The Engine Game
Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull all have tricks up their sleeves - but who can maximise the magic?
Lewis Hamilton's W12 was simply ridiculously fast down the straights of Istanbul Park - indeed his track-record-breaking pole lap, when compared to Verstappen's best effort, drags out most of its advantage on the straights. And this is just the latest instalment of the power unit battle that has, at times, defined the technical battle between Mercedes and Red Bull this season.
Rapid. Credit to @racefans
Watching the Power Unit development race throughout the turbo-hybrid era has been fascinating - from afar most would say Mercedes have been unchallenged in this department during the entirety of the 8 years, but they would be mistaken; between Ferrari's 'jet mode' engines that reigned supreme between 2017 and 2019 and Honda's recent breakthrough, holding onto the throne of the King of Power hasn't been a cakewalk for Brixworth.
Furthermore, it is well worth remembering Mercedes very nearly had a nightmare 2014 season - something they did a great job of hiding by winning all but 3 races that season!
But this may just be the most intriguing chapter, not only because it could determine one of the best title fights ever but because this involves the manufacturers throwing everything they have at their Power Units in a last gasp attempt before the engine freeze.
In other words, everybody's putting their cards on the table - does anybody have a royal flush?
Let's analyse.
It's a beautiful livery (and always was) if you ask me. From @MercedesAMGF1
Mercedes are arguably the most interesting side to this saga, so let's start by breaking down what makes them the current pacesetters:
Their current PU is a fairly substantial evolution from the one that featured in the all conquering W11. The updates start with a larger, special plenum; the element that is part of the intake manifold and which caused the odd bump in the engine covers of both Mercedes and Aston Martin (with McLaren and Williams opting to widen, or 'bubble', their engine covers in response to the plenum instead).
The air inside the plenum was said to be super-cooled, a process whereby a liquid can be cooled below its nominal freezing temperature but still remain a liquid. Some super-cooled coolant is believed to run in the walls of this chamber, making the air inside it even cooler. The cooler the air, the greater the oxygen content and the more explosive it will be when mixed with the fuel. More boom, more power.
There were suspicions that they were illegally cooling the plenum, but these allegations were briefly dismissed.
Plenums and PUs galore. Image sourced from @F1.
Mercedes also re-assessed how to better use the heat rejection of the turbocharger. “Those changes are probably the most striking when it comes to crank power and the performance of the power unit,” said Mercedes HPP boss Hywel Thomas at the launch of the W12. A new type of alloy has been used for the engine block, in the interests of greater reliability as the strains imposed by the ever-greater power year-on-year had begun to tell in 2020.
The variable length inlet trumpets – which are standard on all F1 engines and which optimise the volume of inlet air according to the load and torque demand – have been made more compact on the M12E (the PUs name) by an ingenious snail shell-like geometry.
Personally, I quite like the bump. Via @F1.
From there they watched Red Bull and Honda eat into their advantage before finally taking it around the French and Austrian Grand Prix - we'll get to that later - and then regaining it by Silverstone, along with an upgrade that solved some of the aero efficiency problems that had been plaguing them so far. It's worth noting these aero efficiency problems are rooted in a combination of the 2021 floor regulations and their low rake concept.
For the British GP, the Silver Arrows opted to replace their preferred high-downforce setup for slimmer, more slippery wings and immediately they were back at the top of the speed traps. Max Verstappen was 20th.
A juicy close up of Merc's engine; W11 vs W12. Credit to @NicolasF1i.
This data shows just how much things have changed since Silverstone qualy-wise: (Via The Race)
RED BULL : Pre-Britain Red Bull 0.1121% faster than Mercedes - Post-Britain Red Bull 0.276% slower than Mercedes.
MCLAREN : Pre-Britain McLaren 0.4062% slower than Mercedes - Post-Britain McLaren 1.0901% slower than Mercedes.
FERRARI : Pre-Britain Ferrari 0.4896% slower than Mercedes - Post-Britain Ferrari 0.9459% slower than Mercedes.
