Mercedes are aiming for an eighth consecutive drivers’ and constructors’ title to extend their dominance in Formula 1’s turbo-hybrid era. Since 2014, they have been the team to beat and this year is no different as Lewis Hamilton looks to make more history in 2021. Hamilton has 98 pole positions and 95 wins and is on course to hit triple figures during the season. He is the favourite for an unprecedented eight drivers’ championship to go one better than Michael Schumacher. Nobody thought Hamilton would be breaking record after record when Sebastian Vettel was at the peak of his powers with Red Bull in 2013. But the 36-year-old Brit has become the benchmark in F1 through his consistency and driving ability which nobody else can match.
An unusual pre-season test for Mercedes
Hamilton may need to bring his A-game if he wants to retain his title. In pre-season testing, the world champion has uncharacteristic spins and was not happy with the balance of the W12. Despite Mercedes stopping development on its 2020 car early to focus on this year’s machine, they appear to have a big challenge on their hands t o stay at the head of the field . “We can see from the data we’ve collected over the last few days that on race pace, we’re not as quick as Red Bull," said Mercedes engineering director Andrew Shovlin. "The lower fuel work was a more confusing picture, we didn’t gain enough and we need to go and look at our approach as far too many cars were ahead of us on pace today. “We’ve had issues in recent years with pace in winter testing and managed to make good progress before the first race but we may have our work cut out this time."
Hamilton remains the man to beat
But Mercedes do have a seven-time world champion at the wheel to rescue them if there is a deficit to Red Bull. Hamilton has been an instrumental part of the Mercedes jigsaw and has shown no signs of slowing down. Last year might not have been his most impressive campaign but it was arguably his most consistent season in F1. Stunning performances in Portugal and Turkey were just two of the highlights for the reigning champion, proving he is still the driver to beat. Teammate Valtteri Bottas had a poor year and faces an uphill battle to retain his place at Mercedes for 2022. Everything points to Williams’ George Russell taking one of the two seats at Mercedes next year. On Saturdays, Bottas has challenged Hamilton regularly but race day was a different story. He made mistakes and failed to get the most out of the Pirelli rubber compared to Hamilton. Bottas tends to have some great days but too many bad race weekends put an end to any chance he has of beating Hamilton to the championship. Keeping the intensity and focus that is needed to beat Hamilton is essential for Bottas if he wants to end the year with a different outcome. Team principal Toto Wolff has been loyal to Bottas but will have to make at least one big decision in the middle of the 2021 campaign. Both Mercedes drivers are out of contract at the end of the year and are under pressure to deliver their best performances at every event.
Why Mercedes are so difficult to beat
But this is Mercedes, the team that has yet to be dethroned in the turbo-hybrid era. They have the perfect team dynamic and are set to continue their unprecedented success. Mercedes’ DAS (Duel Axis Steering) system has been banned for 2021 but technical director James Allison recently revealed how the team comes up with new ideas and revolutions. “We are a very unusual team in the way we come up with ideas. The idea of coming up with good ideas is something that hopefully, if you've got a healthy organisation, happens all over the organisation," said Allison on the ESPN F1 podcast. "We have had that approach for a while, and it predates my arrival at this team. A group of people sit down with one another very frequently, they are called the performance group. "Their job is to pose the right questions into the organisation. Meaning, if we could come up with an answer to that question, the car will definitely be faster at the end of it. "They sit together, they meet, they argue, they debate and hopefully at the end of it they come up with good questions.
"And that group is the group that came up with the question, would it be possible for us to be able to have the front toe directly steerable by the driver as well as the left right aspect of the steer?" It’s this mentality and teamwork which has kept Mercedes at the head of the field. They are always looking for improvement and are never satisfied. It would be easy to get overconfident or complacent but Mercedes act like a team which is playing catch up, rather than a squad which has won the last seven constructors’ titles. All dominance comes to an end eventually and 2021 could be the Silver Arrows biggest challenge yet. Can they withstand a resurgent Red Bull?
Most read
