nacho wrote:I still think no matter how well Mercedes tries to keep things secret, the data about their engine can be either directly observed or calculated/deducted. The question is how much Honda would need it but surely it won't be worse knowing what the greatest engine is doing. At least they have a lot better reference points than Renault and Ferrari.
in basic, the specific rules to which the engine must comply [displacement, fuel flow, etc etc] don't allow for a very 'wide variety' of engine design possibilities. With that, it means that both the Ferrari, Renault and Merc engine all will have certain similarities. Therefore, you'll have somewhat of a base formula to which all engines will have to comply.
Now Honda is arguably in the best position for their engine development; they have the benefit of having Mclaren intel on the Merc powerplant; something other engine providers simply do not have.
I'd say of all teams Honda will have the best judgement on how to benefit from Mercedes' engine, which obviously is by far the strongest this year.
It's not like either renault, ferrari or honda can make a carbon-copy of the Merc engine. Frankly, that's impossible, not the least because of the 'spirit of the design' mercedes has for their engine [ in other words; mclaren years ago got a huge benefit from f-duct but it only worked because the entire chassis was built upon this concept. other teams have mimiced this but could not benefit the way mclaren could because they did not have it as their 'design spirit' - thus you can make use of someone else's tricks, but it takes more to get the same advantage].
However, Mercedes' split-turbo design is very interesting and no doubt Ferrari and Renault will be interested in mimicing this 'device', and so will Honda. The position Honda is in, in regards to Mclaren sharing the knowledge (even how little that may be) of the Merc powerplant, will grant them a huge benefit in comparison to Ferrari and Renault, whom both are far out of Merc's engine reach.
I dare to say the Honda powerplant will outperform the Renault and Ferrari engines straight away. Not only that - I'm having the feeling they can actually pose an immediate threat to Mercedes.
I feed this thought / theory also by the mentioning that Hamilton contract talks have started today instead of on Monday, as originally mentioned in news articles. Could Mercedes be fearing Lewis might actually learn that the Honda engine is so good that Mclaren is a real threat to Merc in 2015 - perhaps MCL even has gained data from the Silverstone test that Lewis might have better chances for another shot for his WDC title in 2015 with Mclaren Honda?
anyway, without intending to turn this into a silly season fusion -
the smoke as seen in the silverstone vid, is this smoke from braking or smoke from wheelspin?
