2019 Aston Martin Red Bull Racing - Honda F1 Team

[Bill]

Well Honda always had a decent pu they just needed good chassis to show case their strength, they couldn't do that with B teams

[Quantum]

There is some interesting takeaways from qualifying and FP's 1-3.

Notably, Honda have a decent engine particularly their top end which is giving RB impressive top speed.
But for Red Bull, it's all a bit strange.
They profess they have a better engine, as do most observers.
Yet like for like Red Bull are a further fraction behind Mercedes than last year with a supposedly inferior engine.

2019
Ham 1:20.486 to Verstappen 1:21.320 giving a gap of 0.834.

2018
Ham 1:21.164 to Verstappen 1:21.879 giving a gap of 0.715.

The gap has grown by 0.120

Of course this is not correlated over an entire season, but it is indicative of season start at the same venue with both cars in the same conditions.
It is interesting though, that RB have higher top speeds but a lower overall lap time.

2019


2018

[Datco]

Great job by RBR. They always said they behind Ferrari. Truth is, everybody got it wrong about Merc and Merc did a better job than everybody. So solid start given new PU, lack of testing due to crashes. Let's not forget RBR had worse starts to the season since the hybrid era. Last year was their best given years of refinement. Disappointed with their mistakes with Gasly though, poor strategy is not what RBR is known for. They also sent out max late on last lap so don't know how good his prep lap was

[Fulcrum]

You will also notice Williams are last in practically every speed trap, while Vettel is close to the bottom in all of them.

Does that imply the Ferrari or Mercedes engines are under-powered? Probably not.

Top speeds at this circuit do not provide an accurate representation of power output. They are far more indicative of the downforce-to-drag configuration each driver has generated after setup.

[Quantum]

You will also notice Williams are last in practically every speed trap, while Vettel is close to the bottom in all of them.

Does that imply the Ferrari or Mercedes engines are under-powered? Probably not.

Top speeds at this circuit do not provide an accurate representation of power output. They are far more indicative of the downforce-to-drag configuration each driver has generated after setup.

If I read what you wrote correctly, it would lead me to a second part of my post I was going to add to the last.
Simply, have Red Bull changed their ethos from maximum downforce to one of more stability and efficiency?
The cold hard facts over 1 qualifying session separated by 12 months is not a big enough sample to come to the conclusion, but there is certainly smoke here.

The close separation of both RB and Merc drivers suggest that all 4 got close to the maximum of their cars potential in Oz-spec guise.

[HPD]

Look on turn 14.
Hamilton raises the accelerator a little. vettel brakes but enters fast. And Max gets up a lot. Lack of trust?

Max lost all his advantage with Ferrari in that corner. Turn 13 - 14




min 1:15

[etusch]

Mercedes: Red Bull "very different" after "huge" Honda step

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/merc ... t/4354031/

[etusch]

Max Verstappen: "I am pretty happy with the way qualifying went. After some of the difficulties we've had this weekend, especially this morning, I was a bit worried but the guys here and back at the factory have been working really well together to find a good set-up and I think we can be pleased with the second row. It was really tight in Q1 and on a street circuit like this you really have to nail the first run. I was lucky to have that second lap on the board where I improved but it was really tight, especially as we only used one set of tyres, unlike many others. I definitely felt the extra performance coming from the qualifying mode which is also very pleasing. It has been tricky finding a good balance and we are of course not where we want to be in terms of the gap, but we also have to be realistic and happy with this grid position. Fourth is better than we expected going into qualifying. It's difficult to say where we will be tomorrow and I didn't get to do a full long run on Friday, but it looks like the tyres are holding on quite well, so as long as we get a clean start, we will find out what we can really do."

Pierre Gasly: "I had a bit of traffic in Turn 1 but apart from that, I was quite happy with my Q1 lap. We went for one run whilst most others went for two and it cost us. I think we've been quite optimistic as we didn't expect such track evolution and the pack to be so close. We're not exactly where we'd like to be but session after session we're going in the right direction. There were not many overtakes at last year's race so starting from where we are, it's going to be difficult but we will of course try and make it into the points. It's a tough day today but we need to stay positive. For me, tomorrow will be all about gaining experience in the car and recovering positions."

Christian Horner: "That was a very strong session from Max and an impressive lap in Q3 to qualify fourth. Splitting the Ferraris was an excellent effort on his last run and he's getting our new power unit partnership off to a great start with Honda's highest qualifying position in the current V6 era. Unfortunately, Pierre, after a strong first lap didn't improve on his second flying lap and with the circuit evolving and other cars electing to take another set of tyres, he just missed the cut. Whilst that's hugely frustrating for him, I'm sure he will recover and race hard from there tomorrow."

[Quantum]

Look on turn 14.
Hamilton raises the accelerator a little. vettel brakes but enters fast. And Max gets up a lot. Lack of trust?

Seems like the RB matches the Ferrari and Merc in speed but loses out through the corners, especially slower corners.
Also, the the onboard steering comparison shows Ferrari require less input into the steering, less correction and less lock than the RB. Verstappen appears visibly busier to attain his laptime than the calmer Vettel.

[szlaszlo84]

I think it’s a sign of low downforce. Perhaps Honda hasn’t quite caught up yet so they have to run a lighter trim to keep up on straights, but it’s hurting them when cornering.

[Bill]

Redbull has always been stronger in slow speed corners,I quess the change in front wing has hurt high rake cars otherwise why did Mercedes vote in favor of those changes

[godlameroso]

So maybe perhaps there might have been an extra tenth with a perfect lap. It seems to me that these 2019 cars are still raw, and in need of refinement.

It seems a tall order to overcome, developing half a second of speed into the car faster than Merc can is a huge ask. There's no magic bullet that will add half a second of performance. Honda and Red Bull have to find a quarter second each to get on terms with Mercedes.

However this is Melbourne, it is a very unique circuit, and it could just be that Merc may not have as good a race car as it does a qualifying one.

[godlameroso]

I think it’s a sign of low downforce. Perhaps Honda hasn’t quite caught up yet so they have to run a lighter trim to keep up on straights, but it’s hurting them when cornering.

Could be they're slightly more biased towards the race, and having a good racecar.

[szlaszlo84]

I think it’s a sign of low downforce. Perhaps Honda hasn’t quite caught up yet so they have to run a lighter trim to keep up on straights, but it’s hurting them when cornering.

Could be they're slightly more biased towards the race, and having a good racecar.

True. There were some indications/rumours after FP2 that their race pace is looking promising.

[Bill]

Redbull traditionally runs a skin wing , if they find 0.3 tenth in development then they will be .2 to .3 behind which manageable they have great driver and other things like tyres will come into play. The winter test was done in very low temperatures we don't know how things will be in hot Bahrain