2025/2026 Hybrid Powerunit speculation

[venkyhere]

What do you think about all of this? Is the approach flawed in any way? Would you like some other tracks / laps to be processed this way?

Appreciate your effort
Since this a fastest lap attempt, battery is fully drained, similar to a quali lap. What would be more informative (and the 'hot potato' in this thread) is a typical race lap in the middle of a stint, where the driver has a target laptime and is preserving the tyres & battery SoC. Would like to see the same plot (same start and end locations as you've already done) for such a lap (pick a lap which is in the middle of a 4-5 lap cluster with hardly 1-2 tenths variance across them) and compare it with the above plot which you have already prepared. Also, if possible, a direct comparison of this fastest race lap with the quali lap to see whether the charge-discharge slopes are any different.
Also, if possible ( ) include the engine rpm & gear choice in the trace, it would be informative to check whether the changes in slope during the recharge phase is due to the gear changes or due to the algorithm itself

[venkyhere]

A engine that have 1/3 less power need to run 1/3 longer to have the same output.

Why ? It's 1/3 less 'peak power', and what did you mean by 'same output' ?

[De Wet]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws3yKTDM_ag


More speculations ?

[michl420]

A engine that have 1/3 less power need to run 1/3 longer to have the same output.

Why ? It's 1/3 less 'peak power', and what did you mean by 'same output' ?

A 100 hp engine need to run 2h to have the same output (work) that a 200 hp engine has in 1h.

[vorticism]

I think it will be very difficult to have an implementation where the the A-pedal input from driver 'does not linearly (atleast roughly) translate' to the operating point of the ICE. The driver relies on NVH to 'tune' himself to the power delivery of the car, and operating the ICE near peak power when throttle isn't 100% pressed (or even 0 pressed) is going to 'interfere' with the driving. This line of thought is what led me to think that % duration (in a race stint lap) of ICE operating near peak isn't going to change drastically, w.r.t previous hybrid era - instead of 'peaky' differences between deployment/recharge phases within a lap, the energy management would be more 'evenly spread' over a lap, just that the battery would claim a larger chunk of ICE output 'all the time'.

The part-demand (variable ICE output during variable PU output demand) regime seems important as far as feel goes. During the EBD days the drivers got used to off- and part-throttle idiosyncrasy, with the engine making noise when it shouldn't. Now with the MGUK variably arresting the engine, a similar situation presents: the ICE is making noise when it shouldn't. If the PU output rise and fall, including the engine braking feel, is dialed in, it may feel to the driver not too unusual. "Hot-blowing" of the MGUK at partial PU output demand.

[motobaleno]

https://it.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-fe ... /10787246/

steel head for Ferrari?
Beyond the specific news
the trade off steel vs alloy head could put in a different light the variable CR saga.
With a steel head is more diffcult to control knocking and maybe not useful to seek for increased CR

[wuzak]

https://it.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-fe ... /10787246/

steel head for Ferrari?
Beyond the specific news
the trade off steel vs alloy head could put in a different light the variable CR saga.
With a steel head is more diffcult to control knocking and maybe not useful to seek for increased CR

Steel is heavier than aluminum, but it allows for testing pressures and temperatures in the combustion chamber that have never been reached before, which should provide an advantage given that the PU in the next championship will have to weigh 30 kg more (150 kg compared to this year's).

The bolded part is incorrect.

The 2026 PU (ICE and MGUK) is 1kg less than the 2025 PU (ICE, MGUK and MGUH).

The rules have a minimum CoG requirement, so if the steel head can be made within the weight and CoG limits it may provide advantages in other areas.