Jordan's Track Talk

Tag: Mercedes

  • Russell to Mercedes 2022

    And finally, the announcement we have all been waiting for! George Russell has officially signed a contract with Mercedes and will be Lewis Hamiltons team-mate for the 2022 season.

    Russell has been a Mercedes junior since early 2017 but has been on loan to Williams Racing for the past three years when he got promoted to F1 in 2019.

    The Brit has had a very good racing career, with him winning GP3 in 2017, the Formula Two championship in 2018. Then since moving to F1 its been tough as we’ve all seen however, things are starting to change. Last year at the Sakhir Grand Prix we saw George step in for Lewis Hamilton due to Covid and well, let me tell you it showed how talented George is. He topped the charts in FP1 and FP2, he then qualified P2 in a car which didn’t fit him and didn’t have much time to prepare at all. He was set to get on the podium this race but due to a mix up in tyres and a puncture he was only able to grab a few points but they were his first in F1!

    Now fast forward to this year and all I can say on George’s performance is wow! His getting the Williams car into Q2 and Q3 and pulling everything out of it! He claimed his first points for him in the Williams in Hungary which everyone was very happy about. And now onto rainy Spa, he qualified P2, he beat two Mercedes (one of is his new team-mate) and a Red Bull. Due to the circumstances at Spa the race got cancelled after over 3 hours of delaying it, which meant George got half points and got on the podium for the first time in his F1 career.

    “It’s a special day for me personally and professionally, but also a day of mixed emotions,” said Russell. “I’m excited and humbled to be joining Mercedes next year, which is a huge career step, but it also means I’ll be saying goodbye to my team mates and friends at Williams. It has been an honour working alongside every member of the team, and an honour to represent the Williams name in F1. “Looking ahead to next season, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t absolutely buzzing. It’s a huge opportunity and one I want to grab with both hands. But I’m under no illusions as to the scale of the challenge; it’s going to be a steep learning curve.”

    “We are very happy to confirm that George will have the opportunity to take the next step in his career and join Mercedes,” said Wolff. “He has been a winner in every racing category – and the past three seasons with Williams have given us a taste of what the future could hold for him in F1.” “Now, it is our challenge together to help him continue learning within our environment and alongside Lewis, the greatest F1 driver of all time. I am confident that as their relationship grows, they will form a strong team and deliver for Mercedes on and off the track in the years ahead.”

    My Opinion-

    I think this is fully deserved, his shown what he can do and it’s time for him to take that next step and be fighting for podiums/wins. I also think that Russell and Hamilton would actually work really well as team-mates, I think George would push Lewis and be consistent in scoring points together.

  • Round 10- Silverstone Race

    Silverstone did not disappoint!! What a race wow…

    Hamilton has grabbed his 99th win of his career and his 8th British GP win! Leclerc finishes in P2 and Bottas in P3.

    The rest of the top 19 are: P4- Norris, P5- Ricciardo, P6- Sainz, P7- Alonso, P8- Stroll, P9- Ocon and P10- Tsunoda.

    We only had two DNF this race and that was Max Verstappen due to contact with Hamilton early on in the race which gave him a 10 second time penalty, then the second was Sebastian Vettel due to an issue with the car. Max has ended up going to hospital so I wish him a speedy recovery whatever the injury is!

    Both McLaren and Ferrari boys done so well both finished in the points and Leclerc got his highest finish of the season so far! The constructors is going to be so close now!

    Now onto the last remaining Brit, George Russell, brought the car home in P12, so close to points but we’re all very proud of him for such an amazing weekend!

    We now have a two week break till the next race and that is at Hungary on the 30th July till 1st August. Will Hamilton get his 9th win at the Hungaroring Grand Prix, or will Max be as hungry as ever? It’s all to play for!!

  • Round 10- Silverstone Quali

    GET IN THERE LEWIS!!! Pole on his home track and no better way to do it! P2- Verstappen and P3- Bottas!

