Toto Wolff now claims the Ferrari power unit has a 14 bhp advantage over the Mercedes
see photosFerrari had been working on a new power unit for over a year
Mercedes team principal and team boss Toto Wolff has revealed that Ferrari now has 14 bhp in terms of engine power. They revealed that it was the most dramatic performance jump a team has made on engine power since the advent of the V6 turbo hybrid engine, introduced in 2014.
Wolff’s unit has been behind the most influential F1 engine in history since the start of the turbo-hybrid engine era, propelling Mercedes to eight consecutive world titles. But in 2018 and 2019 Ferrari began to challenge the silver arrows on engine power. Notably in 2019, Ferrari’s engine power enabled it to win three races and enable Leclerc to take pole position four times. But after clarification from the FIA, that engine was deemed illegal.
In light of FIA technical directives, the Ferrari was now suddenly down on engine power, with it rumored to be gaming the fuel flow pressure limit that enabled its disastrous horsepower. This in turn dramatically affected its 2020 car which was not only low on engine power, but now had a very stretched chassis that was envisioned for a more powerful engine. Ferrari was originally supposed to write off its 2020 and 2021 seasons and was preparing for the 2022 regulations which also included E10 fuel.
The F1-75 2022 has proven to be the most dynamic car on the grid, performing well in both corners and straights
Ferrari began showing improvements in 2021 with a better engine, which was only slightly lower in engine power by the end of the year, compared to Mercedes and Honda. Wolff admitted that the Ferrari was lacking by about 14 bhp.
“Earlier they were about 14bhp behind, but now they are another 14bhp ahead. We have never seen such great progress in such a short time,” said the Mercedes team co-owner.
Ferrari ran two parallel engine programmes, one aimed for the 2021 season, with a short-term goal of making the car competitive enough for a top-three position in the constructors, and the other aimed at increasing engine performance. . With the engine development freeze from 2022 to the end of 2025, Ferrari wanted to develop a new engine that responded well to Shell’s E10 fuel mixture and was reliable.
This has already been seen with the revival of all Ferrari-run teams including Haas and Alfa Romeo. If reports are to be believed, Ferrari has now fully shown its hand in terms of engine power and so in the first few races Red Bull had an engine at straight-line speed that enabled Verstappen to win in Saudi Arabia. Make. In response to Red Bull’s speed in the straights, which has been helped by a powerful DRS wing and a car that is not affected by ‘bouncing impact’, Ferrari gained an additional 5 bhp in Melbourne.
Ferrari is said to be working on completing a reliability program that could be finished by the end of the race at Imola. In Barcelona, it is likely to bring a Spec 2 engine which will be tougher which will unlock more performance. From the race in Miami, Ferrari is said to be bringing an update to the hybrid system that could add another 10 bhp.
While Wolff has stood firm on the fact that Mercedes has lost its engine performance advantage to Ferrari and perhaps to Alpine and Honda, this was the first time he acknowledged that Maranello’s team had made huge gains and for once Didn’t really claim they could be doing anything illegal.
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“I can only congratulate them,” he admitted.
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