ALPHATAURI : Pre-Britain AlphaTauri 0.6312% slower than Mercedes - Post-Britain AlphaTauri 0.9881% slower than Mercedes.
ALPINE : Pre-Britain Alpine 0.9525% slower than Mercedes - Post-Britain Alpine 1.3985% slower than Mercedes.
But what has to be recognised is that qualifying was the only point of the weekend in which the W12 had an advantage over the RB16B; an advantage formed out of the cooler conditions which were scarce that weekend. Once the temperatures picked up again Verstappen was comfortably faster, and barring further Hamilton heroics (not uncommon to him in Silverstone) he would have won had he not crashed.
In reality, the above percentages are a little flattered by Red Bull occasionally underperforming in qualifying - recall Imola, where a rare Verstappen error cost him pole, Portugal where Verstappen had a lap good enough for pole deleted or the aforementioned point about Silverstone. So they should be taken with a pinch of salt.
Bottas celebrating an incredible podium. Credit to @mycarbusiness.
The real leap came when Valtteri Bottas took his third ICE in Monza - he qualified on pole at what is the most power sensitive track on the calendar and tore through the field, starting last and finishing third. In the dry at Spa both teams seemed to be level, further indicating Monza was really where Mercedes picked it up.
The most impressive gains were evidenced in the weekend of the Turkish GP where Hamilton, even with a relatively high downforce rear wing, was much faster than his rivals. He benefitted from a reported 22HP gain, partly because of the fresh engine and partly because of the new, more aggressive power mappings.
Another close-up, circa 2017. Image source : autoracing.com.
These are a result of perhaps a more ruthless approach to the title battle by Mercedes, not only indicating that they were being more conservative with engine modes earlier in the season (hence some of Honda's advantage) but also that they're trading some power for reliability.
The team redid their engine mappings after Silverstone to increase power output but this wasn't without its problems. Firstly, the ICE struggled to cope with the raised temperature and pressure, leading to 'micro leaks' that amounted to reliability concerns. Both cars had to change their power units (in Hamilton's case, only the the internal combustion engine) ahead of schedule, and Bottas' 4th, Monza-spec PU only lasted around 2 races. 'Strange noises' where reported, too, which can only be attributed to the fears related to wear.
The 'micro leaks' problem was solved by reinforcing the structure of the ICE, a weight increase of 630 grams - dubbed '630 grams that could decide the title'. This is why only this component was replaced for Hamilton in Turkey; Mercedes are confident the rest of the elements can survive the run in to Abu Dhabi.
[The info from the above 2 paragraphs were sourced from @fiagirly on Twitter and the recent Brazilian Autoracing.com article]
Remarkably, Mercedes are adamant they haven't actually upgraded the engine and indeed some of their pace has been found from the aerodynamic upgrades - the Silverstone updates, apart from increasing efficiency, were pointed towards energising the flow under the floor. A low-rake car naturally finds it harder to reach the same suction peaks as a high rake car, so adjusting the flow around the bargeboards and engine cover helped add negative pressure.
The stiffer rear Pirelli compounds mandated at the very same race aided diffuser performance, and when you put all of these factors together a weak Mercedes suddenly becomes the title favourite for the first time this year. This would be their greatest championship.
Contrast. Via @TheHardCompound.
So what about Red Bull?
As we have already established, Red Bull's power purple-patch came in France and the two Austria races, where a combination of a good Honda package and Mercedes running large wings materialised into a straight line speed advantage. This has definitely been the closest to the top they've been in their seven year comeback, partially borne out of finally nailing their 'size zero' engine - a super compact PU designed for maximum efficiency that they began work on at McLaren in 2015.
Yasuaki Asaki (director of Honda R&D) explains where they started their 2021 PU revolution, 'The law of conservation of energy says that if you increase the horsepower of the crank, the energy of the exhaust will decrease. That's what we’re trying to address with the new framework, so we can increase both.
