Fuel Consumption down the grid

viewing those figures confirms my fear that without refeulling next year, some teams will be heavily compromised in stategy.

Is this another dealt hand by the FIA

 

Ferrari definately have some serious work to do!

 

Thanks for the numbers.

I'm sure customers must have some room to work with in terms of software changes. And sometimes it can go wrong, look at the Red Bull failures. Besides Alonso's fuel pump issues in Hungary, Factory Renault had no engine related retierments last year.

Soo many variables and trade offs to consider. Mileage vs. power. Aero packages can make a big difference too. Compare Force India and McLaren.

 

Thanks for the post interesting stuff.

 

They can't. Engine is frozen.

 

Don't worry Florian, Todt will be using the knowledge and experience of Gilles Simon, the former engine chief of Ferrari, to look into new engine technologies that can be applied to the sport to make it more environmentally friendly...

 

Surely they can adjust fuel mixture to get better mileage/lower hp? No?

 

Fuel saving can be achieved without getting inside the engine: aerodynamics, ECU, carburation mixture, rev, limiter, etc ...

 

They can modify the fuels and lubricants first (which I believe shell is already looking into), but I still think Ferrari has a lot of work to do with engine mapping etc.

 

Yes, but as you say: Lower HP. You can only tune the parameters left to a certain degree, and it's always a trade-off. Modifying the engine itself would be a lot more effective.

 

As for the Ferrari having the worst engine, well I am pretty sure they have been allowed to update it for this season, just as Renault did theirs last year. I have also been told about a different bore and stroke configuration for more torque with the lower RPM limits from last year. I have also heard it will be more efficient than any other power plant in the field and that's why Luca Marmorini came back to Ferrari from Toyota to get this finished up and ready for 2010, also why Gilles Simone took a new seat in the FIA. As for Mercedes having the best Engine in F1, well I think that was 2009, 2010 will be a new and different story.

The first two links have been removed since yesterday, the third is still there...

http://www.worldcarfans.com/10912172...n-2010--report

http://formula-one.speedtv.com/artic...icient-engine/

http://ferrarif1forum.com/2009/12/17/ferrari-working-on-engine-efficiecy-during-mugello-test/

 

Same thing Renault did last year, updated their engine to be competitive with the others.

 

Engine is not completely frozen, See the links below.

 

This is precisely why Todt should not have got the FIA job, Ari would have started with a clean slate, he had no known affiliations with any team AFAIK.

However for the record I'am not saying Todt will do the wrong thing, I believe he is keeping quiet to distance himself from Mosley.

However there will always doubt and suspicious minds like mine.

 

Changing bore and stroke is, as vinuneuro said, a pretty radical change which contradicts the engine freeze.

Where did you get the first two links? They don't work because you copied the short version, so to say (with the "..."), you may want to use the "Copy Link" function of your browser!

 

Wow...Mclaren the lowest among the top teams?

 

If there is no refueling next year, will teams take on a full bag of gas after qualifying and prior to the race, so that the cars will largely weigh the same on the grid? If this is true, does that not take some of the strategy (and excitement) out of managing stops and starting with a lighter car than others?

 

That's how it was done up until the early 90's. Rewards conservation more than all out speed. Not my favorite way to go...

 

I don't like it either. I think part of the excitement is seeing where the cars come out of the pit and when they decide to take on fuel.

 

Yes, but didn't that time produce some of the most exciting races? Compare it to now. I think this move is a positive one. This means overtaking must be done on the track, rather than the pits.

 

You're right, there were some good ones. Mexico 1990 comes to mind.

But I prefer the flexibility that refueling offers. Schumacher changing to a 4-stop strategy mid-race in the 2004(?) French GP is a good example of that. He had to crank out qualifying laps one after another in order to make it work and he did.

Either way I think it won't end up being much of an issue because of the depth of talent next year. Schumi, Hami, Vettel, Fred, all on different teams, all with strong number 2s, all with (probably) competetive cars. Should be fun

 

Indeed it does, however many here have expressed the opinion (when this rule was first made public) that the fuel strategy is not exciting and can safely go away. I think others are thinking it is an either/or -- you either pass on the track or in the pits. Of course you can do both.

On the one hand, I think it will detract from the races because ... let's face it ... the cars aren't going to suddenly be side by side racing and fighting for every corner. It's going to be about the same procession as it has been for awhile. I enjoy the fuel strategy although for many I can see how it isn't "exciting" as after the first pit stop the cars aren't racing each other so much as the clock.

OTOH, it will show up who can design a car that changes weight much more drastically during the race and can still perform well at both extremes (heavy and light). So I think we still won't have the race spectacle we're all looking for, and now the fuel strategy will be replaced by the designer's skills which will be harder to appreciate (there are so many other factors in a race).

There will still be tire strategy.

I guess they will keep Q1/Q2/Q3 however without fuel strategy that's pointless.

 

Very interesting graphs - Thanks for posting.

By my rough calculations, the worst consumers will be about 6-8Kg's heavier than the best at the start..... Not a huge difference - Isn't the common wisdom 10kg's = 0.1 second per lap?

At least they're qualifying on fumes again, so we should see the fastest cars at the front again.

Cheers,
Ian