Hamilton 5x World Champion ?

[OptionBase1]

I would consider myself a slightly better than casual F1 fan. I do watch every race, and try to keep up with possible seat changes, but I don't follow nor care about the nuances of rules as far as development of things like brake ducts. So all this stuff of teams filing grievances against other teams for skirting those rules isn't something I've ever paid attention to.

Now, based on some of the commentary from this past race, it sounds like in the off-season (or possibly during last season), Mercedes filed some sort of complaint against Ferrari, things were investigated, the results are confidential, and now this year Ferarri sucks.

My conclusion (rightly or wrongly) is this:

1. Ferrari was doing something outside of the rules last year to increase performance, they got caught, they had to remove those changes. And now they suck.

2. And this is more speculation than anything, but it makes me think that Mercedes is also skirting the rules (or outright cheating). The best way to know someone else is cheating is if you are cheating and they are still beating you sometimes.

Being a Nascar fan, I know that in Nascar all the big name teams push the limits, skirt the rules, or even cheat, so it isn't like my similar opinion of F1 tarnishes my viewpoint of the races. It happens in every major sport at the highest levels.

[si_the_geek]

Well that wasn't the most exciting race... the main highlights were actually before the race started (Max crashed on his way to the grid, and Bottas almost started too soon so he started too slowly instead).

Ah well, we have Silverstone to look forward to next, and that is usually a good one

My conclusion (rightly or wrongly) is this:

1. Ferrari was doing something outside of the rules last year to increase performance, they got caught, they had to remove those changes. And now they suck.

Correct... but they weren't technically "caught" (because it was too complicated to find the details of what they were doing), but the rules and testing methods were clarified in a way that made Ferrari stop (and pay a fine). We discussed it earlier in the thread, from post #136 onwards, including this gem:

Sounds like maybe they had the Schrodinger manifold installed.

2. And this is more speculation than anything, but it makes me think that Mercedes is also skirting the rules (or outright cheating). The best way to know someone else is cheating is if you are cheating and they are still beating you sometimes.

Not quite... another team (Racing Point) legitimately buys several parts including engines from Mercedes, but this year the Racing Point car looks far too similar to last years Mercedes for it to be an accident.

However, a closer look at the similarities makes it seem that it isn't a direct copy, just a deliberate imitation of what was the best car of last year. It is questionable how far they've pushed the limits (or how much involvement Mercedes had), so it is being looked into.

It is worth noting that Haas do something similar with Ferrari (and that is allowed), so I don't think this will turn out to be a massive issue.

Being a Nascar fan, I know that in Nascar all the big name teams push the limits, skirt the rules, or even cheat, so it isn't like my similar opinion of F1 tarnishes my viewpoint of the races. It happens in every major sport at the highest levels.

F1 is well known for pushing the limits, and they even have an unusual system to help avoid cheating.

When teams are thinking about doing something new, they ask the governing body for permission (if they just put stuff on the car they can be banned for 1 or more races, which hurts more than the potential benefit). If the new thing is allowed then only the team asking finds out, but if it isn't allowed then all the teams get told. Due to that, the teams ask a simple "teaser" question first, and repeatedly ask slightly more advanced versions until the governing body warns them they are at the limit of what is acceptable.

Obviously that isn't enough so there are many other systems too, including 'public' and private reporting of concerns, along with tests of various kinds during and after every track session. Some stuff slips thru for a while, but things tend to get found out in the end, like last years Ferrari engine. The Racing Point (aka "Pink Mercedes") issue has been raised quickly, so if there is any punishment it is likely to be small.