Glory for teams: The Constructors’ World Championship

Although all drivers aim to win their own World Championship, they also have to keep an eye out for the title that their teams aim for – the Constructors’ World Championship.
The points are awarded on the same system as those awarded for the drivers’ championship (explained in the preceding section). The difference is that teams take home the points that their two drivers earn. If a team’s drivers finish first and second, for example, then the team scores 18 points. Some team bosses believe that winning this title is more prestigious than having a Formula One star win the drivers’ World Championship because the constructors’ title generally goes to the team that’s produced the best car. The constructors’ championship has more importance than just its prestige, however, for the following reasons:
_ The amount a team earns from the sport’s television rights is dependent on just where a team finishes in the title chase. The difference between positions, especially in the top five teams, can be several million dollars. _ Finishing higher up in the constructors’ championship means that teams are entitled to the best garages in the pit lane, which usually means more space and improved facilities.
_ A winning team is also allowed to take more freight free of charge to the race, which cuts down on costs.
It’s no wonder that the battle for positions in the constructors’ championship gets so intense at the end of the season.

Understanding the points system

The Formula One World Championship is not decided by a panel who award the title to the driver that they think has driven in the most beautiful manner. Formula One isn’t ice skating after all. Instead, the title goes to the driver who, at the end of the season, has earned the most points. Sometimes, as happened in 2002, drivers are able to clinch the World Championship well before the end of the season because they have such a lead in the title chase that no other driver can mathematically catch them up, even if they finished last in those races or even did not start them at all. A lot of times, however, the championship can go down to the final race of the season. It can be very exciting when a whole year’s efforts in going for the title are decided in one race – especially if a few drivers are able to win the title.
The current points system was put in place at the start of the 2003 season in a bid to make it more difficult for a driver to run away with the title chase if he had a dominant car. This new system also helps teams further down the field to score points, making it easier for them to attract sponsorship and stay in business.
Here is a breakdown of how points are awarded for each place. There are no points awarded for ninth place or lower.

Winning the F1 Championship

Although every driver wants to win races, the aim for all of them is to go for World Championship glory. That is why, at various points of the season, drivers are willing to take it steady to guarantee the points for second place rather than go all out for victory and risk coming away with a dented car and no points at all.
In the past, some drivers would be helped by their team mates to make sure that they built up as big a lead as possible in the World Championship. Sometimes, for example, a team mate in the lead would pull over to make sure that the other team mate won. Or a team mate with the faster car would hold back and defend second place from a rival to ensure that his team mate with the slower car took the victory. These pre-arranged agreements to let one fellow win were called team orders.
From the start of the 2003 season, however, team orders were banned in the sport. This ban was the result of a series of controversies in the 2002 World Championship when the Ferrari team used team orders even though it was absolutely dominant and not really threatened by any other team. Such a use of team orders took away much of the drama of the sport, and the sport’s rulers felt that it contributed to a falling interest in Formula One – even though the Ferrari team was clearly within its rights to do what it wanted on the track.

Getting back to the team

When the race winner returns to the pits, he is always treated to a hero’s welcome. The team has often cracked open a few bottles of champagne (for drinking this time, not spraying) and will be patting each other on the back when the driver returns.
Still in his sweat- and champagne-soaked overalls, the driver shakes hands with all his mechanics and team members and gives a congratulatory speech in which he thanks everyone for their hard work. Then he rushes back to his motorhome to have a shower and change into casual clothes before a final sit down with his team to run through how the race went. This post-race debrief is important because it is the final chance the team has to discuss and analyse exactly how they won that day – so that they can do it again and again. Some of these debriefs can actually go on longer than the races themselves!
Finally, when the debrief is finished, the driver is free to do what he wants to do. If he’s flying out of the country early, he may make a dash for the airport, or he may choose to sit around with the team and join in the post-race party. There are also usually more interviews with the media and hundreds of autograph hunters waiting for him outside the motorhome because he has suddenly become the most in-demand man to meet at the track.