    The rest of the top 10 are- P4- Leclerc, P5- Perez, P6- Norris, P7- Ricciardo, P8- Russell, P9- Sainz, P10- Vettel.

    Honestly, WOW I’m so glad George got into Q3! He was definitely right about the crowd because when he got into Q3, the roars around the circuit was unbelievable!

    Big well done to Daniel as-well! Mega day for him and to be right next to his teammate is the performance we want to see from him!

    The Mercedes upgrade definitely seem to work very well so far and it’s about time they brought something, it’ll be very interesting to see their plan for the rest of the weekend

    Red Bull I feel like had a good afternoon but when it went to the qualifying session in the evening they kind of lost their form and that ended up with Max not being first…

    My Predictions-

    For Sprint qualifying I think P1 will go to Hamilton, P2- Bottas, P3- Norris, P4- Perez and P5- Ricciardo.

    I’m very much looking forward to seeing this Sprint Qualifying tomorrow and what drama it will bring to the track!

    Tomorrow we have Practice 2 at 12:00pm – 13:00pm (BST) and then Sprint Qualifying at 16:30pm – 17:00pm (BST)

  • Russell VS Bottas

    The big talk in contracts recently is who will be joining Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes next year? Mercedes wanted to sort out Lewis’ contract first as both the team and himself wanted it to be done as quickly as possible, unlike last year. The main two drivers for contention are current Williams driver and Mercedes junior, George Russell and the other is current Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas.

    Russell seems to be going from strength to strength every race and season, last year he got called up last minute to replace Lewis at the Sakhir Grand Prix and I think we all saw how well he did in a car he doesn’t drive, didn’t actually fit into and had no time to prepare! We’re now currently seeing him put the Williams in and around the top 10 in Quali, seeing him fight for points and finish near the top 10. George has been at Williams for three years now after being loaned out to them from Mercedes, and his helped the British team develop so much and you can see how they have improved! Russell has also got approval of two time world champion Fernando Alonso, with George getting called “A future world champ”.

    Where as Bottas has been at Mercedes now since 2017, and his put in some good performances since his been with the team and his played a good part in the Constructors, but now this season it’s like his not there much within the team. He hasn’t had the best start to the season, his had no wins, two DNF and at one of the races he didn’t even finish in the points. Is it just simple bad luck? Or does he feel the pressure? Who knows!

    Toto Wolff, Mercedes Team Principal say “We value them both for their strengths and for what they can contribute to the team” on both George Russell and Valtteri Bottas.

    My Opinion-

    I do actually reckon a deal has been done but there holding off on announcing, I did think they would do a double announcement on the weekend of Silverstone for both Hamilton and Russell.

    However I want George in that Mercedes seat! I think he deserves it, his worked very hard in the past 3 years and I think that’s clear for everyone to see. Mercedes need to think about the future here and where they want to be after Lewis leaves…

    The thing what confuses me about Valtteri is the fact he says his fighting for championships and his said it this year as well, when in reality he isn’t… Yeah he has landed on the podium a few times this year but so has other drivers…

    The decision over the second seat will be made over the summer break and it seems that Toto Wolff has got a hard decision to make!

  • Hamilton Stays till 2023

    It’s has been announced today that Lewis Hamilton will be staying in Formula One until 2023!

    We all knew that Lewis and Mercedes were talking about contracts early this year compared to last year as they wanted to get it out the way and focus on the year ahead!

    And they have just done that… The Brit who is currently on a one year deal has just signed for two years meaning he will stay till at least 2023, depending on whether he signs another contract or not.

    Hamilton and Mercedes are currently trying to beat Max Verstappen and Red Bull to the drivers and constructors championship this year as Red Bull close the gap down unlike previous years!

    “It is hard to believe it’s been nearly nine years working with this incredible team and I’m excited we’re going to continue our partnership for two more years,” said Hamilton.

    It is still unclear who will partner with Hamilton at Mercedes but the main two who are up for contention are current Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas and Mercedes junior and current Williams driver George Russell.

