2014 too slow? (or not, as the case may be)

[astracrazy]

"The tires was getting cold so i had to push sometimes" - Rosberg

that's all you need to know about how quick the merc is really. perhaps I would go as far to say that they could be more dominant than RBR were. Esp. if the rumours regarding the merc engine fuel usage is correct

[SectorOne]

Bottas' Williams isn't short geared

But Williams hit 8th gear and Mercedes to my knowledge never hit 8th gear in Australia.

[Blanchimont]

Yes, seems like Mercedes achieves top speed in 7th gear and at 15000rpm the 7th gear would result in a speed of ~425km/h, similar to Force India (look at my previous post in this thread).

What does this say about the gearbox which has to have 8 different gear ratios as demanded by the rules. Is the 8th gear present and engineered in a way that if it would be used it would break immediately?

[beelsebob]

Yes, seems like Mercedes achieves top speed in 7th gear and at 15000rpm the 7th gear would result in a speed of ~425km/h, similar to Force India (look at my previous post in this thread).

What does this say about the gearbox which has to have 8 different gear ratios as demanded by the rules. Is the 8th gear present and engineered in a way that if it would be used it would break immediately?

No, just there's huge overlap in the gears on these torquey cars. they'll peak out at 11500rpm in 7th (325km/h), and use 8th for the end of the straights in Monza and Spa.

[Blanchimont]

But why would you have an 8th gear on the car and use it if the 7th gear (Force India, Mercedes) has the same gear ratio as the 8th gear on other cars, like Williams for example?

At 2:44, 7th gear (telemetry and steering wheel), 299km/h, 10500rpm
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W74UIABOuA[/youtube]

At 0:15/0:16, 8th gear (not 7th as the telemetry says, watch the last seconds closely, the revs drop a bit), 299km/h, 10500rpm
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_rapabFBaI[/youtube]

[beelsebob]

But why would you have an 8th gear on the car and use it if the 7th gear (Force India, Mercedes) has the same gear ratio as the 8th gear on other cars, like Williams for example?

Because 11500 rpm uses a lot less fuel than 15000rpm.

[SectorOne]

Yes, seems like Mercedes achieves top speed in 7th gear and at 15000rpm the 7th gear would result in a speed of ~425km/h, similar to Force India (look at my previous post in this thread).

So you are telling me Mercedes has an 8th gear that does absolutely nothing?

I mean if you hit top speed (as decided by drag in this case i assume) in 7th would you not go slower if you popped in a higher gear?

Also back to the earlier point, i assume my wording should have been tighter gear ratios rather then shorter?
Would that be a correct assessment? Since it runs through it´s gears faster then Mercedes?

[myurr]

Yes, seems like Mercedes achieves top speed in 7th gear and at 15000rpm the 7th gear would result in a speed of ~425km/h, similar to Force India (look at my previous post in this thread).

So you are telling me Mercedes has an 8th gear that does absolutely nothing?

I mean if you hit top speed (as decided by drag in this case i assume) in 7th would you not go slower if you popped in a higher gear?

Also back to the earlier point, i assume my wording should have been tighter gear ratios rather then shorter?
Would that be a correct assessment? Since it runs through it´s gears faster then Mercedes?

I wonder if it means they're still to really crank the engine up to 100% and have therefore included some headroom for a combination of more power and lower drag at Monza?

[joseff]

Because 11500 rpm uses a lot less fuel than 15000rpm.

100kg/h?

IMHO lower revs = less frictional losses

[Juzh]

Because 11500 rpm uses a lot less fuel than 15000rpm.

100kg/h?

IMHO lower revs = less frictional losses

This basically, yeah. I think someone from merc mentioned something like this as well.

[Pebblestone]

Here's an updated "One-lap Pace" graph for the Australian GP.

The new cars were considerably slower than their predecessors over a single lap in Melbourne but their straight-line speeds were higher...
Source: http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2014/03/21/m ... australia/

[munudeges]

Except, as we've already seen at the Bahrain tests, they do indeed hit much higher speeds thanks to vastly increased torque even at "high" revs, and gearing.

Not entirely sure what that meaningless piece is supposed to mean (congratulations for trying to read around a bit though), but I feel it must be pointed out that the old V8s had for more power at higher RPM and comparatively less lower down in the band. The current engines have more power at lower bands and comparatively less higher up so the two meet in the middle....which is how both engines end up with the same power output. Are you suggesting something gets plucked from a parallel universe?

Gearing sacrifices that low end power to make up for what it's missing higher up so the notion that engines are solely contributing to any deviance in straight line speed is well wide of the mark. There's also a comparatively less downforce to take into account as well. Straight line speed is really quite meaningless unless you take into account how fast a car accelerated to a top speed and how long it actually stayed at that top speed.

[godlameroso]

This talk about gear ratios are meaningless, they're allowed to change them once through the year, as the cars become optimized and teams gain more experience with the new power units will either change their gear ratios or keep them the same.

[Gridlock]

I don't see why anyone is suggesting the teams will keep their ratios the whole year, to me it seems obvious you'd optimise for the first X races if given the chance? F1 teams aren't shy about maximising every little advantage they can get?

IE, at its most basic, you have a Monza 8th and then a post-Monza 8th?

[beelsebob]

I don't see why anyone is suggesting the teams will keep their ratios the whole year, to me it seems obvious you'd optimise for the first X races if given the chance? F1 teams aren't shy about maximising every little advantage they can get?

IE, at its most basic, you have a Monza 8th and then a post-Monza 8th?

More likely, you have a pre Monza 8th, and a Monza 8th. The second half of the season contains Monza, Spa, and Yas Marina.