'MGU-H is a system that regenerates energy from exhaust gas. The amount of power recovered [allowed by regulation] of this MGU-H is unlimited. For this reason, that is the heart of the game. The turbo boost pressure is raised by the electric motor, and when the waste gate opens, the exhaust pressure drops and power comes out. It is called e-boost, but the usage is to aim for control that maximises competitiveness with complicated electrical management.” [Via F1].
Yasuaki Asaki, Right. Credit to @F1.
The positive results of that were that the ICE could sustain an increase in exhaust back pressure (the resistance to flow of the exhaust gases). Usually, increases in power from the combustion chamber will increase the back pressure but so long as the gains in the combustion chamber are greater than the losses from the increased back pressure, it's all worth it.
By re-evaluating how much back pressure was tolerable, Honda's PU engineers found what changes were needed in the ICE to align it to the changes in MGUH and its software. Valve angles were increased which, as well as changing the power characteristics of the engine, also allowed the cylinder head to be shallower and the camshafts to be mounted lower (and reduced in diameter, reducing the frictional losses). Different material for the block also allowed the gap between the cylinders to be smaller, thereby making the engine yet-more compact (remember the size zero thing? They made that better). The result, at the beginning of the season, was a PU much more powerful than Merc's 2020 world-beater.
By the summer break, Honda had secretly introduced an upgrade to their Energy Store - something they had reportedly spent years building up to. What exactly they've done with it is still a bit of a secret, but it is known that it is lighter whilst offering the same energy capacity.
An Energy Store is limited to delivering 4MJ of energy, but the regulations don't specify how much they may store - so a popular tactic is for teams to store more than 4MJ so that wear doesn't take the maximum storage amount to less than 4MJ. Of course, this comes with a weight penalty so as with everything in F1, teams must find a perfect compromise. 'Perfect compromise', as I have just realised, are two words that really do not compliment each other.
Red Bull, though, have 'bettered' their compromise.
I couldn't find a very detailed picture of Red Bull's whole, upgraded ERS. Strange, I know. So here's a nice diffuser snap. @scarbstech
So far it doesn't seem to have much damage, in terms of biting into Mercedes' advantage, but it could be that we haven't seen the best of it yet or that simply it pertains benefits that aren't yet obvious.
They'll definitely be hoping Honda's final efforts to finally provide a Mercedes-beating engine come good - as a last hurrah for the Japanese outfit, and as a good asset heading into a new era for F1.
The Honda-inspired livery was a nice touch by Milton Keynes. From @Philt43_Yewone.
So where does that leave Ferrari?
A terrible pit stop but a great photo. Via @scarbstech.
They aren't, of course, in the title fight - La Scuderia are off duelling with McLaren for 3rd place - but an approximate 15HP gain isn't something we can easily dismiss, especially as they gear up to be title contenders in 2022.
Leclerc took the upgraded PU in Sochi whilst Sainz did so in Turkey; with the main goal of the updates to evaluate its effectiveness as well as any problems for 2022. The results were seemingly small gains in many areas, from pure ICE output to ERS. Not only that, but it is lighter too.
Exactly where this has come from is still a bit of a mystery, at least to me (if you do know why, I'd love to know!), but it seems there is still more to come - their plans for the 2022 engine have been labelled 'ambitious' but the outcome could be remarkable.
The innovations are understood to include the intercooler solution and in the ERS' electrical system, but the real innovation may be in the combustion technology. Combining super-fast ignition with ways of making the intake mixture more turbulent – and therefore more explosive – and getting the flame to quickly spread to the edges of the combustion chamber are key to improving combustion and maximising the 500-bar, or 500 times normal atmospheric pressure, fuel pressure allowed under the current regulations. Weight has been saved elsewhere by making use of innovative new alloys, reportedly ready by December.
Where can they climb back to? From @motorsportimages.
So for Ferrari, it seems, it's all about the regulation changes. Will they be back with a title-challenging package? We'll see.
As for Alpine, well, I have no idea what they're doing. Apart from having beefy intakes.
That's... big. @F1Ally.
Yum.
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Comments (2)
Ferrari with their new engines are going to fly in the last 6 races. Beware.
Carlos Sainz 2022 Champion 🙏