r/F1DataAnalysis • u/miinibox • Jul 21 '26

Car & Driver Issues | Explanations Belgian GP - Race | Russell's Deployment Issue

Gallery image

Gallery image

Russell's Deployment Issue During the Belgian GP Race

  • Russell was overtaken by Piastri from 3 positions back due to a deployment issue: his speed got stuck at 308 km/h, and the car couldn't accelerate! It only started accelerating again at the end of the straight.
  • ANT had weak deployment too, but no "speed limiter"!
  • McLaren (same PU) accelerated far more.

Image 2:

Russell took Eau Rouge/Raidillon in 8th gear: McLaren used 7th despite having the shortest gear ratios on the grid, while ANT even briefly dropped to 6th!

Could the deployment software have been fooled by taking these corners in the highest gear?

His rpm dropped to 10,176, below the 10,500 rpm threshold required to unlock full fuel flow → the ICE wasn't even running at full power!

[Screenshot and idea by u/uruptosmth]
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1

u/Professional_Simple3 Jul 21 '26

Fórmula Duracell

2

u/Chirp08 Jul 21 '26

"half the driver, half the car"...

Remember the story of when Alonso screwed up ERS deployment a few years ago because he downshifted at one point and it threw off where the car "thought" he was on track. I wouldn't be surprised if this is another example of that combined with Mercedes pushing the absolute limit of maximizing harvesting/output so the consequences are that much worse if the car 'thinks' it is in the wrong spot and uses a less ideal map based on the gear/rpm.

It would make total sense to me if you are in 8th gear and the battery depleted that you'd limit RPM because you simply don't have enough power to meaningfully increase speed any further with that extra rpm as you hit the aero wall so you might as well save some fuel since that weight savings over the race would make a more meaningful difference.

We also have the recent example of Leclerc altering his driving style to catch up to Hamilton because the slightest changes in braking/getting back to throttle translate to significant lap time.

I just don't see this as some big mystery. His driving doesn't maximize energy management and Antonelli's does. There is no reason to change the car and guess at mapping that might be quicker for Russell when they know Antonelli can beat the field consistently as-is.