2019 Ferrari SF90 is known for having the most powerful V6t F1 engine and 2020 Mercedes W11 is known as the greatest F1 car ever in corners. There's no better track than Spa if we want to compare the two on one single circuit. S1 & S3 of Spa are just Monza with less corners, and S2 is practically Hungary, and we get to see SF90 killing it in S1 & 3 and W11 crushing it in S2. In addition, as if that's not extreme enough, SF90 actually had a tow in Q3 that gave it an extra 3-5km/h (top speed 3-5km/h lower in Q2 no-tow laps), while W11's pole lap was done with softer tyres, no dirty air (Q3 Hamilton came out first) and in better weather. It was also said that Mercedes chose a higher downforce setup for W11 anticipating a wet Sunday. So in a way we're witnessing the enhanced performance of both SF90 on straights and W11 in corners. Comparing them to 2016 Q3, SF90 actually scored 4-5km/h higher top speed (in DRS zone) while in S2 alone W11 beat 2016 by over 5s. This really tells how powerful that SF90 engine is, and how far F1 has come since the 2017 overhaul. It's a shame we won't be seeing this kind of quali speeds for a very long time.
I think the mercedes engine might have been as powerful as the ferrari engine, but that the drag generated by the W11's high downforce setups was so strong that it significantly slowed the car down on the straights.
This Mercedes W11 is quite simply the greatest F1 car ever made. The way Lewis made up that 0.5 second gap in three corners after the kemmel straight is astounding.
@@humanoidsteam8223 fastest on teh straight doesn't mean faster all around, look at that W11 beat ferrari by 1sec+ that's a lot with lower straight line speed
@@karanbraria93 yeah, but this is stupidity. It’s illegal that Ferrari was that quick in the straights, but not that Mercedes was that quick in the corners? We all know why everyone went against Ferrari and not against Mercedes. Child
@@michelemussap34 There was no such rule against DAS. However, Ferrari's fuel supply system went against the rule. Had Mercedes used DAS in 2021, it would have been illegal. Mercedes did not cheat, they used a loophole.
@@valonkurtaj7107 well yes but no cause in the end, Ferrari had to scrap their "loophole" and now look how far they are behind Merc and RB...Also the FIA were tigh lipped about what Ferrari did so that indefinitely hints cheating.
Im pretty sure the 2020 Mercedes engine was pretty much on the level of the cheated Ferrari engine. The merc just produces a lot more downforce and drag.
@@29pesos51 SF1000 chassis was garbage... Way too much drag and the car was unstable in medium and high speed corners. The W11 is the best chassis in F1 history in terms of downforce and it's engine is only capped by this year's Mercedes engine and the SF90.
@@petethecat5039 Exactly. They developed the SF1000 around the SF90 engine, but they had to build one from the ground up in a month time (they obviously couldn't use the 2019 engine). Due to the lack of power, they ended up with a way too draggy car (for the PU) so they then needed to remove aero to reduce drag thus making it more unstable in corners. A numerical demonstration would be: 10 chassis, 10 aero, 9 PU = 8 performance 9 chassis, 9 aero, 9 PU = 9 performance So it's better the compromise than what they had. But that meant going from 10 (Top Team) to 9 (Medium to Upper midfield), still better than 8 (Medium to Low midfield) tho
Well, even though the W11 has a lot more downforce than the sf90, I believe that Leclerc had to lift because he was like 10km faster on the straight, than Hamilton, before entering the pouhon. Of course, this could have been due to the fact that the sf90 was running a bit lower front wing setup for better top speed.
@@slow11189 You could have a point but, personally, I don't think that the sf90 is so much faster than the w11. We know that it's engine has the most hp of all during the v6 period, but damn. Also, the fact of having slower tyres could affect the car's downforce performance.
That ain't happening since 2018(I mean onboard pole laps with telemetry,that was part of the reason I've been downloading every single pole lap year after year for the sake of comparison)
I understand the need for a rule change overhaul for the purpose for better racing, but I must say it's a shame that we won't see another car that's even remotely similar or possibly eclipse the W11 for quite some time, if ever. The amount of ingenuity and innovation that went into building that supreme car is truly *breathtaking.*
@Alan ALI 12 I don't think one can definitively determine last season would've been even faster than it was had front wings remained unaltered for 2019. Anyway, we'll never find out for certain. We can, of course, also ponder how this season's lap times thus far would've been w/o floor alterations.
@Alan ALI 12 Right at the first (Australian) GP of the 2019 season, Lewis beat his 2018 pole lap by 7 tenths, yes, they took the complex front wings away, but compensated the resulting aero efficiency loss with way more front and rear wing surface area, 2019 cars were draggier but also "downforcier" than their predecessors FROM THE GET-GO, race pace was also generally better than in any previous v6 turbo hybrid season before.
