Hywel Thomas, Managing Director of Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains, believes the power unit will pose unique challenges.
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Mercedes’ engine boss Hywel Thomas believes the power unit rule changes for the 2022 season are significant in their own way and thus should not be underestimated.
Going into the 2022 Formula 1 season, all of the focus has been on the aerodynamic side. And it is easy to understand why.
After all, the new aero regulations will lead to new-look cars for F1’s future. These changes, the FIA hopes, will lead to closer wheel-to-wheel racing.
But Thomas, Managing Director of Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains, believes the power unit will pose its own unique challenges too.
“I think when most people are talking about the 2022 regulations they’re talking about a brand new car and what the influence of that brand new car is going to be,” he said in a video posted on Mercedes’ YouTube channel.
“But there are a couple of changes on the PU side and they’re quite important. We have an e10 fuel. What does that mean? It means the fuel now has to contain 10% ethanol and a sustainable version of ethanol as well.
“Also the start of 2022, there is a freeze on the combustion engine in terms of performance. And later on during the season, there’s a freeze on the electrical systems in terms of performance as well.
“So the challenge this year has been to put all that together and get that all ready for the very first race and make sure that we’re absolutely beautifully installed in what is now a completely new car for 2022.”
Thomas also revealed the team are taking a look at how chassis-power unit integration will be for the 2022 car.
“Every year we take a look at the power unit and the way that it sits inside the chassis in order to give us the best lap time.
“With the 2022 being an all-new chassis, what that means is that we have an opportunity to look at everything again.
“There are areas on the car which will be very sensitive to lap time. And there’ll be other areas of the car which are less sensitive.
“And what we’re trying to do with the PU is to make sure that we stay as far away as we can from the sensitive areas to give as much flexibility as possible for the car designers and to package parts of the PU into areas where there’s less sensitivity.
“So what that means is working hand in glove with the chassis department with all those engineers to make sure that the PU fits in exactly where it needs to to make sure we can make the fastest overall package.”
