There are reports today in the British Formula One media that new Mercedes W14 may not be as fast as Lewis Hamilton and his fans hope when the car hits the track in Sakhir next Friday. This website exclusively reports on an even bigger disaster facing the Brackley squad as inherent car problems strike the ailing former Formula 1 superpower.
“There will be a temptation for Toto Wolff and his Mercedes strategists to sandbag as much as possible when their new all-black W14 car takes to the track in the middle of the Bahrain desert.”
Mercedes sandbagging?
The Express continues to explain, “sandbagging has little to do with the granular substance and everything to do with the power of mind games in F1.”
Clearly the writer wishes to convey the message that if Mercedes are not very quick at the Bahrain test, its because they are trying to lure Red Bull Racing into a false sense of security.
Yet given the complexity of the modern cars the idea that Formula One teams try to hide their performance and even components from their competitors in testing seems ludicrous.
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Porpoising returns to W14
Of course Mercedes turned up to the second pre-season test with the all new ‘zero-pod’ design, but they weren’t hiding it at the first outing a week earlier, it just wasn’t ready.
At the same test last year, Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly set the fastest time on day one, though the team went on to have one of their worse seasons for some time.
The F1 press was sure Mercedes were sandbagging in Bahrain last year when they repeatedly claimed they were suffering from significant porpoising and recorded times in the nether regions of the top 10.
But they weren’t sandbagging. The W13 was a disaster and the ‘worst car’ he’d ever driven claimed Lewis Hamilton.
If Mercedes are indeed slow in Bahrain next weekend it will be because of worrying issues found with the new W14 discovered when testing/filming at Silverstone following their car launch.
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Exclusive: Mercedes suspension failure & tub flex
TJ13 sources have revealed the team are hurriedly manufacturing metallic suspension arms after faults were found with the carbon bones they originally designed and fitted.
The fault is so significant a wrap fix often used when cracks appear in carbon bodywork is considered too big a risk.
Further, despite having passed the FIA crash test, the carbon tub was found to be flexing much more than the desirable amount the team intended.
This will make it more difficult to control the suspension set up and could induce further porpoising for the W14.
TJ13 is led to believe stiffening the tub is a relatively simple fix, though together with the metallic compound now being used for the suspension arms, both fixes will add significant weight to the car.
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Fixing the suspension is a more complex problem for the engineers and designers at Brackley to solve. Further the replacement alloy for the original carbon suspension arms will respond differently from the intended flex profile and could exacerbate further the difficulties Mercedes experienced in 2022 with the tyres.
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Weight added to W14
Lewis, George and the fans of the Brackley team were wowed at the W14 launch by the new all lack livery. The irony is much of the merely bare carbon on display is an attempt to shed weight.
Clearly the additional weight now being added to the car following the filming day disaster at Silverstone will make the car slower when it hits the track in anger on Friday.
Pre-season testing is a classic time for tin foil hat conspiracy theorists as the F1 observers attempt to glean all they can from the new car components and their relative on track performance.
So it could be the writer in today’s Daily Express is setting expectations for Mercedes fans who will believe the team is sandbagging when the car appears slow five days from now in Bahrain.
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Good stuff, anything that puts that two faced, bile spouting, tax dodging Hamilton arse into the barriers gets my vote 👍🏼
No !! You are completely what you refer to the man as, clearly so by your lame, hatey comment. Major problem with the world has always been people like you.
No !! You are completely what you refer to the man as, clearly so by your lame, hatey comment. Major problem with the world has always been people like you.
Nico, I am with you all the way. You described the man perfectly. For all the indecency he has shown, and all the evil things he has done, he deserves nothing less than a disgraceful departure. All those who consider you and me as haters are the real haters. My view of him has nothing to do with him as a driver, just his disgusting persona.
Vijay, are you serious1?? You sound like a pagan, just no idea. Back, evidence and explain your big statements and properly otherwise you are simply spouting pure nonsense. Is Vijay your real name ? So LH is standing up for fairness, equalities, a level playing field and opportunities for all creeds, colours etc young children from difficult environments and backgrounds, women, everyone, representation that reflects the world not privilege and you have a problem with that. Also if ever a guy maybe called, Vijay, Sanjay or similar finds himself in a situation, not resisting arrest but still end up with 14 stone of bulky male police officer kneecap firmly pressed in his throat, and subsequently dies, another stat of disproportionality, don’t you dare say a word about it or expect anyone to take a stand with you against such thing, cause there’s nothing to highlight call out and stand up against it’s fine isnt it Vijay ! – clueless. What difference are you making btw ?? do tell, what contribution towards improvement are you making in the scheme of things ?? yeah thought not. Stop fighting good people and being a part of the problem – do us all a favour and try do something positive and constructive instead.
He says one thing, but does another. There is a lot of money to be made in wokeness. Look at you for instance. Hamilton will never need to change his underwear again, just with your work.
Why do you doubt Vijay’s name? Are you so unworldly to not realize that others could have that name, not just a former F1 team owner?
That would be like me asking if “Rob” was your name simply because of Rob Smedly.
Who mentioned Vijay Malya? Nobody until you did – he was merely making the point that the user he was replying to, if being from an ethnic minority (although geographic location remains a mystery, his nationality may in fact render him to NOT be a minority after all), his constant vitriol against Lewis could be construed as being a bit hypocritical
Well said 👍🏽
Hamilton is one of the highest tax payers in the UK. Idiot.
He doesn’t live in the UK, so why would he paying anything to HMRC?
It’s not something new, he’s been out of the UK for years.
As has EVERY F1 driver since god knows when – JWS has lived in Switzerland for 30 years FFS, Mansell racked himself up on the Isle of Man and Jenson Button holed himself up on Jersey.
It IS a fact however, that Lewis is one of the highest UK tax payers, on account in part of the time he spends in the UK at the factory
So called fans like yourself is what f1 can do without.
Odd that not a single site anywhere has reported these issues. Yet you have this exclusive. Myb sources strongly disagree with yet another amazing work of fiction. Are you Marko or Horner?
My thoughts too, where has this ‘info’ come from ??
It’s come from people who work at Brackley. I have heard the same thing from friends who work there. I was told that the suspension was being changed to steel and that the tub was flexing. To fix the tub it was just a cleat but the suspension was a re-design??
I find it highly unlikely that anyone who works close enough within the team to know this level of operational detail, will be incentivised in such a way as to stab the team in the back
Really. You don’t think people talk to their friend about what goes on at work?? And as for knowing this level of operational detail, most people within the team will know they are making steel suspension. There are probably more than 5 or 6 departments involved in its production from design, manufacturing, quality, R&D, electronics and assembly. If you think non of them are going to happen to mention it to someone outside of the business then you are mistaken.
F1 is a very incestuous business. People move from team to team on a regular basis. Keeping things quiet is very difficult.
Ah, this is what racing is all about! 🍿