and Monaco, it is quite clear there are physical limits there and it was the same in this circumstance. And, to be fair, during the race there were no issues at all."

F1 has almost certainly not had its final controversy over track limits, but Masi standing firm on the Paul Ricard kerbs shows he's willing to commit to what he feels is best even if not all teams like it.

F1 has let the teams get away with murder when it comes to track limits and even time penalties don't often matter to the top runners. As in training animals or arresting criminals that are resisting arrest, pain compliance is the rule. If you want the pain to go away simply do as I say!

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Happy Qualy Day! Austria!

https://cricfree.live/watchfeeds/index/147

If you need a link to watch. RACE DAY! :)

That had to be one of the most boring races I have watched. :facepalm:

My boy Leclerc drove like a man during the later stretch of the race.

Fully agree. No action or drama the Austrian version of Spain GP. BORING.

Also Mercedes announce today they will develop no further and work on next years machine. So game and match to RedBull. Boring. Really now in review Redbull are dominating. They gave Bahrain away. So 6 of 8 races it should be for RedBull.

Wolff: Title race isn’t over despite end to Mercedes development
By:
Luke Smith
Jun 27, 2021, 12:43 PM
Toto Wolff believes the Formula 1 title race is “far from over” despite Mercedes’ decision to stop developing its 2021 car as it sticks to its resource plan for 2022.

"Excitement" once again becomes collateral damage to FIA rules...

Bernie was right - F1 needs intermittent lawn sprinklers at random corners in each race. DO IT!!!

Now this is what Mercedes say on future updates --

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/me...hopes/6621736/

Mercedes still planning car and engine upgrades to boost F1 hopes
By:
Jonathan Noble
Jun 29, 2021, 7:10 AM
Mercedes has revealed it is planning to bring aerodynamic and engine improvements for the next races that it hopes can help it close the gap to Formula 1 rival Red Bull.

While team boss Toto Wolff said after its defeat in last weekend’s Styrian Grand Prix that the outfit’s development focus was fully on 2022’s rules, it has clarified that it does not mean that developments to the current W12 have stopped completely.

Technical director James Allison has revealed that Mercedes still has upgrades that have been under development for some time, plus the German manufacturer’s engine division is also looking at what tweaks it can make to power unit management to help there too.

Speaking to the F1 Nation Podcast, Allison said: “We have a reasonable number of things that are going to make our car faster in the coming races, and let's hope they prove sufficient.”

Asked how his remarks contrasted with Wolff’s comments regarding there being no further upgrades to the current car, Allison said: “I don't think those two things are at odds with each other. And I don’t think Toto has said precisely that.

“What Toto points out is that next year's rules are a big and hairy affair, and that they demand a huge amount of our attention. So most of the focus of our factory has switched over to next year, the performance discovery for next year.

“But that doesn't mean that there aren't things still in the food-chain from prior to that focus switch. And furthermore, it isn't all of the factory. And furthermore, we're only one of two factories, there's also the PU factory and there is a little bit more to come also from the PU.

“So there's some more aerodynamic change in the offing. A little bit on the PU, we hope, on the delivery side, and just a few things that are not quite as tidy as we would wish, that we still have got the opportunity to put right while this season is still very much alive and hot.”

Allison added that Mercedes’ challenge in finding performance gains with its current car had been made more difficult by the new floor rules for this year, which had cut back on downforce.

“Ever since the rule changes that were introduced aerodynamically for looking after the tyres, we have found it hellishly hard to find the sort of performance gain rate that we did previously prior to those rules," he explained. "So that has made our life trickier than we wished it to be.”

Allison also revealed that the 'wacky' set-up which trackside engineering chief Andrew Shovlin talked about after Styria was related to a mechanical aspect aimed at making the car performance better over both single lap and long runs.

“It was probably just sort of a bit of a colourful expression on Shov's part,” he said about it being 'wacky'. “It is a little different to how we normally run a car, mechanically. Aerodynamically it was very similar, ride height wise very similar.

“But [it was] just changing the roll distribution front to rear. That was different to how we normally would do it, seeking a better balance between single lap performance and long run performance.

“Whether we have got that compromise exactly as we would wish it, that sort of goes towards the list of unanswered questions that we're going to have an opportunity to answer by going back to the same track a second weekend running.”

