Let's talk Mercedes

[F1nKS]

The interesting thing is that both titles hang on less than 10 points going into the last two races. If there ever is a knifes edge situation, this is exactly it. Both or one of the titles could go either way depending on which team has serendipity and performance to seize the opportunities that emerge. Both drivers not in the title fight at Mercedes and Redbull, now hold the cards for which team wins the constructor's title for 2021. Failure to deliver by either driver, regardless of the reason, relative to their counterpart in the other teams would essentially hand the constructor's title to the other team.

The problem is we all know unless something crazy happens like Perez pulling a "Bottas Torpedo" and taking out both Mercedes - it is all over with. Verstappen does not have the pace to compete with Hamilton. There is no great, wheel to wheel racing or anything. It's like it reverted back to 2020.

Whatever Mercedes has done to tweak their car is big (or did they just throw out a couple sandbags?).

[djip]

How Bottas has cost Mercedes dearly! [Not his fault l must add]

Well you could argue that if Hamilton wins the championship, he will owe bottas a big thank you ! The "torpedo" crash at the hungarian grand prix is the game changer here. Would Verstappen had finished 2nd or 3rd, (wich we could expect) he would enjoy a comfortable lead today ... Of course, bottas is not a dirty driver and this is just racing incident, but somehow bottas will go down in history as being indirectly the game changer in this championship !

[denkimi]

Well you could argue that if Hamilton wins the championship, he will owe bottas a big thank you ! The "torpedo" crash at the hungarian grand prix is the game changer here. Would Verstappen had finished 2nd or 3rd, (wich we could expect) he would enjoy a comfortable lead today ... Of course, bottas is not a dirty driver and this is just racing incident, but somehow bottas will go down in history as being indirectly the game changer in this championship !

I would say hamilton taking out verstappen in silverstone and still winning the race because he was not being actually punished for it, was the biggest game changer.

[The Black Knight]

I would say hamilton taking out verstappen in silverstone and still winning the race because he was not being actually punished for it, was the biggest game changer.

A 10 second timed penalty was Lewis punishment in Silverstone, I still think this was a racing incident where both could have given each other more room. Unlike Max in Brazil, Lewis didn't get away with anything. Both Silverstone and Hungary were all unintentional comings together that happen throughout the course of a year, unlike Max's professional foul in Monza where his little brain could have ended up killing Hamilton had things gone really wrong.

It turns out Mercedes didn't even have the Brazil engine in this weekend either, so Saudi Arabia should be an interesting one.

[denkimi]

A 10 second timed penalty was Lewis punishment in Silverstone, I still think this was a racing incident where both could have given each other more room. Unlike Max in Brazil, Lewis didn't get away with anything. Both Silverstone and Hungary were all unintentional comings together that happen throughout the course of a year, unlike Max's professional foul in Monza where his little brain could have ended up killing Hamilton had things gone really wrong.

It turns out Mercedes didn't even have the Brazil engine in this weekend either, so Saudi Arabia should be an interesting one.

a penalty that didn't punish him the least. changing his front wing would have cost him way more than that.

if you put your adversery in the wall, and then get to repair your own damage under the safety car you have caused, you are not being punished.
just like the 5 place penalty in qatar didn't punish verstappen or the 5 place penalty in brazil didn't punished hamilton.

[The Black Knight]

a penalty that didn't punish him the least. changing his front wing would have cost him way more than that.

if you put your adversery in the wall, and then get to repair your own damage under the safety car you have caused, you are not being punished.
just like the 5 place penalty in qatar didn't punish verstappen or the 5 place penalty in brazil didn't punished hamilton.

You are being punished if you are getting a ten second timed penalty. You're issue isn't that he didn't get punished, he did, your issue is that he got punished and still won the race. From that point of view you can argue that the penalty was lenient, I don't think it was or that there should have been any penalty, but to argue that he didn't get punished is nonsense, he just didn't get punished the way you wanted or thought he should.

[becher]

a penalty that didn't punish him the least. changing his front wing would have cost him way more than that.

if you put your adversery in the wall, and then get to repair your own damage under the safety car you have caused, you are not being punished.
just like the 5 place penalty in qatar didn't punish verstappen or the 5 place penalty in brazil didn't punished hamilton.

Maybe check what penalties are and how they shall be applied. The consequence of an incident doesn't determine the penalty but the action that lead to the incident does.

[The Black Knight]

Maybe check what penalties are and how they shall be applied. The consequence of an incident doesn't determine the penalty but the action that lead to the incident does.

Agreed but as we not the Stewards don't always act that way. If Max and him barely touched and he had just gone wide and come back on track at Silverstone I doubt either of them would have got a penalty.

[Firstgear]

Although it's pretty easy to find fault in Bottas, you can't really blame him if the CC slips away from Mercedes. As the #2 driver, all you can expect/ask from him is to beat the #2 of the opposition. Bottas is ahead of Perez by 13 points right now, so he's doing his job. Hamilton as the #1 needs to beat the opposition's #1. Right now he's trailing by 8 pts. So if Mercedes loses the CC, it might be more fitting to blame it on Hamilton.
Of course this could all change in the next two races, but as it stands, it's Hamilton that needs to do more.

[Nitrodaze]

Although it's pretty easy to find fault in Bottas, you can't really blame him if the CC slips away from Mercedes. As the #2 driver, all you can expect/ask from him is to beat the #2 of the opposition. Bottas is ahead of Perez by 13 points right now, so he's doing his job. Hamilton as the #1 needs to beat the opposition's #1. Right now he's trailing by 8 pts. So if Mercedes loses the CC, it might be more fitting to blame it on Hamilton.
Of course this could all change in the next two races, but as it stands, it's Hamilton that needs to do more.

I disagree, as the number two driver, his job is firstly to beat his counterpart in the other team, but to also score enough points to help the team win the constructors championship. This is where Mercedes is feeling the heat. He is not scoring enough to keep Mercedes' hopes up. That would have to change in the next two races. We could say the same for Perez. He has to up his game to ensure he is taking as many points as possible from Bottas and where possible Hamilton.