Every driver has to finish the F1 season with three engines, almost impossible when you know that there are 22 races on the calendar this season. This is also apparent from the fact that more than three quarters of F1 drivers have already exceeded the maximum number of copies and have therefore incurred at least one grid penalty.
At Mercedes, Valtteri Bottas already took several grid penalties as a result and Lewis Hamilton also ran into his second grid penalty in Brazil. Just like in Turkey, Hamilton got a new internal combustion engine, but this time Mercedes seems to have pulled something out of its hat.
Hamilton conquered the ‘mini-pole’ for the sprint race with some ease on Friday. Initially, the offense with the rear wing that had helped him to that best time was still considered. However, Hamilton was disqualified and had to start the sprint race last on the grid.
From P20 Hamilton managed to climb up to P5 again with great ease. It is striking that the highest top speed of Hamilton during the sprint race was no less than 339 km/h. More than teammate Valtteri Bottas (303.2 km/h) and Max Verstappen (317.3 km/h).
Of course, the above figures can be slightly influenced by whether or not you use DRS and having a car slipstream in front of you, but the fact is that even then Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes engine seems much more powerful and clearly makes the difference on the straights.
It would also explain why Hamilton was so fast in qualifying, the sprint race and the grand prix itself. But what is the cause of the much improved Mercedes engine at Hamilton?
According to the Italian branch of ‘Motorsport.com’, Hywel Thomas, the chief engineer of Mercedes, is said to have developed a special version of the Mercedes engine that has a lifespan of only 2,500 kilometers, while an engine normally needs about 7,000 kilometers. go along.
However, it would be just enough to complete the last four race weekends of the season with the extra powerful engine and thus give Hamilton an important advantage over Max Verstappen in his Red Bull F1 car.
At Mercedes, they would have ensured that the turbo of the engine was increased as well as the pressure in the combustion chamber by replacing the internal combustion engine. This would have provided at least an additional 15 horsepower, horsepower that served Lewis Hamilton well not only during his catch-up race in Brazil, but also during the remaining three races of the season.
Or how Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes suddenly have an extra trump card in their battle for the world title…
More F1 news:– Red Bull is concerned: “Haven’t seen a Mercedes engine like this in years, it doesn’t look good for the championship”– “Mercedes top speed is unbelievable, they are from another planet”– Red Bull: “What Max Verstappen did with Hamilton was just racing hard”– McLaren: Rumors of a takeover by Audi are completely false– Lewis Hamilton fined €5,000 after Brazilian GP but retains victory
(F1journaal.be)
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