Mercedes Bradley Lord says Kimi Antonelli is stuck with the new (slower) spec car for the rest of the weekend.
"The car's balance is less consistent and less stable with the new package compared with George's car. And it seems to be more difficult to get through the slow
Apa perbedaan terbesar antara Mercedes W17 spek baru dengan spek lama?
Traksi & keseimbangan.
Upgrade Sepang tujuannya jelas: dengan kestabilan W17 yang bagus, tim mencoba memperkuat downforce secara agresif supaya kompetitif di tikungan cepat.
Memang berhasil. Tapi itu malah korbankan performa di tikungan lambat & traksi yang buruk karena faktor perubahan konsep aerodinamika.
Antonelli kehilangan waktu di sektor kedua, mayoritas pada area traksi dan rentetan tikungan lambat & pendek di T7-T9 dan T10-T13. Lalu ketika dihadapkan pada pengereman yang kuat seperti di T13 & T14, Antonelli juga kehilangan waktu di sana, tanda keseimbangan yang kacau.
Sementara W17 spek lama kekuatannya ada di pengereman & traksi di tikungan lambat/patah. Seperti yang ditunjukan Russell di Baku serta Antonelli di Monako.
Jadi bisa dibilang upgrade Mercedes bukanlah penyempurnaan. Tapi mereka malah menciptakan dua mobil dengan karakter yang berbeda.
Breaking News: Just to prove his point, Toto made championship leader Kimi Antonelli's car worse for Sprint Qualifying in Singapore. "Take that, Teletubby watchers," the team principal was quoted as saying.
🚨 Toto on those who suggest that Kimi is being favoured over George:
🗣️"They're brainless, whoever thinks that. I mean, it's completely nonsensical. We've had it in the past with Lewis fans. Do they think I have a button that says 'George engine failure now,' or disadvantaging
🚨 Kimi 🗣️"Already FP1 I was struggling, still a lot to understand about this package, the car is very unpredictable and it is very hard to put a lap together. It's a shame because I came with high hopes, but so far it's been very difficult."
"I think it will be a difficult
omg this is 2025 all over again when merc brought that shitty rear suspension upgrade that literally cost kimi the entire european part of the season and his mental state. i hope they’ve seen everything clearly this time and won’t make kimi go through the same shit AGAIN