This came after the FrenchGP2021 and before the StyrianGP2021 AMuS According to Helmut Marko, the advantage will be even more evident in Spielberg. "That's because of our turbocharger." It is as new as the rest of the power unit. The turbocharger was developed by engineers who are responsible for aircraft engines at Honda.
SKY had been saying this all weekend. They have a very very good Turbo does RedBull. The car is well sorted. Appears to have no major weakness.
Although I don't like the management in that team, I still give credit to Red Bull for bringing up a car capable to challenge the Mercedes domination. And Verstappen has proven his worth too.
Yes. This is the situation at the moment. The best team/driver on the grid and providing the results. Perez needs to find better qualy performance. An area Bottas has been very good at pushing LH with. Perez is a good Sunday racer. His Saturdays is not so polished yet.
Aston Martin secures another senior Red Bull F1 technical signing By: Jonathan Noble Jul 1, 2021, 5:26 AM The Aston Martin Formula 1 team has lured another senior staff member away from Red Bull, with the signing of aerodynamicist Andrew Alessi as its new head of technical operations. Just a week after Aston Martin announced that Red Bull’s head of aerodynamics Dan Fallows would be joining the team as its new technical director when his current contract runs out, it has now revealed that it has captured Alessi too. Alessi’s new role at Aston Martin, which begins on Thursday, will include leading and managing the team’s aerodynamics department. Aston Martin team principal Otmar Szafnauer said: “Two weeks ago we announced the hiring of Luca Furbatto as our new engineering director, who will start work for us in due course. "Last week Dan Fallows’ forthcoming arrival as our new technical director was also made public. “Today, Andrew Alessi is added to the impressive list of our senior technical/engineering hirings, as head of technical operations. Ours is a great team, and it always has been. “Many times this year we have said: ‘This team has always punched above its weight; now it has the weight with which to punch harder.’ https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/aston-martin-secures-another-senior-red-bull-f1-technical-signing/6623218/
Honda’s Sakura facility will supply Red Bull F1 engines in 2022 Red Bull will continue to receive its Formula 1 power units from outgoing partner Honda’s Sakura facility in 2022 as part of a “transitionary year” for the team. Image Unavailable, Please Login https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/hondas-sakura-facility-will-supply-red-bull-f1-engines-in-2022/6624598/
One must be impressed with the Honda PU this year. Possibly the key for a RedBull title potential! https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/57883033 —Honda's success with Red Bull this season has been built on the Japanese company's previous failures in Formula 1, its technical boss says. Honda made major changes to its engine for 2021, introducing an all-new design that has helped Max Verstappen into the World Championship lead. We learned a lot from our failure," technical director Toyoharu Tanabe said. "We needed time to fix our problems. We felt a kind of limitation and then we made a big change for this year." Honda returned to F1 in 2015 with McLaren, before splitting with the team after three years of under-performance from both sides. Honda joined forces with Red Bull junior team Toro Rosso in 2018, before partnering Red Bull as well from 2019. The engine Red Bull are racing this year was originally planned for 2022, but was brought forward to this season after Honda decided last autumn to pull out of F1 at the end of 2021. Tanabe said the smaller, lighter, more powerful engine with a lower centre of gravity introduced for this season was the result of a "big effort" for 2021. "It was tight, but we tried everything," Tanabe told BBC Sport in an exclusive interview. Although Honda made an extra effort to introduce this year's engine earlier, Honda F1 general manager Masahi Yamamoto said it would not have been possible for Honda to have made the same gains earlier. "The engineers have picked up so much experience from failure and success," Yamamoto said. "In the time [we had], it was very tough to make it earlier." Image Unavailable, Please Login Red Bull have the fastest car this season How have Honda done it? Tanabe said that the new engine was the first to have been designed fully with Red Bull in mind, rather than being a modification of a previous unit. "With Red Bull two years ago we just put our power-unit into their chassis," Tanabe said. "Of course, we modified it a lot but there were a lot of limitations." The new power-unit, he says, was designed with the intention of improving the performance of the chassis as well as the engine - hence the size and packaging modifications. Red Bull made a series of requests of Honda for the engine that they believed would improve the overall performance of the car. "We cannot make everything they request," Tanabe said. "But the integration of chassis and power-unit made a good improvement. Also on the Honda side we made a good improvement in terms of performance - we improved both on the internal combustion engine and the electric performance." Honda says its engine is now "close" in performance to the Mercedes, which Tanabe says he believes is still the "top" engine. But he admits that improvements in the Honda engine design mean it can often deploy electrical energy from the hybrid system on the straights for longer