I used to defend Merc...

Not sure if this posted already elsewhere... but Toto is now intimating that Ferrari are cheating... again. I have my favorites in F1, but I didn't really have a villain so to speak. I've pretty much been a Seb fan, but never really disliked Lewis or anyone else all that much. Now, however, it's getting a bit much. Even though I'm not a conspiracy guy, it's been hard not to acknowledge what appears to be a burning desire by F1 to get their favorite PR machine... Lewis and Mercedes... their 5th championship. It's hard to ignore the favoritism even for me who didn't rail against the Merc machine all that much as I figured while they certainly got F1 to make rules to maintain their advantage the first couple or so years... they did do the best job of anyone... period.. But you combine that assistance... those little nudges along the way by the FIA and F1, along with Ferrari's own bad luck, poor strategy, and stupid blunders... and it just seems it's all been sorted out at this point. Still, up until this point... while I cheer for Seb and deal with the disappointment when things like his crash happened... I see it as part of racing and move on pretty quickly. What I don't get past so easily is the rampant favoritism that Lewis is shown time and again... but now it's gone beyond the pale with Toto suggesting that Ferrari is cheating... just because God forbid... they are competitive I think being a gracious winner is more important than being a sour loser and we're really seeing the nature of that team as of late with their accusations and press. It's become very difficult to me as a fan to support them in any way at this point.

http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/24182500/toto-wolff-trust-ferrari-power-unit-legal
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First they should pay attention to their hydraulic issues and then point at Ferrari. They only lucked out cause of the mistake of Seb and wet conditions being a favorite. In the dry they couldn't even go close to both drivers so count it as a lucky win that shouldn't happen if it were dry.

 

I thought everyone cheats in F1?

Isn't that the name of the game? ie find loopholes in the regulations and exploit them as much as you can for as long as you can before changes / ban get pushed through?

I think upper management at Mercedes have an inherent bitterness towards Ferrari. Just gauge the commentary coming out of James Allison's mouth, his own actions in the recent past to "get clarity" / investigate the legality of the Ferrari battery system, Toto's "semi-glazed" derogatory comments and their diva ballerina Hamilton's opinion of Ferrari...it's obvious the key people are all drinking and sharing the same koolaid to me! They must think they are absolutely unbeatable and for Ferrari to pose such a threat is an impossibility.

James Allison must be somewhat disappointed with himself for not being able to drive the tremendous turnaround the Ferrari team have had in recent months, esp when it is his once-junior-underlings that are driving that turnaround. I'd feel rather humbled if I was in his position...

 

I dont know if its bitterness but Mercedes are now 'used' to winning. The mindset is somewhat static. The calculus has changed and adapting to a winning and threatening and faster Ferrari is rather difficult it seems. Fear brings out the comments we see from Mercedes. They talked of welcoming a challenge each year but that was easy to say and politically correct to hide their arrogance lol.

 

Talk about balls. On the heels of LH averting a clear cut 5 second penalty....which would have knocked him off the podium...and actually winning the race...Toto makes this statement. Brazen cheaters. This is why I stopped watching NBA. F1 may be next.

 

And the illegal tyre tests, party mode going up in smoke once oil burn limited etc so anyone who gets close is cheating.....

 

Pushing the limits of the rule book and cheating . . . well, there's a fine line there. And yes, everyone who wants to win does it. It's "poosh, poosh, poosh" back at the works, not just the drivers when on track.

To the OP, it's a bit of a head game between the teams and I don't fault Toto for what he said.

 

I think Mercedes will show themselves to be very poor losers as they decline. It will be much worse than anything Redbull ever displayed.

 

I agree and I can’t stand Toto wolf. He just strikes me as a cocky arrogant jerk. Don’t know him of course but watching him for a while now as well as interviews he just rubs me the wrong way.

 

You can tell when his game face begins to crack what lies beneath ain’t pretty.

 

Ummm... no you don't have to "trust" they are legal. That's what the FIA is for.

He's a cry baby with emotional issues.

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Ferrari's impressive step in performance, which is linked to the hybrid system judging by GPS traces of the car on track, came on a weekend when the Italian team introduced upgraded MGU-Ks and energy stores to all six Ferrari-powered cars on the grid. The sudden gain over the last two weekends in that area has led to some suggestions that Ferrari may have found a loophole in the regulations, but Wolff says Mercedes can only react by making its car faster.

