The Japanese firms follow the wishes of their shareholders, it seems. At the first sign of downturn or recession, they review their expenses, and the motor racing budget is almost immediately cut. Honda comes and goes in F1. Also, they see motor racing from a different angle that the Westerners. For them it's a engineering challenge and the opportunity to develop new technics, and form a new generation of engineers.
The thing I'm hoping for is that Merc is closer to the ceiling on their PU performance and that gains will be smaller and further apart. I doesn't seem to have happened yet, but at some point it does for everybody. It's at that point the others can really start closing the gap... for real... not just for a weekend soundbite. The question just remains, however: Just how much do they already have in reserve?
That's a very good point that I think is lost on lots of us. Cooling for the turbos and energy (heat) recovery and storage systems is huge. Reliability and power could increase dramatically with better heat management. Plus, wider is just plain cooler ;-)
It will be interesting to see if the rule changes make any difference. It's a sad state of affairs for a sport when teams have already given up on this year midway through the season. I would like to see some competition no matter who wins. In a perfect world, Ferrari would win the WDC and constructor's here and there and other teams would follow suit. It would be boring to me if Ferrari was dominating like Mercedes. I would love to see a Manor or Renault on the podium here and there.
Hummm ... Mercedes is yet half way to Ferrari's domination a decade ago. Don't you remember Schumacher's 5 consecutive WDCs ?
But the record book shows that Schumacher won 5 titles on the trot with Ferrari. That looks dominant to me ! Like they say, "People remember the winner, and not who came second".
If Hamilton wins 6 WDCs with Mercedes, then I will say the Mercedes was more dominant than Ferrari, until then ....
You may be bored, but I am not. Now is the Mercedes era, just like the Red Bull era, the Ferrari era before, and the McLaren era, etc... People who do a better job deserve to win, and I don't agree with people trying to discredit a winning team because the expect change every race.
What I get is that some people don't like Mercedes winning because they back another team. They don't complain when their team wins ... It's up to the others to catch up, and not expect Mercedes to slow down because it's "boring". BTW, watching Michael Pheps winning 23 medals at the Games, may also be boring for some, but if he dominates, good on him I say. Do you think he should be handicapped to reduce the "boredom" ? Same about Husain Bolt. How "boring" to see the Jamaican winning again and again ...
No. We complain because there's 1 team in a class of it's own. They have no competition. They don't fight anyone but themselves. And because teams couldn't evolve their engines when it mattered, they where forced to be slow still. I don't care what team wins to be honest, as long as they have to fight for it. I'm not really a ''Ferrari uber alles'' supporter, I support individual drivers before teams (I'm lucky that 2 of my favourite already drive for Ferrari).
Entirely different. Anyone competing in the olympics can train just as much as the fastest. F1 teams are artificially held back by the idiotic token system that was implemented way too late. Well done Mercedes for building the best car, but no one was allowed to upgrade their engine. Now they are, but only by spending tokens. Upgrade doesn't work? Tough luck, you can go back to your old spec but your tokens are spend. It's like a runner wanting to upgrade to the same shoes as Usain Bolt, but he has to wait a year. And when he finally upgraded his shoes, it turns out they're the wrong fit...but he can't make the change needed anymore to get them to function properly. Meanwhile, Mr Bolt has been working further on improving laces, to go even faster...he's had no competition so under no real pressure.
Mercedes, it seems, has done a better job than other teams, so they collect the rewards, IMO. I cannot see anything wrong in that, just like I didn't object Red Bull, or Ferrari collecting their laurels when they were ahead. Well done !! If Mercedes has no competition, it's because the other teams don't perform well enough, have weaker technical teams, or lesser organisation. If Jaguar, Toyota, or BMW were doing the same, I would accept it as well. These are huge industrial concerns with huge resources, etc... I would expect an industrial giant like Mercedes-Benz to lead the present field, in technical terms, resources, organisation, etc... even within the constraints imposed by the FIA. Probably it would even be better if testing was allowed.
You are complaining about a set of rules devised by the Strategy Group apparently, and endorsed by the teams. Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren and William all sat at the same table, drew the regulations, and agreed the token system. I suppose their technical teams and engine designers knew what they were getting into, no? They also agreed on the number limit of engines, etc... and the grid penalties, etc... So, if they cannot upgrade their engine through the season, it's according to rules they have accepted. Nobody did put a gun to their heads, as far as I know. This "idiotic" system is their rule!!! Apparently the FIA has now lifted the token system from next year as a gesture to allow other engines to catch up. Mercedes is doing a splendid job, and deserves to win. End of story. Why should they get the blame for the failure of other teams?
You are changing the subject here !! We are talking about DOMINATION, which you find "boring". I quote example of domination going on in other sports; but there, everybody praises the achievements and nobody find them "boring". The "idiotic system" is a set of technical rules ALL constructors have endorsed at the time. Maybe that rather than posturing and crying in their beer, a few of they should have read the rules proposal more carefully? So, it's all sour grapes now because they don't win, and "Blame on Mercedes". I don't accept that. I don't particularly like Hamilton, but it seems he is on a roll, thanks for driving for Mercedes.
I wasn't watching back then. I've only been a fan the last 5-6 years. My GF for 2 years. The lack of competition is making us lose interest, fast.
F1 isn't one of those sports who can suddenly switch on and watch if you haven't done your homework first. To start with, you have acquire some knowledge by reading and researching the history of the sport and learn who are the participants. So yes, if you have no clue prior to 2010, it's difficult to grasp what's going on, and it may look boring. A bit like if I started following the NFL or soccer which I know nothing about.
I have two problems with the Mercedes domination: #1 It´s not a Ferrari domination. #2 They played politics very HARD. They have a great team and they´re outspending everybody else, so I understand that they deserve their own winning streak like Ferrari, Williams or McLaren had before. These winning streaks although boring didn´t stop me from watching F1 but I hope that Mercedes´s one is shorter than Ferrari´s, Williams´or McLaren´s because I feel it´s less deserved.
At least you are honest !! I would say that Ferrari plays politics very hard too. Not only is it a permanent member of the F1 Strategy Group, but it even obtained a right of veto on rule changes, I understand. Now, you tell me if that's not a big political advantage. At the moment, Ferrari benefits from a $90 millions head start in its budget, generosity of FOM in its redistribution of money, a financial advantage granted because of some historical claim. The good news is probably that, having made their point with possibly 5 titles, Mercedes may withdraw from F1 when the formula changes to new rules (2020/22 ?).
