Is the Ferrari F1 car a gas guzzler?

shamwari

Whilst several pundits have been lauding the performance of the Mercedes V8 as used by McLaren / Brawn / Force India, I'm getting the feeling that the Ferrari motor by comparisson is not as powerful, nor is it as fuel effecient.

Take Belgium for example. Following the safety car period after the start, Raikkonen and Fisichella were leading. The Ferrari had slightly more fuel from the start but both pitted at the same time because Fisi managed to save more fuel behind the safety car. At the second stop, the two cars again stopped together but (from recollection) the nozle time was slightly longer for the Ferrari than the Force India. Stefano Domencalli conceded after the race that they needed to understand why Raikkonen didn't have a fuel advantage over Fisi at the first stops.

Yesterday at Monza, the nozzle times on the Ferrari seemed longer than those cars it was racing. Only for Force India's fluffed second stop, they would have nicked a podium. The straight line speed figures for all of the Benz powered cars were impressive all weekend.

The was a fuel issue for Massa in Barcelona earlier this year, however (and to be fair) the team claimed that problem on the fuel rig, rather than a thirsty motor.

The upshot of this - and it is a personal feeling - is that if there is a fuel consumption issue with the Ferrari V8, they could well be in real trouble in 2010. Engine development is banned, so they can't re-engineer the motor's internals to improve fuel consumption and efficiency. They will also start the race with full race fuel on board, and if the motor is thirsty, that means their car will be heavier than those around it, which in turn means that performance will be compromised.

Anyone any thoughts on this ??

amacachi

They were probably using a richer fuel mix to stay in front of Fisi. Since he was being *held up* there was no need to for them to waste fuel behind the Ferrari.

EvilMonkey

Is straight line speed not more down to aerodynamic efficiency and low downforce more than down to engine power?

shamwari

EvilMonkey wrote: »

Is straight line speed not more down to aerodynamic efficiency and low downforce more than down to engine power?

Monza is a power circuit and everybody would be running in low downforce configuration anyway. Therefore engine power would be decisive and telling. The top cars through the speed traps all weekend were Benz powered. Contrast that with the Renault power units which are suspected of having a power deficit. This might explain why Red Bull where nowhere all weekend, whereas the works Renault team had to reinstall KERS to achieve respectable performance.

EvilMonkey

shamwari wrote: »

Monza is a power circuit and everybody would be running in low downforce configuration anyway. Therefore engine power would be decisive and telling. The top cars through the speed traps all weekend were Benz powered. Contrast that with the Renault power units which are suspected of having a power deficit. This might explain why Red Bull where nowhere all weekend, whereas the works Renault team had to reinstall KERS to achieve respectable performance.

Yeah but some have better aero efficiency at low downforce than others. Force India for example(were almost as fast as McLaren despite not having Kers boost coming out of the corners), where as Red Bull generates more downforce and is faster in circuits where cornering speed is more important(Renault engine being crap isn't helping them).
Of course engine power is important but i dont think the Ferrari and Mercedes isn't that different power wise. Last year the Ferrari engine was considered the best, this year the Mercedes. Despite the development ban sometimes changes due to reliability or efficiency also improve the engine performance(sneaky bastards ).

Was the Ferrari not fastest in the speed trap in spa(Badoer something like 10-15 kph faster than anyone in the speed trap despite being crap), McLaren were slower because they needed more downforce for the middle section.

Ghost Train

Well the engines have been fixed since the 2008 season (developed late 2007 season) and a number of engines have won since then, this year the Renault has done well with Red bull and the Mercedes with its three teams. Think it they all must be pretty close, but Mercedes does seem to be the best.

Slutmonkey57b

It's not that long ago that Mercedes engines were unreliable hunks of scrap metal.

EvilMonkey

Looks like it mightn't matter if the Ferrari is a gas guzzler.

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/090914153003.shtml