Motorsport On Monday: 24/2/2014
Merc-engined teams on the march, Renault rivals in the pits
McLaren not bemoaning final year with Merc power
Case in point: first time out in Jerez Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari returned to the pits on a flatbed when the Finn had to park it after half a lap - this time round in Bahrain he put in a healthy total of 126 laps.
Secondly, we learnt that the Mercedes engine is emerging as the strongest and most reliable power unit on the grid. Merc motors powered the fastest five cars in Bahrain, with the three-pointed star sitting atop the cam covers of seven of the top 10. Rosberg was fastest on a 1:33.283, while Lewis was 0.989 seconds back of Nico in second. Youngster Magnussen and teammate Button were third and fourth in the McLarens respectively.
"Leave me alone I know - ... oh."
We also learnt that Renault is way off the pace and getting a little hot under the collar in more ways than one. The extreme demands placed on cooling through turbocharging and extra energy recovery in 2014, combined with Newey's compact packaging design for the RB10, has caused Red Bull major headaches. Rosberg has covered more miles in testing on his own than both Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo put together.
But the Renault engine issues haven't solely been limited to the pointy-fingered one and his new Aussie teammate. Toro Rosso had to cut its final day of testing short due to a "major issue" with the motor.
Red Bull car spotted out on track shocker
It's getting better for the French engine manufacturer, but having logged just 2,497 miles in testing compared to Mercedes' 6,264 miles worth of data, Renault is at a distinct disadvantage. Still, don't write it off.
A few other interesting points to note from scouring YouTube for footage of the new growling, force-fed V6 single-seaters: expect some odd gear shift strategies this season. Due to the way the electric and petrol motors combine to produce maximum output and the tuning of this torque curve, it's about finding the right time for an upshift, incorporating a hit of ERS, and not necessarily the right revs.
The drivers had to be crawling all over the 18,000rpm rev limiter of the 2.4-litre V8s to extract maximum performance. With engine rotations capped at 15,000rpm for this season and a slug of instant torque from the electric motor filling in any lag from the single blower, the 'optimum' moment - and F1 loves anything optimised - for an upshift will probably be different from first to second than it is from seventh to top.
Rosberg came away with reasons to be cheerful
If you want a 360-degree view - and sound - of Merc's 2014 car in action they were filming more than just Harris and Hamilton skidding about in E63s. Check out the lap of Silverstone with Rosberg here or below for the embedded version.
Torque could destroy engines and gearboxes, too. And it means we'll see more spins, crashes and racing driver excuses. Kimi found out why on the exit of T4 on day four in Bahrain, catching a kerb with the rear wheel of his F14 T and burying the car in the tyre wall. And we thought he knew what he was doing? Seems as though the Iceman was getting a bit warm in the desert.
Click and drag for a 360-degree view of the Mercedes F1 car at Silverstone
Images: LAT Photo
Sounds like a diesel tractor. Was he short-shifting all the way or is that really the rev ceiling.
I hope this isn't the future of video either. I probably have about 5 frames per second max, not the greatest way to watch a fast moving sport. (Same with the Harris movie.)
Can anyone actually see this video at a decent frame rate? I have very fast internet and a year old expensive laptop so I'm suprised that it doesn't work for me.
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