He added: “We think it's quicker, but it's not without its compromises. So whether there is a better mousetrap, we'll find out.”

It's strategic for Mercedes to keep Red Bull off the top step as often as possible this year, and especially Max. Has nothing to do with Lewis' whining, although Hamilton will have the most to benefit from any 2021 investment on behalf of MB.

If Verstappen has the ejection seat clause in his contract as was rumoured last year, then Red Bull needs to keep investing to give him a competitive car, or risk losing him. It does not matter how good the 2022 car is (and frankly, given the tire windows we've seen in the current development and the fact that so much is changing next year, everything in 2022 is a crap shoot), it is useless without Max in the driver's seat. So RBR and MB both recognize that 2021 is critical to Red Bull's retention of the Dutch driver. Horner will try as hard to keep him, as Wolfe will to get him to leave.

Oh, and it is no surprise that there will be an empty seat at Mercedes after this year. Toto seems in no rush to promise that place to the heir apparent, Russell. So, watch this space!!!

AGREED!!!!!!

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https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/me...-wing/6623182/

Mercedes explains why it won't ditch 'barn door' rear wing
By: Jonathan Noble
Jul 1, 2021, 5:02 AM
Mercedes says that ditching its 'barn door' rear wing in favour of a low-drag solution like Red Bull to boost straightline speed would not improve its chances of winning in Formula 1.

The German car manufacturer has seen Red Bull win the last four F1 races, with one of its rival's key advantages being the edge it has on the straights.

Red Bull's supremacy there has been helped most recently by it opting for a lower downforce, low-drag rear wing solution, in contrast to Mercedes preferring to run with a bigger rear wing.

Speaking after the Styrian Grand Prix, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner was clear about the role the different rear wing choices played in the characteristics of both cars.

"They [Mercedes] have got a barn door on the back of their car for this race and we had a pretty skinny rear wing," said Horner. "So you don't need to be a rocket scientist to work out why we tend to be a bit quicker on the straights."

But while Mercedes does have lower-drag wings as an option, the team is clear that going down that route would actually end up making it slower.

The team's motorsport strategy director James Vowles said the team has consistently analysed what is the best wing solution to use, and feels its current downforce levels are correct.

"You could, of course, have less rear wing and go faster on the straight line but you would be sacrificing cornering performance and not just that," he explained in the regular post-race video produced by Mercedes.

"That also comes with effects on degradation. Conversely less rear wing allows you perhaps to overtake a little bit more, but there is a balance.


"We use simulation tools to run through all of the rear wing settings that we have available to us and come up with an optimum of what we should be running at this track.

"What we should be running for both overtaking, qualifying and race and in our case, it comes out with the rear wing setting that you see."

One suggestion about why Red Bull is better able to run with a lower-drag rear wing is that more of its downforce is produced by its floor and diffuser than the Mercedes, thanks to its high rake car concept.

It means that trimming off the rear wing does not cost it as much downforce as it would Mercedes, which has a low rake design.

Vowles admitted that the differences in rake meant it was hard to perfectly judge just what impact rear wing choices were having on car drag.

"Red Bull's [wing] is slightly less than ours, but they also rear ride height that is much higher, so it is very difficult to compare what drag their car is generating relative to ours," he explained.

"What we know is that with our car, and we have swept through, this where we are running on rear wing is optimal for laptime and ultimately that is what both qualifying and really the race is all about."

So....I booked it and will be at the USGP at COTA in October.

Nice :tup: I'll have to catch up with you there, Raf. I'm hoping I can make it. Depending on my work schedule.

Jar, Let's connect if we can. I'm buying.

I guess Ham/MB will be playing the long game with that contract extension. They're not out of this championship at all, but I could see that they'll live with whatever outcome for the season.

Lando put in some hard racing.
My boy LeClerc got done a bit dirty, but Checo was doing some racing as well.


Was debating USGP as well. Might go depending on if I got some other people I know going.

Hey I want to join! I love free food!

Press response -
F1 Austrian GP: Verstappen breezes to victory over Bottas and Norris

So much for competition. If Mercedes upgrade in 2 weeks in GP Britain does not work, game over. Almost over now.