No F1 thread?

[mik]

The way the cars lose power on the longer straights (and bends) is rubbish.

[integrale_evo]

Seems way worse than the engine noise change and unreliability issues at the start of the previous hybrid turbo era.

These things have been known about for a long while now, I’m assuming there’s not much they can change at this late stage either.

If one team manages to nail their car they’re going to have a huge advantage, but as they’re all suffering to a similar degree it must be a fundamental issues with the rule set and allowed technology.

[Mito Man]

The onboard battery is something like 2kwh. Perhaps the 30kg weight saving should have been used to allow a bigger battery capacity… Also the battery will essentially be doing a full cycle on every straight. No idea if it’s still one of those components that has a limit but I imagine they’ll be going through them like disposable AA batteries.

[duncs500]

I watched the last bit of testing today, lots of cars doing test pit stops fine, and everyone got away on the mock start, so I think that issue has been overplayed.

Looks increasingly likely that the teams are going to force a mid-season adjustment to the compression ratio testing temp, which is better than for Melbourne but still pretty unfair if Merc consulted the FIA during development.

[Mito Man]

The last thing I read about the Mercedes engine made it sound much less like clever engineering and much more like plain cheating. Supposedly they do have the expanding piston design but apparently that’s relatively simple and other teams do too but their unique thing is that they have an extra chamber beside the spark plug hole. When the engine is off and cold a microscopic tunnel is open and connecting to the hole so it shows a lower pressure under cold testing.
When hot the tunnel gets closed off and their combustion pressure increases immensely

[duncs500]

The last thing I read about the Mercedes engine made it sound much less like clever engineering and much more like plain cheating. Supposedly they do have the expanding piston design but apparently that’s relatively simple and other teams do too but their unique thing is that they have an extra chamber beside the spark plug hole. When the engine is off and cold a microscopic tunnel is open and connecting to the hole so it shows a lower pressure under cold testing.
When hot the tunnel gets closed off and their combustion pressure increases immensely

I thought the compression ratio testing would be a dimensional test anyway, so surely ambient / hot testing pressure is irrelevant to that? Although, perhaps there is a pressure test too that they use that to beat?

[mik]

I thought the compression ratio testing would be a dimensional test anyway, so surely ambient / hot testing pressure is irrelevant to that? Although, perhaps there is a pressure test too that they use that to beat?

You need to watch the vid I posted on p297 : tested at ambient but careful material selection can provide higher compression at higher temps.

@Mito Man If that's not specifically disallowed in the rules, then I think it's just very very clever

[duncs500]

I thought the compression ratio testing would be a dimensional test anyway, so surely ambient / hot testing pressure is irrelevant to that? Although, perhaps there is a pressure test too that they use that to beat?

You need to watch the vid I posted on p297 : tested at ambient but careful material selection can provide higher compression at higher temps.

@Mito Man If that's not specifically disallowed in the rules, then I think it's just very very clever

I have watched that video, and I understand the mechanism. However, from everything I've seen it is a dimensional test, eg they obtain the volumes to derive the compression ratio. The pressure is not a measurement needed to derive the compression ratio.

I'm not saying that there isn't an FIA pressure test, or that they're not using this method to circumvent it, but I don't see it's relation to the compression ratio topic. I might be wrong, but I'm not sure how the video proves that?

[duncs500]

Apparently they're having a vote to increase the testing temp.

[Mito Man]

Yep, which will most likely go through but it will be for the 14th race of the season. If either Mercedes or Mclaren have a rocketship it should still give them a decent advantage.

[jamcg]

Mercedes still don’t have their bio fuel homologated yet, only Ferrari (shell) and Audi (bp) have theirs approved, and Ferrari have been running it in testing too. There’s talk of Mercedes being allowed a temporary regular fuel, but it may be at reduced octane or something of they don’t have sustainable fuel ready

[IanF]

[Mito Man]

That is some peak Italian engineering

[IanF]

Better view of it..

[integrale_evo]

If they’re allowed to do it I’m surprised no one has done it before.

I actually thought the drs activation mechanism was a standardised part, or at least the amount it was able to move was limited.

[jamcg]

No drs anymore, just active aero. There’s a few different techniques going on, Mercedes is still like drs, Audi pivots from the centre point of the wing, alpine pivots from the front edge and drops down. Interesting to see innovation in the sport again

[Mito Man]

This evenings practice race start went well again. They have amended the start procedure by flashing a blue light a few seconds before the red lights start to come on which gives drivers time to rev the engines. The Ferrari however seems to consistently launch like a rocket with Lewis overtaking cars a few rows in front!

The Ferrari genuinely has a lot of innovation. It’s got a blown diffuser too! I’m trying to save my excitement because it’s Ferrari

[Marv]

Better view of it..

That'll be banned pretty quickly

[integrale_evo]

Missed a trick by not putting the sponsors logo the other way up

[GG.]

How long into a race before it involuntarily sheds weight by ejecting the flapping wing into the car behind?