There is Something Very Wrong About all This!

Yes, you saw it right. That is an EXCLAMATION MARK in the title.

I'm just wondering why exactly, there isn't a fuss being made about this Mercedes engine. It is clearly not just faster, it is amazingly, incredibly, hugely faster.

Have a look at the Silverstone fastest laps:

Ham lap 26
Vet lap 52
Ros lap 26
Bott lap 34
Butt lap 57
Kvy lap 45
Ric lap 34
Alo lap 52
Hulk lap 52

Excuse me? pretty much everyone except the long-stiniting Ric sets their fastest lap about where you would expect it to be towards the very end. Not the Merc boys though. Engine turned down lap 27. Before that they were streaking away at 3 and 4 seconds a lap facter than everyone else.

JUST HOW DO YOU HAVE ONE ENGINE THAT IS 4 SECONDS FASTER THAN THE OTHERS

And what about the customer cars?

I reckon there is a LOT, I say a LOT of bad blood between Macca and Merca, because they have not looked anywhere near as fast as the other customers at any stage.

Force India have been in and out according to the tracks that they design their cars for, which is as normal. If the thing was not such a dog around the corners at Silverstone, it still would have stayed clear. As it was, the 'good' cars were able to get a run on them in the turn exit and use slipstream/DRS to get past.

Williams are clearly in favour. It seems to be a good car too, with Bottas having the confidence to carry his speed advantage around the outside of Jenson through Copse. What was really astounding though was the speed and power that he used in the early part of his race to get into contention. Again, this was before shutting down the solid rocket booster.

So how can there be such an advantage with the Merc engine, that:
- They can play with cutsie terms that titilate Lewis (Hammer Time) before turning the engines down
- They can stretch out any kind of lead they want and then manage the engine power to suit the circumstance
- The customer cars (with the exception of naughty Macca) can largely overcome their design defficiencies to pass almost at will?


What I am saying is just how much more power does this thing have? How come the other engine manufacturers are around the same, but Merc is way, way out in front? And why is no-one asking any questions about it?

Engine power is a pretty simple thing. Cubic capaciy for combustion and combustion efficiency, combined with smallest possible power loss in transmission to rolling effort, equals most power.

So which of these is Merc doing better than everyone else?

I rather like the idea that they are being naughty, and that:
- Force India too stupid to fully exploit
- Williams taking full advantage and Frank preparing blackmail for anyone who threatens to squeal
- Macca not participating in the cheat, and waiting for end of season to drop the hammer for a nice 'season exclsuion' for Merc so that theirs is not the only one

It's been a while since the last big 'Shock' in F1 so holding out hope on this one.