2026 Hybrid Powerunits

[Saykas]

Ferrari power unit in the Cadillac
Pic by NOBU, @m_mode_lod on X

[mzso]

Ferrari power unit in the Cadillac
Pic by NOBU, @m_mode_lod on X

https://i.imgur.com/8MOht9E.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/YOpfcaX.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/RofDfe0.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/dLZuKjh.jpeg

Which part is that that has the collar with the Cadillac writing?

[AR3-GP]

Ferrari power unit in the Cadillac
Pic by NOBU, @m_mode_lod on X

https://i.imgur.com/8MOht9E.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/YOpfcaX.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/RofDfe0.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/dLZuKjh.jpeg

Which part is that that has the collar with the Cadillac writing?

I think its the MGU-K or MGU-K gearbox.

[mzso]

I think its the MGU-K or MGU-K gearbox.

I was thinking, maybe K, and whether it has the same configuration as the Honda. The angle doesn't help though.

[erikejw]

Current F1 engines are a huge safety problem.

If Bearman would have hit the inside curb in 310kph sideways and started rolling the outcome would be fatal or at best very severe.

Problems:
While superclipping the power is about 200hp while someone behind might use 1000hp.

That's how Leclerc overtook the stand still Russel.

The driver have no idea of the power he'll get with his throttle application hence he has no way of modulate the power. That's why all the power slides.

The same throttle input will give different outputs corner by corner and lap by lap hence the driver is not in control.

The closing speeds are when the severe crashes happens. The rolls, flips, crashes at the wrong place, climbing tires.

This current formula will vastly increase those instances that most of the time ends up well but with a low percentage of something severe happening.

The circuit safety is built for where normal crashes occur, not the freak incidents att other parts of the track.

Remediation:
1. Give the drivers back the full control of the throttle with a deterministic output.
2. Remove the freak closing speeds.

Otherwise it's just a question of time until we loose a driver.

[gearboxtrouble]

Current F1 engines are a huge safety problem.

If Bearman would have hit the inside curb in 310kph sideways and started rolling the outcome would be fatal or at best very severe.

Problems:
While superclipping the power is about 200hp while someone behind might use 1000hp.

That's how Leclerc overtook the stand still Russel.

The driver have no idea of the power he'll get with his throttle application hence he has no way of modulate the power. That's why all the power slides.

The same throttle input will give different outputs corner by corner and lap by lap hence the driver is not in control.

The closing speeds are when the severe crashes happens. The rolls, flips, crashes at the wrong place, climbing tires.

This current formula will vastly increase those instances that most of the time ends up well but with a low percentage of something severe happening.

The circuit safety is built for where normal crashes occur, not the freak incidents att other parts of the track.

Remediation:
1. Give the drivers back the full control of the throttle with a deterministic output.
2. Remove the freak closing speeds.

Otherwise it's just a question of time until we loose a driver.

1 & 2 are pretty much the same thing. If the rules mandate that a specific throttle position should ALWAYS output a certain amount of power to the wheels then it would solve the safety issues. It's impossible to do as long as they hold the line on 50/50 ICE/electric split. Yeah I realize that clipping happened in the old engines too but you were talking about a drop from ~1000hp to ~930hp because the ICE itself was ~850hp and the MGUH was able to constantly recover ~80hp at full boost. In these regs you are ~1000hp with battery charge, ~550hp with ICE only and ~250hp with superclipping all at the same 100% throttle position with no driver choice on what the mode should be. Thats a 750hp delta possible at the exact same throttle demand. Its insanity to have ever thought these rules could work.

[De Wet]

Damn the Germans for giving us this crap... First Merc in 2014 now Audi.

[Holm86]

Damn the Germans for giving us this crap... First Merc in 2014 now Audi.

You can blame Audi for the current regulations, but you cant blame Mercedes for the 2014 regulations.
Im pretty sure it was Jean Todt who wanted a turbo hybrid engine. Originally the plans were a turbo inline 4, but Ferrari veto'ed it, wanting a V6.

[gearboxtrouble]

Damn the Germans for giving us this crap... First Merc in 2014 now Audi.

No offense but everyone needs to ignore everything the Germans say about energy. They retired their nuclear power plants for purely performative political reasons and now enjoy power prices 5x higher than in neighboring France. Iirc it wasn't just Audi. Honda only returned after the 50/50 split was formalized though they quickly started offering solutions like front wheel harvesting once they realized how flawed that formula was. Mercedes also started opposing most changes once they realized they were struggling less than the others.

[bananapeel23]

Damn the Germans for giving us this crap... First Merc in 2014 now Audi.

What’s wrong with the last gen PU?

It was extremely powerful, fuel efficient as hell and really pushed the envelope on engine technology.

It was a fantastic PU. The only drawback is that it was a bit on the heavy side and not that loud.

Still, it produced astonishingly fast cars and all engine manufacturers managed wins with it, so it was clearly a competitive engine formula. I guess you could argue that the early advantage of Mercedes was a problem, but everyone else caught up eventually.

[Bill]

Damn the Germans for giving us this crap... First Merc in 2014 now Audi.

the original regulation allowed for front regeneration but other manufactures vetoed because it will give Audi an advantage

[pgfpro]

The new "Brake Checking PU" is a joke!!! I'm not even watching this year's races anymore.

[gearboxtrouble]

If true then everyone other than RBPT is a lock for at least ADUO 1 after Miami. While it is impressive that RBPT have seemingly produced the 2nd best ICE and are within 2% of Mercedes, it would be a failure to not have managed the output to at least qualify for ADUO 1. They were clearly planning on it and with their very real weight and balance issues on the chassis side, nerfing the ICE for the first few races would have been meaningless to the overall competitive picture.

Edit - some early estimates on sm

Mercedes: 580 hp
RBPT Ford: 571.5 hp
Ferrari: 560 hp
Audi: 544 hp
Honda: 544 hp

https://it.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-fe ... /10810719/

[mzso]

If true then everyone other than RBPT is a lock for at least ADUO 1 after Miami.

Was that officially verified. The rules specify number of races. Not a date.

While it is impressive that RBPT have seemingly produced the 2nd best ICE and are within 2% of Mercedes, it would be a failure to not have managed the output to at least qualify for ADUO 1.

It's unclear whether that is even possible. With now public knowledge about how the FIA measures it.
Surely they can monitor the fuel flow and everything else in the ECU to see if the engine is run at full power, at least.

[gearboxtrouble]

If true then everyone other than RBPT is a lock for at least ADUO 1 after Miami.

Was that officially verified. The rules specify number of races. Not a date.

While it is impressive that RBPT have seemingly produced the 2nd best ICE and are within 2% of Mercedes, it would be a failure to not have managed the output to at least qualify for ADUO 1.

It's unclear whether that is even possible. With now public knowledge about how the FIA measures it.
Surely they can monitor the fuel flow and everything else in the ECU to see if the engine is run at full power, at least.

Nothing is official yet hence the "If true" qualifier. There does seem to be a lot of chatter on social media - Kimi Antonelli even seemed to confirm Ferrari qualifying for ADUO in comments made to the Italian media. I'm not saying it would be easy to know what your bench tested deficit is down to the last hp but surely things like GPS traces would be enough to ballpark it and tell you if you were too close to not meeting the 2% benchmark. I'm sure you can play with things like timing to shave 5-10 hp off the engine if you wanted to.