The most dominant car in F1 history

[djones]

Mercedes W06 will probably be the most dominant car in history.

I honestly cannot see it losing a race in 2015. Any reliability niggles etc that lost the W05 its 100% record will not exist next year. Even if one car breaks, you can be sure reliability will be so much improved it wont happen to both.

[FoxHound]

You think ridiculous, and the only evidence you are putting forward is bigger design teams?

I say, in the very first season of V6 turbo's and its accompanied auxiliaries like the energy recovery systems, in a limited testing season...is an achievement equal to that of what's gone before.

These engines did not run in the back of a car until earlier this year...limited to 3 tests. With engines that should last on average 4 races a piece.
In comparison to unlimited testing, with far greater known quantities and a one race engine shelf life.

Yes, ridiculous

That knife cuts both ways, man. For all the relative regulatory freedom enjoyed by previous dominant cars, you have to consider that it also gave rivals more of an opportunity to mount a serious challenge. The current regulations anoint a winner before the season even starts.

I missed this. Fo sho, agree it cuts both ways. However, there is an issue. In 1988, development was not as linear as it is today. Hit and miss you could say.

I'm also not so sure scrutineering was so strict then as it was now.

But my overriding sentiment is that given the massive shift in rules for 2014, Just getting an average 16 finishes out of 19 races(per car) for the W05 was an achievement in itself.
Imagine imposing a 5 race-per-gearbox rule on the 88 McLaren? Would it be possible to have attained its superiority under those circumstances?

But I guess we should all just refrain from comparison, as the hoops each car had to jump through... were different.

[Andres125sx]

Mercedes W06 will probably be the most dominant car in history.

I honestly cannot see it losing a race in 2015. Any reliability niggles etc that lost the W05 its 100% record will not exist next year. Even if one car breaks, you can be sure reliability will be so much improved it wont happen to both.

This is an scary point to consider...

[TAG]

This is a loosely tied biproduct of it's dominance. Like the engine sound or not, it's myopic to say the least to see people bash the 2014 engine regulations merely because of it. The sport has always been about technology moving forward and it's easy to forget that we saw speeds and performances in it's maiden year topping figures from the V8 or any previous era, with less fuel, less tire, less downforce yet still managed more performance.

The Dewar Trophy THE ROYAL AUTOMOBILE CLUB AWARDS THE DEWAR TROPHY TO MERCEDES AMG HIGH PERFORMANCE POWERTRAINS FOR ITS FORMULA ONE HYBRID POWER UNIT

The Royal Automobile Club is delighted to announce that the 2014 Dewar Trophy for outstanding British technical achievement in the automotive industry has been awarded to Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains (HPP), for the development of the Formula One world championship-winning Mercedes-Benz PU106A Hybrid power unit.

This prestigious accolade was presented to Andy Cowell, Managing Director of HPP, along with members of his project team from Brixworth, during a ceremonial lunch at the Royal Automobile Club on Pall Mall, London. The award highlights the continued world-beating excellence of automotive engineering in Britain.

Awarding the 2014 trophy to HPP was a unanimous decision made by experts on the Dewar Technical Committee, chaired by John Wood MBE. The HPP team was recognised for its development of the most advantageous powertrain within the new Formula One regulations. Its aim was to raise the thermal efficiency from around 29 per cent for the previous normally aspirated 2.4-litre V8 to better than 40 per cent with the new 1.6 litre V6 turbo Hybrid. Its successful design, research and teamwork resulted in the Mercedes-Benz PU106A Hybrid Power Unit, which has not only been the dominant powertrain in this first season under the Formula One rules, but has also contributed greatly to MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS securing the 2014 FIA Formula One Constructors’ Championship. It is also arguably the most thermally efficient gasoline powertrain ever produced with a claimed thermal efficiency of greater than 40 per cent.

Ben Cussons, Chairman of the Motoring Committee of the Royal Automobile Club, said: “We are pleased to recognise outstanding achievements by the British automotive industry. Part of the raison d’être of the Royal Automobile Club has always been the promotion of all things motoring, never more so than in tough economic times. Drawing attention to automotive innovation is an important part of our contribution to this vibrant part of the manufacturing industry. It proves once again that British engineering is world- beating.”

