Mercedes 2024 Chances

Would be some hell of a turn around, I've already accepted that RBR should win everything until the reg changes in 2026.

If they're back in the hunt next season, someone in the team made a massive breakthrough within the regs.

There is some hope for that possibility seeing McLarens massive jump mid season.
 
They could easily get 2nd again but as above RB are way ahead still...

At Abu Dhabi Max cruised around to win by 17s was it? Pretty sure they could just run their 2023 car again and walk it without a problem, let alone the fact they've been developing for 2024 since half way through this year.
 
Kenai said:
Unless they've discovered a fundamental new design philosophy or rules loophole that nobody else has spotted so far, it's hard to imagine anyone else on the grid doing much beyond closing the gap to RBR a bit.
Click to expand...

This.

Unless a team finds some interpretation of the rules that allows massive gains, that everyone else has missed, Red Bull will almost certainly remain the fastest.

I think after two years of these regs that seems unlikely, so I think the best we can hope for is that someone manages to work out the Red Bull secret sauce and at least come close to rivalling then.

Then , even if the car is close or on a par, they then have the hurdle of beating Max, and to be honest, there aren't many drivers on the grid who I think could challenge Max throughout the whole season.
 
Last edited:
I think there will be a bit of a genuine fight for wins, and they might get a few. But RB just have too much of an advantage, they’ve found all the loopholes out there for these regs I reckon.
 
There's barely any change in the regs for 2024, and Red Bull pretty much transferred all effort to developing their car from mid-season. I'm expecting nothing but more RB domination.
 
Listening to some of the post-season stuff from various team's its clear many teams don't think Red Bull even used 100% of their car's pace in many races, I expect a 4th Max Verstappen title.
I think behind that we could see a good battle but unless they do something stupid I think it will be McLaren leading the challenge next season with Ferrari and Merc fighting for 3rd.
 
Last edited:
How many times did Hamilton confess that they didn’t understand why the 2023 car did/didn’t work as well as they expected at various tracks?

3? 4?

If they don’t fully understand why the old car behaved they way it did, you can’t really expect them to sudden rock up in March with an RBR beating car.
 
Terminal_Boy said:
How many times did Hamilton confess that they didn’t understand why the 2023 car did/didn’t work as well as they expected at various tracks?

3? 4?

If they don’t fully understand why the old car behaved they way it did, you can’t really expect them to sudden rock up in March with an RBR beating car.
Click to expand...
James Allison seems pretty confident on explaining why the car acted the way it did.
 
Terminal_Boy said:
How many times did Hamilton confess that they didn’t understand why the 2023 car did/didn’t work as well as they expected at various tracks?

3? 4?

If they don’t fully understand why the old car behaved they way it did, you can’t really expect them to sudden rock up in March with an RBR beating car.
Click to expand...
They’re going to go with a more ‘traditional’ concept though, and they have the funding so no reason they won’t be competitive. Ferrari, McLaren and RB will all be building on their existing foundations though so will be hard for Merc. Alpha Tauri is also going to be more of a ‘B team’ to RB than having their own concept so they might improve too.
 
chrismscotland said:
Merc seemed fairly confident throughout 2022 that they had cracked understanding the car at various points and got nowhere
Click to expand...
True, but that was always Toto talking and he was trying to pacify his drivers. The zero side pods were a disaster and jobs and reputations were on the line. When they finally got shot of the pods they still had a heavy gearbox causing drag.

I‘ve no doubt we’re going to see the Merc challenging again, I’ve no doubt that RB will improve again under Newey a close season with at least 3 teams challenging would be welcomed
 
I think they will drop behind Ferrari, McLaren and AM to be honest. Seem to have lost the technical edge they had (possibly brain drain related, who knows).
 
The longer it takes them go get back to the top the better for the sport. They dominated for 8years, it's time for fans of other teams to get some enjoyment.

Don't get me wrong I want to see closer battles at the top but would rather see Williams, McLaren, Ferrari to challenge RB.
 
bayo000 said:
Don't get me wrong I want to see closer battles at the top but would rather see Williams, McLaren, Ferrari to challenge RB.
Click to expand...
Had Hamilton walked away with the trophy in 2021 I’d imagine a lot of British fans would have been quite happy with him moving into an Alonso type position. Mid table ambassador of the sport type thing. As it stands there’s no way round it, he deserves - and is owed his eight title and currently it still seems like Mercedes is best placed to give him that.

Currently the more I see of them, the more I’m going off the other British drivers which is a shame. Having disliked the whole fiasco around him joining, I’d say Piastri would be my favourite non-Hamilton driver at the moment!

Phreaky said:
I think they will drop behind Ferrari, McLaren and AM to be honest. Seem to have lost the technical edge they had (possibly brain drain related, who knows).
Click to expand...
But they had an absolute dog of a car in 2022 and partly this year. Yet still came second in the constructors and almost second in the WDC. They’re still doing some things better than the other teams, clearly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom