Formula One ( F1 )

Power output should be consistent across the race

Not sure that's really true. They definitely have an 'overtake' push to pass button and various different engine maps. And the famous Mercedes 'party mode' for Q1 quali sessions.

You're right that they have various different engine modes (Lando's Scenario 7 is the latest popular one given his last lap antics at Austria), I was responding to this:

Am I right in thinking their power fades quite heavily through the race too?

Which (in my mind at least) was referring to power loss due to wear (or similar) throughout the race.

Which (in my mind at least) was referring to power loss due to wear (or similar) throughout the race.

I think it's definitely true that ultimate engine power decreases through the lifespan of the engine. The extent to which it does, and the cumulative of engine wear throughout multiple races, is one of those metrics which I gather is a closely-guarded secret, hence the use of older PUs in less power-dependent races. AIUI, one of the benefits of the now-outlawed Ferrari fuel-rate 'cheat' modes is that it allowed greater power without the engine performance degradation which you would normally expect with the usual 'party mode' settings by using a higher-than-permitted fuel rate to provide the extra power rathan than momentarily exceeding the PU's usual parameters. That said, that information is hearsay from a 'friend of a friend' source, so it could be total bollocks. I'm still not convinced it's not true though...

It'd be interesting to see how much the peak power decreases over the lifespan, I assumed the main reason for swapping out the engines was more for reliability reasons (though engine wear obviously correlates to engine performance and likelihood of going pop in a similar way). Though I'm sure there's also an element of turning the engine down over time to stretch the lifespan.

Yep there was some chat around the by-passing of the fuel-flow sensors by Ferrari a few pages back (I found this page with a bit of info: https://it.motorsport.com/f1/news/direttiva-fia-39-19-sulle-monoposto-un-doppio-flussometro/4600511/). I don't think we'll be hearing the full story for quite a few years but that ^ sounds in line with everything else I've read on the matter.

Ferrari have been up to all sorts of tricks over the last few years. In the oil burning era they were very blatant about it and had a second oil tank hidden in the floor. Then it was the huge amount of smoke they were chucking out on startup that was a bit suspect and they were made to stop that. The twin battery with one sensor which appeared to bypass the upper and lower state of charge limits so they could harvest and deploy more energy but refused to explain it properly to the FIA. Then there were the odd smells coming out their exhaust being reported by other team members, with varying descriptions last year from hardwood burning to fresh pine, to this year an odd ozone-y smell. Rumours before that about them switching to burning the coolant through deliberately slack seals in the turbo. Carrying too much fuel at the end of last year. Then the fuel flow sensor. The teams have protested and had it all stopped.

Which (in my mind at least) was referring to power loss due to wear (or similar) throughout the race

Yeah I was thinking over heating or seals wearing out or something.

Perez tests positive for Covid: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.breaking-perez-ruled-out-of-british-grand-prix-after-testing-positive-for.4MLhBq01mPizIDrg3jrWXJ.html

Stoffel, Esteban or Vettel to replace?

In honesty the RP is better than the Ferrari right now so maybe Vettal asks for an early transfer.

I'm hoping for a Hulkenburg return personally!

Mercedes will want their two regular drivers in Berlin for the triple-double header starting Wednesday so they won't want Stoffel risking injury.

Ferrari won't release Vettel early.

Guttierez has experience testing/siming "similar hardware", but Hulk has more recent F1 race experience.

Also probably not busy: Karun Chandhok, Button, Johnny Herbert, Lord Mahaveer (No superlicense though).

It's obviously going to be Hulkenburg. Would have been fun if it triggered a load of reshuffles though

Prescient, although https://twitter.com/kamui_kobayashi/status/1288919346190921731?s=19

FP1 is on channel 4. Hulk confirmed

https://twitter.com/RacingPointF1/status/1289138356270571520?s=19

Hah! That would've been amazing, miss that guy a lot

Jesus, SkyF1 making it seem like Hamilton has a mountain to climb in getting into Q3 with over 7 mins to go. Meanwhile the other Merc is a second clear of second place.

Blimey what a finish

Indeed! Happy for softer tyre compounds for next weekend as that was a Monaco-esque procession until the last few laps!

Given the failures were of the carcass at the shoulder rather than becoming vulnerable to debris as the tread thins, I think one grade softer might force tyre changes before carcass failure happens.

I can't help feeling sorry for Verstappen. Team radio:

Okay Max, only a couple of laps to go. Come in for fresh tyres and let's go for fastest lap. It's unlikely that either Merc will have a problem now and there's not a cat in hell's chance that both will.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

I thought the same at first, especially as he pitted after Bottas' issue. But in his interviews he seems pretty neutral in that he was lucky to inherit second and equally unlucky not to inherit first. Sounded like there was some race-long communication around building a pit-stop gap to Leclerc to try for the fastest lap towards the end which probably had them more focussed on that than hoping for a Hamilton puncture.

While it's easy to sit back and say "Well, Merc 2 had a puncture, then Merc 1 has a puncture a lap or two later, not really surprising is it?", Bottas was pretty vocal about his tyres going off and had been slipping back pretty significantly for a good few laps before the tyre went. There were no such signs from Hamilton.

On the flip-side, taking a gamble for the race-win over a pretty much guaranteed extra point for fastest lap (given Albon was holding it at the time) is certainly an appealing one.

If Verstappen hadn't come in could he also have had a puncture?

That is pretty much what Christian Horner said. Max had been reporting the tyres were spent.

It feels (i.e. I can't remember) ages since we had non-damage related punctures in F1. Is that just down to the high-load on the tyres at Silverstone or just because there's been so little racing the tyres haven't had as much running so teams are not 100% sure how they work?