F1 and Indy Car (mostly F1)

[Tank]

Zandvoort 2024

Lando Norris got his second win. He beat Max Verstappen at his home circuit where he was unbeaten (3 races) since it rejoined the F1 calendar in 2021. He beat him by 22.9 seconds which is asstonishing. As my son, one of Lando's race engineers, said to me "The car was epic today!".

Lando chatting to Andrew. A rare photo with Andrew smiling.





From left to right Will the senior race engineer with the constructors trophy. Andrew with the winners trophy. Henry the other race engineer wearing the winners medal.

The winner's gold medal is a new thing this year. There are silver and bronze medals for 2nd and 3rd. This seemed a bit of an affectation until you know that the trophies invariable end up at the team factory or head office. The trophy cabinet at the Mclaren head office at Woking is 30 meters long and packed with history. So the drivers had nothing to keep from their victories. Now they have their medals which is a nice touch.

[Tank]

Lando's first win at Miami 2024.




Andrew with the constructors trophy, winners trophy and winners gold medal.

[Tank]

Silverstone 2024 press day.

Andrew, Pam, Lando and myself.

[Tom62]

Max has to watch out that he doesn't lose the championship. Lando is on a roll.

[Tank]

Max has to watch out that he doesn't lose the championship. Lando is on a roll.

That is true but there are still a lot of races to go. The key ic Lando's team mate Oscar. If he can beat Max as well then the delta between the two goes from 7 points to 10 with 9 races to go.

[Tank]

Behind the scenes.

Will, the principle race engineer, and Andrew, race engineer, discuss telemetry with Lando. All the teams can see the GPS telemetry of all the teams. The GPS feeds are military spec. In each pit on the floor there is a calibration point for the GPS system. So Andrew can see the effects of tyres, McLaren's fuel loads and tyre pressures and temperatures.

The max fuel load is 100kg. No car starts a race with a full tank. There must be enough fuel left in the tank for a test sample (1kg). One of Andrew's jobs is to calculate the start fuel load for each race.

[billy rubin]

why is the telemetry shared between teams?

if i was making the rules, id want the drivers to be responsible for keeping track of where their competition was.

[Dark Lightning]

The leaders are in his windshield. The followers are in his mirrors. I'd say that anything more would be a serious distraction.

[Tank]

why is the telemetry shared between teams?

if i was making the rules, id want the drivers to be responsible for keeping track of where their competition was.

I don't know. I'll ask.

It's impossible for the drivers to keep track of what is going on. Particularly at Monarco and Zandvort which are tiny twisty tracks. It would be literally lethal if they didn't have their teams looking after them. In Indy cars they have 'spotters' who warn their drivers of slow cars, debris and crashes. 

[Tank]

The leaders are in his windshield. The followers are in his mirrors. I'd say that anything more would be a serious distraction.

Sometimes drivers quite literally tell their race engineers to 'Fucking leave me alone!' The driver/pit radios are open to be listened to. If you have the full F1 cable TV package from Sky you can follow the team radio for a particular car and watch their in car camera feed live.

Kimi Räikkönen was famous for his terse and impolite replies to his team. Lewis Hamilton sometimes told Pete Bonnington (Bono) to STFU on occasion. Another classic was Jenson Button's comment 'Don't fucking talk to me in a corner!!!'

[Tank]

why is the telemetry shared between teams?

if i was making the rules, id want the drivers to be responsible for keeping track of where their competition was.

I don't know. I'll ask.

It's impossible for the drivers to keep track of what is going on. Particularly at Monarco and Zandvort which are tiny twisty tracks. It would be literally lethal if they didn't have their teams looking after them. In Indy cars they have 'spotters' who warn their drivers of slow cars, debris and crashes. 

Apparently all the GPS data including lap times is made available as a side effect of FIA requirements to be able to monitor car safety and performance. It's up to the teams if they want to access that feed. Of course they all do. So it's public knowledge.

[billy rubin]

well i can certainly understand the advantage of knowing about crashes, debris, and so on.

i suppose its the natural progression from the pit crew holding up signs reading

fuel next time round

or

lap time is xxxx

but its getting too rarified for me. racing is a mind game as well as physical skill, and the people with the best heads for track strategy used to be the best drivers. but i see the reasoning behind it.

[Tank]

It is so much a team sport now. The driver has their skill set but as Frank Williams once pointed out. A driver is just an unpredictable component of the car.

[Tank]

McLaren are now only 8 points behind Red Bull with 8 races to go. So if things continue as they are it's likely McLaren will get the constructors championship. Lando took points out of Max and is still on target for a last race shoot out for the drivers championship. Nail biting stuff.

[Tank]

McLaren now lead the constructors world championship!!!