How much is Charles Leclerc’s upgraded power unit really worth? The Monegasque will use the fourth power unit in the Russian Grand Prix, which forces him to start from the back of the grid together with Max Verstappen.
The decision to bring the new engine earlier (it was initially planned for the Turkish GP) was dictated by reliability reasons. The battery used by Charles up to Monza was the same as in one involved in the crash at Hungaroring, when Lance Stroll’s 3-o’clock in the wet caused the KO of power unit number 2, as the Maranello team was able to save only the lithium-ion battery.
And, thus, the Scuderia has decided to use a fresh engine on Charles Leclerc SF21 car, that adopts the ERS system for the Superfast 2022 engine.
Charles Leclerc does not have all the new hybrid package because the MGU-K has remained the same as the PU3, although in the first communication of the FIA the homologation of a complete unit was announced, then corrected without the electric motor that recharges the energy kinetics under braking.
Ferrari therefore brings a new battery together with the MGU-H and the ECU. The complete package should have been worth about ten extra horsepower (in Maranello they insist on a single-digit increase in power), but the 065/6 Evo at this point will perhaps be worth something less.
Yet, analyzing the telemetry developed by Matteo Bobbi’s team in the first free practice session in Russia, it emerged quite clearly that, net of the different aerodynamic configurations which the two Ferrari drivers used in the morning free practice, a better behavior of the engine can be seen in the graphs that we publish.
On the main straight we see that the maximum speed reached is the same, but the red line of Charles Leclerc has a greater hump, a sign that the hybrid is more efficient and works better in average power, with an electricity supply that avoids the clipping. It is the sign that the MGU-H is able to directly power the MGU-K with a greater range of energy, making the 163 electric horses longer in the arc of the lap with a more diluted and efficient hybrid power fragmentation.
And then it turns out that Charles managed to overtake the Spaniard in every speed peak (except at turns 14 and 15), but with very low values, while at low speeds the Red of the Monegasque revealed greater traction when exiting the corners, a sign that the advantages of the new hybrid are also measured in weight savings and miniaturization of the elements.
The Maranello driver commented positively: “I feel that the engine is a little better and this is very positive, also because the data confirms it. It is nice to hear it and also to see it”.
Ferrari at Monza stated through the voice of its team principal Mattia Binotto that there was a gap of 20 horsepower compared to the Mercedes power unit, takes a small step forward in the hope of closing the gap next year, when a new engine will be approved, which will then have to be frozen in the next few years.
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