How does RB20 look next to the almighty W11 - Bahrain pole compared

F1 Verstappen Hamilton Onboard

[leafster]

this video makes me realise just how fast the w11 is

[hamwicbi]

It's a crime that we never got a full season of the W11

[LionMan]

You also have to remember, Bahrain was at the end of 2020, meaning they had a full season to develop and understand the car.

[vamositalia]

The W11 in braking zones, slow corners and traction absolutely demolishes the new Red Bull but in 2025 cars should be faster than 2024 so maybe the comparison will look better next year.

[retmania]

Why did they get rid of the G-Force meter? That's the most interesting telemetry data.

[rfactorgo]

The traction on corner exit is unreal on Mercedes

[irishRocker]

Dont forget the weight has gone up +50kg since 2020. The tyres and wheel rims are different. They have to use a biofuel mix now too. And also the regulations to outwash the tyre wake have changed. So, while the RB20 is probably behind when compared directly to the W11, I don't think it was as dominant. It was a shorter season due to covid but Max still won 2 races that year, Perez won one, as well as Gasly winning one. So win percentage was lower than RB19 for example. In Abu Dhabi max won by 15seconds. In the 2020 Bahrain GP, where this merc lap is taken from, Max finished 1.5sec behind Lewis, and got fastest lap.

[skittleswastook]

keep in mind that the W11 was at its peak at the end of the season. This is RB20 at the first race every with almost no upgrades

[ahmt]

I must admit these ground effect cars have developed fast, they were so slow in 2022. Every year the pole lap for these ground effect cars keep getting faster.

[Miloristify]

Something I find crazy, is that the Ferrari this year was just as fast as it was in 2020. Showing how bad their car was that year after having to change their "illegal" engine.

[DonLee]

The W11 was on the C4 tire, while the RB20 was using the C3.

[MuhammadNiz]

Just a reminder that W11 limitations were the tyres.
Also it's the only car to take pole with a harder compound than available

[kjjohnson]

Love your content! Perfect timing too, I’m literally rewatching the race right now.

[slartibartfast]

I wonder which year of the pre-ground effect cars the RB20 is equivalent to in lap times. Maybe 2017?

Edit: 2016 was a 1:29.493, 2017 was 1:28.769, so if we account for track limits being different, and using Leclerc's Q2 time of 1:29.165, the current cars are still a good bit behind 2017.

It's also pretty cool how different the engine note is between the two. The Merc is very raw and raspy, whereas the Honda is super smooth with that turbo whistle.

[UtubeItube]

Massive tracklimits violation by W11 at T4 1:16. That alone made a huge difference to how much speed he could carry and shaved massive time.

[chidieberendukwu]

W11 was an animal.
A supernatural beast.

[beany]

1 thing to remember here as well is, bahrain gp in 2020 was end of november so "party mode" was banned. So how much quicker would this lap be if they were allowed to be at full power.

[E_Clip]

The new cars might catch the old ones in terms of average lap speed, but they don't seem very racy to me for some reason. If you look at the W11 and how fast it goes in and out of a corner it looks better imo, it feels exciting to watch it. Not sure if this is the added weight of the cars or something else, but the difference is very obvious.

[Engryter]

Even if you close your eyes you can clearly hear how much sooner and more violently the W11 comes back on gas editing corners. Incredible car.

[njsfer]

Am I the only one who misses the "old" sound of the first V6 engines?
I won't even talk about the V8 and V10's, but the W11 had a decent sound, while the new cars sound like vacuum cleaners.