@Alan ALI 12 Yeah, now list all the venues where 2019 cars were faster, I believe you'll find that the later season was confidently the faster one on average... There are many variables to consider, track conditions for one will not be consistent year to year, the Pirellis - like for most seasons - were brand new for 2019 with different operating temperature windows, AND, admittedly, the 2018 cars' performance scaled much better on drag-sensitive circuits like Spa for the above mentioned reasons, which partly explains that deficit (qualifying was much hotter there in 2019, it must also be mentioned)...
@Alan ALI 12 2018 was the second year of the wider cars with more aero development freedom, the cars were quiet complex already, we have no way of telling how much more the teams could've improved their machinery from there... While from 2019 to 2020 we saw an enormous speed increase on the same tyres (with often higher, nonideal pressure levels).
The W11 can go 20+kph faster in the medium speed corners, and almost as much in the high speed. Some of that must have been a difference in track evolution and different tire compounds. But still, the w11 has got sooo much downforce. It looks like it's on rails.
That Ferrari had some insane speed on the straights but means nothing if you have to brake more and be later back on the power. That W11 was so nice to watch through the corners and how much later Lewis could brake before it and then get right back on the power 🙌🏻 legendary car
"Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines"- Enzo Ferrari vs "Adding power makes you faster in the straights. Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere" - Colin Chapman.
Just different way of making cars go faster. Mercedes make the best engine since 2014, that is the fundamentally of their success. Right now you can't do much about weight because it's heavily ruled, engineers just have more freedom back in the days
@@luciniho1 Friend, not being on pole doesn't discount the quality of the lap. The redbull was fastest all weekend. Lewis getting close as he did was an amazing job. The cars weren't at all close.
@@Bahamuttiamat The Mercedes was probably faster in France. And Bottas was like a tenth off Hamilton. Lewis can still pull out amazing laps though, but they are coming less and less frequent. Max, George and Leclerc do it like every weekend.
@@luciniho1 Bottas avg to lewis has been a 1.6ish tenths since 2017. What exactly are you insinuating. Max has had the car for pole is pretty much every race but has dropped it numerous times. Baku, imola, portugal, monaco to name a few. Considering his pole strike rate lags far behind his win rate speaks volumes to this.
Vettel's Q2 lap from 2018 was less than three tenths slower than what Lewis did in 2020. (yes, Q2, since Q3 was wet), just saying, another cool comparison
The 2018 Ferrari is actually faster than the 2019 SF90... The SF90 only had the straightline speed going for it. The SF71-H was actually a very balanced car.
@@yasharxo885 yes. Auto sport and the race wrote articles on it aswell as in-depth videos. The FIA was sneaky with the situation aswell with the obvious connections with Ferrari. Let’s just say a lot of underhand shit was going on. But everybody knows that Ferrari cheated and they’re still a bunch of clowns.
@@thef1master670 Oh for F's sake. It wasn't illegal. The FiA deemed illegal after the whole circuit protested about it. It was a very simple loophole in the technical regulation
@@theTutenstien The moment the FiA looked into the legality of the engine and came to an "undisclosed settlement" with Ferrari, suddenly their engine performance fell off a cliff. The FiA wouldn't want to accuse the largest brand in F1 of cheating, hence the "undisclosed settlement". But it was clear to everyone that they were cheating. I believe Max Verstappen even outright called them cheaters in that season.
What really demonstrates the difference is how much extra speed Hamilton carried into the corner after the Kemmel straight. Leclerc's speed dipped into the 170s while Hamilton kept his car well above 180 and every succeeding corner amplified that advantage.
This car was just in a league of it’s own. This stint and the Q3 stint he did at the Immola circuit was bananas .. The crazy part about that stint in Immola was that he was only shy of a tenth faster to gain the pole from Valtteri Bottas
The ferrari basicly lost all the time it gained on the straight within 1 or 2 corners. The w11 had insane amounts of downforce while still having incredible effiency.
Charles carries so much more speed through rad..however you spell it, and then through the straight. Then the merc demolishes the SF for the rest of the track. Really interesting to see. Thanks for the upload!
I always thought power of the SF-90 engine was too much for Ferrari's own good. Not only their top speed was high, but also their acceleration was crazy and they always needed to brake heavily, every little section. They needed a better adjusted gearbox
Merc is about 14/15 kph slower on the straights and still managed to beat the Ferrari at a power unit heavy track. You can see how much more stable the Merc is as Leclerc seems to be fighting with the car more through the corners. He makes more jabby micro corrections to the wheel than Lewis does.
The track had so much more grip in 2020. The W11 was certainly a better chassis, but the SF90 with the questionable engine easily could have been close to the same speed as the SF71H which did a 1:41.5 in Q2.
