Is Ron correct?
Discussion
In his recent interview with SKY and today in Autosport , Ron has said this about Customer Vs Works engines.
"Effectively, if you don't have the control of that process, meaning access to source code, then you are not going to be able to stabilise your car in the entry to corners etc., and you lose lots of lap time."
I am no computer expert, but my basic understanding is that the source code controls the functionality of a computer controlled system, but I would expect that all values assigned would be fully programmable by customer teams to cater for the circumstances of individual circuits, corners and phases of the race. He is effectively saying that Mercedes are not supplying equivalent equipment to the customers, which I thought was against FIA requirements.
Clearly the Renault engine is less powerful than all the Merc. customer engines, but they are 2nd in the WCC despite poor reliability.
I am worried that if Ron believes that his only problem is his Merc customer engine, then he could be seriously disappointed next year even with a super-powerful Honda power unit.
My guess is that Renault and Ferrari will catch up massively next year and RB become a much more serious threat to the Merc teams as well as the unproven Honda engine.
"Effectively, if you don't have the control of that process, meaning access to source code, then you are not going to be able to stabilise your car in the entry to corners etc., and you lose lots of lap time."
I am no computer expert, but my basic understanding is that the source code controls the functionality of a computer controlled system, but I would expect that all values assigned would be fully programmable by customer teams to cater for the circumstances of individual circuits, corners and phases of the race. He is effectively saying that Mercedes are not supplying equivalent equipment to the customers, which I thought was against FIA requirements.
Clearly the Renault engine is less powerful than all the Merc. customer engines, but they are 2nd in the WCC despite poor reliability.
I am worried that if Ron believes that his only problem is his Merc customer engine, then he could be seriously disappointed next year even with a super-powerful Honda power unit.
My guess is that Renault and Ferrari will catch up massively next year and RB become a much more serious threat to the Merc teams as well as the unproven Honda engine.
AndStilliRise said:
arcturus said:
Could it be that Mercedes have not given McLaren all the information they need knowing that they would be changing to Honda in 2015? If I was a Mercedes head honcho, I would be concerned about giving McLaren too much information in such circumstances.
Could have something there... The key issue is source code. If customer engines are not running the same source code as Mercedes run in their own cars then something is seriously wrong and is In breach of FIA rules.
Despite their considerable resources, McLaren seem to be loosing compared to other Mercedes customers.
It would have been wrong if the standard McLaren Electronics ECU source code was unknown to every customer other than The Mclaren F1 garage, but I struggle to believe that the FIA would have been unaware, if this were the case
It seems odd that Mercedes have chosen not to refute Ron's assertion.
In 2016, Honda may supply other customer teams. This issue needs to be nipped-in-the-bud,. And Soon.
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