Will Lewis ever win #8?

[g4ry13]

Last season Lewis watched his 8th championship hopes disappear in the final few laps. It was the end of the current era with new regulations due for the forthcoming season. His teammate who had been a reliable #2 driver - able to pick up wins from time-to-time but rarely able to beat Lewis in a straight fight - was moving on and being replaced with a young, hungry George Russell who has loftier title ambitions.

Lewis just turned 37 in January, one of the older drivers on the grid. His future in the sport has been widely speculated about and some expected not to see him again at the conclusion of last season. Nevertheless, I believe he is signed up for the next two seasons.

It's early days in the new season, but based on what we've seen so far, it would appear that Mercedes do not appear to have the advantage they have enjoyed since 2014 - 2020 seasons. They were certainly the 3rd fastest team on the track in Bahrain, but through some Red Bull failures Lewis managed to get a podium out of the weekend.

Ferrari seem to have put together a more competitive car this season. We are yet to see how it competes on tracks with high speed turns but there's no reason as yet to suspect they will not be competing for the front row slots.

Mercedes have taken a different design approach to others and currently experiencing a porpoising issue. Mercedes are known for making big developments / performance improvements mid-season and if they can hang on to Ferrari / Red Bull over the next races, could be in contention for a title towards the end of the season. It will just depend how radical the updates are needed by Mercedes and whether they will alter their design to go with something similar to the rest of the teams on the grid.

Either way, it looks like there could be three teams with the potential to win the title this season. George Russell may not be too welcoming to becoming a #2 pulling over for Lewis. It may be premature, but I think there's a fairly strong possibility Lewis will retire as a 7 time world champion unless he hops over to another team.

[g4ry13]

StevieBee said:

I think I'm right in saying that one race in and Lewis has more points over Max than he did at any point last season.

The impact of this assumes of course that Max will be his main rival this year that is by no means a given.

I'm not sure that assumption would be correct given that Ferrari seem to have put together a competitive car this season.

It's by no means a 2 horse race and if anything, any one of five drivers may be in the running for the title. Six if Max ends up having a lot of DNFs and Perez is in contention and becomes the Red Bull #1 for the season.

[g4ry13]

Teppic said:

Getting the feeling that this will be Lewis’s last season in F1. I know he’s contracted until 2023, but I think he’ll walk at the end of the season.

Or maybe take a break for a season to see if Mercedes make progress with the option to come back in 2024.

[g4ry13]

Muzzer79 said:

Siao said:

Pflanzgarten said:

The comparisons to George simply mark out the posters of not having a clue about F1.

Can you elaborate or just sticking to inflammatory posts?

In my opinion, it's naive at least to look at the performance of the two cars and conclude that George is 'beating' Lewis.

The team focus at present is on fixing the issues with the car. Performance is a by-product of that.

George may have had a more favourable set-up, Lewis may be trying new parts, George may be trying new parts.

It's highly simplistic to conclude that George is faster than Lewis due to the results of 4 races, combined with the performance status of Mercedes.

So there's a chance Lewis wasn't faster than Valtteri for all those seasons because we don't know whether Lewis had the same parts and more favourable set-up?

As spectators we can only base our judgement by the results we see on track. Chances are that the other car on the grid which is most equal to your car is going to be your teammate. So it's not unreasonable to compare one with the other.

[g4ry13]

Muzzer79 said:

g4ry13 said:

Muzzer79 said:

Siao said:

Pflanzgarten said:

The comparisons to George simply mark out the posters of not having a clue about F1.

Can you elaborate or just sticking to inflammatory posts?

In my opinion, it's naive at least to look at the performance of the two cars and conclude that George is 'beating' Lewis.

The team focus at present is on fixing the issues with the car. Performance is a by-product of that.

George may have had a more favourable set-up, Lewis may be trying new parts, George may be trying new parts.

It's highly simplistic to conclude that George is faster than Lewis due to the results of 4 races, combined with the performance status of Mercedes.

So there's a chance Lewis wasn't faster than Valtteri for all those seasons because we don't know whether Lewis had the same parts and more favourable set-up?

As spectators we can only base our judgement by the results we see on track. Chances are that the other car on the grid which is most equal to your car is going to be your teammate. So it's not unreasonable to compare one with the other.

Mercedes have, for the last 8 years, been focusing on honing performance. There was no need to 'fix' the car, because it was the fastest. You're just focused on exploiting that performance.

It's therefore more of a straight fight between Bottas/Rosberg and Hamilton.

When you're trying to fix setup issues and fix flaws in the design, you're spending time testing solutions and different configurations because you don't know what's wrong with it. It's therefore less of a straight fight as both cars are trying different things.

George has done well. He's made the most of his opportunity and has performed great. But it's too simplistic to say he's faster than Lewis, in the situation they're in and on the results of 4 early-season races.

I have little doubt that George will finish the season with more points than Lewis. Does that necessarily mean he's faster than Lewis? No, and we'll never really know due to all the variables and unknowns we have as spectators.

But it does mean that with the package available, that either it suits George's style more. Or alternatively, that George is able to adapt his driving style better to work with the car.

[g4ry13]

jsf said:

fesuvious said:

That porpoising;

Is it possible that if any driver had a weakness in a disc or vertebrae then it could cause real discomfort?

The vertical movement is going to highlight any weakness quite quickly in a manner many drivers won't have experienced before.

Especially in the neck.

It's worth a ponder. Could Lewis be suffering in an entirely unexpected way with the bobbing?

It could put someone out for a while.

I have a feeling the regs have cocked up a bit here, they have very defined boxes to work within, they may have baked in a serious aero instability problem.

Even the best cars are shaking the drivers when you go onboard. It's a really bad look for the pinnacle of motorsport.

The cars look more alive and more of a challenge to drive. It's not ideal, but it's better than the era when everything looked so smooth and the cars didn't pose much of a challenge to the drivers.

[g4ry13]

entropy said:

sparta6 said:

Teppic said:

With the car in its current guise, Lewis will be lucky to win another race, let alone another Championship.

Why ?

Mercedes is currently 3rd best car on the grid.

Rus is doing a decent job and should get a podium or win this season.

Something's wrong with this picture

George got a podium in Australia.

When you're outside of the top 2 teams the opportunities for race wins are few and far between unless rain is involved.