I've heard an interesting bit of news last night from a friend. It seems that the team of mechanics etc that supported Hamilton last year, now work for Rosberg. I think it should be easy to verify from people in the pits who knew Hamilton's team last year. Also, my theory is Mercedes is pushing Rosberg because they (from memory but not yet substantiated with April numbers) are now ahead of BMW in the global luxury car race. And Rosberg carries a German passport and speaks really great Italian (RAI says he's the closes to an Italian driver on the current grid). Mercedes-Benz gains on BMW in global luxury car sales race - FT.com Mercedes needs to sell more cars in these markets. Rosberg can do it !!
Hamiltons mechanics for 3 years now swapped with Rosberg. One of the reasons Rosberg is ahead now though is because Hamilton messed up twice already, a bad start in Melbourne and going off track in T1, and in Bahrain he also had a bad start, then turned in on Bottas (which bizarrely resulted in a penalty for the latter).
I think that is old news. They did that shuffle over winter. If I remember correctly they partially re-shuffled the two teams because the camps aligned to the two drivers were forming too strongly. I think that is all and nothing else to it. I would be hugely surprised if within one racing team one garage crew could would make such a difference over the other. What they needed after years of heated duels was to at least provide peace on ground level.
But Hamilton is black and all the homies can buy mercs cut the springs and then put some sweet rims on it? Amirite lol
Yes, it occurred over Winter. It's good to see Nico climb out of the car and congratulate both crews after each win. As for Lewis having bad starts- he can get Pole, but his launch for the first corner is always weak.
How comforting. Two damaged cars about to blow up and they still can't be touched. "No water pressure...MGU-k about to short out... Let's just run the cars in safe mode and beat everyone by a slightly less margin." Nice.
Word. But 20 dubs with spinners take longer to change. Lol Seriously if true then those mechanics should be sacked-they stunk for Rosberg & they stink for LH.
I see their massive testing mileage worked wonders. They may need engine changes sooner rather than later....
Yes Lewis starts are weak especially since the drivers cannot get coaching from pits re clutch adjustment settings, etc.
I'd thought HAM had a good start in Russia, but then on the replays noticed a gap in front of him all the way down to turn 2, so I guess he's not a good starter this year. Still think Rosberg gets the benefit of the doubt, thinking back to 2 years ago, last race of the season (stupid double points), when Rosberg still had a small chance to win the title but his car gave up the ghost. For me, ROS and HAM are both close in driving ability, despite one being a 3 time WDC and the other is not.
He had a good start in Bahrain but not as much in Sochi from what I recall. Its a bit hit and miss for the drivers now. Fun variable it is...
Just saw the Mercedes vs BMW vs Audi vs Lexus sales in the US, and Mercedes is up. Word will get around that only Mercedes can win in F1, BMW, Toyota cannot. By the way, I am a Ferrari fan, but drive a Mercedes daily.
Me too, and make mine a 275 GTB alu body with 6 carbs. Now if only I could afford to drive such a vehicle everyday !!!
So BMW haven't been in F1 for 6 years now, and yet they still top the US sales (for the 4th year running), with sales up 1.8% Lexus (aka Toyota), who also left 6 years ago, came second, with sales up 10.7% Mercedes, who have been back in F1 for 6 years now came third, with sale up 3.8% And Audi, who have never even raced in F1, and who left Grand Prix racing (prior to F1 being created) some 77 years ago, came fourth, with sales up 11.1% So what exactly does that tell us about the link between F1 and US car sales? - I'd say that it's pretty negligible (especially when you take into account the general lack of interest in F1 that there is in the USA). Perhaps word should get around that the Mercedes F1 car and it's engine are designed and built 100% in Britain, by mainly British engineers, and that the majority of the Mercedes team is British! For what it's worth, I'm a Ferrari fanatic and I drive a Ferrari and a BMW. (I wouldn't touch a Mercedes with a barge pole as they do nothing whatsoever for Me! Lexus is just a BMW wannabe, and whilst some Audi's do look good - I just couldn't live with that much understeer in My life!)
+1 The f1 connection stateside ranges from dismal to non-existent. The Briton presence and following in not just Mercedes, but F1 in general has always resonated with folks across the pond and probably has significant influence on car sales. USA, nobody knows f1 nor cares.
April sales for MB USA were 29,200, BMW USA were just under 25,000, and Lexus just a few hundred units behind. And BMW was in F1 for what, 6 - 8 years, Toyota was in for how many (a similar amount), and they won nothing. From where did you get your numbers?
100 % Correct. USA April 2016 Sales / January - April 2016 accumulated sales. Mercedes: 29 236 - 105 005 BMW: 24 951 - 95 564 Lexus: 24 852 - 99 103 Audi: 17 701 - 59 791 Brand ranking overall:- 1) Mercedes-Benz 2) Lexus 3) BMW 4) Audi
I guess Automotive News will publish global sales numbers for the various brands and by country so we can see how sales are moving. I know Italy is important to the VW Group, BMW and Mercedes (plus the FCA Group).
Worldwide 2016 Q1 sales for the four Brands mentioned:- 1) Mercedes-Benz - 539 285 2) BMW - 484 362 3) Audi - 472 014 4) Lexus - 155 496