than the Mercedes - something that can be seen on the GPS traces of the cars used by teams as part of their performance measurement. "In the previous years always you saw Honda lose speed at the end of the straight," Tanabe said. "This is a deficit for the lap time and also for the overtake situation. That was our weakness in the PU, so we tried to make this one much closer to the other competitors." Image Unavailable, Please Login Honda made a return to F1 in 2015 with McLaren, but suffered performance and reliability problems A major breakthrough The rules for F1's complex turbo-hybrid engines reward thermal efficiency - a measure of the conversion of fuel-energy into usable power. Fuel-flow rate is limited, so performance comes from how much energy an engine produces from a given amount of fuel. The result has been a technological revolution across the sport. Tanabe says the Honda engine has a thermal efficiency of "more than 50%". A typical road-car petrol engine is in the region of 30%. A key component in an F1 engine is the MGU-H, the part of the hybrid system that recovers heat energy from the exhaust and regenerates it into electrical energy. The problem is that the more efficient the internal combustion engine, the less energy is in the exhaust gas. Tanabe explains: "The energy you put in the PU is limited. If you burn efficiently, it means the energy remaining in the exhaust gas gets lower, so the recovery energy source goes down." Through a redesign of the hybrid system, Tanabe says Honda this year managed to "improve the power of the internal combustion engine without harming energy recovery. And then we looked at the design of the energy recovery system to increase the energy recovery event with a more efficient ICE. "We need more power, more recovery. So we changed the design of the MGU-H and every other single part of the electric system." These changes enabled Honda to increase the power from both the engine and the hybrid system at the same time. Another factor in Red Bull's competitiveness this year is a change in the chassis rules over the winter to keep car performance under control. These tweaks - cutting away part of the rear floor and removing many of the aerodynamic shaping devices around the rear wheels - affected Red Bull's high-rake car-design philosophy less than Mercedes, who run their car flatter front to rear with so-called low rake. Not only have Red Bull been able to recover much more of the performance lost to the 2021 rule changes than Mercedes, but they are finding it easier to achieve further development gains. In addition to Honda's improved engine, the result is that Red Bull have supplanted Mercedes as F1's pace-setters. Image Unavailable, Please Login McLaren's relationship with Honda produced the iconic cars Ayrton Senna drove for his three F1 world titles What about the future? Honda is pulling out of F1 at the end of 2021, a decision the company said was based on its desire for all its R&D engineers to work on a zero-carbon future for its road cars. But its engine will stick around in F1. Red Bull have struck a deal with Honda to buy the intellectual property rights to the engine and to continue using it. Not only that, but for 2022 at least, the engines will continue to be built at Honda's R&D base in Sakura in Japan before this work is taken over by Red Bull's new engine base in Milton Keynes. Some Honda R&D staff will also continue to work on F1. Yamamoto said: "We will finish our F1 project on 31 December this year. However, we got the request from Red Bull and Alpha Tauri, which is nice, that they want to be competitive so they want us to co-operate. Therefore we are now discussing how to co-operate with them in order to make them keep competitive." Yamamoto says Honda decided to accede to Red Bull's request to buy the engines because "we feel huge appreciation" towards Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko and Toro Rosso - now renamed Alpha Tauri - team boss Franz Tost. "They have believed in Honda, so we have to give something back to them," he says. And the reason some Honda staff will continue on F1 into 2022 rather than all being moved to the carbon-neutral project is, Yamamoto says, "because this year we are fighting for the championship - we don't really have time for the transition, or giving knowledge to the teams. "Time-wise it is more reasonable we do it next year than this year. "Most of the engineers will be moved to the next project for carbon neutrality. So we are thinking how much human resources we can use next year and we will use as much as possible to support Red Bull next year."
Summer break 2021 Honda will try to repair Max's cracked engine. (Silverstone crash and tested in FP1 Hungary).
Damon Hill and Tom Clarkson had an interesting observation on an F1 podcast after this weekend's race. They noted that Hamilton seemed to smile a little in the pre-race when Max started cursing out the media for asking about the Silverstone crash. And wondered if Mercedes wasn't a little in Red Bull's head. I think RB's challenge -- more than fixing their cars after two smash 'em, crash 'em races -- will be not to focus on what Merc has done in the last two races, and to concentrate on bringing their best to Spa. I'm not sure it will be an easy, especially after two weeks of Mercs taking out their cars. But I think it will be very necessary, lest the "red mist" of these past incidents distract them.
Horner and Marko should keep Max on a leash and prevent him from doing anything silly, when the season restarts at Spa but instead they keep pouring oil on the fire.
