FIA declined on a hearing presented by Red Bull on enquiry about Mercedes trick. FIA did nothing on the claim meaning the 2021 world championship battle between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton is still wide open.
With only seven races left on the 2021 Formula 1 calendar, the fight for the championship is very tight between Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton is currently leading the championship with a narrow margin of only two points from Verstappen. With this, both teams are trying to make any efforts within their reach to sway the championship title fight to their favour. Thats why Red Bull decided to go to the FIA to inquire about Mercedes.
Red Bull claims that Mercedes is using a trick in cooling the plenum. The plenum is a volume of air that is big enough to run the engine efficiently when you go to full throttle and high revs.
Normally the compressor and turbine are one unit which is called the turbo but with this design, you have the turbine which can be running at 800 to 1000 degrees sitting next door to the compressor which you want to be as cool as possible otherwise the charge air will be increased in temperature.
On the Mercedes the compressor is at the front of the engine connected to the turbine which is at the rear of the engine with a shaft, the MGU-H is placed in the middle of this shaft between the compressor and turbine. This gives Mercedes the opportunity to drive the MGU-H with the turbine to harvest energy while also allowing the compressor to stop when you don’t want or need the boost pressure. So in effect, it’s just flowing ambient air through the system, which will cool everything a bit.
According to Red Bull, the Mercedes trick is not in accordance with the rules and regulations but according to relative sources, FIA did not wan anything to do with Red Bull’s request. This means the two rival teams have to take the battle back to the track.
