WilliamsF1 wrote:FoxHound wrote:the RA109/BGP01 would never have raced.
RA109 had it raced would have won nothing and Red Bull would have won 5 titles
Honda would have been a little better than the Toyota and would have pulled out at the end of 2009.
I disagree.
The Honda was underpowered to the Mercedes, but the car was purpose built around the Honda engine.
Brawn managed to fit the Merc engine and Honda gearbox, but not without compromise.
However, an unnamed senior Brawn GP engineer, after the title winning race in Brazil, was reported saying that significant and unconventional changes were made to accommodate the FO108W engine
Further to this, mating a Honda gearbox designed for a Honda engine, to Mercedes engine designed for a McLaren gearbox had big repercussions.
Unlike Mercedes' other customers Force India who took supply of both the engine and a McLaren-designed transmission, the BGP 001 used a semi-automatic transmission designed in-house at Brawn. This provided seven forward gears and one reverse gear, and was operated using two paddles located on the steering wheel. As with the engine installation, compromises were made with the gearbox. It did not sit in the ideal position because the crank-centre height on the Mercedes engine was different from the Honda
We know the BGP001 was a monster, but it was of the Frankenstein variety. The Honda horsepower differential to Mercedes was approximately 40 Bhp, which at the time was the differential to Renault too.
Given the amount of compromises made, and the fact the BGP01 was almighty around corners, braking and traction zones this advantage would've been furthered with the original design intact. It should also be noted that the car could not fully utilise the Merc V8 as Force India and McLaren due to those compromises. So the like for like engine comparison is not as clearcut as what happens on a bench.
Had it been the RA109, I propose it may very well have been the greatest racing car in F1 existence. But that's pure speculation.