It is slow news season for us but this is interesting - GP Blog: https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/90731/mercedes-suspects-less-horsepower-at-honda-due-to-new-fia-directive.html There are rumours from the Mercedes camp that Honda have been held back by a new directive from the FIA. "There has reportedly been a disagreement for four months about how the Japanese conduct their energy management," writes AMS, which inquired with the FIA. "They were not aware of the measures against Honda." That shouldn't mean a whole lot, however, as new guidelines regarding the engine are not made public. "The federation's technicians discuss them directly with the respective manufacturer. Even the competition doesn't find out about them." Maybe it is tied to this?? Mercedes baffled by Red Bull's "odd" F1 wing choice By: Jonathan Noble Aug 4, 2021, 4:19 AM Mercedes says it was slightly baffled by Red Bull’s "odd" decision not to use its maximum downforce wing at Formula 1’s Hungarian Grand Prix. The twisty Hungaroring circuit had expected to play perfectly to the strengths of Red Bull’s RB16B chassis. However, Mercedes turned the tables on its main title rival – with Lewis Hamilton grabbing pole position and then recovering from a wrong strategy call to finish third on the road. Mercedes did not have any immediate answers as to why it showed such strong pace over the Hungarian weekend, but was intrigued about Red Bull’s wing selection. The world champion team had feared that Red Bull could be unbeatable if it went for its highest downforce version – with Mercedes using its extreme version at a lot of tracks now. Trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin said: “We thought this is a circuit that should suit them [Red Bull]. “The other thing that always worries us when we come to a max downforce circuit is that we’re frequently running around on our max downforce wing and then they bring it out for the Monacos and for this place. “But maybe they couldn’t balance that. They went away from it on Saturday and for us it seems odd that you would ever run anything other than your biggest rear wing here. “We don’t profess to know why they’re taking decisions on that car, but it could be that they were just struggling to get enough front end in it, on the big wing, and they dropped down onto the smaller one.” Mercedes wants to do some deeper analysis as to why its form was better than Red Bull last weekend, with it appearing to have made a performance gain on both the straights and in corners.
He actually used it for qualifying in Hungary but they replaced it before the race: "After being given the all-clear, that engine powered Verstappen to P3 on the grid for the Hungarian Grand Prix. But it was then changed before the race, incurring no penalty, after it was found to be cracked"
I guess Newey and rest of management FORGET what its like to be in the lead of a title or be in close fight lol. Silverstone overly dramatic over reaction did not help others NOT notice RedBull either lol Newey: Politicking against Red Bull at level never seen before in F1 By: Jonathan Noble Aug 9, 2021, 7:47 AM Red Bull Formula 1 technical chief Adrian Newey says he cannot remember a time when his team has faced a barrage of ‘politicking and lobbying’ against it like this year. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Collisions between Mercedes and RBR cars at Silverstone and Hungary arguably cost RBR two wins(or podium finishes). Stewards in both cases assigned blame to the Mercedes drivers. If you can't beat them, crash them; if that doesn't work sue the b*st*rds.
Mercedes board gave Toto an unlimited budget. But he should win at ALL costs. Wonder what he is able to do when pushed to its limits ..
Cant beat them lol??? They have for 7 years. Accidents happen and even Horner admitted clearly Bottas was not a conspirator. World turns and Newey is a touch naive for stating what he did. Its F1 they are all complaining and scheming for an advantage. This can hardly be news to anyone or Newey.
And. The last 7 lol?? Oh. Now it’s something they should do and sort their driver issue to partner with Max lol. Only most of a decade lol. Such swift progress with RedBull!!
Anything to keep Jos the stage parent happy lol!! Horner and facts and judgements lol???? https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/red-bull-could-never-accept-2021-f1-development-sacrifice/6651287/ FORMULA 1 / BELGIAN GP NEWS Red Bull could never accept 2021 F1 development sacrifice By:Jonathan Noble Aug 21, 2021, 4:09 AM Red Bull boss Christian Horner says his Formula 1 team could never have accepted switching off development of its current car early – despite rivals throwing everything at 2022. ……..Asked if he was surprised that Mercedes had chosen to call time so early on developing its 2021 car, Horner said: “I don't know what their constraints are. “Obviously they're a bigger organisation than we are, so cost cap is having a significant impact on their planning and how they've managed during the COVID period. We've managed to keep the body of the team very much together. “I can't judge other organisations without having all the facts, so all I can do is focus on what we're doing. And we're very comfortable with the approach that we are taking.
