Verstappen’s frustrated engineer slated Mercedes’ strategy as “madness”

25 comments on “Verstappen’s frustrated engineer slated Mercedes’ strategy as “madness””

1. 

   bosyber (@bosyber)
   29th May 2024, 17:23

   I get frustration, but I don’t see how another strategy realistically would have yielded better results for Russell
2. 

   Kribana (@krichelle)
   29th May 2024, 17:38

   I don’t know what else they could have done. The red flag made everyone attempt the zero stop. Only Hamilton really had a chance to pit with gaining something or maybe Norris when he had a 19 second gap to Russell.
3. 

   Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
   29th May 2024, 18:00

   It hasn’t taken them long to start panicking and calling other people names has it.
   1. 

      Erik
      29th May 2024, 21:46

      It hasn’t taken you long to completely misrepresent it. Please tell me which panic and when did this occur, and please show me who they called which name….yeah you can’t because it isn’t true, is it? But hey, I’ve read more of your reactions. All you got left is dimisihing anything Verstappen or Redbull. You come across as being incredibly occupied with him, seems like you’re having a lot of trouble coping with it.
      1. 

         Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
         30th May 2024, 8:33

         If you think I have issues with either Max or Red Bull, any more than I do with every driver and team, then you can’t have read many of my posts.
         1. 

            Erik
            30th May 2024, 10:23

            But please tell me when did they panic, and please point me to the moment where they were namecalling others! Should be easy for you, because you were very clear about that, or are you admitting that you talk nonsense?
4. 

   roadrunner (@roadrunner)
   29th May 2024, 18:02

   What’s going on at Mercedes? They were way to overcautious in how they approached the race because the tires seemed to be just fine in the end. Of course it wouldn’t have made any difference in Monaco, but it shows the different mindset between them and Redbull. No way the latter would have let the top 4 just cruise into the distance without trying anything.
   And the one pitstops they did with Hamilton was also poorly handled by allowing Verstappen to answer immediately…

   Btw. Funny that this time it was the driver who tried to calm down his engineer.
   1. 

      Jordan (@hunkulese)
      30th May 2024, 7:58

      What were they supposed to try? You can also say that Red Bull let Russell crawl around the track for 77 laps without trying anything.

      All the decisions were made before the race. After they were forced to switch to mediums on lap one, there wasn’t another option for Russell.
5. 

   Ben
   29th May 2024, 18:22

   Mercedes are now more focused on destroying Hamilton for next year than they are on their own success. Real race to the bottom for a team who a few years ago were so dominant.

   I wouldn’t be surprised if Hamilton actually left before the end of the season. He knows what’s going on.
   1. 

      Erik
      29th May 2024, 21:44

      Ha yes martyrdom, very telling for the Hamiltoncult. Everybody, the whole world is against Hamilton! Yeezzz you cannot seriously be so ignorant… A multibillion dollar brand, a multimillion dollar sportteam, all these people working for that team, all just to obstruct Hamilton. At what point do you come to the realisation that you’re making a complete f*ol of yourself?
      1. 

         Ben
         30th May 2024, 0:17

         Actually I’m being serious, Hamilton is a huge rival for them next season, can’t you see why it’d be beneficial for them to unsettle him while pumping George with confidence. To be honest it’d be more crazy if they wasn’t!

         Imagine allowing Hamilton to wipe the floor with Russell this year. They’ve then got him as a team leader next season! They need to give him all the confidence possible.

         Call me all you want, but it’s very logical to suggest someone who’s leaving a close knit team is going to be treated as an outsider until they leave. It’s human nature. Hamilton is nothing to Mercedes now. He’s lost all his marketing power for them as everyone who sees him instantly thinks of Ferrari.

         No value other than to be target practice for George. Just wait, as the season unfolds you’ll see it more and more.
         1. 

            Erik
            30th May 2024, 10:31

            Don’t change the premise now you’re getting called out. ‘Being treated as an outsider’ is someting completely different than, and I quote: ‘Mercedes are now more focused on destroying Hamilton’.
            It is very normal and not outside the norm to let personel who isn’t part of your team anymore the next year, outside the information loop on the performance of the car. But when it is Hamilton, you just cannot control yourself and think it is all a conspiracy against him, how toxic and how sad.
            1. 

               Ben
               30th May 2024, 15:34

               Oh I’m changing nothing Erik. Destroying Hamilton’s confidence should be their key strategy. Why wouldn’t it be? Do you genuinely believe they want Hamilton beating Russell this year? What do they have to gain from that? A weakened Russell as their team lead next season. Surely you can agree there’s some benefit to the team if Russell beats Hamilton consistently this year.

