Cosworth

[ChrisPage]

Just posting to see what anyone else thinks here - but after a fair amount of stick, did Cosworth deserve a slap on the back for the engine perfomance today in the Williams? On a track pretty much pure power, Williams had enough pace to be a leader in the midfield.

Am I missing something though?

[blaffer]

Did anyone else notice Kevin Kalkhoven sitting next to Frank Williams during the Italian GP?

[JeremySmith]

Originally Posted by blaffer

Did anyone else notice Kevin Kalkhoven sitting next to Frank Williams during the Italian GP?

Yes I did see that, and I think Cosworth are doing a very good job...

[chunterer]

Well if all these rumours about Lotus and maybe even Virgin jumping ship and HRT disappearing, Williams would be the only outfit running the engines so Kevin K dropping in on Williams makes good sense. Maybe there'll be an even closer relationship next season between them?

I doubt it'll come to that, but what is certain is that the engine supply situation in the lower order will be a bit different next season.

[Sodemo]

Yep, I think its pretty much assured now that Lotus won't be with Cosworth next year. Who knows what 2011 will bring...?!

[Wims]

Autosport is reporting that Lotus and Cosworth has agreed to end their partnership after the 2010 season

[Marbot]

Lotus will get Red Bull's Engine/Gearbox/KERS from 2011 now, it seems. Lotus's problems this season have stemmed mainly from gearbox faults..

[GTRMagic]

Why would they get the Red Bull version? Is that suggesting Renault isnt running in 2011 as a works team?

[JABWOA]

Cosworth have benefited greatly from Williams, showing what a car with better aero can do with thier power (but it's not the best engine there by a long shot)

It would make sense for Renault (a private company effectively unless they do go ahead and buy back the Geni (sp?) shares) to use Red Bull developed gearbox and Kers as they have better access to designers and funds.

[knighty]

Originally Posted by JABWOA

but it's not the best engine there by a long shot)
.

At Hungary - Martin Brundle was talking similar nonsense when Barichello was behind Schumacher.......with words along the lines of " that cosworth engine hasnt got the grunt to pass the powerful Mercedes engine".......then Barichello blasted past schumacher on the main straight, whereby he then forced barichello up against the pit wall with "that move".........I think you will find the Cosworth engine is actually very comparable to top engines.........for me Cosworth have exceeded expectations.........agreed with comments above, Lotus were originally looking for a more reliable gear-box, then Renault also offered the engine as a complete package.........that will be a good move for Lotus.

Engine wise I think there is the proverbial fag-paper of difference between all engines power out-put.........even despite Renaults whinging, the red-bull & Renault cars were still mixing it with the other teams yesterday.

[Belatti]

The difference between engines is smaller that many people thinks. Remember they are freezed and limited so everyone is running 5 year old technology...

[phoenix]

I reckon the Cosworth must be up there with the best in terms of BHP. I recall earlier in the year Cosworth and Williams both said they were not lacking in power, but were learning together how to optimise power delivery - I take that to mean tweaking engine mapping and inlets/exhaust tuning (which are free) to give the best overall performance.

In the higher speed regions - 150 mph upwards - the most slippery cars are those that go quickest down the straights. A few BHP from a different engine makes very little difference. As an aside, it is interesting to note that the two different downforce strategies chosen by Button and Hamilton in Monza resulted in very similar lap times, but Hamilton was almost certainly quicker down the straights due to lower drag - just as Alonso was much faster than Button on the straights.

The Red Bulls obviously have a great deal of downforce which is their strongest suit and that is bound to have a negative impact on drag efficiency, though they seem to have found a good compromise which works well on all circuits where straights are fewer or shorter. I really doubt that the Red Bulls would be appreciably faster if they were fitted with Mercedes engines without some areo changes. As cited above, Kubica has been amazingly fast on occassions - as had Petrov (remembering back to the beginning of the year against Hamilton in particular) - so the Renault engine can't be too shabby.

Getting back to Cosworth, if they were powering a more aerodynamically efficient chassis (with the right drivers) they would be pressing Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault much harder, I believe.