Mercedes - The Pitwall Vs Driver debacle

[Nitrodaze]

Is this new? Haven't Mercedes always insisted on both drivers sticking to the same strategy, with the guy in front getting first dibs on when to pit?

I think the Mercedes way was the driver in front gets priority of when to stop and is entitled to come in first. However, Mercedes has not always stuck to this rule, hence you could say it is not really written in stone as such. The business about the right to change strategy was allowed in the past. But most noticeable is the pitwall dictating to drivers what strategy to follow during the race, particularly when the driver can sense an opportunity and wishes a different approach. Toto's talk that driver would lose track opportunity if left to make strategy calls is bollocks and he knows it. That is why Mercedes employ the pitwall crew to make such changes of strategy work using the vast data available to them. Makes you wonder how did Prost, Mansell, Senna manage to get to the end of their races without pitwall radios telling them how to win their races.