Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) F1, 2022

I thought a new F1 thread was a good idea.... 4 down and a lot to go!

Watching the Emilia Romagna GP after getting back from Brooklands confirmed that we have an interesting year ahead. The Mercedes is a bit of a dog, but if George, young pretender can get up to 4th what happened to Lewis? I think this year it is going to be a battle between Red Bull and Ferrari, with occasional interruptions by McLaren. Certainly worth watching the races.
Thoughts, peeps?

Yes the cat is among the pigeons in AMG. George doing a better job all weekend and in the season rankings as well.
George 49 points for the season so far to Lewis 28
Lewis throwing a right wobble off track. If this continues Toto will be happy about that one year contract so he can put more money into the car and development. Return of Bottas perhaps ?

Very sad for Leclerc, that was one he should have won given his great form.
You can never leave an inch for Red Bull or Max as they will always work it one way or another.
Same for Sainz, that should have been a weekend that cemented his place in the team.
Brilliant to see Norris, Russell and Bottas getting some points.

Red Bull came away with a serious stash of points.
1st in sprint
1st in main race
Fastest lap
2nd in main race
3rd in sprint

I was not expecting such a fun race.

p.s. I put it down to damaged retinas, have you seen his latest garb?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowb...sense-style-tie-dye-jacket-trousers.html
Looks like a group spasm at a paintball competition.

I notice he misses the chance to double up on the advertising by covering his bouncer!

Too bad for Sainz, he really couldn't help being pushed out. And Leclerc...maybe the pressure and the expectations of Ferrari and the Italian fans were too big so that such a stupid mistake happened, especially since his teammate was no longer a support after the accident.
Regarding Mercedes, what obviously has a negative impact on performance is the departure of Ben Hodgkinson to Red Bull, who also took other competent engineers with him. That doesn't really explain the difference between Hamilton and Russel, but it's a good example of how money alone doesn't make a good engine.

Lewis continues to talk the talk, but is stumbling when it comes to walking the walk...
Time to retire, Lewis.

I wonder about the porpoising in damp conditions. It really has to make the car more unstable.

As far as Lewis vs Russell, I think it's a head game. When things don't go right for Lewis it really effects him on the track.

As Murray Walker once said about Schummi - he would be dangerous in a pram in an F1 race - exactly the same applies to Lewis it would be very unwise to discount him, George is younger with everything to prove and possibly driving a wee bit closer to the absolute limit as he should be, it will be interesting later on in the season to see how it all pans out.

I felt really sorry for Ferrari in their home game but they'll be back fighting again.

I always felt George would come in and give Lewis a good run for his money, following his previous stand in for Lewis. Whilst all drivers are coming to grips with the new 2022 cars, George has come in to Mercedes with a reputation for being able to punch the Williams above its weight. I think he is therefore currently better able to cope with peddling a relatively uncompetitive car than Lewis, who has for the past few years has got used to driving F1 perfection. Hopefully Mercedes will get their car performing appropriately and give us some exciting racing.

An excerpt from the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung about the plight of Mercedes, so it could mean a lost year:

It's not just fourth or thirteenth place finishes like at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix that are giving the Mercedes drivers a hard time. Rather, it is real physical pain that torments George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.

"It's sometimes the case that the drivers need an osteopath to get everything back in order," reveals team boss Toto Wolff. As if to show solidarity himself, he adds after the latest disaster for the eight-time Constructors' World Champion: "I'll take the lashing for that."

"Not worthy of a world champion"

Already over pit radio, he immediately made amends to Lewis Hamilton: "Sorry, I know this car is undriveable." Later, he added to the general bewilderment at the relegation of the proud German-British factory racing team: "It's not worthy of a world champion."

Ferrari in the distance, Red Bull outdistanced, stuck in midfield. In the first appearance of the new generation of racing cars in Formula 1 on European soil, the Silver Arrows are still lagging behind. Above all, they are bouncing. The aerodynamic phenomenon known as "bouncing" or "porpoising" in technical jargon plagues almost all constructors; it is a consequence of the ground effect principle introduced this season.

But most other teams manage to minimize this ups and downs. Red Bull Racing turned a similar disaster into a double win within two weeks with a quick overhaul of its aerodynamics.

Mercedes faces a lost year

Of all things, the previous industry leader seems far removed from such technical miracles. Instead of the announced revenge for the loss of the drivers' title, the communication is now dominated by slogans of perseverance. At the company's headquarters in Brackley in central England, there are fears that the malaise could drag on until the end of the year.
In the worst case scenario, Mercedes could be facing a lost racing year, as Ferrari recently had to accept in order to regenerate. But no one is thinking of giving up yet; mental strength has always been part of Mercedes' dominance.

The car only works in the wind tunnel

In principle, the engineers can guess where the cause of the unbalanced W13 lies. Mercedes brings a car to the start that virtually dispenses with sidepods. Extremely slim equals extremely fast, that was the calculation for success. It's probably right, but only in the wind tunnel. The car doesn't bounce there either.

On the track, however, the aerodynamic trick seems to turn into the opposite. The car also has the narrowest underbody of all the race cars, and downforce is generated underneath the car. A disillusioned Lewis Hamilton admits: "When I was asked during testing what would happen if the concept didn't work, I flatly denied it: This team is not wrong. But now we have to accept that we might have been wrong."

Relative spring rates front to rear will give porpoising ... wouldn't be at all surprised to find spring tweaks being used to tame this in the short term with aero mods being the long term fix.

K

Perhaps they need to fit an SSL Suplex kit and some adjustable AVO shockers