               I’m not the one resulting to insults, but yet I’m the one who lacks self control?
            2. 

               pcxmac (@pcxmac)
               30th May 2024, 20:46

               Ben’s right, Mercedes have no interest in seeing Lewis succeed. They never wanted him as a brand ambassador, and the more time passes, the more it looks like he was just a poster child for the up and coming “BLM” movement (establishment wiping its hands in gross falseness and cynicism) and Wolff’s greater political ambitions. Im with Ben, Merc are a joke, but are not succeeding due to agreed upon time tables and sponsor imperatives. Lewis was a winner before Mercedes, and he will be a winner after Mercedes. Mercedes are just a stepping stone, stuck in their own political ambition.
6. 

   Edvaldo
   29th May 2024, 18:46

   what’s interesting is that at first Russell was all racy with the front runners while Max and Hamilton were already managing. Then came that instruction and Russell began holding them back. I don’t think they intended to go so slow.

   Either way, they were all stuck with that they had, wouldn’t make any diffference to the final result.
7. 

   Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
   29th May 2024, 19:04

   Let’s settle into the management now.

   Grrr, you don’t get this nonsense in a bike race… Just do whatever MotoGP does with the radios. Safety and critical stuff only. If the tyres wear out, put on the ones you took off after one lap at the start.
8. 

   Sumedh
   29th May 2024, 19:43

   Surprising that Russell was directly telling how much additional pace he had (three seconds). Ferrari were explicit in their instruction to Leclerc on this and ensured that Leclerc never spoke that number out loud.

   I feel Mercedes did the best they could. They obviously had to manage more than the front 4 as their car is a step slower and the tyres a step softer.

   Red Bull saying this stuff (gave up the ghost, defeatist strategy) is just them trying to annoy Toto. If any other team would have done what Merc did, Red Bull wouldn’t say such stuff
   1. 

      SteveP
      29th May 2024, 21:14

      Surprising that Russell was directly telling how much additional pace he had (three seconds).

      Let’s just say that Russell is unlikely to win Mastermind
9. 

   MichaelG
   29th May 2024, 22:46

   Did Mercedes miss a trick? They pit Lewis and had an opportunity for George to back up Max such that Red Bull couldn’t have made their stop without losing position to Lewis. They allowed Max a free stop and missed a chance to pressure him. Might have made no difference in the but surely it was worth trying?
   1. 

      Bob2 (@bob2)
      29th May 2024, 23:45

      Quite possibly. McLaren certainly did. They had the opportunity to put Piastri on a new set with ~20 laps to go. Lando would have let him past and with the net tyre advantage he would have been a good chance at getting at least Sainz and put some real pressure back on Leclerc.

      Unfortunately with the “points for everyone” model (which is about to get worse) they seem happy to just get a “result” rather than have a proper crack at a chance of a maiden F1 victory, at Monaco no less. I know I’d rather take 3rd with a real chance at 1st over just tootling around for 2nd…
      1. 

         Keith Campbell (@keithedin)
         30th May 2024, 10:49

         @bob2 I disagree here – I think that would just be throwing away P2. It is as good as impossible to overtake in Monaco, even on much fresher tyres. Max couldn’t even attempt an overtake on fresh softs against George on 70 lap old mediums at the end of the race. The same would happen for Piastri on Sainz. Remember, the leaders have been pottering around 3 seconds off the pace for the entire race to ensure their tyres remain in good shape at the end, so the tyre advantage isn’t as huge as it would normally be, on top of the difficulty of overtaking at Monaco.
   2. 

      Ben
      30th May 2024, 0:21

      They missed nothing. If I’m watching at home wondering why Russell wasn’t holding up Verstappen to let Hamiltom get the jump I can’t believe for one second some of the strategy team didn’t have the same idea.

      The answer is that they didn’t want any risk to George to help Hamilton. Their goal now is to build George into the leader for next season. A P6 or P7 for Hamilton isn’t important to them. They couldn’t make it any more obvious by telling Hamilton “normal outlap” when in fact it was critical for an overtake. They were happy to have Verstappen between their drivers to avoid contact and give George a confidence boost.
      1. 

         Nick T.
         30th May 2024, 3:48

         You’re right. I’m thinking Lewis wins this race if Mercedes doesn’t sabotage him for George’s confidence.
   3. 

      SteveP
      30th May 2024, 7:19

      Did Mercedes miss a trick? They pit Lewis and had an opportunity for George to back up Max such that Red Bull couldn’t have made their stop without losing position to Lewis.

      The only way I see that working is if George backs things up so much that Lewis is out in front of him.
      Swapping the two Mercs back would be extremely difficult without opening things up to allow Max through in front of both.

      So, unless you want a sulky George, you don’t organise a method for Lewis to be in front by strategy. Yes, it’s additional points for the team, but I don’t think George wants to play that game.
      1. 

         Keith Campbell (@keithedin)
         30th May 2024, 10:42

         This only happens if both George and Max pit, because Lewis was obviously behind them and they had made their mandatory tyre change. Very likely that what happens if Max doesn’t have the pit window to Lewis, is he just stays out and eventually comes under ‘pressure’ from Lewis later in the race on fresher tyres (as much ‘pressure’ as can be applied at Monaco anyway).

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