Mercedes team making errors under pressure?
May 24 - When Mercedes is under pressure, the dominant team of the 'power unit' era makes mistakes.
That is the gleeful conclusion of Dr Helmut Marko, after Max Verstappen won the Monaco GP at a canter and took over the lead in the drivers' world championship.
"Max has reached a different level of maturity," Marko told Servus TV late on Sunday.
"We were also surprised that Hamilton stayed behind Gasly more or less without a fight," the Red Bull official added. "When there is pressure, Mercedes makes mistakes.
"With this victory, Max's performance should now be even more confident and controlled."
2016 world champion Nico Rosberg called it a "pitch-black weekend" for his former teammate Hamilton, with the seven time world champion pointing the finger at Mercedes publicly.
For instance, Hamilton told one reporter immediately after finishing seventh on Sunday: "Lessons for me? No, lessons for the team."
Later, he clarified: "I'm not pointing my finger at anyone. We will have constructive discussions."
Hamilton struggled all weekend at the Principality, but team boss Toto Wolff insists that any critical comments to the media do not reveal a rift.
"There is nothing negative between us and Lewis - we are all frustrated," he said after Sunday's race. "We all have emotional fluctuations."
According to Rosberg, Hamilton also needs to look within to find the culprit for the black weekend at Monaco, because the German agrees with Marko that the problem was "also in terms of (Hamilton's) driving".
Coupled with strategy errors, it means Mercedes has lost control at the top of both championships for one of the only times since 2013.
"Is it the first time?" wondered Wolff. "I think we were behind Ferrari two years ago."
However, Baku might only cement Verstappen's lofty new place at the top of the order.
"Baku is cooler and has smooth asphalt. It could be difficult for us there too," admitted Hamilton.
As for Verstappen, he took Sunday's momentous result in his stride, particularly after Hamilton kicked off the Monaco weekend with some mind games about the potential for a crash.
"Well, actions always speak louder than words," the Dutchman said after receiving his winning trophy. "I think that's a good lesson for this weekend - you have to talk on the track.
"That's what I like. As a team, we have made the fewest mistakes so far and that is why we are ahead. So I hope we can keep that going now. But it has to be said that Mercedes still has the faster car on a normal circuit."
Rosberg says he is enjoying both the closeness of the championship as well as the off-track needle.
"It is a generational fight at eye level with two teams who don't like each other," he beamed to RTL.
Former Red Bull driver Robert Doornbos, meanwhile, suspects the Hamilton-Mercedes dynamic will also be interesting to watch.
"Are they now going to talk to each other through the media like this?" he wondered to Ziggo Sport. "In the end, that will only help one team - Red Bull."
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Maybe Marko should ask RIC about team mistakes at Monaco. I love bashing HAM, but it's no fun if everybody is doing it.
When your top of the tree, you got to be able to take it , the world of F1 isnt just Tonto and Lucy
Who's lucy?
Hey guys..... make a note, Lewis says that the ASHPHALT at Baku works against a Merc. win!!!!
This is a seven time world champion talking.
Please Lewis, just drive, you are really good at it. Stop cheapening yourself just because you now have to face up to real competition.
So, that means we look for a MB 1-2 at Baku. It's called whining with a purpose. LOL
Baku adphalt also not very rough. Should be good race, especially if RB keeps flexing their wings!
So what below demonstrates is either youve been extremely lucky winning from pole 5 times since 2013, or your talking out of your backside which is it ?
Mercedes‘ chief technical officer James Allison said tyre troubles were partly behind Sir Lewis Hamilton’s struggles in Monaco over the weekend.
Allison said the team are usually able to use tyre performance to their advantage, but revealed Mercedes have previously struggled to activate the operating window in the same way around Monaco specifically.
Hamilton finished P7 after a tough weekend when he rarely matched team-mate Valtteri Bottas for pace throughout, despite being a three-time winner around Monte Carlo.
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While tyre issues were a reason behind Hamilton’s lack of pace overall, Allison says the team still need to look at the bigger picture as to why they lagged behind their main rivals over the weekend.
“We need to figure out why we were slow. It’s the slowness that’s the main pain,” Allison told reporters after the Monaco Grand Prix, quoted by RacingNews365.
“Ironically our car, which one of its best weapons has been its tyre usage on various tracks, on this particular track we always struggle a bit with tyre usage. We are never really getting them happy on a Saturday, so our grid slots are lowly.
“Then on Sunday, although we are okay at the start of the stints, by the end of the first stint when most of the crucial action takes place at this particular track, we were normally all out of ideas with a tyre that dies a little sooner than our competitors’.
“It’s understanding that, which we’ve failed to do for a number of seasons and we need to figure out from first principles, ‘what are we getting wrong at this track?'”
And your point is??????????????