Mercedes vs Ferrari: Why battle could be tighter than ever in Austria
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Athletic.
How can Ferrari's engine upgrade impact their performance in Austria?
The race is on, and as F1 heads to Austria, Ferrari could have the help of an engine upgrade to boost its chances of turning Lewis Hamilton's Barcelona win into a title push. But will Mercedes hit back? And if so, can George Russell find a way to turn the tide against teammate Kimi Antonelli after being fortunate enough to gain 18 points last time out? I'm Ed Straw, and joining me to look ahead to events at the Red Bull Ring and tackle the implications of the ongoing wranglings about the Monaco result are Josh Sutil and Ben Anderson.
What challenges does Mercedes face against Ferrari in the upcoming race?
Ben, we're off to Austria. Always a favourite. Expecting Ferrari to pick up where it left off in Barcelona?
Well, I actually am quite optimistic. I think Barcelona was a bit of a surprise, but there's lots of logical reasons why Ferrari were so strong there.
How does the altitude affect car performance in Austria?
Massively upgraded car that seemed to work. Lewis Hamilton on form. Not too many long straights to highlight their engine power deficiency. And Austria is kind of similar, but obviously the altitude, the high altitude plays a massive role there and can skew things a bit. But I think irrespective of whether Ferrari makes this engine upgrade in time for Austria, because there's a bit of conjecture about whether it will be ready for Austria or might have to wait for Silverstone the week after. I think there's lots of ingredients that actually favour them. Curb riding is really good. We know that the tyre management was exceptional with these trick wheel rims they have.
What are the implications of the Monaco GP pitlane speeding penalty controversy?
You need good warm-up in Austria, which is difficult to do on that track. And you need good rear tyre management. Teams are expecting it to be a rear tyre limited race. So that could be similar to Barcelona. Two stops are expected.
How do reliability issues affect the title race between Ferrari and Mercedes?
Could it pitch into three stops again if it's particularly hot? We're going through a heat wave. So that plays into Ferrari's hands. Good at riding the kerbs. And also that small turbo, the core piece of the design, which we don't expect to be changed in this first engine upgrade, I think that could be really quite powerful here because in the Williams team preview, normally the previews are a bit bland, but they raised the prospect of turbo lag being a particular thing that they're worried about going into this weekend that they have to monitor. Obviously, they use the Mercedes engine, which has one of the bigger turbos. running at that altitude, it's hard work for the turbos. It's harder to get them to spin and work.
So I just feel like that could play massively into Ferrari's hands and help them not only with the starts, which is an advantage they've kind of lost recently, but also just with the punch off of those slower corners in particular.
Ideally, you'll want to work the turbo a little bit harder. It's an interesting circuit from a power point of view because... It is a track where the power level is important, but not in terms of the ultra-long, eternal, everlasting straights. So when you've got Ferrari that carries the speed well through the corners, it's got good rear downforce. That's something Lewis Hamilton really enjoyed in Barcelona, just how strong the rear end is.
What strategies might drivers use to manage tire performance in Austria?
So if you're able to carry speed through the corners, get the power down. If you've got the traction, if you can carry speed onto the straights, because it's really important to remember that speed on the straights It's a function of the speed across the full duration of it. It's not just Vmax or how quick you are in the last 10% of the straight. It's the whole thing. So really, really interesting to see where Ferrari pans out. But of course, Josh, Mercedes will have upgrades coming. There's a little bit of an out-of-phaseness about the Ferrari versus the Mercedes upgrades. We don't know what Mercedes may or may not appear with in Austria as well. So there are some imponderables there as well.
Mercedes needs something else because you know Ferrari has raised the bar Mercedes started the season obviously with a fairly comfortable margin you probably put it around four tenths a lap maybe I mean that is gone now isn't it really you know it might still have the fastest overall package but we're talking a tenth maybe you know Ferrari has really closed that gap and like I said on the
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:02–0:12
2
How can Ferrari's engine upgrade impact their performance in Austria?
0:12–0:40
3
What challenges does Mercedes face against Ferrari in the upcoming race?
0:40–0:56
4
How does the altitude affect car performance in Austria?
0:56–1:41
5
What are the implications of the Monaco GP pitlane speeding penalty controversy?
1:41–1:57
6
How do reliability issues affect the title race between Ferrari and Mercedes?
1:57–3:15
7
What strategies might drivers use to manage tire performance in Austria?
3:15–4:16
8
How do driver contracts influence team dynamics in Formula 1?
4:16–54:27
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from The Race F1 Podcast
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