This weekend sees the Miami Grand Prix after a 5 week forced break since the Japanese Grand Prix back on March 29th. So far we have seen the Mercedes win all 3 races dominating the first two races finishing 1st and 2nd and finishing 1st and 4th in Japan. The Mercedes car has a distinct power advantage taking advantage of the grey area with regard to how the engine is tested with regard to PSI (pressure) and offers an extra 10 bhp. This equates to around an estimated two tenths of a second per lap.
With a 5 week break between races due to Bahrain and the Saudi Grand Prix's being cancelled due to the ongoing war in the Middle East region this break has allowed teams to develop their cars. For the first time today I heard about the digital wind tunnel which is used instead of the normal wind tunnel when using a 60% live model of the car.
Teams are allocated wind tunnel testing time according to where they finished the season before so McLaren has less time due to winning the constructors championship. The digital wind tunnel is treated differently and teams are still restricted on the amount of computations they solve, but it is still an added extra of what they were allowed with regard to wind tunnel physical time. The digital would actually save wind tunnel usage as they would be confirming what they already knew from information provided from the digital wind tunnel.
The advantage of the Mercedes engine will only be resolved during the mid season break but two tenths of a second per lap can be gained back by the other teams through upgrades. Research and development is where teams find tenths of seconds through aero dynamics or some new technology. Over the course of a season teams can find anywhere between 2 and 3 seconds per lap and why the lap times improve.
This weekend we shall see a big difference between the teams from what we saw in Japan as teams bring upgrades to help boost performance levels. Mercedes are reported to only be bringing upgrades to the Canadian Grand Prix in 3 weeks time so this gives the other teams a small window to claw back time and possibly over take Mercedes advantage.
teams have the best technical brains with each car being alive project with tweaks happening all the time as the teams are learning and improving their cars from what the data is telling them. You do wonder how much AI is being used as I am sure it is these days as teams strive unlocking the winning combinations.
Massive Upgrades Who Will Be The Winner?
Ferrari are leading the way with 11 upgrades for this weekend including a new rear wing feature that is more of an upside down rear wing nicknamed the "macarena" for the way it spins back into place. A changed front wing, rear suspension and floor will help the down force and traction for the back tyres. The package is expected to offer 10km'h straight line speed which would nullify Mercedes power units advantage.
McLaren and Red Bull have bought 7 upgrades each with Red Bull having a similar rear wing set up as Ferrari. The floor and side pods plus the floor are the other upgrades but are not expected to help with race speed and more about car responses being more predictable.
McLaren's upgrades are more around aerodynamics which is why the digital wind tunnel has become a major factor in their upgrades as more has been achieved than what would normally be the case in the past.
Aston Martin were the only team to have zero upgrades as they had bigger problems with a vibrating car/power unit and this has now been resolved. I expect they will finish the season strongly as these problems had the team on the back foot preventing any thoughts of upgrades.
The big question is will these upgrades work how they are supposed to and we know McLaren tend to get things right. Whatever happens this should not be another run away victory for Mercedes and expect McLaren, Ferrari and possibly Red Bull compete for the podium this weekend. One can never dismiss Max Verstappen because he finds the extra required to compete.