as we go into a new year,

How will Newey do? will he pull off another title with his magic wizardry?

 

F1- I need to check in on who the drivers are for each team and who is making the power plants for each team.

Indy Car- Who is driving for which engine manufacturer.

NASCAR- Go Chase!! SOMEBODY take out Denny every race please.

 

Mclaren
Piastri and Norris
Merc powertrain

Mercedes
Russell and Antonelli
Merc powertrain

Redbull
Verstappen and Hadjar
Ford/Redbull powertrain

Ferrari
Leclerc and Hamilton
Ferrari powertrain

Williams
Albon and Sainz
Merc powertrain

Racing Bulls
Lawson and Lindblad
Ford/Redbull powertrain

Aston Martin
Alonso and Stroll
Honda powertrain

Haas
Ocon and Bearman
Ferrari powertrain

Audi
Hulkenberg and Bortoleto
Audi powertrain

Alpine
Gasly and Calopinto
Merc powertrain

Cadillac
Perez and Bottas
Ferrari powertrain

 

^Thank you.

 

The engines will have an approximate 50-50 split in power produced by the internal combustion engine and the electrical system, up from about 20% electrical this year. The hybrid system is simplified through the removal of the MGU-H, the complex and expensive device that recovered energy from the turbo. Cars will have to run on fully sustainable fuel, manufactured from biomass or synthetic industrial processes.

 

It sounds like a few drivers are being challenged by these new cars. You are not just racing around the track anymore, you are a “manager” of electrical systems and the motor to drive regeneration is now a separate function than to propel the car around the track.
The learning curve is steep.

 

VER is less than thrilled and I don't blame him based on his interpretation of what it's like. The experience doesn't sound like something I would enjoy either. I get the need for F1 to evolve to remain relevant but, at the end of the day, race car drivers want to drive race cars that are fast, rewarding and challenging.

 

I don't think hard driving cut and slash won't be rewarded, smooth will be.
Perez may surprise many if his Cadillac holds together. Bottas too.

 

Lewis Hamilton says that the new rules this year make Formula 1 "ridiculously complex" and that "none of the fans are going to understand it".

After driving the Ferrari on the first morning of this week's pre-season test in Bahrain, said: "I sat in a meeting the other day and they're taking us through it. And yeah, it's like you need a degree to fully understand it all."

The rules have set up a situation where the engines are energy starved most of the time, and teams and drivers have to maximise the amount of energy recovery they do.

This has led to unusual technical strategies and driving techniques.

These will include not going flat out exiting a corner before starting a qualifying lap, and backing off on the straights to conserve energy.



There are four kinds of energy recovery:

· Regenerative braking, where the motor recovers energy while slowing for a corner

· Part-throttle overload, where the battery takes power from the engine in parts of the track where the driver does not need full throttle, such as cornering, where engines may run at high revs when a driver is not on the power

· Lift and coast - lifting off before corners so the electric motor can run against the engine

· 'Superclip' - the electronic control unit diverts energy to the battery when the driver is still at full throttle on the straight

These are all complicated by the fact that the drivers can operate a 'boost' button for extra power to facilitate an overtake, but then risk being short of power and vulnerable to being re-passed on the following straight.

Hamilton said: "If you look at Barcelona, for example, we're doing 600 metres lift and coast on a qualifying lap. That's not what racing is about. Here (in Bahrain), we're not having to do that because there's lots of braking zones."

Drivers will also have to use lower gears than they would like to help with energy recovery.

Hamilton added: "The low gears that we have to go down into is just because we can't recover enough battery power.

"We can't recover enough battery power, so that's why we have to go and rev the engines very, very, very high. So we're going down to second and first in some places just to try to recover that extra bit of power."

Hamilton's comments should be seen in the context that the teams are just beginning to learn about their new cars, and they will not be seen in anger until the start of the season.

It is also the case that some of these energy management strategies, such as lift and coast, were already being used last year, with the previous engines.

Rulemakers are likely to give the rules some time to settle down before jumping to conclusions or making knee-jerk reactions.

 

Note that he doesn't even mention the variable aero which will complicate things even further.