Discussion
off topic (slightly) but how much are honda locked in to the mclaren-only deal? And what's in it for them?
Seems odd, especially given mclaren haven't been at their greatest the last few years and evan now with whats by far and away the best engine aren't showing too much for it, and it's not like there'd be a lack of takers (red bull?)
Seems odd, especially given mclaren haven't been at their greatest the last few years and evan now with whats by far and away the best engine aren't showing too much for it, and it's not like there'd be a lack of takers (red bull?)
ukaskew said:
Out of interest, do the rules allow Honda to test their engine in something resembling a current F1 car (or anything with wheels, really) this year to iron out any issues pre-official pre-season testing?
There are limited opportunities within the regs for them to test in an F1 chassis. Current cars can only be tested in the official FIA-sanctioned tests, and previous years' cars, when run by the manufacturers or third parties appointed by them, may only run in a configuration complying with the rules of their original year of manufacture, so no opportunities for an engine swap there.The question is whether they are officially considered a manufacturer at the moment, given that they aren't entering until next year. If not, then I see no reason why they couldn't modify one of their old cars to accept the new powertrain for testing.
Ferrari got around it by testing their engine in a modified LaFerrari road car muletto...
Interesting debate over Honda. Some have said that Mercedes do not have such an advantage because they would have all 8 top finishes this season. However the BBC at Bahrain gave the speeds accelerating onto the start finish strait and yes the Mercedes had all top 8 places. The Mercedes concept and layout clearly has more than an edge on Ferarri and Renault. Have we seen a 15 mph diference in top speed since the late 80s when we had normally aspirated cars running against turbos? This year already looks over if you are not in the Mercedes works cars, Fangio and Moss silver train of 1955 part 2. How are Renault in particular going to resolve their problems without a major redesign which the rules don`t allow anyway?
simonpeter said:
How are Renault in particular going to resolve their problems without a major redesign which the rules don`t allow anyway?
This season may be a write off for them, but there is another homologation opportunity before next season, so expect any major redesigns to surface then. This next homologation period runs until the end of the current formula though, so you'd better hope that everyone gets it right second time around.Interestingly, Honda's late entry to the formula only gives them one shot at getting it right.
simonpeter said:
How are Renault in particular going to resolve their problems without a major redesign which the rules don`t allow anyway?
not sure that's the problem, Renault's issues seem to be about their ERS implementation, specifically, the ES and it's controllers overheating (that's largely been solved) and then the performance issue that their MGU-H does not seem to be anything like as efficient as the Merc implementation.if you look at the data when it's on-screen, it;s clear the Red Bulls do not have anyhting like the energy recovery from the MGU-H as the Merc's, their graphic seems to show only just over the 2Mj usage per lap, ie, the limit of recovery for the MGU-K whereas the Merc showing closer to 3Mj, ie, they are getting much more power back from the MGU-H
this may well be the 'missing' 80Hp red bull are going on about, it's not so much the engines missing it, just that they can't use the ERS anything like as much lap on lap.
this would explain why in single lap qualifing pace they are not that far behind, but in race conditions, they are well down.
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