© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Mercedes released a Q&A session with Hywel Thomas! The Managing Director of Mercedes High Perfomance Powertrains answers questions about the 2023 engine and more!
How has the off-season been in Brixworth?
The off-season has been as busy as always. In many ways it’s the busiest time of the year. It’s when we manufacture the largest quantity of hardware and assemble and test the majority of our Power Units for the year. There are some hardware changes on the PU for this year. Of course, not as many changes as we historically have done because of the performance specification freeze, but we’ve still got learning to do at the factory ahead of the season. There are also still opportunities with the software, calibrations, and the way that we run the engines to get that last bit of performance out of it. Getting all that work done is always a challenge and it’s been no different this year.
How has the Power Unit hardware freeze changed preparations compared to previous years?
The Power Unit hardware freeze makes it a very different challenge. In previous years with a big performance upgrade, the number of new parts would have been enormous. What we found in the 12 months since the hardware performance freeze, is that there is a lot of value in spending time concentrating and looking in real detail at what the Power Unit is telling us. Doing analysis and really developing our understanding of how to use the Power Unit allows us to still make gains through the calibration and the way that we run the engine. We’ve got the final performance software freeze ahead of the start of the season so that’s also been a lot of work. We have found the most performance through the way we use the engine and that means software upgrades. Knowing that it is the final opportunity for development has ensured it’s been a real push to pack in as much work as possible. It’s therefore been a shift in emphasis away from the hardware and into the software. It’s an area where our engineering learning has increased a lot so that we can create those opportunities and then deliver on them.
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How have you approached the software freeze?
We have approached the software freeze in the same way we approached the hardware freeze. We are always challenging ourselves to find performance, but we are not taking any unnecessary risks. We do a lot of testing on the dyno to make sure that we haven’t overstepped the mark and that has been our approach once again.
Has there been a conscious effort to look at the challenges of ‘bouncing’?
By the end of the season, the engines were battered and bruised. It took a lot of management and a lot of effort from a lot of people to keep them in the pool. That has been a big topic over the winter and a good example of the way we can work together with the team in Brackley. We have looked at the design changes made on the chassis, along with those on the engine, and done the work as a team. The biggest changes on the Power Unit this year are the reliability items to make ourselves more robust if we find the car hitting the ground.
What can you tell us about this year’s engine and any differences from last year?
It’s very much a small evolution where the changes are quite subtle as they are all about reliability. There are some reasonable changes on the base of the engine to protect against any striking, but most of the other changes are small. We are trying to get the reliability exactly where we want it and take away the last few risks that exist. We do find problems from time to time, and when the engines came back at the end of last season, we found a few things that were not quite what we would want to see. There have been some changes to address those but nothing fundamental.
How close has the collaboration been between Brixworth and Brackley? Do you think it’s got even better because of the challenges of last year?
The collaboration around the bottoming of the whole car has been great and it’s a good example of how we come up with system solutions, not individual solutions. The other side of that, and what was impressive during last season, was how the performance teams worked together to match the engine and the chassis to find lap time. They were relentless from the start of the season and that has been a real learning point from last year. If we want to keep developing and finding those bits of performance, then we must do that as a team.
There are only three days of testing before we go racing in Bahrain. How critical are they because of the lack of running compared to previous years?
They are critical. First, when you’ve only got three days of running, the Power Unit must not negatively impact on the running of the car. The chassis side have got an enormous amount of work that they want to complete to learn. We need to be in the background doing our job and helping rack up the mileage.Second, we’ve got several features in the software that we want to make sure get a good test on the circuit before we go racing. It’s also important for us to do the usual work around the cooling system and making sure everything is working together as expected.
How has the winter been? Are you pleased with the progress you have seen?
The winter programme has been as full as any that I can remember, all of it driven by the fact we only have three days of testing. The work on the dynos in Brixworth has gone well. We are in good shape, but the main challenge comes when we hit the track.
How excited are you to see the W14 take to the track? How big a milestone is that for you and your team?
It’s always a huge milestone and I have been fortunate for several years to be at Silverstone to watch the car roll out of the garage for the first time. The feeling of pride never changes. There is always that small feeling of trepidation but overall, it’s a huge milestone. These weeks in February are super important for us and it’s always great after the cars come out of the garage to send a message back to the factory to say it’s alive, and that we are powering the car around the circuit again.
Can you feel that kind of energy in the factory at Brixworth at this time of year?
Absolutely. The preparations to get the engines, the ERS system, and the freight on its way to Bahrain mean everyone is working so hard. At the same time, anytime I bump into anyone in the factory you get that sense of anticipation to see what shape we are in and how the car package will perform. Everyone is just ready to start the season now.
Source: Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team
