2018 McLaren F1 Team - Renault

[ALO_Power]

So even if u wish to take a penalty u still can't change em? If u do then the car will get deemed illegal and get disqualified? It sounds pointless to me as well, especially when they used to be free to change race by race in past. I honestly can't see where this helps. It doesn't limit the cost or benefit racing in any way. Quite stupid for a sport like F1.

[Big Tea]

The F1 site says

Each team must nominate the eight forward gear ratios at or before the first race of the season. They are then fixed for the year.

https://www.formula1.com/en/championshi ... arbox.html

The components can only be replaced like-for-like

Edit.

I can not find any information on the final drive ratio. If the 'overall' gearing can be lengthened, and as 1st is only used for some starts, I don't know that it would be much of a loss. Max speed would not lose, just the option of which ratio through bends, and this can be tweaked with electrics

[ALO_Power]

Would be interesting to do some back-to-back testing at post race testing with correct ratios to check how much they're losing from that. Maybe they've done that, who knows.

[ispano6]

How long ago do the gear ratio issues stem back? 2015? Was it a GP2 gearbox this whole time?

[604gtir]

How long ago do the gear ratio issues stem back? 2015? Was it a GP2 gearbox this whole time?

likely a gp2 box to match the gp2 engine of the time

[McG]

"I can understand the scepticism of the teams, but we are not recruiting someone of the calibre of Marcin in a position of executive director JUST for what he knows of the other teams," Abiteboul told Autosport, saying he believed Renault had agreed a plan for Budkowski's employment with the FIA that was "extremely fair with everyone".

Split Turbo and twin battery perhaps? Haas like floor within regulations too?

You don't just go ahead and change your entire engine design at this stage in the regulations. Honda did in 2017 and look how much havoc that wreaked. Budkowski may be able to highlight some grey areas like the rumored twin-battery setup but not this. Split turbo is more for aero and balance reasons anyway, not power which is what Renault needs.

If the regulations aren't to change in 2021 and were to continue into 2022-23, then changing the entire engine design now with this major technical advantage coming onboard would give you 2019-2020 to work out the initial gremlins of understanding a new design's weaknesses, giving a more realistic shot at the title for 2021-23.

When it comes to Abiteboul I rarely trust what he says, and when he says it will be "extremely fair with everyone" I'm extra skeptical. The only way it would really be fair is if Budowski is barred from joining a team until the next formula is determined. If Renault suddenly makes a quantum leap with a new architecture I would be a bit suspicious. However Renault will lose a benchmark in Red Bull and will have to rely on theirs and McLaren's data, so that will be somewhat of a loss.

Ironically, as we've all seen, the havoc the 2017 Honda engine revamp caused became a blessing. And with the re-architecture they've set themselves up to hopefully match Mercedes... who have now been outpaced by Ferrari... So now we have Honda with a MB "clone" and could Renault pursue a Ferrari clone? It kind of makes sense to copy the fastest known entity. Renault might have made a similar dead-end realization with their current design that Honda did. All speculation ofcourse. I'm sure Budowski will make an impact, fair or unfair.

Such a blessing that they are still underpowered and unreliable and have used up all parts several races ago iirc.

Honda are still awful.

[M840TR]

"I can understand the scepticism of the teams, but we are not recruiting someone of the calibre of Marcin in a position of executive director JUST for what he knows of the other teams," Abiteboul told Autosport, saying he believed Renault had agreed a plan for Budkowski's employment with the FIA that was "extremely fair with everyone".

Split Turbo and twin battery perhaps? Haas like floor within regulations too?

You don't just go ahead and change your entire engine design at this stage in the regulations. Honda did in 2017 and look how much havoc that wreaked. Budkowski may be able to highlight some grey areas like the rumored twin-battery setup but not this. Split turbo is more for aero and balance reasons anyway, not power which is what Renault needs.