    My Opinion-

    I’m very happy about this! Lewis is partly the reason I got into this sport and I’ve watched him since his very first season in 2007! It’s honestly so nice to see how much he has grown within the sport and all what he is doing with BLM and the diversity within F1.

    I think it’s the right move from Mercedes too as the regulations change next year and having someone with so much experience will help with the new car!

  • Flexi wing saga

    Lately in the news of Formula One we have seen lots of talk about Red Bull using a “Bendy wing/ Flexi wing” since qualifying at the Spanish Grand Prix

    At the Spanish Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton brought up that Red Bull have a bendy wing which he said was worth an extra three tenths in performance to the Mercedes. After the Spanish Grand Prix the FIA then announced they would have new tests on the flexibility of F1 cars rear wing and will be in place from the 15th of June (ahead of the French Grand Prix)

    Then leading up to the race weekend in Monaco, it came out that McLaren strongly disagrees with the FIA’s current plant to eventually outlaw the ‘bendy wings’. However no matter how unhappy they are with the current plan, they are reluctant to start launching protests against other teams…

    Christian Horner said during the Monaco Grand Prix weekend that such a tweak to the regulations could cost his team “half a million dollars”  an expense they can do without now that Formula 1 teams are working with a budget cap. Alfa Romeo boss Frederic Vasseur, agrees with Horner and slammed the decision to move the goalposts mid-season as a “joke”.

    It has now gone onto that Mercedes and Red Bull could end up protesting each other ahead of the next round in Baku unless the FIA provide further clarification on the wing saga. Whilst Mercedes have drawn attention to Red Bulls rear wing, Red Bull have now brought up Mercedes flexing front wing from the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

    What are the regulations?

    Article 3.9.9 of F1’s Technical Regulations states: “The FIA reserve the right to introduce further load/deflection tests on any part of the bodywork which appears to be (or is suspected of) moving whilst the car is in motion.

    My opinion-

    Personally, I don’t think its right, if its illegal and doesn’t comply with the regulations then they should change it straight away not wait a month later, I understand it takes time etc but Red Bull could of easily got it done by the Monaco Grand Prix as they had a two week break between them or by Baku as that would be a four week break.

    I do think Red Bull are just trying to find anything on the Mercedes so they can protest back. I think Red Bull will be the ones looking silly at the end of this, they could of just saved their time and energy and changed it as soon as possible…

    I do see this going on for a little while so come back for some more updates as they happen!

  • Hamilton to stay?

    7 time world champion Lewis Hamilton has said he wants to negotiate a contract earlier this year, as the contract for this year went over to winter break and he said it had “ruined” his time off… The Brit didn’t manage to sign the contract till early February, just over one month away from the pre-season testing and it only being a one year extension.

    Lewis volunteered to test the new 18″ Pirelli tyres for the 2022 season and after being asked why he volunteered at Imola, he replied back saying he plans to be here next year. You can see why he wants to be here next year as obviously after testing the new tyres he knew it wasn’t his time to leave the sport yet and he feels good about them…

    The question everyone is wondering is will he have a new teammate next year? And if he wins the 8th title this year, meaning he will break Michael Schumacher’s record, could he be aiming for his 9th?👀

    To be honest, I want him to stay and I don’t think his ready to leave for at least a few years yet! You can tell how happy and passionate he is in the sport and when his winning/making history.

  • Round 4- Spain Race

    And what a race that was!! I didn’t expect too much to happen but wow😳

    Lewis Hamilton extends his lead in the championship after finishing first, Verstappen finished second after not being able to hold of Lewis after his second pit stop… Verstappen also ended up taking fastest lap too and then we have Bottas who ended up finishing 3rd.

