How Do F1 Power Units ACTUALLY Work? | F1 Engines Explained!

The Power Unit - one of the most complex sections of a Formula One car. Hywel Thomas, F1 Power Unit Director for Mercedes-AMG HPP, talks us through how an F1 engine runs, the difference between horsepower and torque, what derates are and much more in our latest Simple Science episode! 👀
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[@justadudeintheworldman.120]

6 consecutive constructors champions & still have the time to educate the general public on the inner workings of F1. Wow.

[@h.kurnia8175]

The factory is currently closed

[@conordennehy8121]

Well they're not currently working so...

[@MercedesAMGF1]

We are working now. The engine factories reopened at the start of the week for F1 activity.

[@alanjm1234]

@@h.kurnia8175 maybe, but so is everyone else, and they don't bother making excellent videos like this.

[@Brad-kq9oc]

So they told you how a combustion engine works, Wow! Like there's not a million video already explaining this. How about showing how you get to around 60% thermal efficiency,

[@anvitverma4793]

Renault be like: WRITE THAT DOWN, WRITE THAT DOWN!

[@berkantkosar9374]

Hahaha right 👍 but they have powerfull engine too

[@sanholo9494]

I just clicked on the videos to look for such a comment xD except Ferrari instead of Renault

[@bosshunterman]

"Suck, Sqeeze, Bang, Blow" - aight, we are following so far...

[@anvitverma4793]

@@berkantkosar9374 they are by far the worst engine on the grid. Ferrari have the best Mercedes are 2nd Honda is 3rd That leaves Renault as last, in terms of power and reliability

[@motocritic3565]

@@anvitverma4793 ferrari makes more power but as a overall package (engineering and innovation) merc is the best.

[@krushantkayadra2005]

That's why I love Mercedes AMG because they are the one who inspire us and teaches us something which no one do. Mercedes KEEP MAKING MORE!!

[@alvarokoteli8904]

British Enginnering 👌👍🇬🇧🇬🇧

[@alvarokoteli8904]

@Akmol Ali but this engineer who is explaining is now British. And all the engineers of the "Mercedes F1" engine are British

[@alvarokoteli8904]

@@motocritic3565 all Mercedes F1 engineering staff are British

[@Huberman1234]

@@alvarokoteli8904 Humble brag; happen to know the staff there. The majority are British; there are plenty of other countries involved - France, German, Spain, South Africa, Italian, had a Dutch intern a couple of years back. The staff may live in Britain, but they're not all British.

[@alvarokoteli8904]

@@Huberman1234 then the car cannot be called a German engineering , 😩😩 when the chief engineers are British , as they are the base

[@JJs_playground]

Mercedes-AMG: Spend $450M/year on their F1 endeavor. Also Mercedes-AMG: 480p web cameras.

[@Ronnie-fx1fq]

and a monetized channel

[@n111254789]

Saving that camera money for more testing. These people don't compromise nothing the engineers all sell one of their kidneys for funding. You don't even want to know what non vital organs the drivers have to shed for weight loss. If you want to be the best this is what it takes.

[@meghavgoyal3814]

The way he explained power and torque was amazing.i think that's the difference when you learn from the best in the world.keep more of these coming👍👍👍

[@PoetryandPetrol]

@Cevair Zufer : i was told: power is how fast you hit the wall, torque is how far the wall travels after you hit it!

[@bouncyapple1674]

Cevair Zufer is

[@jeremymenchaca]

Power is how fast you hit the wall. Torque is how far you push the wall.

[@siewwengwong1434]

great insights! For those who are keen on some clarifications:- 7:40 engine performance curve and shift points 8:40 what is 'D-rating', accompanied by a really easy to understand circuit layout 10:28 Party-mode! or AMG Turbo mode, or Strat 2 mode 11:20 What is the difference between Strat and HPP modes

[@MercedesAMGF1]

Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for commenting with these helpful timecodes!

[@georgehelliar]

Pistons and cranks can be explained by thinking of a pushbike: your knees (pistons) move up and down, and are connected to your shins (Conrod). These push on the pedals, which are connected to a crank. It's the same principle of turning reciprocating linear motion into rotary motion. As one leg pushes down, the other is returned to the top of the stroke

[@krushantkayadra2005]

Please let us know more about the life of an F1 engineer and what do they do

[@ameya2328]

I am 13 and am studying in 9th grade I want to get into car designing but dont know which college would work best for me Edit: With these videos explaining the various components of the cars you guys have earned yourself one more fan

[@SirEzio22]

If that is the path you want to go you can look into what colleges have competitive FSAE/FS Teams

[@ameya2328]

@@SirEzio22 thanks a lot

[@joshuaurbany6468]

@@SirEzio22 Yeah I'm going to drexel cuz it's close to me but honestly RIT is now seeming like a better choice.