There is truth here in this article. RedBull should just focus on the track and race now. I would think this is the focus for the next part of the season that we start this weekend. Drive and win. The rest of this noise wont matter. https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/why-red-bulls-siege-mentality-isnt-helping-its-political-causes/6653039/ Why Red Bull’s siege mentality isn’t helping its political causes By: GP Racing Aug 25, 2021, 4:19 AM OPINION: Red Bull’s default strategy of provoking social media rage whenever it fails to get its own way creates a lot of noise – but hasn’t actually generated any positive outcomes for the team. STUART CODLING thinks it’s time to try a better tactic When will Red Bull tire of rabble-rousing - or even grasp that it advances the team’s cause not one jot? Pleasing though it is to see another team finally making a fist of challenging Mercedes for on-track superiority in the hybrid era, in the off-track arena Merc still has all its rivals licked. It’s about time Red Bull engaged with this truism intelligently and strategically, rather than whipping the bellowing buffoons of social media into an abject froth in the hope that a pitchfork mob will do the trick. It’s no secret that Red Bull has lost pretty much every off-track political engagement this year. On the aeroelasticity or otherwise of its rear wings, it lost. Perhaps more costly over the course of a season has been the FIA’s decision to alter the pitstop rules as of the Belgian GP; aside from the procedural clauses, the technical directive in effect outlawed several ‘active’ technologies Red Bull invested heavily in for its pit equipment. Image Unavailable, Please Login Alex Albon, Red Bull Racing RB16 during a pitstop Photo by: Andrew Hone / Motorsport Images On each occasion Red Bull’s go-to strategy has been to engage 11 on the whinge dial. Time and again when things haven’t gone the team’s way, Christian Horner has decanted some incendiary soundbites into Sky Sports F1’s microphones, whence they are eagerly promulgated to the rest of the world – unchallenged, natch. Likewise, Dr Helmut Marko cannot resist the lure of the RTL camera crew. Within minutes the Internet is veritably alight as Red Bull’s fanbase bridles and chafes. The siege mentality is understandable. Since pit equipment was theoretically homologated at the end of 2020, Red Bull has seen what ought to have been a baked-in advantage go up the swanee – along with a considerable amount of investment. The first-lap shunt at Silverstone was scary and damaging – both competitively and financially – and it’s easy to understand a view that Lewis Hamilton’s penalty was too lenient since he went on to win the race. --When the FIA deliberates it is guided by precedent and the wording of its regulations. It doesn’t give a tinker’s cuss about opinions, no matter how noisily expressed, on Twitter, Reddit, or web forums-- Trouble is, while sport is an emotive subject, success is determined by practicalities. Mercedes, feeling it had been pegged back by rule changes over the winter, initially engaged in some low-level moaning before turning to more effective strategies – which included flexing its political muscles to chip away at Red Bull’s advantage. The rear wing? Moveable aerodynamic devices are outlawed, even if the boundaries of aeroelasticity are murky. Tugging the FIA’s sleeve for a technical directive was practically a slam dunk – as it must also have been with the pitstop equipment and procedures. The safety argument is very powerful, especially if ‘active’ devices enable an element of pre-emption. Image Unavailable, Please Login Helmut Marko, Consultant, Red Bull Racing, and Christian Horner, Team Principal, Red Bull Racing, on the grid Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images When the FIA deliberates it is guided by precedent and the wording of its regulations. It doesn’t give a tinker’s cuss about opinions, no matter how noisily expressed, on Twitter, Reddit, or web forums. And Red Bull’s default approach remains to stoke fury in the media and the fanbase, as if it expects the FIA to cave if people clamour loudly enough. When Red Bull did go the legal route, with the peculiar ‘re-enactment’ of the Silverstone shunt, the case was dismissed because it offered no new evidence - as the team ought to have known, Ferrari having failed similarly in a previous case. There’s a well-worn quote that the definition of insanity is to repeat an unsuccessful course of action in the hope of obtaining a different result. And yet recently Red Bull has reverted to ‘route one’, wheeling out Adrian Newey for a Q&A in which he – surprise, surprise – complains about the politics going on in F1 at the moment. And what a peculiar jeremiad it was; to read it you’d think that no team in the ascendancy had ever become a target for such things. Newey almost never speaks about current matters, and the timing was significant: the start of the summer break, when all those web outlets are hungry for soundbite-based ‘news’ to drive traffic. That’s very generous of Red Bull – greasing the wheels of commerce – but will it help its cause? Will it persuade the FIA to un-ban Red Bull’s pit equipment, to be more lenient with the pullback test? Of course not. Image Unavailable, Please Login Sparks kick up from the rear of Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB16B Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
The pity is that Red Bull don't need these media tactics to beat Mercedes. They are almost there. They only need to be patient and consistent, and not turn any track incident into a fit of paranoia.
