Mercedes F1

Good to see Bottas is enjoying his events and life in reserve with Mercedes. If they need a safe pair of hands at Mercedes during the season he is a good choice. He appears to have a fun life on-going!

https://f1i.com/news/529839-bottas-set-for-mercedes-outing-at-adelaide-motorsport-festival.html

 

I wonder if Toto Wolff was the high bidder?

 

It is good to see him back at Mercedes but he has been told by Mercedes that he can no longer make nude calendars.

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LH picked a good time to move on. Not sensing much to expect from Mercedes. They have not mastered this generation consistently at all. Of course they could surprise a bit.

--Toto Wolff says he would “rather not talk too much” about Mercedes’ chances heading into the 2025 F1 season.

Mercedes are hoping to mount a more consistent challenge in 2025 after a frustrating campaign last year.

Although the Silver Arrows won four races, the team were left puzzled by inconsistent performance swings with their W15 challenger and finished fourth in the constructors’ championship.

Now in the post-Lewis Hamilton era with George Russell joined by exciting teenage talent Andrea Kimi Antonelli, team principal Wolff is keen to avoid talking up Mercedes too much.

Instead, Wolff would like to wait and see how the team’s W16 car performs in pre-season testing in Bahrain at the end of this month.

“These cars are so complicated to hit the sweet spot, that we’ve only done it on a few occasions,” Wolff is quoted as saying by RacingNews365.

“We were ultra-dominant in Las Vegas [where it finished 1-2], and then at other tracks, we were unable to contest for a podium.

“So I’d rather not talk too much and see how we can perform in the tests and see whether we have solved some of those balance issues, get on top of the tyres and then we shall see.”

Wolff has already admitted Mercedes won’t totally “get rid” of their performance fluctuations during the upcoming season.--

 

Was Alonso offered this warning at Mclaren when LH arrived?? If Antonelli is faster he wont be moving over for Russell lol!

--Mercedes Formula 1 team principal Toto Wolff says he expects Andrea Kimi Antonelli to match George Russell for pace during his rookie season, but insists the Italian's goal is get acclimatised ahead of 2026.

 

Someone quote me at the end of the year on this, but Max will be at Mercedes for 2026. Whether it’s George or Kimi who gets axed remains to be seen but I Gts the feeling it will be George. I think George is a brilliant driver and thoroughly beat Lewis last year but I think Toto sees Kimi as the future, so if Kimi stays on it and bests George at least a number of times this year then he’ll keep the seat.

now what I am almost more curious about will be if Max is capable of driving another machine as he can drive the Red Bull. Could be Vettel all over again

 

He can see what LH is doing by learning / adapting to Ferrari. Be very interesting to see this evolution if Max changes teams!

 

I think Aston is just as likely.

The way Kimi and George are both performing right now there is not much reason for either for them to go. However if Max DOES go to merc it'll be for George.

Alonso is on his way out...he started to underperform as of last year, age is catching up quick.

 

I think Max to Aston is more likely. reunite with Adrian, Big Stroll wants team to win and Max is the guy to do that, Little Stroll is the perfect "who cares" teammate.

 

No way. Aston Martin is changing to Honda engines for a very different engine concept for next year. 2026 will be an engine category spec at least at first, and no one makes a powertrain for this ruleset like Mercedes, especially right out of the gate. Honda eventually gets there but they take time. Max surely has people whispering this to him.

 

Well, I don´t expect a massive difference between engines with the new rules. This is not 2014: the change is not so big, there is no engine freeze and Mercedes didn´t push "their rules" with years in advance. There is a risk for Red Bull and Audi because they do start from scratch, but for the rest I don´t think that any initial advantage will last for so long like in 2014.

The way I see it is that Red Bull looks to be on decline, or at least doesn´t mean instant sucess like before. Add that they´re new in the engine business and that Mercedes or Stroll will be willing to pay more. So it´s quite probable that Verstappen won´t stay at Red Bull for long. Probably he´ll wait to see what´s the pecking order in 2026 and decide then.

 

Agreed.

 

I think that Max can drive anything. From Adrian Newey's comments the 2026 cars will require a completely different driving technique, one that is counter-intuitive. It will be interesting to see who can adjust and who can't? I reluctantly agree with Bas, time is catching up with Fernando. I don't think he will last beyond this season.

 

--George Russell set for Mercedes extension as Toto Wolff reveals “open secret” talks

Toto Wolff has confirmed Mercedes is close to securing George Russell’s future with the team, calling it “almost an open secret."--

No room for Max potentially if true.

 

Well, I think nobody would be surprised if they dropped Antonelli to make room for Verstappen.

 

If and when Max calls or texts Toto later in the season, you better believe Toto will make room dumping whoever he needs to dump.

 

[Motorsport. Total]

Russell to sign a 2 year extension worth about $30 million per year

 

Max wont be going there apparently.

 

Mercedes will introduce the first major update to its 2025 Formula 1 car at next month’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, according to technical director James Allison.
While the Brackley-based manufacturer will continue to bring in smaller bits and pieces to virtually every round, Allison said the start of the European leg of the season in May will offer the best opportunity to significantly improve the W16