It isn't clear to me what is meant by split turbo. Compressor and turbine are always split. In the Renault I believe the MGU-H sits in the PU followed by the compressor then turbine. The Merc and Honda have the compressor at the front and Turbine at the back.
In 2016 Ferrari switched to the Renaut "type" solution and are generating the same,maybe more power, than the Merc.

Even on the aero balance you have trade offs.

The compressor is at the front, followed by mgu-h between the heads and then the turbine at the back. Ferrari have had the same architecture since 2015.

[M840TR]

Autosport:







Still can't believe they made such a fundamental mistake on gear ratios !!

At least full focus is on 2019.......

Anybody know what the gear ratio issue is ? 8th not big enough Step between 7th and 8th too wide not wide enough ?

I can't even find onboards with speed on straights....

This gearbox issue was clear in Canada (i hope im not wrong about the circuit), where Alonso was in the slipstream of Leclerc with DRS active, catching him up, getting alongside but unable to overtake, jet the RPMs were maxed out the whole time. The main pain of Mclaren is its gearbox. Damn shame they miscalculated the ratios. And honestly, its silly that ratios are not allowed to be changed.

Not true. The 8th gear is long enough to hit 350+ kph. Alonso did so during q2 at Monza in Magnussen's slipstream. He couldn't overtake Leclerc because of bad corner exit, aero drag and high delta.

[toraabe]

Mercedes engined cars are all reving around 500 rpm more than Renault cars

[johnny vee]

How long ago do the gear ratio issues stem back? 2015? Was it a GP2 gearbox this whole time?

likely a gp2 box to match the gp2 engine of the time

+1
so funny, so true.....

[diffuser]

You don't just go ahead and change your entire engine design at this stage in the regulations. Honda did in 2017 and look how much havoc that wreaked. Budkowski may be able to highlight some grey areas like the rumored twin-battery setup but not this. Split turbo is more for aero and balance reasons anyway, not power which is what Renault needs.

It isn't clear to me what is meant by split turbo. Compressor and turbine are always split. In the Renault I believe the MGU-H sits in the PU followed by the compressor then turbine. The Merc and Honda have the compressor at the front and Turbine at the back.
In 2016 Ferrari switched to the Renaut "type" solution and are generating the same,maybe more power, than the Merc.

Even on the aero balance you have trade offs.

The compressor is at the front, followed by mgu-h between the heads and then the turbine at the back. Ferrari have had the same architecture since 2015.

[M840TR]

It isn't clear to me what is meant by split turbo. Compressor and turbine are always split. In the Renault I believe the MGU-H sits in the PU followed by the compressor then turbine. The Merc and Honda have the compressor at the front and Turbine at the back.
In 2016 Ferrari switched to the Renaut "type" solution and are generating the same,maybe more power, than the Merc.

Even on the aero balance you have trade offs.

The compressor is at the front, followed by mgu-h between the heads and then the turbine at the back. Ferrari have had the same architecture since 2015.

https://gas2.org/wp-content/uploads/201 ... AAEV0i.jpg

Interesting. So the old spec was somewhat akin to a split turbo. They probably gained the benefit of running a larger mgu-h from this as well.

[mclaren111]

GP Tecnical:

As Key's arrival is unlikely to be anytime soon, McLaren has now signed Pat Fry to the role of engineering director. The Briton worked for McLaren between 1993 and 2010, before making the switch to Maranello. At Ferrari he worked his way up to director of engineering before his departure in 2014. He also briefly worked as an engineering consultant with Manor before that team folded in 2016.

Next to the changes, the Zak Brown-led team builds on former key personnel. Peter Prodromou will continue to lead the aerodynamic department, Mark Ingham and Neil Oatley will keep their leading roles inside the design department while Andrea Stella will be responsible for the car’s performance.

Pat Fry started working for its former employer last week, while it is still not decided when James Key will be released from Toro Rosso.

Great to see PP and Fry working together again as in McLaren's more glorious years....

Just in time to have a positve impact on 2019 car.

[GoranF1]

Pat Fry is a mistake.

[Ground Effect]

Pat Fry is a mistake.

Why?