Method 1 is taking its summer season break, however our correspondent Andrew Benson remains to be answering your questions…
Learn on for Andrew’s solutions about simulators, a freshmen’ information to trace varieties, stop-go penalties and way more.
How does the simulator work? If a group has a foul follow day, we frequently hear that they spend hours in a single day attempting to unravel their issues – Robin
So-called driver-in-the-loop simulators are an essential a part of the analysis and growth programmes of Method 1 groups.
These are akin to extremely complicated laptop video games. The motive force sits in a race seat in entrance of an enormous display screen. Typically it’s on hydraulic ramps to offer the feeling of motion – pitch and roll and so forth.
The group select a race circuit, and programme in varied set-ups to see how the automobile will react. Drivers can spend eight hours a day in simulators fairly recurrently, even when not all of them get pleasure from it very a lot.
The software program is extremely subtle and has proved a useful gizmo for optimising automobile set-ups for explicit tracks.
So, sure, usually after Friday follow a reserve or simulator driver might be within the simulator and the engineers will programme in varied choices to attempt to remedy no matter steadiness points the race drivers have been having on monitor.
It’s usually very efficient at enhancing the automobiles for qualifying and race.
The identical course of occurs earlier than a race assembly – usually with the race drivers themselves – to offer the groups a head-start for a weekend.
Please might you give a freshmen’ information to trace varieties suiting completely different automobiles and clarify why? – Geraint
All racing automobiles have particular traits, strengths and weaknesses. And the way these match up in comparison with these of rival automobiles in sure varieties of corners are a part of what defines competitiveness on a given monitor.
So one automobile may be stronger than one other in gradual corners, or quick. One automobile may have the ability to trip kerbs higher than one other.
Maybe its efficiency at a given trip peak may be higher in comparison with one other automobile than at one other trip peak.
Or one automobile may work much less properly when the climate is sizzling, however higher when it is cool. That could possibly be to do with tyre temperatures, or how the cooling ranges have an effect on the aerodynamics.
It’s uncommon that this makes a large distinction to competitiveness, however often it does, and that has been seen this 12 months.
So, for instance, the Purple Bull must be run very stiff for its aerodynamics to work at their optimum. And it loses extra tempo relative to the Ferrari, notably, but additionally the McLaren in the event that they attempt to run it softer. On the identical time, the Purple Bull appears to require a low entrance trip peak, whereas the Ferrari loses much less if the entrance trip peak is larger, maybe as a result of it has been optimised to run at a barely larger place.
That explains why the Purple Bull was to date off the tempo in Monaco, the place kerb using requires softer suspension and the next trip peak. They usually might properly battle at Singapore – because it did final 12 months – for a similar causes.
Or take Mercedes. George Russell stated in Hungary there appeared to be a development rising the place they have been extra aggressive in cool situations – Canada, Silverstone – than in sizzling – Spain, Austria and Hungary.
The McLaren is powerful in gradual and medium-speed corners, however inferior to the Purple Bull in corners taken at over 250km/h. So the steadiness of those at sure tracks – Hungary v Spa, for instance – will outline competitiveness ranges.
One other instance could be the DRS overtaking help. The Purple Bull DRS is way more efficient than McLaren’s – it positive aspects extra prime pace. So at circuits the place there may be loads of DRS use, the Purple Bull positive aspects competitiveness, corresponding to in Austria, the place there have been three DRS zones.
Many races are determined by who’s on the proper tyre on the proper time, higher tyre administration or pit stops. Why not put off tyre modifications? – John
F1 bosses consider pit stops are essential to the present, and that races would danger being boring with out them.
Given refuelling is banned for causes of value and security, tyre modifications are the one approach to have pit stops.