That W11 is simply magnificent. While it's sad that we won't see anything quite like it again for some time, it has certainly been immortalized as arguably the greatest F1 car of all time
The only problem in this video is that it doesn't consider track condition, in 2018 vettel did a 1.41 as did hamilton. In 2019 all drivers were above 1.42. This is the problem with spa, such a long track creates more variables
Wow this showcase the best of both cars. That's why the Ferrari was so good in low drag races. The Merc is another beast in corners too. It's funny how Ferrari were fast in slow speed corners with their traction these days compare to their low drag days. Also Ferrari just never seem to hit the right balance then. Nowadays they do hv a pretty well balance car just a shame it's not the same engine it once was
To be fair, Hamilton was 4 wheels off on a few corners where Leclerc was well within track limits at a much lower speed. But the clear tell that the W11 is just better in the corners was the start of S2 where Hamilton absolutely blitzed the first 3 corners.
This explains why my good straight line speed but insane cornering speed setup I use in f12020 is so dominant in races. I gain so much time in the corners it’s not even fair, especially on tracks like brazil, Bahrain, Spain, etc. what I make in the corners covers me for the straights so I don’t get overtaken on tracks that don’t have super Long straights
Vettel 2018 Q2 lap 1.41.5 was almost equal to W11 with that being amazingly fast on the straights too and flat out through the high speed lef lt handers
Lewis's 2020 Spa pole lap in the W11 is mesmerising. For me, only the pole lap from Mugello in the W11 surpasses it in terms of 'Wow! Look at that damn thing!' factor.
Vantaggio impressionante nelle curve lente da parte di Mercedes! Sulle curve veloci siamo più o meno lì mentre la Ferrari ha un motore nettamente più performante (d'altronde era un motorone).
It literally turns like a spaceship who cares about having an extra 20kph of speed? It's made up in the corners and then some! Both Incredible cars, but that W11 is from another world!
Everyone saying that "what if you combined w11 with SF90..." Many people believe the RB16 had superior downforce, but a then weaker engine and inferior chassis. So SF90 engine + W11 chassis + RB16 aero.
If only we could have had a combination of the Ferrari engine and Mercedes everything else. It would've gone sub 1:40 at Spa which is just ridiculous to even think about
Man the W11 is so insane with cornering speeds. Ahhhh I love how 2022 cars look but they drive like boats around slower speed corners, makes the F1 2022 cars look outdated in races compared to the last 2 years.
@@micahalan less stiff suspention makes car get lower in high speeds, causes higher drag, higher downforce. Therefore lower high end speeds. They will figure with floor design.
the 2020 cars were similar to the 2018 cars which were one of the fastest f1 car gen in 2019 they had reduced the amount of small wings on the front wing and aerodynamic details and reintroduced them in 2020, but the speed of that SF90 is just ridiculous
There is no discussion about Ferrari having the most powerful PU. First it was illegal and second the 2020 Mercedes PU was at least on par with that illegal system from Ferrari. In 2020 Mercedes was finally able to use more downforce and not reacting to the straight line speed Ferrari had in 2019.
Even that SF90 had to lift off at Pouhon while the W11 was just flat out...that's the difference between a great car and a legendary car Of course Hamilton is unmatched but that W11 was freaking scary
Wow the Merc fastest around corners ever and that Ferrari's acceleration... coming out of La source (Turn one) I timed 100kph to 300kph in 5.9 secs and that's WITHOUT DRS... just wow, add about 2.0sec for a perfect start 0-100kph that's 7.9 secs 0-300kph, quite unbelievable and monstrous even by F1 standards, bring this 2009 Ferrari to Carwow and do some drag races, it'd smash anything on there so far including the Rimac Nevero, with or without the DRS on, with it on we could see a sub 8sec 1/4 mile at over 180mph.
The Merc engine has good torque, which means almost same level of power throughout the lap and less lifting, which in turn shaves off laptime quite a bit. The Ferrari is made for acceleration, so lesser torque, which forces the driver to lift more through turns. Plus, that Ferrari ate it's tyres off like it was "The Last Supper" or something, while the Merc's the polar opposite. It kind off balances out, but the Merc clearly has better aero, and protects its tyres better.
we all know that 2019 ferrai engine was illegal due to to them cheating by allowing more fuel , to this days , MERC makes the the most powerful engines
@@nbain66 i beg to differ that , merc still has the most powerful v6 , its only that all that top speed had been reduced in the first half of the season due to high down force requirement, well anyways truth will be unveiled at monza or spa
@@PlatapusPhucker Mercedes asked FIA in February of 2020, a month before the first race, if they could use the DAS and if it was legal. FIA said it was. I wonder when Ferrari asked FIA about their sensor bypassing 🤔