These are the words of the journo ...not Toto. They are the ones stirring the pot ..and i think Toto has given a measured response.

 

Loophole = some clever legal alternative idea that gets you an advantage over your competitor.

F1 is FILLED with Loopholes!

 

It's a new team that is used to win. They were given special tyres when they needed, they got the regulations they wanted, and tons of cash from Mercedes... And now they're facing some "opposition" (Ferrari isn't even dominating, just putting a fight) and it's something new for them. Same happened to Red Bull.

When they survive their first bad streak as the veterans had done many times, they'll learn to keep the head down.

 

Mercedes with their own set of rules, personal hotline to the FIA have been hell bent on destroying F1 in recent times for their own satisfaction. I've loved F1 my whole life but I'm falling out of love with the sport at a rapid pace. The politics are ruining it.

 

Huh? A 5 second time penalty would have put Lewis in 2nd spot - right behind Bottas...

 

I am coming from Stuttgart and I naturally like both Mercedes and Porsche, I even drive a Mercedes as a daily driver...I have a lot of friends at the company but I do not see too much of Mercedes apart from their money in the team in Brackley. For me this is just a bought team, it could be as well the Sauber or Force India team...
Since Brawn and Schumacher left I think there are not many people left one could really like, when the most likable persons were a pale German/Monacan and now a silent Finn then there is something wrong.
And listening to Toto makes things worse every time he is telling fairy tales. As someone said before, they are sitting on a really high horse and they might need a time where they are only runner ups to mature. Unfortunately I am quite sure that the main persons (Toto, Lewis..) will leave as soon as they are not at the front anymore.

 

Merc is pathetic. The Ferrari has been cleared time and again by the FIA. You have been out engineered. The British Press and the Merc team seem to think that it is impossible that Ferrari simply made a better car than them. They think it's their birthright to win every championship. So spoiled.

 

I should have stated that it would knock him out of 1st...not the podium.

 

Toto overheard speaking to Charlie Whiting...

“Ferrari must be cheating. We are cheating, and they are faster than us. What more proof do you need??”

 

Man... i hope merc loses the WCC this year. They've had it so easy for far too long.

 

If you're not accused of cheating that means you're not trying hard enough.

 

It wasn't that long ago (ie, 13 years) that Ferrari dominated F1, winning 5 titles in a row, having their own set of rules (example 1999, Brawn successfully arguing that if you held the bargeboard juuust right at this particular angle it met the regulations, despite it not being mounted on the car at that angle), special tires just for Ferrari courtesy Bridgestone and to hell with all the other Bridgestone teams, etc etc. Hell, Ferrari still gets a special 'heritage' payment from Formula1 of around $90 million per year that no other teams get, so DeSoto's comments about the Mercedes F1 team receiving tons of cash from Mercedes as some sort of advantage is a bit ironic...

Anyway, just thinking all the complaining is funny when it goes the other way, this sort of hinting at cheating, bending the rules, etc has existed forever in sport and is done by all the teams, including both Mercedes and Ferrari (eg, oil burning during qualifying last year and earlier this year, Ferrari was more guilty of that rule bending than Mercedes, but both were doing it). I'd love to hear the technical details of how Ferrari has figured out how to deploy more energy from their MGU-H systems in the last few races! The technical development race is fascinating.

 

Mercedes and Hamilton's attitude in F1 has already inspired me to vote with my wallet.

No more Mercedes car purchases for me.

Plenty of other quality brands seek my patronage

 

Not sure how ''special tyres by bridgestone'' are the same thing as special pirelli's now? Pirelli's are spec tyres. Same thing for everyone. Except when Mercedes complains hard enough, then they get they get changed to a more favourable set. Back then there where multiple tyre manufacturers. So that's not a valid argument.

The heritage payment? All teams seemingly agreed to it. And IMO, it's still justified. Ferrari have been a part of Formula 1 since day 1. No other team, let alone a manufacturer, can claim that. Plenty of teams have joined up with F1 since Ferrari started receiving Heritage payment, they knew what they where signing up for.

Mercedes squealed when Ferrari found a bit of extra power, and got the FIA to check how...when nothing was found, they insisted upon the FIA running additional tests (that normally aren't even used) and at all sessions, yet still nothing is found.