Dipesh1995 wrote:http://en.f1i.com/news/20345-honda-ran- ... ngary.html
Interesting read, looks like they are lacking power mostly from their ICE rather than their ERS since they were running that at 100% but still lacking a lot of straight line speed.
Running the ERS at 100% doesn't mean the ICE is underpowered. A undersized/balanced/powered ERS system designed to deliver lets say 1.8Mj per lap while other teams are designed to harvest and deliver 2.5Mj per lap. ERS at 100% just means it's doing what it's designed to do(or so they think) not that the ERS is designed to take every last ounce of power.
I still feel that seemingly like Ferrari they went with the wrong design goals, focused on size and didn't prioritise ERS power which compromises both max sustainable BHP but also hurts efficiency which compounds the effect as they need to run slower to use less fuel.
Still think next year we'll see similar changes to Ferrari, move compressor out of the V, balance the engine and make chassis/aero compromises to increase sustainable BHP through better ERS system focused on pure efficiency not focused on getting the best they can out of the most limited space possible.
Unless they crack the full split turbo which judging from Merc took ages and a lot of resources, we'll probably see a compressor on the back of the engine next year. I'd be interested to see if they crack the compressor in the V along with reasonable ERS power next year but I really believe they'll either make big changes like Ferrari or they'll have another bad year.
Worst is the assumption/impression that Mclaren/Honda and so many pundits have been pushing, that the actual engine they started the year with would be a monster when unlimited.... clearly that is not the case. At a track they were supposed to be more competitive at due to the characteristics and power not being as important, Alonso was 103 seconds behind Vettel before the safety car came out. The engine running with full ers power for a change and it was as far back as usual from the leaders, just everyone in between had, lets say, slightly unusual races.