    P4 goes to Leclerc and P5 to Perez who was followed by Daniel Ricciardo. Whatever Ricciardo has done this weekend is obviously working, the only way is up from here🤞🏻

    There was a yellow flag earlier on in the race due to Tsunoda stopping at Turn 10 making his race stop earlier than expected :(

    I definitely thought that the Aston Martins might pull something out of the bag this weekend as both drivers have now got the upgrades but maybe it wasn’t the track for them 🤷🏻‍♀️

    Next up we have Monte Carlo on the weekend off 20th to 23rd May, it’s the race that everyone wants to win, so tune in for more details across the race weekend🤩

  • Round 4- Spain Quali

    Get in there!!! That is 100 poles for Lewis Hamilton 🙌🏻👏🏻 His closely followed by Verstappen and then Bottas…

    The two Ferrari boys seemed to be going good with Leclerc starting P4 and Sainz P6 they have definitely fount the pace…

    Ocon really surprised me he splits the Ferrari’s and obviously the improvements to the Alpine are working as Alonso starts in P10, not the best showing for his home race however😬

    I actually expected better from Perez… his starting in P8 as he spun at turn 13 earlier in Q3 which meant he could only set one time in the session, he will be on the hunt tomorrow…

    A team I haven’t mentioned recently is the Alpha Tauri’s, I feel like Gasly is doing well as usual but poor Tusonda his just gone down hill since the beginning of the season, hopefully we get to see him finish in the points tomorrow🤞🏻

    Predictions for tomorrow are P1 for Hamilton, P2 for Verstappen, P3 for Leclerc, P4 for Ricciardo and P5 for Norris😬, all eyes on to tomorrow👀🤞🏻

  • Grosjean’s special return

    It got announced today that Romain Grosjean is making a special return to F1 with a one off Mercedes test. Seven months on from his horrific crash at the Bahrain Grand Prix and he was determined that his final time in an F1 car wouldn’t be the crash.

    When Grosjean was recovering in the hospital he had received a promise of an F1 test with Mercedes from the main man Toto Wolff… And Toto kept that promise, Grosjean will drive Lewis Hamilton’s 2019 championship winning W10 in a full day test at the French Grand Prix venue Circuit Paul Ricard on June the 29th, he will also pilot the car for a series of demonstration laps ahead of his home race at the same venue two days earlier.

    After an amazing stint of 10 seasons in F1, Romain is now on a new chapter of his racing career, as he is now competing in IndyCar for Dale Coyne Racing.

    I think its such a remarkable and amazing thing to do after such a horrifying crash! It made me so happy when I saw the announcement today, Grosjean is definitely an inspiration to everyone! I didn’t have a doubt in my mind that Mercedes or Toto wouldn’t go through with the promise! 🙌🏻

    If you wasn’t planning on watching the French Grand Prix, I think you should change that! Going to be an emotional one on the 27th of June❤️

  • Round 3- Portimao Race

    And that’s another win for Lewis!! Making him have an 8 point advantage on Verstappen🙌🏻👏🏻 We then had Verstappen 2nd and Bottas 3rd, Bottas also managed to get fastest lap after Max originally got it but he exceeded track limits so it got deleted👀

    Another amazing drive for Lando Norris, unfortunately no podium for him this time around but he did manage to finish P5 and also Daniel Ricciardo from starting at P16 to finishing in the points at P9👏🏻 Amazing drive from the Aussie!

    We had one safety car this race as predicted and that was for Kimi Raikkonen when trying to over take his team mate early on in the race which means Kimi’s race ended quicker than expected😬

    Perez seemed to be on form today more than Verstappen anyway👀, unfortunately he missed out on the podium just but done his best finish with the Red Bull team!

    The Alpine pair were on fire today Ocon finished P7 and Alonso P8, Alonso done some amazing overtakes towards the end of the race trying to get more points for the team!

    We only have to wait a week till the next race and we are in Barcelona 🇪🇸 all eyes onto then👀

  • Round 1- Bahrain Race

    GET IN THERE LEWIS. That is a Formula One race right there… Hamilton held off Verstappen in the first race of the season. Not only did Hamilton win the race he also passed Michael Schumacher’s record of 5,111 for the most laps led in F1 history. Finishing behind Verstappen was Bottas and he also managed to take the fastest lap of the Red Bulls too.

