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AMuS reports that the suspicion exists that the pre-chamber ignition specifically is accompanied with vibrations and more heat and that this affects the rest of the engine as well.
Another interesting fact: Honda brought 3 PU's to Barcelona. Since there are doubts if this will be enough for all four days, they'll bring a fourth on Thursday. No mention about the spec of Thursday's PU.
Besides the (much) lower power output they are driving with now, they also are very busy managing driveabilty of the PU and the tuning of the electric components.
Something is not jiving here. Waffle set his best time of 122.537 on mediums. Either he was full on it and all the other teams were running detuned by about 100 hp and dicking around or when the PU stays together it isn't as bad as all the rumors would suggest.
That I don't know but I have read that many trackside observers were saying teams were doing their faster/low fuel runs in the morning. There does seem to be some confusion about which tyre Waffle was on. I've seen a few places saying it was softs, but I would think Pirelli would be the best source for that info. I know Waffle set a 122.9ish on softs at one point when I was looking at the live timing.
Also read that Massa's time was rumored to be on very low fuel.
I still don't think we've seen the top teams on it. HAM did a 20 lap stint on US today started in the high 1.22s and ended in the low 1.24s. It's thought this was the first stint of a race sim so he had a full load of fuel on. I'm guessing since the US went 20 laps with only about a second lost through the stint he was not pushing at all.
My gut right now is Merc>Ferrari-RB>Williams>FI-Renault>rest
But I think with the rate of development this year Renault pace will catch and pass Williams.
Honda with another PU change around midday but it was said by Honda/McLaren that this was a planned change. Speculation is it was a new spec of PU with another PU evolution rumored for Melbourne.
Merc has some kind of whacky advantage with their PU/ERS package and each year they are only getting better. No one will take them over very easily, and certainly wont be Honda. A change in Aero regs wont slow them down - only a change to the engine format and that wont be for a long long time. Only ...etsy knows when the next engine change is coming.
Apparently Alonso was asked if he would rather have 2016 PU or 2017 PU and he didn't hesitate when he said 2017. I wonder if the early races will be **** while Honda "fixes the glitch" and then as the season progresses they get better. It's a totally redesigned PU which is incorporating the prechamber combustion and some other tricks the other PU manufacturers have perfected over time. Hell Renault is having some PU issues too. Not as bad as Honda's but I think 3 Renault PUs failed totday. Not a coincidence the Renault is about 95% new
People were saying the same thing in the 2015 and 2016 threads during preseason.
McHonda is doomed. I really don't care all that much, 'cept Alonso
The 1 difference between 15/16 is Honda is not locked into a flawed design. They can use as many different versions as they want. Of course after 4 they have grid penalties but if you don't even finish the race what does a grid penalty matter. I'm still clinging onto the thread of hope, but if Ferrari have their PU up to snuff I will not care so much. I just want Merc having some competition. I think RB/Renault will get there quick but the first few races for them may be a little tougher.
McLaren · Honda close contact: No problem with novel spec PU running is only 46 laps March 9 On the 8th, on the second day of the 2nd Barcelona test, Honda launched a new spec. Yusuke Hasegawa According to Honda F1 general manager, "It was originally designed to introduce this to Melbourne" and was scheduled to be used from the first day of the second test.
However, due to the trouble that occurred on the second day of the first test (February 28), although the cause has not been identified yet, arrival was delayed because we had taken countermeasures. In other words, the electrical problem that occurred on the second test day (March 7) was old (exactly the same as the first test) spec.
"Electric trouble of Stelle (Bandoon) (occurred on March 7) caused insulation failure and a symptom of suspected ground fault (electricity flowing in contact with the ground) Because the current F1 machine carries the regeneration system and the high voltage current flows, both plus and minus are completely floating from the car.If either of them comes in contact with the ground, it becomes a ground fault, Even though the high voltage terminal is covered with insulation material such as rubber, it will be ground fault when it comes in contact with the ground.The trouble of this time is also completely short-circuited It was not because I had insulation resistance below a certain level, so I just received a warning. "
"Because this kind of trouble happens even with a slight insulation failure, restoring is not so difficult, but since it will be a hard task to find out where insulation failure is occurring, replace each power unit "Hasegawa General Manager said.
Well, Honda's new spec was introduced on March 8, but Fernando Alonso took 46 laps this day, and it was no trouble about the power unit. According to the team officials, according to the team officials, 27 laps in the morning, although Hasegawa's general manager did not reveal "Why can not I say from my mouth" why the power unit did not have problems with the laptop? It was said that there was a problem of water leak on the side of the car where I ran.
Of course, even as a Honda, I can not be relieved yet just by saying 46 laps trouble. But it is certain that he has advanced forward one step at a time.
"It is undecided whether to use this in Melbourne at this moment. If the cause (of the trouble of February 28) is clarified in the future, based on this (the new specs used on March 8), the opening race I will do whatever I can do to improve reliability up to the point. "
The remaining test is two days. There are only two more days, but there are many things to do.
I wood say the insulation/grounding fault being the issue with the PUs would absolutely make sense as this isn't something an engine dyno or even a chassis dyno wood pick up. Of course that doesn't really jive with the info being put out that it was something with the top of the motor/cylinder head but then again I'm not sure where that info was coming from to begin with.
Stelle Bandoon lol I want to see him called Bandoon from now on
Vettel goes fastest on the soft tyres, with a lap time of 1:19.341.
That's a really nice lap on softs.
Meanwhile Bandoon is sitting on a 122.055 on super softs. I think that's McHonda's fast lap so far. No word of any PU change yet and it's only 90 minutes til lunch! McHonda pit crew aren't going to know what to do with themselves.
Ugh
Vandoorne improves his time to a 1:21.348, he's on the ultra soft tyres.
Then promptly stops at the end of the pits. Just hit 30 laps, time for a PU change I guess.
03-07-2017, 11:40 AM
Re: The Official Formula 1 2017 Season Thread
