F1 journalist Mark Hughes considers that the engine trouble in the fuel system at Red Bull Racing’s 2022 F1 opening round Bahrain Grand Prix final is a problem related to switching to the new E10 fuel.
Starting this year, F1 has introduced an E10 fuel that must contain 10% renewable ethanol. When ethanol enters the fuel, it produces less energy in the same amount as before, which reduces performance. The loss is estimated to be 25 horsepower.
Red Bull has signed a contract with Honda, an engine supplier that withdrew from F1 until last year, and commissioned the development of a new F1 power unit in 2022 including support for E10 fuel, and Red Bull is a newly established engine division.・ We have a system to operate with Powertrains.
Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen was in second place until the end of the race in the final, but lost power and retired in the pits with three laps remaining. Sergio Perez, who retired from Verstappen and moved up to 3rd place, retired due to the same problem on the final lap.
Mark Hughes attributed the problem with Red Bull Racing’s F1 engines to fuel cavitation. Cavitation is a physical phenomenon in which bubbles are generated and disappear in a short time due to a pressure difference in a liquid flow.
Fuel cavitation tends to occur when the last debris of fuel is pumped around an almost empty tank. As you can imagine, the fuel sways violently due to the load from the car, and no matter how well the tank baffle system is designed, when this happens, the temperature of the fuel rises.
The cavitation threshold has been changed because the E10 fuel introduced this year operates at a higher temperature than the fully fossil fuels used earlier. Only teams with sufficient preparation time to perform a complete race simulation in the test, including running the tank almost dry, found this.
Most teams did, but Red Bull Racing, which had a more compact program and introduced upgrades that needed last-minute verification, didn’t.After qualifying, Red Bull liked the parts list, which included a fuel tank lifter pump.
If this is the case, it will be the first challenge for Red Bull, who will also be the engine supplier for the first time. Until now, the chassis side could be separated from the Red Bull and the engine side from Honda, but it is possible that the integration had an unexpected negative effect.
Category: Category: F1 / Red bull / F1 Bahrain GP