Grand Prix thread BWT Grosser Preis Der Steiermark 2021

Like Mercedes principal sponsor Petronas can't deliver a performance viscosity oil for themselves - the Red Bull engine upgrade stinks - in much the same way as their pit-stop shenanigans have been stamped out. They are going hell for leather to try and get a result, by fair means or foul (more likely foul) before the new regs come in next season when they will most likely be left lagging - again.

 

F1 is, and always will be about out-engineering your opponents. Red Bull are doing just that.

They're throwing the kitchen sink at this one, while Merc may be more focused on 2022. A bit of complacency from Merc perhaps.

 

While Petronas can develop a performance low viscosity lubricant it's not that simple. When the PU is designed they have to know the performance of the lubricants as that determines lots of things, like cooling, clearances to name but 2.
I think what has actually happened is Red Bull have 'educated' Honda in how to comply with the rules but to push them to the absolute limit. I think Honda were previously designing the PU to the letter of the regs. Where as F1 all the engineers will interpret the rules to their advantage - just look at the flexi wings - rules say no flex and there is a test so Red Bull and others designed rear wings to flex as much as possible while still passing the test.
Bit like VW and the diesel engines. The rules stated the engine needed to pass a lab test so VW and their engine management provider designed some software that worked out when the test was active and used different maps to pass the test.
Again re pit stops - they read the rules and worked out how to comply and have fastest stops.

I think Red Bull quite rightly guessed that this was their best chance to win both championships as Merc would be way too focussed on 2022 regs. That said I do suspect that they are shifting some costs to Alpha Tauri. i.e. Red Bull will be 'buying' some components from their sister team in 2022 at a lower cost that they would have spend developing themselves!

Don't read this as me liking Red Bull as I don't like their morals but I do admire their engineering skills.

 

Agreed, but the performance gains for Red Bull since the engine upgrade do warrant some scrutiny - a whiff of Ferrari is in the air. Top team like Mercedes know where gains are possible - aero, tyres etc, they all share the data, so for a reliability upgrade to throw up a 2/10ths sec improvement has to stink.

 

Where are you getting the 2/10th second from? Because don't forget both Bottas and Lewis beat Perez, perhaps the difference is that Verstappen is just on top of it at the moment?

 

I think that number may have come from Hamilton's engineer saying that's where they were losing time to Red Bull - two tenths on the straights.

 

Toto didn't look happy, more frowns than ever. With all the Merc budget focused on next year I think this is Redbulls year for both championships. No harm in that, Max has matured and he is a clean driver now.
Wins tend to go to were the momentum is. Perez is doing a good job. Life is about loopholes at times (I have found a few in the past, till they have been clamped down on) and credit to Redbull if they are doing the legitimate. The creativity of our species is what has taken us to the moon and will take us to Mars.

 

It's not cheating, it's an innovative interpretation of the rules as they have been written.

oh we're definitely intelligent, but we have 0 wisdom

 

It seems the most difficult thing in F1 is to have two evenly matched teams at the top.

 

Considering all the technical regs and the different interpretations there are I find it amazing that they are all as close as they are.
It is a bit weird this year, as previously when the teams were close one team would be good at certain types of track and another was good at other tracks.
We now have Red Bull suddenly dominating at any tracks!!!
On that note Red Bulls sister team are also doing quite well. So maybe it is that Honda have found some extra power in their reliability upgrade. I do think Red Bull have influenced Honda's 'understanding' of the rules and they are now seeing how far they can flex the rules. I do wonder how much of Red Bulls development work is being done by Alpha T? It could be that they are spending both teams budget on upgrades for both teams, there by halving the costs?

 

It's a reliability upgrade as it can now be reliably faster than Mercedes

 

Merc can do that with three other teams

 

Not really the same relationship there since those are all independent to Merc. But having junior teams is always going to allow for some creative use of budget. Only way they could stop that is for one owner, one team.

 

tbh I can't see the budget cap being adhered to when there are so many ways to hide expenditure through 3rd party companies, especially when it comes to R&D.

 

Yeah. It's pretty open to some creative accounting.

 

So Merc ARE bringing some upgrades.

Formula 1: Mercedes will 'make our car faster' - BBC Sport

 

strange . I wonder if Toto is feeling the pressure ? He’s not just team principle now , but owns 30% of the company .

 

Mercedes are trying to sneak every advantage. This is mind games.

They are trying to get Red Bull to evaluate there development schedule