2026 Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team

[diffuser]

I'm thinking keeping the revs in the higher RPM range would allow the MGUK to harvest at wide open throttle down the straight, especially with active aero open in straight line mode. Shifting up to 8th would drop RPMs and out of the peak powerband. If the PU is clipping and needs to start harvesting, the engine should be at the highest RPM as possible when it does.

I would not disagree with that.

the 'peak powerband' is presumably the only place within which fueling occurs at the maximum permitted heat rate ....
at what rpm is this relative to the magic 10500 ?

does the 'boost' adjust to maintain the air rate ? (eg with rpm rise)

Corrected me if I'm wrong but in this thread we were talking about why Alonso often would stay in 7th gear down straights. I used Miami as example when he was chasing Perez. Part of it was 8th gear was difficult to accelerate in unless you're deploying electrical energy. ispano6 has suggested that in 7th gear he can maintain the max speed that gear has to offer. Use the reminder of the ICE power at high RPM to recharge the battery.

I think you're talking about how are we're managing fuel flow and richness over the RPM range?

[etusch]

Yes, correct me if I'm wrong, but when there is sufficient df, what kind of expression is "excessive engine power" When you talk about racing? Especially in higher gears...

I think Alonso could go 25-30 km/h faster in 7th gear by revving up a bit more (if the engine and battery are at a suitable level, that is when Honda achieves its intended performance).
And it's a bit difficult for me to understand what "excessive power," except for the 2 situations
range up to 140 km/h ( or what km/h now) df allows full power,
during braking.
( I don’t know if they used 8th gear anytime this year. I remember that Mercedes team was short shifting 7th gear. It was only showing up on the screen and jumps to the 8th because of sequential change mechanism.
My assumption for AM team is that their 7th and 8th gears are the gears for same job. Maybe they will use 8th at monza as 7th gear. At the end it is 8th gear but basically second 7th gear slightly longer than first one for some tracks)

[Farnborough]

Its an old circuit racers "trick" to have the two top ratio quite close to identical IF there's reasonable coverage in lower ratio gaps.

It may be used for change of conditions, headwind, drag level with chosen DF to effectively trim this part of performance without the ability to swap ratios inside the box.

Also, without much overtaking so far this season for AMR cars, then that 8th ratio use in overspeed when deploying raised energy (ot mode) and slipstream effects, has simply not occurred much in reality.

Sounds like with down on power PU then 7th was sufficient/ultimate ratio to use.

[diffuser]

Yes, correct me if I'm wrong, but when there is sufficient df, what kind of expression is "excessive engine power" When you talk about racing? Especially in higher gears...

I think Alonso could go 25-30 km/h faster in 7th gear by revving up a bit more (if the engine and battery are at a suitable level, that is when Honda achieves its intended performance).
And it's a bit difficult for me to understand what "excessive power," except for the 2 situations
range up to 140 km/h ( or what km/h now) df allows full power,
during braking.
( I don’t know if they used 8th gear anytime this year. I remember that Mercedes team was short shifting 7th gear. It was only showing up on the screen and jumps to the 8th because of sequential change mechanism.
My assumption for AM team is that their 7th and 8th gears are the gears for same job. Maybe they will use 8th at monza as 7th gear. At the end it is 8th gear but basically second 7th gear slightly longer than first one for some tracks)

Let's say it takes 400HP to get you to 300KPH. It might take:
HP -------- KM/h
=== ------- ====
402 get to 301
404 ------> 302
408 ------> 303
416 ------> 304
432 ------> 305
464 ------> 306
The drag gets exponential harder to push, the faster the car travels. You ain't getting 25 - 30 KM/h over 300KM/h without serious power. That and it's easier to accelerate in 7th gear that it is in 8th.

So we're saying he might have been holding the car at 295KPH in 7th and using the remaining HP, to charge the battery to attack Perez later.


He used 8th sometimes in Hungary, when he was close behind someone. Often when he was not in traffic, he mainly wouldn't go past 7th.

[zoroastar]

Yes, correct me if I'm wrong, but when there is sufficient df, what kind of expression is "excessive engine power" When you talk about racing? Especially in higher gears...

I think Alonso could go 25-30 km/h faster in 7th gear by revving up a bit more (if the engine and battery are at a suitable level, that is when Honda achieves its intended performance).
And it's a bit difficult for me to understand what "excessive power," except for the 2 situations
range up to 140 km/h ( or what km/h now) df allows full power,
during braking.
( I don’t know if they used 8th gear anytime this year. I remember that Mercedes team was short shifting 7th gear. It was only showing up on the screen and jumps to the 8th because of sequential change mechanism.
My assumption for AM team is that their 7th and 8th gears are the gears for same job. Maybe they will use 8th at monza as 7th gear. At the end it is 8th gear but basically second 7th gear slightly longer than first one for some tracks)

Let's say it takes 400HP to get you to 300KPH. It might take:
HP -------- KM/h
=== ------- ====
402 get to 301
404 ------> 302
408 ------> 303
416 ------> 304
432 ------> 305
464 ------> 306
The drag gets exponential harder to push, the faster the car travels. You ain't getting 25 - 30 KM/h over 300KM/h without serious power. That and it's easier to accelerate in 7th gear that it is in 8th.

