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On the other hand, Schumacher was able to calmly drive back to the pits after he slammed into a slow running Coulthard in a rainy Spa race a few years ago..
'calmly drive back to the pits' before trying to start a fight
..it's not clear whether it's a problem that just concerns the Mercedes engined cars that can be fixed, or is something that effects all PUs across all teams and is inherent in the design. I think its probs too early to say its a fault of the regs.
Well there are a few different related problems...
1. the delta between max deployment and superclipping is far, far too high, like 450 BHP too high. So the closing speed when this happens is massive.
2. the system is automated and is therefore clipping/superclipping at inappropriate times. So when point 1 will occur is unpredictable.
3. on some tracks the cars cannot recover anywhere near enough energy therefore superclipping is basically inevitable.
An ex F1 engineer (Toni Cuquerella) ran some simulations and found that you can eliminate the need for superclipping completely by making it 64/36 instead of 50/50. It would only make the cars roughly a second and a half slower and basically entirely solve all the above issues.
It's in Spanish but if you look at the table you can understand it pretty easily.
Translation of the post text:
F1 Miami 2026 Simulations . How to improve without changing the hardware, since increasing the fuel flow would mean building a completely new engine. My proposal:
- 200 kW maximum positive power (was 350 kW)
- 350 kW maximum charge power. Kept as is.
- 6 MJ maximum recharge energy (was 9 MJ)
- Slew rate 50 kW/s (was 100 kW/s)
- MGUK/ICE Ratio: 36/64 (was 50/50) Result:
- Vmax 328 km/h right before braking.
- No superclipping
- Only 1.4 seconds slower
- Still +8 sec faster than an F2
https://twitter.com/tonicuque/status/2039283363899387991
That looks like a workable solution for the moment. It is probably only interim as they get better with the software, but for the next few races at least, it would add safety without massively reducing the excitement.
1. the delta between max deployment and superclipping is far, far too high, like 450 BHP too high. So the closing speed when this happens is massive.
2. the system is automated and is therefore clipping/superclipping at inappropriate times. So when point 1 will occur is unpredictable.
My understanding is that the Mercedes PU in certain modes reduces the battery input in one abrupt step as opposed the the multiple steps that the FIA suggested. However it does it in the same time-frame, and the FIA have already said that it meets the regulation. It's useful because it applies full battery deployment for slightly longer (as opposed to stepped reductions) . There was commentary saying that Colapinto may have mistakenly or inadvertently triggered this mode - which partially at least explains his very abrupt pace reduction, as opposed to gradually slowing as the battery recharges during super-clipping.
My understanding is that the Mercedes PU in certain modes reduces the battery input in one abrupt step as opposed the the multiple steps that the FIA suggested. However it does it in the same time-frame, and the FIA have already said that it meets the regulation.
I was reading that they are using this for quali as the 60 second lock out penalty that you suffer on the inlap doesn’t matter so they take the benefit to get a better final straight. The irony is that these teams are complaining about the speed differentials being dangerous but are quite happy to create them to exploit the rules for quali.
I don’t see a problem with that: it’s a competitive sport. With big budgets. By all means exploit the stupid rule with big performance gains. Play the game according to the current rules. Those rules apply to your competitors after all.
you can still lobby the rule makers to change that stupid rule. At which point it will apply to all.
The merc strategy is legal, as the (daft) rule is written, and could have been foreseen. And it’s mostly likely to cause speed differential on the straight when there’s ample room for drivers to keep away from each other.
I don’t like the rule, but that’s what you get when you write rules full of loopholes.