The Mercedes-Benz PU106A Hybrid Power Unit – designed, developed and built at Brixworth, Northamptonshire by HPP – has proved to be the dominant engine thus far under the new Formula One engine regulations. This is the second time HPP has been awarded the Dewar Trophy, having previously won in 2009 for its Formula One KERS system. HPP Managing Director Andy Cowell said:
“It is an honour to accept the Dewar Trophy on behalf of my colleagues at Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains and on behalf of Mercedes-Benz. To have received this prestigious award for the second time is a fitting tribute to the commitment to excellence within our organisation. Our work in the constantly evolving arena of hybrid technology has allowed us to explore an exciting new breed of automotive innovations relevant not only to our performance on the racetrack, but also to the everyday motorist. As a sport, when we took on the challenge of the radical new regulations introduced for the 2014 Formula One season, few could have foreseen that such performance could be achieved so quickly. It is a testament to the industry – and particularly to the hard work of the hundreds of people at Mercedes-Benz – that those incredible efforts over the past three or more years are being recognised today. It gives me great pride to represent and to be a part of such a talented group of individuals, working together as a team to reach new heights in engineering excellence.”

Previous regulations have concentrated on a simple mechanical limitation such as engine capacity. The challenge to produce the most effective engine was mainly one of flowing as much fuel and air through that engine as possible. The manufacturer who achieved that could be expected to dominate. This led to very high-revving engines with limited relevance to road cars.

The new regulations specify a maximum fuel flow rate, hence the best engine will be the one that obtains the most power from that specified quantity of fuel and thus, for the first time, performance is aligned with thermal efficiency. The best Formula One engine will be the one that converts energy the most efficiently and this has direct relevance to road car powertrains of tomorrow.

A traditional rule of thumb decrees that the conventional gasoline engine achieves efficiency of around one third. In other words, of the energy available in a gallon of petrol, a third is lost as waste heat, another third disappears out of the exhaust with only the remaining third available for useful work. The new Formula One regulations tackle this challenge head-on, particularly by the use of hybrid systems in the form of electrically controlled turbochargers and brake energy recovery.

[Kingshark]

Red Bull had a very dominant car post-summer break in 2013. The RB9 was certainly beatable until Hungary, but Belgium-onward RBR really pulled away in a zone of their own.

Belgium: Vettel passes Hamilton on the opening lap, then pulls away at a rate of 1.5 seconds in the opening 3 laps. Once the gap is at about 5 seconds, he sustains it. Throughout the race, there were random laps, like lap 40, where he'd suddenly be 1.8 seconds faster than Alonso and Hamilton.

Singapore: Vettel pulls 2 seconds a lap on Rosberg in the opening 3 laps. Then maintains the gap at 6-8 seconds before the SC comes out. When Vettel finally has to push, he pulls out 22.1 seconds on Rosberg in 10 laps.

India: One of the few races this season where Webber was in some kind of battle with Vettel, bar indirect due strategy. Vettel had a 35.4 second lead over Rosberg on lap 39, when Webber's car failed. After that, Vettel spent the race cruising.

Abu Dhabi: Vettel build a 27.4 second in 20 lead over the nearest non-Mercedes car (Rosberg) before he turned on cruise control, then he still extended the gap to 36.3 seconds in the next 13 laps.

Unlike Mercedes in Bahrain, Spain, Canada, Silverstone, Japan, USA, and Brazil this season - there was never a gloves-off brawl for the win between Webber and Vettel in 2013 (apart from Malaysia).

Of course, there were some races in the latter stages of 2013 where RBR wasn't totally dominant (eg. Suzuka, Austin). Then again, Mercedes were hardly *that*dominant in Austria and Hungary this season, were they?

Make no mistake about it, Red Bull in the second half of 2013 was every bit as dominant as Mercedes were this season.

[TAG]

Except the "legality" of anything Red Bull in the last couple of years has to be suspect to say the least.