[@ngm_4092]

Would be glad to give you some guidance on schools to look for and what to study. Definitely look into FSAE. Most formula 1 Engineers have participated in this event and I have also. It is a huge advantage. If you in 9th grade the foundation of everything you are going to learn (As an Engineer) is based on math and calculus. seemingly difficult at first but if you have it on lock every other concept comes easy. One of my youtube videos also shows me designing an RC car part and that could give you an idea of what you may want to do. If you have any other questions feel free to shoot me a message.

[@vintyprod]

Priority 1: study hard and all the opportunities will present themselves

[@0casin0]

this is not the usual social media stuff, this is basically a lecture in engineering for non-engineers. and i love it! ^^

[@brianw4354]

I feel like Ive learned more about engines in those 20 mins than my life until now. Awesome thanks!

[@OldStreetDoc]

As always... LOVE the detail you guys are providing. So many times watching the racing, I’ve asked myself these questions. Really really appreciate these videos! 👏🏼👍🏼

[@curtisboulton5410]

Exquisitely excellent feature! Induction stroke, prepared mixture combustion stroke explanation eloquently conducted!

[@fredochristian2090]

I love this series. Please make new content about electrical instruments (ECU, sensors, electrical diagram,etc). Thank you mercedes.

[@robertot8180]

Brilliantly explained, that's why you are my team! Cheers 🤟

[@wolframalpha8634]

This is just brilliant !! Please keep em coming 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@meghavgoyal3814]

Thank you mercedes, you really inspire me.

[@nigeljohn6676]

Most educational video ever for those who need to understand the fundamentals! Thank you.

[@reinhold8850]

Love this! Very good pedagogic content and great technical insights! Thanks Mercedes-AMG!

[@thejasnkanakuppe7515]

Wow what a session..... i really hope there many many more knowledgeable videos like these coming up.......

[@Sacrifice-Paid]

Very interesting and insightful, but there’s 1 thing I miss from the older engines......, the roaring sound, which I know on road cars mainly comes from the design of the exhaust system, but in F1 it’s the exhaust and engine

[@kyelmarius2098]

You can say theyre the best just by listening to them talk about these things. Good series guys!

[@harshpatil3826]

Loving this series

[@Gcamel405]

Makes you understand and appreciate the effort you guys at Mercedes put in to achieving and surpassing the teams engineering goals

[@moremaddness]

Great Presentation!!!!

[@djsarumawashi]

Great!!! Thank you for sharing. Greetings from Cabo Verde Islands. Cheers

[@juliusdavies2005]

Fantastic information. Please keep this coming!

[@WinWingLP]

Also props for the guy asking the right questions and also in a good order. even for "advanced" fans with good knowledge the detail of the questions and obviously awnsers is aweseome :D

[@AxlOfAwesome]

3:58 magician

[@colonelclank2422]

This is a FANTASTIC explanation of engine power delivery. 10/10 for Layman explanation. I'm tired of you being so good, but it's more a disappointment that everyone else clearly isn't playing on your level.

[@paulspickernell6875]

Great stuff really enjoyed that

[@chimp5820]

great great insight guys and all the best for the rest of the season into nxt year.

[@grahamreeve5209]

I love the way the guy introducing it tries to stay interested at the beginning.

[@Grovreicraynth]

I love this series! We get to learn so much. Go for 7th Mercedes!

[@saket63]

Great content, informative and well explained, Formula 1 explained at its roots. Kudos to Mercedes AMG team 👍

[@paneerin5181]

I love these videos series where you guys show different parts of a F1 car and in simple language. I am doing Mechanical Engineer but have a deep interest in knowing more about it,but unfortunately I don't know any college which teaches specifically about F1. But never mind you guys are doing a good job both off and on the track.

[@WilliamBrown-je6ti]

Really enjoyed this, keep it going!

[@MercedesAMGF1]

Thanks, glad you liked it!

[@justinvinsend7595]

Thank you guys !!

[@llllllllllllllllllllllllIIIIl1]

Yo why is vin disseal hosting my F1 QnA

[@KitKitChanIsaac]

Bc Vin Diesel got a message from Merc that they will give him a new Dodge Charger(which he crashed in FF7) if he work for them

[@patbakshis2522]

Like a kid, I loved the pictures. Two take-a-ways: We've got a lot to thank Petronas for. Also, what a huge commitment it must be to take on a new customer team. Last year, there were four different engine makes in the top four finishing teams. Whoever made the crucial decisions that kept all four of them involved in F1, did a real service to the sport.

