Technical 2014 Technical Regulations

I assume the turbo/compressor placement is common to all the Mercedes powered teams and that the other suppliers can't change their turbos under the homologation rules but I'm not 100% sure.
 
Unless a box of bits arrived at the other factories and they were just told to get on with it...
 
The difference was that Mercedes developed the chassis alongside the engine over a period of 3 years, the customer teams did receive the designs but had to work around with what they were given and only had the design for a relatively short period. Still an advantage over the Ferrari and Renault powered teams.
 
If I get a mo, I might compare the relative pace of the works teams vs non works, obvs torro rosso I would count as between the two.

Hard to tell with virgin and caterham, but lotus and Sauber are well off the pace relative to Ferrari and red bull. It would strike me that there is a significant inherent advantage in being a works team especially in terms of packaging.
 
The F1 Times have come out in favour of the FIA taking action concerning drivers starving themselves to cut weight. Their sentiment rings of a call for a risk-free nanny state, the same attitude as has burdened F1 with so many nerf circuits. When other teams complained that Red Bull's capricious use of DRS throughout qualies put their drivers in undue danger, my sentiment was, "the throttle works both ways." Same applies here: The fork works both ways. What's next, insist all drivers only use electric shavers to stave off risk of shaving nicks?


As I posted last November, Renault and Red Bull already had for three years been in close coordination on the 2014 engine formula, particularly in matters of dimensions and conformation.

By the by, Mercedes are not the only team using a split turbo design. This is the Magneti-Marelli turbo/MGU-H unit Ferrari are running:

nf0fg2.jpg


If two engine suppliers have found this design propitious, it stands to reason the third might have as well. AFAIK, the Renault unit has not yet broken cover. In any case, Magneti-Marelli made a public display of these devices last year so even if the idea had not previously occurred to them, Renault had ample time to consider the ramifications and react. But popular acclaim notwithstanding, Mercedes did not invent the split turbo design, nor are they its sole proprietor.

What's being glossed over is that Mercedes' advantages aren't confined to the sheer abundance of horsepower they reputedly are gaining from their cooler split turbo design. They are one of the kindest teams to their tyres, which is the opposite of what one would expect if their sole advantage were some rapacious, fire-breathing ICE. And particularly since theirs is not the grippiest chassis on the grid. As I mentioned earlier, a great deal of their success comes down to their employment of the MGU-H as a torque control device. They are far more efficient in the manner in which they apply their power to the ground than any other team, quite tellingly, even the other Mercedes-powered teams.

Renault have suffered a horsepower disadvantage in each of the four most recent seasons, yet still managed to secure the WDCs and WCCs. Having all the power in the world is no great advantage if you can't get it to the tarmac without unsettling your chassis or shredding your disinte-Pirellis.
 
Last edited:
Yeah. Stupud FIA! How dare they put rules in place to stop drivers doing irreversable damage to their bodies and putting their life at risk even more for the sake of sport.

They should do away with that rule and while there at it get rid of all safety barriers too and replace them with burning pools of petrol.
 
Blog Zbod you seem to know an awful lot about an awful lot....

But one thing I believe is certain and that is when Honda come in next year they will have developed the split turbo to the max and will have made sure that it is fully integrated into the McLaren and so there could be a McLaren advantage next year, whoever their drivers are...
 
Last edited:
That’s based on the assumption that Mercedes or Renault would be standing still. I don’t expect Honda to jump straight ahead, far from it. They’ll need testing and would have to navigate their way around the usual reliability issues. Mercedes will be guarding their IP strongly to ensure there is no transfer. The next few years is definitely going to be intriguing for F1.
 
It's difficult without anything to scale that Ferrari turbo but it doesn't look long enough to have the turbo at one end of the engine and the compressor at the other which is what Merc are doing. From what I saw of the video the Mercedes unit allow cooler air into the compressor, reduces the length of pipe work need for the intercoolers and allows for smaller intercoolers so there are a number of advantages with the Mercedes system which the other engine manufacturers may not be able to take advantage of even if they split the two parts.

On the engine freeze, is that just for this season? Presumably, as I'm sure Honda will be doing, there are various non-F1 cars trashing rounds circuits across the globe with these monstrously complex power units strapped in the back trying different things if they can make changes for next season.
 
All the manufactures are doing development work on their power units this year it is just that they are not allowed to put those developments onto their cars until next year..

I believe I am correct in saying that but no doubt someone will tell me I'm wrong....
 
There's not been a lot of transparency about the power unit development rules. My understanding is:

During the season: Changes can only be made for reliability reasons (as well as changes to software).

Between seasons: The power units can be changed but after each year more components are frozen and can't be developed. After 3/4 years the engines will be completely frozen.
 
Sky Sports News just named Jean-Marie Balestre as the current FIA president, and advocate of the current engines...

Upshot was that Moseley thought Todt should just take the piss when Bernie is whinging. Fair enough!
 
Back
Top Bottom