Quote Originally Posted by airshifter View Post
F1 doesn't owe Merc anything. They've won 8 consecutive WCC's, and there have been plenty of changes during seasons that impacted them and other teams as well. Is RB owed a favor due to the pit stop changes? Is Renault owes favors because the mass damper ban hurt them?

Merc and every other team on the grid understand how to quit beating the drivers to death, it's as simply as raising ride height. But Merc have chosen to try to stay in the hunt by trashing their drivers, and I'm assuming the drivers are getting paid enough to tolerate it. They aren't alone, but in the end it's no fault but the teams that let it ride. Being only 8 races in, it's kind of early to start crying for rules changes.


As for the rules being a failure, I don't agree. Much more extended close racing through the field, and overtakes still aren't usually easy unless it's the setup differences combined with DRS. But at least now a driver can follow in the wake and keep applying pressure without major issue, and do it for much longer usually.
RBR aren't owed a thing by the sport. The pit stops were a genuine safety concern and absolutely had to be done. And you'll notice far less balls up in pit stops since they came in.

On the other hand, Mercedes were robbed point blank in Abu Dhabi of a drivers championship last year and after years of investing in engine qualifying mode they were told mid season they could not use it anymore and there were zero safety concerns with it. It was nothing other than a blatant attempt to real in a team that had done a better job. Yes, Renault is owed one by the sport. The mass damper ban mid season was ridiculous. I think Mercedes are definitely owed one. Even the wind tunnel rules were designed to hurt them more than others.

As for the current rule changes, they are not a success while DRS is still needed. In fact, it looks harder to overtake now without DRS than it used to be because the cars have less drag. Being able to follow close is no use if you've no drag to get you by.