Mercedes has the most powerful engine, Honda is missing twenty hp

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16 July 2020 at 08:15
  • GPblog.com

An analysis after the Styrian Grand Prix showed that Mercedes currently has a more powerful engine than Honda and Renault. Moreover, it was noticed that Lewis Hamilton reached the finish line with ten kilograms of fuel left, while the tank of Max Verstappen was practically empty.

According to information in the possession of Motorsport.com, the Mercedes engine has about a thousand horsepower. The Honda engine of Red Bull Racing is currently supposed to yield twenty bhp on the power unit of the German racing team. The fact that the Japanese are lagging behind was also discovered earlier by Auto, Motor und Sport. The RB16 will have to compensate some tenths that it loses in this respect in the corners. In Hungary there is a good chance for that, because the Hungaroring is known for its many curves and few straights.

Mercedes finished with more fuel

What is perhaps even more striking, according to the aforementioned medium, is that Lewis Hamilton finished in the second Grand Prix on the Red Bull Ring with ten kilograms of fuel still in his tank. However, the fuel tank at Verstappen was almost empty. "On the circuit where 106 kilos of fuel (out of the 110 allowed kilos) is sufficient to reach the finish line, this indicates that Mercedes didn't want to take any major risks with the strategy".

What exactly does this difference mean? "It could be caused by a more thirsty Honda engine, or a start with less fuel on board. When converted, ten kilograms less fuel saves about two to three tenths of a tenth of a second, which seems to indicate that Mercedes has even more on its hands". Compared to 2019 Mercedes seems to have made quite a step with the power unit.

Renault stays behind

No representative data from Ferrari is available, because Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel were both out after seven laps last week. The Renault engine is said to have 35 hp less than the Mercedes engine. So work to be done for the French