Mercedes F1 PU manager makes a mistake “Advancing performance on the software side”[F1-Gate.com]

Hywel Thomas, Mercedes F1’s powertrain program general director, said at the presentation of the 2023 F1 machine “W14”, the purpose of changing the F1 power unit was for performance reasons, not reliability or safety. I inadvertently made it clear. At the presentation, a technical corner was set up where Mike Elliott and Hywel Thomas, technical directors of Mercedes F1, talked about the changes and improvements of the W14, the 2023 F1 machine.

Sky’s Natalie Pinkham asked how the challenges of 2022 and the underperforming W13 have influenced “the team’s mindset for 2023”. “The mindset I’ve seen, and the mindset we’ve talked about, is one of constant development,” said Highway Thomas. “On the PU[power unit]side, we’re subject to more restrictions due to the change in regulations.” “So it’s very difficult to find performance within that constraint, and only through true innovation and constant effort can performance be advanced.” , after which only changes are allowed to improve reliability. F1’s engineers are not used to public appearances, so it’s clear that they can’t be expected to have the media presentation skills that team bosses and drivers display. Neither Mercedes F1 team principal Toto Wolff nor Red Bull F1 team principal Christian Horner will admit that they were aiming to improve performance under the current F1 power unit freeze regulations. Nor would he accept that the team’s mindset is ‘advancing performance’, as stated in Article 4 of the Technical Regulations. “During the homologation period, manufacturers may apply to the FIA ​​to modify homologated power unit elements solely for reliability, safety, cost savings or the minimum ancillary changes permitted by Article 5.4. Alpine F1 Team urges FIA to tighten crackdown Alpine F1 Team’s powertrain chief Bruno Famin recently said Renault would urge other manufacturers to change components within the power unit’s freeze architecture to maximum. He admitted that he had received 70 requests. Bruno Famín questioned whether some of his competitors’ upgrades should be investigated by the FIA ​​due to their unreliability. “Behind the reliability issue, of course, is potential performance gains. The boundaries are not always clear.” One thing is clear, you don’t gain anything by putting a better or different water pump on it,” Hywell Thomas. The confession should pave the way for the FIA ​​to review Mercedes’ power unit upgrades since it was frozen in March 2022. The intention at Brixworth is clearly for performance and as explained by Bruno Famin, parts that are not broken but are being replaced under the guise of improving reliability are clearly performance oriented and therefore the FIA should be prohibited.