    Lando Norris and Sergio Perez make it fourth and fifth… These two shocked me so much, obviously McLaren has the power etc but Norris was just on another level today, he really held his own. And Perez from starting in the pits as there was an issue on the formation lap to then finish 5th is just wow, you can understand why he got the Red Bull seat now.

    The rookie Yuki Tsunoda made it into the points for his first F1 race and no doubt he is very happy with that! One rookie we should mention is Nikita Mazepin, he spun and crashed on the first lap of his first ever F1 race, he must be gutted…

    Aston Martin and Sebastian Vettel must be gutted too, making their come back to F1 and not having the best of races… Vettel starting P20 as he was handed a 5 place grid penalty after ignoring yellow flag and then he caused a collision with Ocon in the race, Seb finished P15.

    My driver of the day would be Red Bull’s Perez, he done very well and deserves it. Keep an eye out for a poll so you can make your vote! 😜Now we only have to wait 3 weeks until the next race… Which is in Italy from the 16th-18th of April.

  • Mercedes vs Red Bull

    So one of the biggest rivalries on grid is Mercedes and Red Bull, they are the two top teams who are always fighting against each other for the top spot on the podium.

    Every race weekend we always see Mercedes and Red Bull pushing each other, however there hasn’t been two consistent drivers at Red Bull to properly push the silver arrows… However could this all change this year, with having Sergio Perez teamed up with Max Verstappen?

    I always believe that you can never go by how the teams are in pre-season testing as the top teams always hide how good they are but Mercedes have never been that bad before and I don’t know if thats a sign to show whats to come in this season or not?

    There was too many things going wrong for the Mercedes team over the weekend such as Lewis’ two spins which included one bringing out a red flag, also the amount of grip and pace they didn’t have, they was all over the track! (and not in a good way) They also run into an issue on the first session of the first day which only let Bottas do as not as many laps as he would of wanted.

    Red Bull was very consistent over the weekend and they also had the pace unlike the Mercedes. Red Bull have been pushing everything to stop the Mercs from winning another championship and I do think they could possibly do it, IF and thats a very big if Mercedes don’t sort out their problems before the first race which is in 10 days time.

    If Mercedes do some how sort out all their problems and have the pace unlike testing, I do still think Red Bull will have a strong fight against them and there will be a few interesting battles on the track this year!

  • Williams To Increase Partnership with Mercedes

    Williams have been in F1 since 1978, it was first founded by Frank Williams and a British engineer called Patrick Head in 1977. Throughout the years they have gone on to win races and championships. Through 1980- 1997 they won nine constructors championship. Claire (Frank Williams daughter) took over from Frank in 2013. In September 2020, Frank and Claire Williams decided to step away from Williams and the sport but leaving their name.

    It had been sold to a New York based private investment company called Dorilton Capital in August. It has then since been announced that Jost Capito is now the chief Executive Officer and Simon Roberts is now the team principal.

    In 2014 Williams announced they was partnering with Mercedes for a power unit. The deal was originally a seven year agreement but then in 2019 they announced that from 2021 they would be working with Mercedes for a further 5 years. Claire said ” Mercedes has been one of the sports most successful engine suppliers and we believe that they will continue to have an extremely competitive package going forwards.”

    With new rules coming in 2022, Williams will now use Mercedes gearboxes and other related hydraulic components from 2022 onwards. Williams say that the increased partnership with Mercedes who have won 7 straight constructors, will enable them to implement a more efficient design and manufacturing process in the long term, which allows the team to focus it resources more effectively in other performance areas.

    Toto Wolff, the CEO and Team Principal of Mercedes said ” We are pleased to expand our technical cooperation with Williams through this new agreement. For Williams it makes sense to acquire the integrated powertrain after running our power units since 2014.” ” This is a project we’ve been discussing with Williams for some time and i’m glad we have been able to bring this extension to fruition”

    Some may ask why? But in reality it’s a good move form both Williams and Mercedes, with Formula One constantly changing with new rules coming into play including the budget caps. Its a big decision from Williams but it could well be a game changer…