ispano6 wrote: ↑24 Jul 2020, 05:57
I've been a bit busy with work and can't translate the whole article but here are the tidbits:
- The results have been a little disappointing considering the potential of the car that should be there.
- The issue is that AT haven't quite gotten to grips with the car. They don't quite understand where the performance is lacking but is saying it's more an issue of getting the right set up and getting the car in it's sweet spot. They don't feel they went in the wrong setup direction, but the results don't reflect their actual performance. (so perhaps there is a strategy issue)
- It was unfortunate that Pierre suffered engine troubles and then subsequently retired from the race due to gearbox issues, but the race data demonstrated good performance up until his retirement.
I feel RB/AT/HRD have some work to do to understand why their performance is suffering considering their PU should be close to on par with Mercedes. Rob Smedley had a nice breakdown of where the Red Bull was losing time and it appears to be during the middle and exits of medium speed corners. The RB16 matches the Mercedes in Speedtraps but it also seems that Max carries more speed deeper into the corners than Hamilton. Either it's a driveability issue of the PUs power delivery or Max needs to carry a little less speed and let the car settle with minimal lock before putting down the power. Hamilton's angle of entry was far less than Max's and seemed he needed less lock to get around it.
The different way of taking corners is not entirely voluntary.
As Marko stated, the aero is messed up once the drivers steer into the corner. Under- and oversteer are reported by Max en Alex in these situations. The longer the car is steered in, the longer the car is messed up. This also means the drivers need to be cautious when going on the throttle (mid section at or around apex) and going full throttle exiting the corner when following the ideal line. That's where they lose valuable time too Merc.
One way of 'driving around' the problem is to shorten the time that the cars needs be steered into the corner, and allowing to put front and rear wheels in a straight line ASAP. To do this you first enter the corner more widely (hence more meters to drive). This means you have some extra meters for braking too (which causes your entry speed to increase somewhat). Once slowed down you must however steer into the corner more heavily (closer to full lock). And your speed needs to be lower to handle the change of direction (hence mid section speed is always lower compared to driving the ideal line like Hamilton). Next is to quickly line up front and rear wheels so you can maximize acceleration.
Not taking the smooth ideal line but in stead 'attack the corner' is something Max uses more often. To prevent going close to full lock he however plays with the back using a slight and short drift. With TR I saw him do this even during several races, like in Singapore. The problem with the RB16 is that this drift is too unpredictable as well. He actually stated he could no longer predict the moment the rear starts to slide because it happens too quickly. So there is no control and he cannot carry more speed into these corners using this controlled slide technique e.g. during a single quali run.
For Max the aero deficit means neither the ideal line nor the alternative one will work in the Hungarian corners. This is hurting him and Alex in many corners: at least in 5 - 9, 11- 14. That is why the gap with Mercedes is so large.
@ Ispano6.
