TNTHead wrote: ↑06 Oct 2020, 10:30
Wouter wrote: ↑06 Oct 2020, 10:17
etusch wrote: ↑06 Oct 2020, 09:12
If honda is open to share this pu I think it is great opportunity for engineering firms and Redbull ad well
I agree to that @Etusch. Mario Illien would be great.
I see this as a highly likely scenario. The Honda PU is a valued asset. If RB (or any other party) can create a perfomance division with the right skilled engineers they could further develop the PU. Question is: with the law of diminishing returns, how much can be extracted? Merc PU this years suggests that there is quite some more to be found (assuming that Merc PU gain is 100% within regulations).
I think this year Mercedes' harvesting is incredibly refined now. They have so much excess electric power, they can afford to turn on a version of Quali Mode for short blips during the race, multiple times a lap.
To maximize efficiency, they program these boosts for the corner exits, when the driver is getting back on the throttle.
Top speeds end up roughly the same as last year -- but they attain that top speed much sooner, covering the distance between corners in a shorter amount of time. Same basic idea we've known from years of K deployment, just with "quali mode" instead.
The other half is that Mercedes is pushing oil burning as hard as ever, even after the FIA clamped down to a max of 0.3 liters consumed per race. The new Petronas lubricants are rumored to do their job using bare-minimum quantities, letting Mercedes burn the rest as fuel additives. Seems they combine this with the quali mode blips to compensate for the fuel flow limit, using the additives to run lean without detonation.
While they aren't tricking sensors or accumulating fuel in hidden lines and reservoirs the point is whether something is forbidden by volume or composition. Both are against the spirit of the rules just that the latter cannot be effectively policed, the physics is similar in both cases.
“Hamilton’s talent is perhaps even more than that of Ayrton or Schumacher or Fernando." - Rubens Barrichello