Exactly what I was thinking. The difference in performance between Merc and McL is gear ratios. McL and Redbull chose long ratios. Specially first gear is really long for Redbull.
- Login or Register
No account yet? Sign up
Exactly what I was thinking. The difference in performance between Merc and McL is gear ratios. McL and Redbull chose long ratios. Specially first gear is really long for Redbull.
It was reported that they went with tall ratios.
Has a huge impact on regen, deployment and balance. Take a corner in 5th gear and same corner in 3rd. Also engine braking gets into the mix.
I'm not sure if only one tunnel can be nominated a year... Aston Martin switched to their own tunnel mid season.
I think the "mind blowing" change might well have had to do with the exhaust manifold. Maybe they've done something really clever reducing hot gas volume to the turbo and reducing packaging volume of the manifold inside the sidepod as well.Badger wrote: ↑30 Jun 2026, 12:29There is some speculation in the paddock that the RBPT has the largest turbo diameter, or the most turbo airflow anyways. This may explain a few things that we are seeing.
- ADUO results which indicate high peak power (but clearly not more overall PU performance than Merc).
- Start struggles.
- Driveability issues in low speed (turbo lag).
- PU being very competitive at altitude in Austria (arguably a 100% match for Merc who had brand new PUs).
Nothing confirmed but I can see why people believe this to be true, it fits the rather confusing picture. Also if true it's stupid that turbo size is not accounted for in the ADUO calculation.
- Slightly larger air-scoop, slightly larger exhaust diameter.
Audi are probably planning to break the sound barrier.Brahmal wrote: ↑01 Jul 2026, 22:20https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HBImPP2awAA ... =4096x4096
Here's a gear ratio chart from the beginning of the season, showing a similarly tall first gear to Merc and shorter on the rest. Not entirely sure how he arrived at these figures, but hopefully this Federico Albano fellow is keeping an eye out as I'd imagine McLaren and Audi would be considering changes as well. Audi are also known to have maximum turbo diameter.
Made me spill my coffeevenkyhere wrote: ↑01 Jul 2026, 23:04Audi are probably planning to break the sound barrier.Brahmal wrote: ↑01 Jul 2026, 22:20https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HBImPP2awAA ... =4096x4096
Here's a gear ratio chart from the beginning of the season, showing a similarly tall first gear to Merc and shorter on the rest. Not entirely sure how he arrived at these figures, but hopefully this Federico Albano fellow is keeping an eye out as I'd imagine McLaren and Audi would be considering changes as well. Audi are also known to have maximum turbo diameter.
What about the other teams Mercedes supplies their PU to - Alpine, Williams ? Why are theirs slightly different from the Merc ? Unless they choose their own ratios / design their own gearbox, theirs should be coincident with the factory team's. Same Q with Haas & Ferrari and Redbull & RacingBulls.
Or is the chart not free from 'data noise' from the huge amounts of data that was snooped/shared (since chart is based on reverse calculations/estimates) from the early season tests ?
)