Mercedes Power Unit Hardware & Software

[Vanja #66]

Both Williams and Merc reported overheating problems yesterday. Force India haven't reported anything. Could this be something related to power train, or more like undersized radiators?

[SiLo]

I think it was following other cars that they didn't do too well with. I guess it was hard to judge with the weather being up in the air. I'm sure Hamilton was fine running out front in clean air.

[Sepehr87]

Whilst everyone was banging on about party mode, it seems to have slipped under the radar that Ferrari were faster on the all straights this weekend.

Maybe they have finally caught up in terms of HP?

No, Ferrari ran less wing then Merc. Therefore they were quicker on the straights.

In this image, it seems that Ferrari if not ran more wings (especially rear wing) but ran as much as Mercedes did.

[3jawchuck]

Both Williams and Merc reported overheating problems yesterday. Force India haven't reported anything. Could this be something related to power train, or more like undersized radiators?

Hamilton stayed quite close to Vettel and didn't report anything of the sort. Or did he? I don't remember hearing any radio during the event mentioning overheating.

[PhillipM]

He was taking different lines and having to pull out on the straights to cool the car, as well as drop back a few times, but that's normal when you're that close for so long.

[Vanja #66]

Bottas had the same issue yesterday, but I don't remember Hamilton complaining about heat or his team telling him to back off because of it in Brazil last year (when he was driving in dirty air for the good part of the race). I don't think it's too big of a problem whatever it is, just curious if it's about packaging or Mercedes underestimating PU cooling needs.

[digitalrurouni]

I read an article on racefans.net where Bottas was quoted to having said that Mercedes got their sums wrong about the amount of cooling required. My thoughts are that Mercedes never expected to have Bottas spin out and crash and under Parc ferme rules that means they could not change the cooling slots for the radiators. Neither did they expect Hamilton to drop back during the race. They optimized their car too much hence they had temperature issues running in traffic. That's how I see it.

[Sieper]

that could be, you always want to optimize and Hamilton will likely be running in clean air more so then most others.

Is it allowed to have a flap in the intake to allow for more cooling if needed, or would that be movable aero?

[digitalrurouni]

I understand the point about optimizing but I think part of optimizing means preparing for 'what if' situations? Seems like they were overconfident.

[sosic2121]

No, Ferrari ran less wing then Merc. Therefore they were quicker on the straights.

Yes.
If anything it seems like Ferrari tried to compensate for their lack of power.

In Q Mercedes was quicker in every corner and on shorter straights, while Ferrari was quicker on longer straights.
(There is a maps with best mini sectors, can't find it now)

I know which map u mean. Have seen it also, but don't have the time to go digging now in the Melbourne topic.
I don't think it's a question of power, but more a question of saving fuel by running less wing. The Ferrari engine is more thirsty then the Merc's...

I agree.
Maybe Ferrari tried to jump Mercedes at the start by having lighter car, so ran underfueled. That would also explain why Ferrari lost performance as the race went on.

Maybe we should continue this discussion in race thread

[wuzak]

Both Williams and Merc reported overheating problems yesterday. Force India haven't reported anything. Could this be something related to power train, or more like undersized radiators?

Hamilton stayed quite close to Vettel and didn't report anything of the sort. Or did he? I don't remember hearing any radio during the event mentioning overheating.

Yes he did.

The F1 App had these radio calls, though the FOM telecast did not.

The team reported to him a couple of times that the PU temps were dangerously high and that he needed to lift and coast for a few laps. Ferrari also told Vettel about this issue.

A little later Hamilton was asking if he was OK to attack. He did not get a response, so he said he was going for it.

[etusch]

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/hami ... t-1019418/

[Mr.G]

Whilst everyone was banging on about party mode, it seems to have slipped under the radar that Ferrari were faster on the all straights this weekend.

Maybe they have finally caught up in terms of HP?

No, Ferrari ran less wing then Merc. Therefore they were quicker on the straights.

Wasn't there another discussion, that Ferrari has higher AoA on the RW this weekend, therfore more drag/should be slower not faster or am I missing something?

EDIT - viewtopic.php?p=752487#p752487

[PlatinumZealot]

Whilst everyone was banging on about party mode, it seems to have slipped under the radar that Ferrari were faster on the all straights this weekend.

Maybe they have finally caught up in terms of HP?

No, Ferrari ran less wing then Merc. Therefore they were quicker on the straights.

In this image, it seems that Ferrari if not ran more wings (especially rear wing) but ran as much as Mercedes did.

https://www.racefans.net/wp-content/upl ... 86x591.jpg

Those slotted mirrors really working!

[Morteza]

Mercedes PU in the Force India