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F1 News & Discussions => General F1 Discussion => Topic started by: Jericoke on November 30, 2021, 12:57:25 PM

Title: Tin Foil Hat Time: Was Mercedes Sandbagging most of 2021?
Post by: Jericoke on November 30, 2021, 12:57:25 PM

2021 has been lauded as one of the closest and most exciting seasons in the 'Turbo Hybrid Era'.  The amount of press suggesting further Mercedes domination would be bad for the sport.  For much of the season, the Red Bull has been the superior car, and Mercedes is on record as focusing on the 2022 car.. with Red Bull putting everything into 2021.

If Mercedes isn't developing the 2021 car, and RBR is, why is the Mercedes suddenly faster?  Are the tracks truly favouring Mercedes, or had Mercedes 'dialed down' performance, just letting things run at full speed at the most exciting time?

I have no proof, this is complete conjecture.  Certainly other Mercedes powered teams have suffered as much as Mercedes themselves.  Maybe the Mercedes team really is responding to the pressure and putting on a better race weekend.  Maybe RBR used up their good luck at the beginning of the season, and now Mercedes is claiming theirs?

Title: Re: Tin Foil Hat Time: Was Mercedes Sandbagging most of 2021?
Post by: Willy on December 02, 2021, 02:06:43 PM

Conspiracy theorists.....chime in.

I can't see that being the case as the other Merc-powered teams would have to be on board.

I can see Liberty & FIA wanting a closer season so doing all in their power to advance Red Bulls chances and retard Mercs.

Title: Re: Tin Foil Hat Time: Was Mercedes Sandbagging most of 2021?
Post by: rmassart on December 02, 2021, 02:52:17 PM

Well to add to the conspiracy, Lewis has said he was suffering from long Covid for a lot of the season. Or maybe he was instructed to sandbag to keep the season interesting? :D :D

Title: Re: Tin Foil Hat Time: Was Mercedes Sandbagging most of 2021?
Post by: Andy B on December 02, 2021, 07:57:29 PM

It's all down to Pirelli as they have been adding cumin, turmeric and chilli to the tyre compounds to spice things up!  :D

Title: Re: Tin Foil Hat Time: Was Mercedes Sandbagging most of 2021?
Post by: lkjohnson1950 on December 02, 2021, 10:44:29 PM

 :DD :DD

Title: Re: Tin Foil Hat Time: Was Mercedes Sandbagging most of 2021?
Post by: rmassart on December 03, 2021, 10:50:41 AM

Quote from: Andy B on December 02, 2021, 07:57:29 PM

It's all down to Pirelli as they have been adding cumin, turmeric and chilli to the tyre compounds to spice things up!  :D

 :DD :DD :DD

That would certainly explain the blowouts in the last race. But maybe they only did this for Mercedes powered cars as I seem to remember it was only Mercedes powered cars which suffered blowouts. The conspiracy deepens!

Title: Re: Tin Foil Hat Time: Was Mercedes Sandbagging most of 2021?
Post by: Jericoke on December 03, 2021, 04:25:04 PM

Quote from: rmassart on December 03, 2021, 10:50:41 AM

Quote from: Andy B on December 02, 2021, 07:57:29 PM

It's all down to Pirelli as they have been adding cumin, turmeric and chilli to the tyre compounds to spice things up!  :D

 :DD :DD :DD

That would certainly explain the blowouts in the last race. But maybe they only did this for Mercedes powered cars as I seem to remember it was only Mercedes powered cars which suffered blowouts. The conspiracy deepens!

That makes sense, Mercedes is German, and while Germany is known for many things, 'spice' isn't one of them. Red Bull is a Thai company though, and we know that Thai food has a fantastic blend of spice!