🩵 "I'm out, what the fuck happened with the SOC* down the straight??? I have NO FUCKING BATTERY, down the straight! (...) Guys, unacceptable... Un-fucking-acceptable, this whole weekend!"
*State of Charge
【How Toto and @MercedesAMGF1 Keep Making Everyone Blame GR’s Driving Instead of the Car 】
Ever since GR received new PU components in Austria, his car has suffered from a loss of straight-line speed. Silverstone’s long straights exposed the issue even more clearly.
Instead of acknowledging the problem immediately, Mercedes first suggested that the deficit might be related to GR’s driving style. At the same time, that same narrative was amplified across multiple media outlets, with commentators and articles repeatedly claiming that GR was losing performance simply because of the way he was driving.
To rule that out, GR spent three consecutive practice sessions deliberately changing and testing his driving approach in an effort to eliminate driving style as the cause. He had to gather the evidence himself before Mercedes finally admitted that his driving style was not the problem and acknowledged that the car was suffering from an abnormal straight-line speed deficit. Even then, they continued to insist that it was not the PU, instead describing it only as some kind of unspecified mechanical issue.
After the British Grand Prix, Toto even told GR over the team radio to stop questioning the lack of straight-line speed. By contrast, McLaren has already acknowledged that Oscar’s similar issue was related to the PU. Mercedes, however, continues to describe GR’s situation in vague terms, leaving Toto to become increasingly evasive whenever questions about the PU are raised.
The obvious question is whether they are deliberately avoiding a PU change at Spa, one of the easiest circuits to overtake on. McLaren with Lando and Racing Bulls with Hadjar both chose to take new components there to minimise the damage, especially with the next two circuits being much harder to overtake at.
If Mercedes suddenly “discovers” a PU problem at one of those races and changes it there instead, it would be difficult not to see the timing as yet another carefully chosen way to make GR pay the maximum possible sporting price.
And that brings me to another question for @karunchandhok.
If Mercedes themselves eventually ruled out GR’s driving style only after three practice sessions of testing, on what basis did you confidently tell a live audience that his driving style was the problem when you hadn’t even looked at the telemetry?
What actual evidence were you relying on?
Was it based on your own technical analysis, or were you simply repeating the same media narrative that had already been pushed so aggressively? Do you really judge a driver’s ability based on reports written to serve someone else’s interests?
i js feel like the f1 community does not celebrate enough on how arvid is doing so well on his rookie year compared to how they hype up last year’s rookies