Is the ERS problem suffered yesterday by Max Verstappen during the second free practice session of the Canadian GP a wake-up call for Red Bull’s reliability? This is the question that Max himself must have asked himself, declaring to the media: “We need to understand what it is due to and above all whether this will have an impact on the course of the season”.
the crisis of the ers
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In an F1 where engine failures have become extremely rare and considering the reliability demonstrated by Honda PUs in the last two seasons, it is surprising that the problem also occurred on a new Power Unit, the third used in this season characterized by an internal combustion engine, turbocharger and new MGU-H, coupled with Energy Storage (battery), MGU-K and management software, already used during the previous races. At the same time, it is indicative that it was the Ers, or the electrical part of the hybrid PU, that went into crisis. Contrary to the constant emphasis on indicating aerodynamic development as the exclusive performance key of current single-seaters, it is correct to reiterate that the PU still maintains, albeit less significantly than at the beginning of the hybrid era, a value as a performance differentiator. In essence, although the performance development of the PUs has been frozen, allowing in fact only modifications aimed at increasing the reliability of the engine, it is correct to reiterate how the methods of charging and releasing power per lap are crucial for competitiveness on the individual circuits .
the power unit
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The way PU is used and its integration into simulator tests is an integral part of the teams’ preparation for a race weekend. It is no coincidence that in recent days, when talking about the preparation carried out by Ferrari on the SF-24, in view of this weekend, we have placed the emphasis on the number of configurations not only on an aerodynamic level but also on the way in which the PU is used. These, in fact, must be reconciled with the aerodynamic but also dynamic prerogatives of the car, sometimes even trying to overcome some limits of the first two. In this sense, the layout of the Montreal track places the PU charging cycle under particular stress, alongside power release choices such as to make the single-seaters reactive in the driven sections of the circuit, but guaranteeing adequate residual energy reserves in the last sector, the one characterized by the last very long straight that precedes the finish line.
the project
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If we consider the intrinsic difficulty of the RB20 project in dealing with the high curbs, characteristic of this track, it is equally obvious to consider relevant the fact that in Red Bull, they have adopted a PU mode, which in fact tends to minimize the deficit of the dynamics of the car in the mixed, favoring acceleration out of corners, and then using maximum power in the last sector. In essence, we mean to say that, perhaps, Red Bull could have adopted a much less conservative mode of use, precisely to mitigate the limitations of the single-seater on this type of track.
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the criticality
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Ultimately, the complexity of the cooling system should not be considered any less significant with that of the Ers split and powered by air intakes of particularly small cross-section. In essence, the RB20 project, taken to the extreme at an aerodynamic level and characterized by a futuristic division of the cooling system into four levels, could also prove “critical” in certain conditions. But obviously these are just guesses…