F1 press conferences

Although the race winner may be very tired and soaked in champagne, he is still not allowed to return to his garage and get changed because it is time to meet the world’s media. And like everything else in Formula One, this takes place to a rigid timetable.
TV interviews, first
As soon as the drivers have finished on the podium and perhaps dropped their trophies and bottles of champagne down to their team members below, they are rushed off to a special television interview room. This is the first chance the world will have to hear just what went on in the race from the drivers’ perspective – and that’s why so many people tune into this interview. This is the one interview that is always broadcast straight after the podium ceremony on every single television channel. The drivers are always asked two questions each in English about their race before the winner is handed his final moment of glory by being asked about either his championship prospects or the next race. Afterwards those drivers whose first language is not English are asked to speak a few words in their own languages, specifically for their fans back home.
Press conference, next
After the television interview has taken place, the drivers have to go to another press conference room for written media and radio. Track commentator Bob Constanduros hosts the first part of this press conference, before it opens to questions from the floor. Some drivers dread this moment, because they can be asked some difficult questions – especially if something controversial has taken place on the track.
One of the most amazing post-race press conferences was after the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix, when Ferrari controversially imposed team orders in the closing stages of the race to ensure that Michael Schumacher won the event. The top three drivers had just endured being booed and jeered on the podium when they got exactly the same reception from the press!
Then more questions from more folks
Even when this press conference has finished, which can sometimes last more than half an hour, the drivers are still not free to return to their teams. In the main paddock, just outside the media centre, officials set up a special fenced-off area for the drivers. Here television crews can ask the drivers their own questions for a few minutes before the drivers can finally walk back to celebrate with their teams.

Joy on the podium

There was a time when drivers would turn up for the podium only if they wanted to, but in modern Formula One, this special post-race ceremony is organised with military precision. Of course, it has to be with several million people tuned in around the world and wanting to share the joy with the winning drivers.
The podium is usually set-up high above the pits and in front of a main grandstand, so that as many fans as possible can see the top three drivers. At most tracks, after the cars have returned to the pits, the fans are allowed to run onto the track so they too can get close to the action.
Everyone lines up
On the podium are three steps, one each for the top three finishers of the race. The middle step is the highest, and this is designed for the winner. To the right of the winner is a slightly shorter step that the second place finisher stands on. To the left of the winner is the shortest step for the third place finisher. When the ceremony is ready to kick off, the three drivers step out onto the podium followed by a representative of the winning team. Out on the podium as well will be between one and three VIPs, whose job it will be to hand out the trophies.
A few patriotic tunes are played
The first national anthem to be played is that of the winning driver, followed by the national anthem of the winning team. After this, the race winner and team representative are presented with their trophies, followed by the second and third placed driver.
Someone breaks out the bubbly
Finally comes the moment that everyone has waited for: the champagne, which gets sprayed everywhere – not a surprise with a bottle for each of the top three finishers. Usually the focus is on the race winner – who will find his rivals pouring champagne over his head, over his overalls, and down the back of his neck. It is a small price to pay for winning the race!

Doing post-race checks

When a driver wins a Formula One race, he may suddenly become the most important person at the track that day, but he still has to follow the rules. However much the driver may want to drive straight back into his garage, crack open the champagne with his team, and party long into the night, he knows he has to wait a little bit longer for that.
As soon as he has completed his slowing down lap, the winning driver enters the pit lane and he is directed to an area called parc ferme. As its name suggests, this is a closed, fenced-off area where only race officials and drivers are allowed. This area is where the post-race checks take place. These checks ensure that all cars are legal and that teams haven’t cheated in their quest for glory.
The winning driver’s team members and the team members of his two closest challengers all rush up to the side of parc ferme to cheer on their star. This is the first time that a driver has seen his team members close up since the end of the race and, if the winner had managed to calm down on the slowing down lap, then this moment is sure to get his emotions flowing again. Because the winners don’t have long in parc ferme (they need to be weighed and rushed up to the podium ceremony), you often see them rush over to congratulate a handful of people with hugs – and perhaps a kiss – before they disappear again for a few moments. The people a driver is likely to make a special effort to see are the following:
_ His wife or girlfriend
_ His team boss
_ His manager
_ His race engineer
_ His best friend

