Technical F1 comparison: Ferrari F2004 vs Mercedes W11

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F1 returns to the Nurburgring after a break that has lasted since 2013. The German track record is held by Sato with the BAR-Honda 006: the record was signed in 2004 when Michael Schumacher's Ferrari F2004 dominated. And, since the simulations of the Eifel GP say that the single-seaters will not go much below the limit of the Japanese, we have compared the most successful Red with the Mercedes W11 that dictates today.
Formula 1 returns to the Nurburgring. The German track returns to the Circus as a result of COVID-19 which imposed a calendar of 17 European events on Liberty Media.

Since 2013, no more races have been taken on the Adenau track, where 40 races valid for the world championship have been held in history. First on the Nordschleife, the fearsome green hell that was swept away by the dramatic fire of Niki Lauda with the Ferrari 312 T2 in 1976.

At the Ring in the current configuration of 5,148 meters, on the other hand, eight GPs were disputed: 5 with the denomination of European GP and 3 with that of German GP, while this year it will become valid as Eifel GP.


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Takuma Sato, BAR Honda 006


The track record is held by Takuma Sato and was achieved by the Japanese rider in Q1 of the 2004 qualification with the BAR-Honda 006 in 1'27 ”691 at an average of 211.342 km / h.

The curious aspect is that the simulations of the teams for next Saturday's flying lap vary quite a lot: the most prudent have data that indicate the time of the 2020 cars at 1'27 ", while others go to forecasts that are in a fork between 1'25 "5 and 1'26" 0.

It is therefore taken for granted that Sato's primacy is destined to fall, even if the difference may not be abysmal after 14 years. Why?


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Lewis Hamilton with the W11 and the longest wheelbase (3,726mm)


F1 has changed a lot in this time frame. If today's reference is the Mercedes W11 that dominates the scene, that of the time was undoubtedly the Ferrari F2004 which was the most successful Red of the Schumacher era together with the F2002 with 15 wins, 12 pole positions and 14 more laps. fast.


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Ferrari F2004 wheelbase 3050mm



And, then, we wanted to make a parallel to discover similarities and great differences between two completely different ways of understanding F1. The 50th single-seater of the Cavallino was designed by Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne to be a "qualifying" car that did very short runs, with frequent pit stops with refueling.

The Ferrari was very compact with a short wheelbase of just 3,050mm, while Hamilton's W11 has a wheelbase of 3,726mm making it the longest F1 in line with its predecessors since 2017, with a difference of almost 70cm!



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The Rossa was 4,545 mm long overall while the Mercedes reaches 5,761 mm, that is 1.2 meters more, while the maximum width of the F2004 was 1,796 mm against the 2,000 mm of the W11. However, the height of 950 mm plus the camera has not changed.

The current ones are mammoth single-seaters that reached a weight of 745 kg with water, oil and driver on board, while in 2004 the limit was 605 kg, with a differential of 140 kg. And if you consider that 10 kg is worth about 0 ”3 on the lap time, it is easy to calculate what the impact of the total mass is on performance.

The growth was dictated by the adoption of greater safety measures (adoption of the Halo and side anti-intrusion structures), but also by the introduction of power units in 2014: the Mercedes F1 M11 EQ Performance 6-cylinder turbo weighs 145 kg, against the 91 kg of the Ferrari 053 V10: 54 kg dance to the advantage of the 3-liter naturally aspirated engine against the 1.6-liter turbo equipped with two electric motors.


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The Ferrari 053 had a GP weekend life estimated at 800 km, while the Brixworth power unit must last 7 GPs (over 6,000 km). Yet, despite the obvious differences, performance plays in favor of the 2020 unit: the Mercedes engine in qualifying mode (with the "party mode") was credited with 1,026 horsepower at 10,500 rpm (of which 160 horsepower are electric), while the Cavallino's V10 reached 910 horsepower at 19,100 rpm.


To be agile, the F2004 had a petrol tank with a capacity of just 90 kg against the 110 kg of the black arrow, but Mercedes manages to complete the over 300 km of a GP with just over 100 kg of fuel, while the Red in 2004 it needed almost 180 kg, so the engine efficiency is to the full advantage of the current power unit.


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F2004 7 speed gearbox with a doubleskin



On the F2004 the semiautomatic gearbox was longitudinal with 7 gears with a titanium casting box surmounted by a carbon "skin": the technical concept remained the same but the gears became eight with a cascade of gears that is fixed, while previously it was free. The life of a transmission is 7 GPs while in 2004 there were no restrictions.



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Just in 2004 the FIA had banned programmed downshifts with a button, forcing the driver to change gears as is the case today. The Federation had also forbidden the use of the launch control which allowed to manage the departure automatically with a dedicated software, but it was assisted. In 2020, however, the rider has to manage the release of the clutch.


A final note on the tires: Ferrari fitted the grooved Bridgestones and the Japanese manufacturer had made specific tires at each GP for the softer compound F2004 given the characteristics of the very agile and responsive Red.


Mercedes, on the other hand, uses the Pirelli slicks in the four compounds (C1,2,3 and 4) which are supplied throughout the season and chosen in three compounds for each GP. Since 2017, F1 has been using wide tires: 305 / 670-13 front and 405 / 670-13 rear, while the 2004 Bridgestones were 270 mm wide against the current 305 mm.

As you have been able to understand, the two single-seaters that have laid down the law in different eras have very few points in common. We will only find out over the weekend how much faster F1 2020 will be than those of 2004, beating Takuma Sato's lap record.


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