Power Unit performance

[NathanOlder]

I don't think i have seen any topics yet like this, but i wonder if anyone has any real idea on how the Power Units compare since the new Formula was introduced.

It may be an impossible question , but I'm hoping someone could have some decent answer or answers.

For arguments sake, we will take the final engine of the year for the last 3 years, and take the current engines from this year.

We now have :
4 Mercedes engines.
4 Ferrari Engines.
4 Renault Engines.
3 Honda Engines.

What made me think of this was I thought to myself "where would the current Honda engine sit if it was taken back to 2014."

[Emil_Kyulev]

That's very interesting to think about... I would assume that the Honda engine has improved a lot since its first introduction. But the cars have developed swell so it will be impossible to conduct a fair assessment. We can't just compare lap times, there are too many variables...

[NathanOlder]

Certainly not lap times as this year is way ahead due to the new regulations.

All i can be sure of is Mercedes this years engine being at the top.

Id love to know where Renaults 2014 PU compares to the 3 Honda PU's we've had.

[NL_Fer]

What i know

The 2015 Ferrari was pretty competative, definilty faster than Mercedes 2014. Renault was not bad in 2014, but did not improve in 2015. Still much faster than the Honda "Gp2" engine, most part because of better ERS. Torro Rosso had the Ferrari 2015 engine in '16 which was decent, but Renault 2016 was already faster. Honda 2016 was not bad ,also faster than Torro Rosso i think.

So Mercedes '14 < Ferrari '15 < Honda '16 < Renault '16

2017 has other cars, much more drag, so nothing to compare.

[mrluke]

Reverse engineered telemetry from China 2017 fastest qualy laps.

2017 China Qualification DeltaTrace by luke bloggs, on Flickr

It doesn't have Ferrari on there but otherwise its an interesting comparison. Definitely advantage Mercedes but struggle to separate Renault and Honda.

[vehicledynamics]

Reverse engineered telemetry from China 2017 fastest qualy laps.

https://flic.kr/p/UvTPpy 2017 China Qualification DeltaTrace by luke bloggs, on Flickr

It doesn't have Ferrari on there but otherwise its an interesting comparison. Definitely advantage Mercedes but struggle to separate Renault and Honda.

It seems that from 3700 metres onwards, there is no renault data anymore... The aero of the renault (at least in This track) is surprising... Big difference during the High Speed corner..

[mrluke]

Reverse engineered telemetry from China 2017 fastest qualy laps.

https://flic.kr/p/UvTPpy 2017 China Qualification DeltaTrace by luke bloggs, on Flickr

It doesn't have Ferrari on there but otherwise its an interesting comparison. Definitely advantage Mercedes but struggle to separate Renault and Honda.

It seems that from 3700 metres onwards, there is no renault data anymore... The aero of the renault (at least in This track) is surprising... Big difference during the High Speed corner..

There is a big difference on that corner.

Its a shame that the renault video didnt stay on board for the whole lap, it cut off 2/3rds of the way through.

I think the best thing about it was the analysis identified that Mclaren and Renault were quite even through 2017 and now they have the same engine it is clear for all to see.

[vehicledynamics]

Reverse engineered telemetry from China 2017 fastest qualy laps.

https://flic.kr/p/UvTPpy 2017 China Qualification DeltaTrace by luke bloggs, on Flickr

It doesn't have Ferrari on there but otherwise its an interesting comparison. Definitely advantage Mercedes but struggle to separate Renault and Honda.

It seems that from 3700 metres onwards, there is no renault data anymore... The aero of the renault (at least in This track) is surprising... Big difference during the High Speed corner..

There is a big difference on that corner.

Its a shame that the renault video didnt stay on board for the whole lap, it cut off 2/3rds of the way through.

I think the best thing about it was the analysis identified that Mclaren and Renault were quite even through 2017 and now they have the same engine it is clear for all to see.

So you are getting the speed trace from the videos?that sounds interesting.. is it possible also this year?

[mrluke]

It seems that from 3700 metres onwards, there is no renault data anymore... The aero of the renault (at least in This track) is surprising... Big difference during the High Speed corner..

There is a big difference on that corner.

Its a shame that the renault video didnt stay on board for the whole lap, it cut off 2/3rds of the way through.

I think the best thing about it was the analysis identified that Mclaren and Renault were quite even through 2017 and now they have the same engine it is clear for all to see.

So you are getting the speed trace from the videos?that sounds interesting.. is it possible also this year?

Yeah no reason why not, basically run the onboard video through a programme called Tony which extracts the "melody" and exports it to excel as a record of "note" or frequency over time (rpm), you then add a column which defines which gear the car is in at each point in time and you get a speed trace as an output

[subcritical71]

There is a big difference on that corner.

Its a shame that the renault video didnt stay on board for the whole lap, it cut off 2/3rds of the way through.

I think the best thing about it was the analysis identified that Mclaren and Renault were quite even through 2017 and now they have the same engine it is clear for all to see.

So you are getting the speed trace from the videos?that sounds interesting.. is it possible also this year?

Yeah no reason why not, basically run the onboard video through a programme called Tony which extracts the "melody" and exports it to excel as a record of "note" or frequency over time (rpm), you then add a column which defines which gear the car is in at each point in time and you get a speed trace as an output

That my friend is ingenious! Kudos!

[Jejking]

There is a big difference on that corner.

Its a shame that the renault video didnt stay on board for the whole lap, it cut off 2/3rds of the way through.

I think the best thing about it was the analysis identified that Mclaren and Renault were quite even through 2017 and now they have the same engine it is clear for all to see.

So you are getting the speed trace from the videos?that sounds interesting.. is it possible also this year?

Yeah no reason why not, basically run the onboard video through a programme called Tony which extracts the "melody" and exports it to excel as a record of "note" or frequency over time (rpm), you then add a column which defines which gear the car is in at each point in time and you get a speed trace as an output

That is GREAT stuff. I think you reverse-engineered the tech teams use to get to know the power output and modes of their competitors.

Also: curious about 2018 results ^^. Would it not be great to see how much the teams evolved from 2017 to 18? Spa and Monza would be perfect examples.

[PlatinumZealot]

I don't think i have seen any topics yet like this, but i wonder if anyone has any real idea on how the Power Units compare since the new Formula was introduced.

You really need to visit the engine sub-forum..

[NathanOlder]

yeah, I realised that not long after posting . thanks