However, preparation has been restricted compared to previous years as engine dyno time was cut back during 2020 and for 2021 as well. That means once the engine is introduced, which is likely to be the season opener for all four manufacturers, its performance level will be frozen for the season.
#MERCEDES F1 2020 UPGRADE#
Manufacturers may only upgrade their 2020 engine specification once between the end of last season and the end of 2021, unless it is for reliability reasons. “We have changed it for this year, to allow for a more consistent manufacturing route which should help to improve the reliability of the MGU-K,” he said. That led to some cases of mid-life failures, which HPP has sought to understand and address. Thomas described last year’s MGU-K as a “complete redesign”, which made a “solid step forwards in performance” but was also “difficult to manufacture and assemble consistently”. One of the specific reliability gains that Mercedes has outlined has been revising its new-for-2020 MGU-K design. “We’ve worked hard on that area and hopefully it’s paid off.” “We’ve got a big challenge in 2021 with 23 races on the calendar, we will need to ensure that the reliability of the power unit is spot on. “We’ve also made some adjustments to the energy recovery system, to make it more resilient. In 2020, we used an aluminium structure which wasn’t as reliable as intended, so we’ve introduced a new alloy for the engine block. “We’ve also completed some work on improving the reliability of the PU. “Those are probably the most striking when it comes to crank power and the performance of the power unit,” he said. Thomas explained that Mercedes has sought even better thermal efficiency in the internal combustion engine, and introduced “changes to the turbocharger to minimise the impact on the heat rejection”. “That was particularly challenging because last season finished late, so the winter period has been shorter than normal and has given us less time to prepare, which put extra strain on the business.” “And we’ve also got some completely new innovations that will be in the racing PU for the first time. We discovered some design issues last year, so we’ve been looking at those and introduced some changes to address them. “That’s a continuous process, and we feel like we’ve been able to take a step forward on that front again this year.” “We’ve continued the development of the technology in the power unit,” he said. Aston Martin and Haas, which fell by 7 and 46 thousandths respectively in a year.Mercedes High Performance Powertrains boss Hywel Thomas outlined “three main areas” the company had identified to work on for the 2021 engine, having recently revealed that the design had encountered some issues on the dyno that would be fixed for the start of the season. Finally, according to the study of the German site, only two teams have worsened compared to Mercedes from 2020 to 2021. The Italian team went through in qualifying from a gap of 1,202 seconds to ‘only’ 580 thousandths. The team from Faenza, which this year is fighting against Alpine to finish fifth in the constructors’ classification, has in fact recovered – compared to the world champions – as much as 0.622 seconds. However, the AlphaTauri recorded the major delta reduction.
0 kommentar(er)