So we're saying he might have been holding the car at 295KPH in 7th and using the remaining HP, to charge the battery to attack Perez later.


He used 8th sometimes in Hungary, when he was close behind someone. Often when he was not in traffic, he mainly wouldn't go past 7th.

maybe drafting helped him get use outta that top gear. and otherwise hes staying where the power and torque is in 7th. maybe until they update the PU it falls on its face in top gear with the current gearbox. be interesting to see if it changes as the engine is upgraded.

[ispano6]

I didn't fully understand the comment, especially regarding the phrase "active aero open on the straights." The part about high revs is ok. However, the section where the wings open, reducing friction, isn't energy recovery; it's where energy is consumed to generate speed. The section where the wings close, increasing downforce, is energy recovery. Maybe misunderstand ispano6 here. I don't know.

Instead of relying solely on the rear wheel, turning the Ice into a generator is something I think everyone does. In this respect, the new gearbox and the vibration-free, revving engine are promising. Even without the extra horsepower, these two alone would have provided a performance increase. Therefore, I think the horsepower gained with the new Honda Ice is only half the current situation.

It could differ per track layout and what kind of corners come after the straightline. The trade off of not shifting up to 8th to realize top speed is minimized by straightline mode reduced aero drag and parasitic MGUK drag when clipping starts. The confusing aspect of clipping vs harvesting under braking is that you may have maps where even if you lift to coast you may experience a spike in RPMs. Ideally if you could be in neutral gear and rev the engine up to max RPM(like at race starts) without affecting the gradual deceleration from coasting, you'd utilize that kind of map. During harvesting on straights you are at max throttle and when clipping starts the drivetrain could theoretically disengage the rear gearbox such that any rotation of the PU goes directly to the MGUK and instead of engine braking slowing down the car you just coast as efficiently as possible. I'm not saying this is what Honda is exactly doing but there was evidence of this kind of RPM spike behavior in several preseason test runs and at some circuits. Having the lowest numbers in the speed trap may be a choice where the benefit of reaching that speed doesn't pay off as much due to having to brake harder or put more energy into the tyres when attacking a corner. It might be Alonso's tyres in Hungary didn't degrade as much because the car is geared toward efficiency and less delta in corner entry speeds from deceleration. The penalty is not having straightline speed to catch your opponent if you aren't within 1 second behind to use overtake mode. The new chassis should give the AMR26 the ability to catch the car in front through the corners and be able to use overtake mode when it becomes available. Hopefully the team is figuring this out.

[diffuser]

Yes, correct me if I'm wrong, but when there is sufficient df, what kind of expression is "excessive engine power" When you talk about racing? Especially in higher gears...

I think Alonso could go 25-30 km/h faster in 7th gear by revving up a bit more (if the engine and battery are at a suitable level, that is when Honda achieves its intended performance).
And it's a bit difficult for me to understand what "excessive power," except for the 2 situations
range up to 140 km/h ( or what km/h now) df allows full power,
during braking.
( I don’t know if they used 8th gear anytime this year. I remember that Mercedes team was short shifting 7th gear. It was only showing up on the screen and jumps to the 8th because of sequential change mechanism.
My assumption for AM team is that their 7th and 8th gears are the gears for same job. Maybe they will use 8th at monza as 7th gear. At the end it is 8th gear but basically second 7th gear slightly longer than first one for some tracks)

Let's say it takes 400HP to get you to 300KPH. It might take:
HP -------- KM/h
=== ------- ====
402 get to 301
404 ------> 302
408 ------> 303
416 ------> 304
432 ------> 305
464 ------> 306
The drag gets exponential harder to push, the faster the car travels. You ain't getting 25 - 30 KM/h over 300KM/h without serious power. That and it's easier to accelerate in 7th gear that it is in 8th.

So we're saying he might have been holding the car at 295KPH in 7th and using the remaining HP, to charge the battery to attack Perez later.


He used 8th sometimes in Hungary, when he was close behind someone. Often when he was not in traffic, he mainly wouldn't go past 7th.

maybe drafting helped him get use outta that top gear. and otherwise hes staying where the power and torque is in 7th. maybe until they update the PU it falls on its face in top gear with the current gearbox. be interesting to see if it changes as the engine is upgraded.

I think it's deployment, they didn't have alot of deployment. When you're close behind someone, you get extra deployment. You need a serious push from the MGU-K to get that car up to 322KPH, there isn't alot of room on that straight either. It takes longer to stop from 322kph, so you have to start braking earlier. More wear on the tires too. It's not lift and coast any more. It's super clip, lift and coast.

I'm sure with the new ICE, we'll not see him stay in 7th any more but he'll still do the super clip, lift and coast.