Technical 2014 Technical Regulations

[The Artist.....]

no-FIAt-please - I knew it was a rhetorical question really, but I thought I'd just be pedantic in response to retoric!

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

Here's a fascinating little article on the Merc 2014 engine, on James Allen's website:

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2013/01/a-glimpse-in-to-how-f1-will-change-in-2014/

It looks to me like 2014 is greatly to be looked forward to; more power than grip on exits, so more sliding, twice as much KERS power for over four times as long per lap, a deeper less 'shrieky' sound etc. added to the turbo sound. Can't wait.

 

[sushifiesta]

Great find and some things sound promising but I'm still very frustrate with the new rules in general, I don't think they've pushed the boat out enough. "Only being 5 seconds slower" is not what I want to hear when it comes to F1 and I'll miss the high pitched wail (but hopefully the new sound will be good too).

The most interesting bit for me is where he mentions that the engine manufacturers will be releasing data to the teams they're supplying soon, so any teams that don't make the decision in the coming months will find themselves at a disadvantage. I wonder whether we might even see some posturing by the manufacturers to try and delay these decisions as much as possible and get an advantage for themselves.

Second most interesting, and annoying, is that they only have 5 power units per season (including ERS, turbo, exhaust etc.), down from 8 engines currently. I think this is absolute bullshit, surely we're going to see a lot of engine troubles initially in 2014 so by the second half of the season everyone is going to be getting 10 place grid penalties!!

 

[Fenderman]

The engine manufacturers supplying customer teams (as opposed to their own) will probably want them to make their choices sooner rather than later. They will want to plan production runs so that engines are ready to supply to the teams, probably before the end of the year. I don't know when teams will be allowed to start testing their 2014 cars but time flies.

Releasing the essential spec's at the earliest opportunity is a no brainer because of the implications on chassis design. The size and mounting points of the engine, turbo and ancillaries will influence the accommodation of various components, such as the rear suspension, as well as the design of the rear aero' features.from the air intake and side-pods to the "coke bottle".Not forgetting that the rest of the chassis design will be influenced as well because of issues of weight distribution, etc.

With that in mind it seems to me that the manufacturer that drags its feet will lose customers and the teams that don't make their minds up about what engines to buy will only have themselves to blame when they're behind the game.

 

[Bill Boddy]

Yes, those who wait until their design is otherwise complete will probably have to do a botch job. Rather like the BrawnGP1.

 

[Il_leone]

It seems like 2014 may lean towards sheer brute power which could negate Newey and Red Bull

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/105080?source=mostpopular

That is not too say that Renault will not come up with a powerful turbo engine themselves

As in engine partners

Key questions

Renault - initially thought to only want 2 partners - Red Bull plus most likely Williams

as Caterham have shown very little progress and Lotus' deal runs out this year

now they could run 4 teams

Mercedes -

Obviously want Silver Arrows team to succeed

Mclaren and Force India are both looking elsewhere for options

Mclaren - in house ?? / Honda ??

Force India - Ferrari engines

Sauber - former Sportscar and F1 partners - could switch from Ferrari engines and act as the junior team say

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

Anyone not currently in the advanced stages of developing an engine will surely be too late for 2014, so the likes of Mclaren are in no position to use an in-house motor for next year even if they wanted too; and I'm fairly sure they have said in the past they don't. They are much more likely to go with Honda, but I'm not even sure Honda have a suitable engine at the moment. Does anyone know if anyone apart from Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault are developing them?

 

[sushifiesta]

PURE still are I think but I know they had to cease work last year due to funding issues and I'm not sure if that was quickly resolved or not.

 

[Il_leone]

Chad Stewarthill

Mclaren are smarter than most teams when it comes to engine deals and I'm sure some form of exclusivity deal would come in with Honda if this is the case

Would BMW be interested now ? Given they did produce a real powerful turbo in the 80's and nothing better for BMW than to replace Mercedes as the engine partner

- At one time Mclaren did work with BMW on the GT and Mclaren F1 roadcar whilst the F1 team was using Mercedes engines which caused a bit of a headache for Ron


sushifiesta

PURE are unknown and can only really see Marussia going with them

 

[racecub]

The info in this article may already have been covered above but I found it an easy read and very informative. It's from a journalist who has been in to see the new Merc engine.
http://wp.me/pwrRn-kn

 

[Speshal]

Hmmmmm cars with more grunt and a twitchy back end, there's one driver I can think of that like his car like that, now if only he were in a works team.....oh hang on

 

[Greenlantern101]

Nice article of the Merc engine for 2014 on Autosport as well. Love the turbo spining at 125,000 rpm stat, that is insane.
I remember in my youth being really pee'd off when the turbos were banned I feared F1 would be slow and sound rubbish. (it was fine) I for one am very happy to see them back. I also can't help but think that Hammy will be all smiles to see the Merc appears to have the lead and maybe even the upper hand in this development race.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/105080

 

[Bill Boddy]

Mercedes also have what is probably currently the most powerful F1 engine. Just look at their sparkling results.

 

[no-FIAt-please]

Your right, the Mercedes is the most powerful engine currently in the field. However the BMW engine was actually the most powerful while it was in F1, based on 2009's results anyway.

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2009/11/analysis-of-f1-engine-performance-in-2009/

 

[Bill Boddy]

The days when Enzo famously stated that aerodynamics were just for those without a powerful enough engine are long gone.

 

[FB]

I think Ferrari realised that around 1978, at least they should have done.

 

[The Artist.....]

FB - I thought it was more like 1994 when they finally realised that POWER!!!!!!!!!!! wasn't enough

 

[FB]

Maybe so The Artist....., the V6 turbo they built in the mid 80's certainly had some grunt and I don't think anyone would claim the 126C was a good handling car

 

[ExtremeNinja]

I have been looking forward to these new engines since their announcement. I'm guessing that we are going to need tougher tyres with all that extra torque as the current Pirelli's will likely be torn to shreds.

 

[Greenlantern101]

Mr Horner is worried RedBull will be a midfield team in 2014 if they cock things up.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/105564

We can only hope.