Well, yes & no. The "best" engine will be one which consumes the least amount of fuel whilst producing the most amount of power relative to the other engine brands. To my mind, Mercedes & Renault certainly have this advantage to say the least. Fuel efficiency will certainly play a role in the championship - but the extent of this remains to be seen. Also, there are way too many other factors that have to be taken into account for (ex. how good the car is mechanically - chassis etc.)CHT wrote:1) Will engine fuel efficiency determine 2010 championship?
No. I don't think Cosworth will have ANY real advantage over other engines such as the Merc & Renault, including the likes of Ferrari. There are rumors floating about that the Cosworth lump might turn out to be the more powerful engine on the grid. Even if that turns out to be the case (unlikely), we still don't know how fuel efficient they are... (in the event they're not, they'll have to carry more fuel to finish the race, which might compromise their pace in the early stages of the race on full tanks - despite having a more "powerful" engine)CHT wrote:2) With the restriction on engine modification, will new comer like Cosworth have an advantage over the rest or the grid?
In terms of power produced relative to fuel consumption, then yes, the Merc is best overall.djones wrote:At a guess would we say the Mercedes is the best engine overall?
indeedJohnsonsEvilTwin wrote:One thing is for sure, 2010 is shaping up to be the best F1 season in living memory!
we just need the "balls out qualifying" (quoting WB)raceman wrote:indeedJohnsonsEvilTwin wrote:One thing is for sure, 2010 is shaping up to be the best F1 season in living memory!
De-tuning....mmmm. That's exactly what I was thinking as well. Makes sense though.tarzoon wrote:One way they have done this is to actually cut some horespower away for the start of the season, and then over the season regain what they lost whilst keeping or bettering milage
If indeed these figures are anywhere near correct - that would still put the Merc & Renault lump waaayyy ahead of the competition. The Renault's 15hp or so deficit should not be any problem at all - as they'll have the added benefit of having more ballast to play with.ESPImperium wrote:Mercedes FO108W = 155KG tank running optimal 760HP
Ferarri 056 = 165kg takn running at optimal 755HP
Renault RS27 = 140KG tank running at optimal 745HP
Toyota RVX-09 = 135KG tank running at optimal 738HP
BMW P86/9 = 158KG tank running at optimal 752HP
What ballast are you talking about? All cars must weigh 620KG with driver sans fuel. HP has nothing to do with ballast and neither does how much fuel you use... but yes if the Renault is more fuel efficient will have to lug around less fuel every lap than its competitors.jac wrote:If indeed these figures are anywhere near correct - that would still put the Merc & Renault lump waaayyy ahead of the competition. The Renault's 15hp or so deficit should not be any problem at all - as they'll have the added benefit of having more ballast to play with.
In the end, I think horsepower will be less of a factor this season. But that's just my opinion - I may be wrong.
I agree. Hence the reason I think Merc got this "balance" spot on last year. I'm expecting it to play into the hands on the Merc-powered cars, especially Mclaren.ISLAMATRON wrote:With refueling banned, Peak HP is less important, fuel consumption is more important, drivability is more important, thermal effiency is more important, as are cooling requirements. When you run leaner the engine is typically hotter, thus requiring more cooling capacity and that usually means larger sidepod openings and thus more drag and then higher fuel consumption... it is a vicious circle that must be balanced.
You still didnt clarify your "more ballast to play with" statement...jac wrote:I agree. Hence the reason I think Merc got this "balance" spot on last year. I'm expecting it to play into the hands on the Merc-powered cars, especially Mclaren.ISLAMATRON wrote:With refueling banned, Peak HP is less important, fuel consumption is more important, drivability is more important, thermal effiency is more important, as are cooling requirements. When you run leaner the engine is typically hotter, thus requiring more cooling capacity and that usually means larger sidepod openings and thus more drag and then higher fuel consumption... it is a vicious circle that must be balanced.
They can do as many recon laps as they want, refueling is allowed even while sitting on the grid AFAIK. Recon laps will be the new sunday morning warmup. It might get to the point where teams might be limited on recon laps by the FIA... but that is already somewhat limited by when the track is opened for recon laps.ESPImperium wrote:As the rule of thumb, going on the 2009 engines and 2009 race pace, the table for fuel tank size to HB looks like this:
Mercedes FO108W = 155KG tank running optimal 760HP
Ferarri 056 = 165kg takn running at optimal 755HP
Renault RS27 = 140KG tank running at optimal 745HP
Toyota RVX-09 = 135KG tank running at optimal 738HP
BMW P86/9 = 158KG tank running at optimal 752HP
Time comparisons from the Mercedes block to the Toyota block from 09 is arround 0.3 a second a lap, but the thing was the cars the Toyota power was in, those cars were better designed from a aero angle than the Mercedes and Ferarri cars if you exclude the Brawn BGP001.
Rumor has it that the CA2010 can pump out arround 770HP, but if that was taken as its optimal power, you would look at somewhere near 177KG of fuel, just to make it over the line and no more, more like 180KG is ideally needed as you will see the cars doing less reconaciance laps this year before a race, more like Pits to Grid, no cutting thrugh the pits to loose some fuel weight.