[@SamuelSantos_]

That Ford Fiesta wheel in the background behind the interviewer 👀 anyway great insight Mercedes, awesome that you guys take the time off to educate us fans!

[@andyrbush]

Every time he asked a simple question I thought why ask that. Then every time the guy answered I thought ah he is adding quite a bit of subtle detail. Really interesting.

[@oldmanc2]

"The devil is in the detail"

[@notanuroy]

This was an amazing insight, thanks team!

[@MercedesAMGF1]

You are very welcome 😊

[@onebuttongaming4346]

This is like being on work experience and going to each department on the first day

[@VirginiaGreco_Scrapbooking]

Great video!

[@ibrahimg7298]

Currently I'm 3rd grade mechanical engineering student, and everytime after watching that kind of videos I realize studying mechanical engineering is the most accurate choice I have ever made! Thanks for clear, simplified explanation. I'm sure this video encourage people to study engineering.

[@josephchona1825]

Great stuff. Would have loved more information about how the MGU-H and MGU-K figure into the whole power unit operation

[@MercedesAMGF1]

Plenty of other Power Unit insights on our channel, if you are interested 😊

[@rondelking6596]

Absolutely brilliant!

[@JuanAdam12]

Perhaps basic for some with prior knowledge but good, honest questions asked and well-answered.

[@ravishkasilva9709]

Loving the series guys!!!!! I hope MotoGP teams do the same

[@xaviergonzalez5145]

Guys you are the best! Hats off! I love your engines and I love my w124 !

[@GTarditi]

Imagine being so far ahead of your rivals that you can just straight up tell them how to make their engines better.

[@josephkearsey8951]

great video thank you

[@danilosoldano7820]

Many thanks for this channel, from California. Can't wait to see the silverarrows back in Austin,TX

[@Wes_Mo]

I'm here just admiring the ford pepperpot wheel in the background 😎

[@stewartfinley]

Great video thanks! Do customer teams get the same info from bricksworth? Do they also use petronas oils and fuels?

[@user-ut4jg5en1j]

Entrada de ar, Engrenagem Comando, Engrenagem Virabrequim, Saída de ar. Minhas congratulações, parabéns pelo conteúdo!

[@stevekissel605]

Great info

[@ihcfn]

Very interesting, thanks.

[@paulheinrich7645]

Great job, but the audio quality could be substantially improved. Too much echo from small room. Hanging a couple small country/team flags in the corners would really help the acoustics.

[@richmanmanyangu928]

Love you guys

[@PhysicxAlmighty]

I somewhat late to the party, but still, thanks for putting these videos together, much appreciated.

[@shrompingus]

Mercedes: Here's how power units work Honda in 2015-2017: write that down write that down

[@kayakh.8231]

I am learning these concepts in my engineering classes, its very exciting to see them applied in the real world and not just on a piece of homework paper! does anyone know how they manage to keep the car from melting with all the heat? I know how the cooling works in a regular car but i can imagine an F1 car will need an extra bit of help with cooling because of all the heat.

[@wrote8]

Excellent!

[@whisky_whiskers6637]

I wish all my professors in the university had this level of enthusiasm spreading knowledge

[@mohammedgt8102]

I love those videos!

[@MercedesAMGF1]

Thanks!

[@Abhinn124]

This made me emotional.

[@myasinatak]

I feel myself back in a class called Internal Combustion Engines when I was studying mechanical engineering in university. There not much more then that in this video but ok thanks mercedes-amg.

[@Unicorn-oz4sf]

These types of videos are the best, they explain us like we are five hahahahahah

[@kwaleikafa9400]

Amazing!

[@ameyagadre4767]

Can you guys shred light on the design part as well please?

[@albertorobinson7611]

Can the fuel management get variable elongation in wavelength of operation

[@l.-s.mutemba6521]

Excellent. When we get familiar with technical aspects any race becomes a hitchcockian experience: we wonder if the 4 elephants will hold under a temperature which is half that of the sun...

[@chaitanyakumar9626]

How dedicated he is standing and teaching for whole 20mins

[@dhill4001]

denzyl casuela "i thought power is work not torque." He misspoke at 6:30. "Torque is the work done." Torque is the rotational analogue of force. Work is defined as a force acting through a distance (in the same direction) W=F×d or torque acting through a rotational distance (measured in radians) Power is work done per unit time. He knows this. He simply misspoke during a very informal and entertaining talk.

