2021 - Race 19 Brazil

[The Black Knight]

The article explains it pretty clearly.

"The new Technical Directive will require the power unit to be run in the same single mode during qualifying and race."

It's just the teams' ability to turn the engines up higher for qualifying / key phases of the race that's been curtailed. Previously, teams had multiple different modes to choose from. They can do what they want and switch between them as often as they like in free practice, and likely do so to determine which is the best compromise for the rest of the meeting - but they have to pick a mode for both qualifying and the race, and stick to it. So, if Mercedes choose to run in a more aggressive power mode in qualifying and the race, that's fine. They would just be stuck in it all the time.

There is still an overtake button, to deploy more electrical energy, as could be seen and heard explained this weekend when Hamilton was trying to pass Perez - the Red Bull was using maximum electrical energy on the pit straight to fend off the Mercedes, leaving it more vulnerable on the back straight after the Senna S.

Exactly. They can choose whatever they want in qualifying and race they just can't change it after qualifying has started. I think they are comfortable running in higher modes now for the remainder of the season. If you think about their quali modes before they were banned, they used to get massive straight line speed boost on the straight, that's effectively what Hamilton had throughout the entire Brazilian GP weekend. And, as I say, that they can do this and make the car so much quicker now I think that Hamilton will be very hard to beat over the coming three races.

[denkimi]

Of course, it is not engine alone. There is the new device on the Mercedes car and DRS combined that helped produce that pace we were talking about. I doubt Mercedes would have turned the power up to its max redline output. They still need these new engines to be reasonably fresh for the last three races.

The new device and the drs were already there the previous races. And they are the same on botass'es car.

Yet hamilton was a whopping 36km/h faster than bottas on the straight here. With the same device, with the same drs. The only difference was the new engine.

But in austin, sochi en monza it was bottas who had a new engine. His top speed was respectively 0,5 and 0,2 km/h slower than hamilton and 1,3km/h faster.

Now, one could claim they gave hamilton less downforce since he had to do a lot of overtaking. But bottas also had to do a lot of overtaking each time, but he was never given less downforce. With his 3 new engines his top speed was every time equal to that of hamilton with an old engine.

So its not the new engine in itself, it's not drs and not whatever device they have to drop the rear. It purely the way they run this new engine. I assume it's not redlined, but i feel it's pretty close. It is definitely being run a loy higher in power than any of bottas'es new engines ever was.

[Bagwan]

The new device and the drs were already there the previous races. And they are the same on botass'es car.

Yet hamilton was a whopping 36km/h faster than bottas on the straight here. With the same device, with the same drs. The only difference was the new engine.

But in austin, sochi en monza it was bottas who had a new engine. His top speed was respectively 0,5 and 0,2 km/h slower than hamilton and 1,3km/h faster.

Now, one could claim they gave hamilton less downforce since he had to do a lot of overtaking. But bottas also had to do a lot of overtaking each time, but he was never given less downforce. With his 3 new engines his top speed was every time equal to that of hamilton with an old engine.

So its not the new engine in itself, it's not drs and not whatever device they have to drop the rear. It purely the way they run this new engine. I assume it's not redlined, but i feel it's pretty close. It is definitely being run a loy higher in power than any of bottas'es new engines ever was.

So , it sounds like you're saying they could have been going faster all year .
But , why would they do that ?

[The Black Knight]

So , it sounds like you're saying they could have been going faster all year .
But , why would they do that ?

Well I think if they were to just start smacking in a new engine every two races the FIA would clamp down on it pretty quickly. With only 4 races to go even if the FIA clamp down on it they'll still have the allocation they require for the remainder of the season. It's a win win for Mercedes. And they did win because of it.

[Nitrodaze]

So is this something you admire, or dislike about him? Seems to me you've expressed admiration for MS in the past.
I think you know where I stand on this.

No, not something l admire at all. But l understand it. It is based on the Machiavelli principle of "The end justifies the means". This principle only makes sense if you are successful. When it backfires, it leaves one looking quite stupid.

The clean driving of Hamilton, Raikkonen, Ricciardo and Bottas has been more to my liking.

[Zico]

Well I think if they were to just start smacking in a new engine every two races the FIA would clamp down on it pretty quickly. With only 4 races to go even if the FIA clamp down on it they'll still have the allocation they require for the remainder of the season. It's a win win for Mercedes. And they did win because of it.

That sounds somewhat plausible and if intentionally planned that way, its also quite genius thinking by Merc to hide that until it is too late.

So... was the PU that was allegedly making an 'unusual noise' and so replaced, possibly just a red herring?

All of this could also explain why absolutely no one could predict who was likely to be strong from one week to the next and on whatever circuits.


Btw- It also ties in with Bagwans theory.

[denkimi]

So , it sounds like you're saying they could have been going faster all year .
But , why would they do that ?

Because they can't do it when the engine has to last 8 races. It's not supprising that they can go a lot faster when things only have to last half as long.

But what is also weird is that bottas is already on his 6th engine, which makes that every of his engines also only has to do 4 races. Yet, we have never seen any of that pace throughout the year.

We have witnessed something extraordinary yesterday, but i'm not completely sure what it was. My guess would be mercedes is trying an all or nothing approach.

I wouldn't be supprised if Hamilton takes another new engine this year.

[Firstgear]

Well I think if they were to just start smacking in a new engine every two races the FIA would clamp down on it pretty quickly.

Could they do that and stay below the cost cap? What is the penalty for breaking the bank? Maybe this close to the end of the season, they think they have the funds to do it within the cap.

[Zico]

Could they do that and stay below the cost cap? What is the penalty for breaking the bank? Maybe this close to the end of the season, they think they have the funds to do it within the cap.

"Will the teams be penalised if they spend too much?
Put simply, yes. There are three categories of potential breaches. The first is a procedural breach, such as a team submitting their accounts late or inaccurately. The second is a minor overspend breach, when a team’s report shows they have exceeded the cost cap by less than 5 percent or the Cost Cap Administration finds they have exceeded that percentage. The third is a material overspend breach, where a team’s submission of their accounts or an investigation by the panel shows they have exceeded the cost cap by more than 5 percent.

Once a breach has been identified, three forms of penalty are possible. The first is a financial penalty. The value of the fine will be determined on a case-by-case basis. The second is a minor sporting penalty which could be a combination of a reprimand, deduction of constructors and/or drivers points, a ban for a certain number of races, limitations on testing – both CFD and on-track – and/or a reduction of their cost cap.

The third is the material sporting penalty, which is the most serious as it can involve all of the above plus exclusion from the World Championship."

[denkimi]

Could they do that and stay below the cost cap? What is the penalty for breaking the bank? Maybe this close to the end of the season, they think they have the funds to do it within the cap.

I doubt the cost of an engine is actually that big once they have been developped.


And i still fail to see how any cost cap could be enforced or even be fair.

Like redbull buys engines from honda, but who says honda doesn't spend more making them than they sell them for. And even if you would do a full check of the honda factory, who says they don't outsource parts or development.

If it was me, i would tell my sponsors to pay a part to the companies that i buy things from, so i can buy them cheaper.