[@miles4711]

Brilliant bit that discusses knocking and that you're deliberately accepting it in strat 2. That explains a great deal, why strat 2 is actually so harmful to the engine and drivers are allowed only a counted number of laps in it. Thx! :-)

[@301001082]

i think; he describes mix to explosion charicteristics efficiency, to "waves"

[@albertorobinson7611]

How perform the mguh in the ignition management and how many kw needs to burn 125 ml of fuel in the combustion chamber

[@carxdriftracer9297]

Hello Mercedes F1 team, I am working on a coursework from my University for automotive engineering related to conrods, one of the questions is asking about the materials chosen for making the conrods in an F1 engine, but the temperature data on the conrod during the engine at highest temperature is missing and I couldn’t find it anywhere, may I kindly ask for the answer please?

[@abhishekkuksal5700]

Btw I wonder why don't you use MGU-K in corner you can precisely control it without loosing traction...hope it does not violates traction control rule. BTW Love from India! Keep making these videos!

[@sebastianGonzalez1.0]

Racing point watching like:📝🧐...😐...what

[@PoetryandPetrol]

Sub-zero cool level achived with that pepper pot alloy!!

[@jorge8596]

When he said -"I know there's going to be a burning question on the lips of all the fans"- I was thinking -"how much power how much power how much power". I was dissapointed

[@dathrevann]

@Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team A question I had from the derating portion of the video(8:39) is how does the vehicle know where it is on the track? Probably a transponder system with transmitters every few meters throughout the track for all the teams to use?

[@lonpfrb]

Probably has GNSS (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo) with Real Time Kinematics (RTK) for improved accuracy, and six axis Inertial Measurement Unit for Inertial Navigation as a backup. So survey grade position data will allow the engine management by map. Not an ignition map, a spatial map.

[@deezynar]

They may be going to 4 cylinder, in line engines in the future. Offenhauser engines had 4 cylinders, 5 main bearings, geared camshaft drive, dual overhead cam, 2 intake, and 2 exhaust valves per cylinder. Not much that's unusual there. But the head and cylinder block were cast in one piece so there was no head gasket to blow out. Supercharger pressures could be cranked way up. They were never allowed to run in any races using every bit of power they could deliver. Race rules always kept them restricted. They were the most successful racing engines for decades, and only stopped being used when racing rules reduced their turbo pressure which made them uncompetitive against V8's, such as the much newer Cosworth. The Offenhauser design of head and block in one piece forces mechanics to remove the block/head to change valves and/or pistons. But that isn't as much of an increase in labor as one might suspect seeing that there is only the one bank of cylinders, and the valve train is geared, so it comes right off with the block. Large displacement 4 cylinder engines have an amazing sound.

[@9841040790]

What a great team

[@daveedwards3531]

1:53 so how would you describe your love making?

[@markd5266]

As an example and trying to relate this to real world. Would you red line every gear, or change gear within that peak period of power as an eg 5000rpm is the maximum power delivery. Would that be the peak time to upshift or redline that gear?

[@301001082]

variable pressure to maintain a wave would be inefficient no? and that's assuming waves or harmonics relate to piston speed; which i doubt... correct me if i'm wrong?

[@saxonliw9502]

This is called confidence.

[@SteeveohRising]

Brilliant! I'm always amazed at the power my 2 liter, 4 cylinder engine powered E300 can muster in acceleration. ...and still achieve great mpg! This explains it. Mercedes Benz for the win!

[@joshsmith7521]

Honda needed this video in 2014 to develop their 2015 engine

[@marcpeiron_studio]

That is really interesting yet a bit difficult to understand for me (I'm not English and Hywel's voice sounds with so much reverb). I'll have to watch twice :)

[@MercedesAMGF1]

Sorry that it was a bit difficult to understand for you, we hope a second watch helped?

[@marcpeiron_studio]

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team yeees and I turned on subtitles. Thank you guys, very interesting ☺️

[@robertmilligan2792]

Did Mercedes just give away a little secret on what the next f1 engine is going to look like by showing a single cylinder crankshaft interesting

[@SosopChabot]

Ya, the 4 year old version... if you think these videos are not highly scrutinized before being released, your not giving them enough credit.

[@josephb9377]

Mercedes you can not just keep elevating your social media game like this!

[@jonathanb8336]

Is that a Mk1 Fiesta XR2 pepper pot wheel in the background🤔

[@peasantserf5684]

Renault: write that down, write that down!

[@m.w.7429]

Doesn't Kyle.Engineers work at your F1-Team? Would be great to see him in a video.

[@janeshwerpurushothaman9510]

4 years of engineering in one 20 minute Video. ButThePassionNeverDies