Finally the Finish Line

No matter how fast a driver is, how good his car is, and how much sponsorship money there is pushing his team towards glory, winning a Formula One race is not something that anyone can take for granted. It is the end result of an incredible amount of effort and, even with a technical advantage over your opposition, a driver still has to push himself and his team to the limit to ensure that they do not slip up.
There is a famous saying in motor racing that to finish first, first you have to finish. And doesn’t every Formula One driver out there know it. There have been countless occasions when drivers have looked all set for a spectacular victory only to have things go wrong in the final stages of the race. Formula One drivers often talk about hearing strange noises from their cars in the final laps of a race as they begin getting really paranoid of not making it to the finish.
One of the most famous times in recent history was at the 1991 Canadian Grand Prix when Nigel Mansell had dominated the race and was poised for his first win of the season. On the final lap of the race, with no challenger near him, he started waving to the crowd who were cheering him all the way. Unfortunately, on the way into a slow hairpin, he got too excited and forgot to change down a gear to get around the corner. This mistake caused his car to stall, and he was left stranded at the side of the track. His team was not happy, to say the least! That is why some drivers wait until a few short seconds before the chequered flag, knowing that if anything does go wrong with their car, they would still be able to coast across the line, before sticking their arms out of the cockpit and accepting the victory. As soon as a driver takes the chequered flag (explained in the following section), the race is over, but the spectacle isn’t – not yet anyway.
The first driver across the finish line receives the chequered flag. As the driver crosses the line to take the chequered flag, you often see him move off the racing line and swerve towards the pits. But don’t worry; he isn’t trying to scare the man waving the chequered flag. Instead, he wants to cross the finishing line and get right alongside his team members, who will be crowded onto the pit wall and cheering him on. It is a very special moment winning a Formula One race, and it’s probably the only time of the entire weekend when crew and driver can relax for a few short moments.

Winning and Losing Races in the Pits

Races can be won or lost in the pits through the timing of the stops, through the pit crew’s performance, or through malfunction. The timing of the stops is decided by the race strategists; the time taken for the actual stop is determined by the amount of fuel delivered and the efficiency of the pit crew. The most frequent cause of a pit stop delay is an equipment problem.

Timing of stops
Before the race, the team strategists will have worked out an ideal plan of action. This plan is based on the characteristics of the track, the car’s grid position and the grid position of the main. But once the race gets underway, the strategy can be fine-tuned by tactics.
If a rival holds up a driver for example, it may be advantageous to pit early and hope to set a strong enough pace immediately after the stop to pass the rival when he makes his stop. On the other hand, being able to run longer than your rival before pitting may find you the winning margin. In this scenario, your driver may be able to put in the critical fast laps after the rival has pitted; these laps could enable your man to rejoin ahead after he makes his own pit stop.
Changeable weather during the race brings all sorts of opportunities for winning pit tactics too.

Crew performance
Getting the whole crew to put in an error-free performance is the first prerequisite here. Under the most extreme pressure, the wheel guys have to ensure they don’t cross-thread a wheel nut and that the correct tyres goes on the correct side of the car; the jack man mustn’t miscue his lift; and so on. Although all crew members must perform at their peak, how quickly the refuellers can attach the hose, refuel, and disconnect is really the critical path to how quick the stop is. The fuel goes in at a pre-determined rate and the wheel changing takes up only a fraction of the time of the refuelling. So, assuming nothing goes wrong, it all hangs on how quickly those two refuellers can do their stuff. In a closely matched race, the time they take can be the difference between winning and losing.
Stalling due to driver error at the pit stops is now largely a thing of the past as they use their launch control electronics to get them underway.


Equipment malfunction
Typical malfunctions that have cost teams races include sticking wheel nuts –where the expansion of the metal due to heat causes the nuts to seize on their splines – and problematic refuelling rigs. The standard fuel rigs have proved notoriously temperamental and have frequently failed to deliver the programmed amount of fuel, for example. For this reason, teams usually have the other car’s rig on stand-by just in case, with a third refueller manning it, ready for action.
Faulty connections on the steering wheel controlling the launch control can also cause the car to stall. This lost Jacques Villeneuve over a lap in the 2003 Austrian Grand Prix and lost him what had been a real chance of finishing in the points.

The Anatomy of a Pit Stop

In just a few seconds a huge number of actions are carried out by a Formula One pit crew. Here they are broken down.
Pre-programming: Once the strategists have agreed on when the driver is to make a pit stop and the intended duration of the next stint, the driver’s fuel rig is programmed to deliver the precise amount of fuel required.
Timing: The driver’s race engineer tells him over the radio, usually on the preceding lap, when to pit. At the same time, the team manager – listening in to all team radio communications – scrambles the driver’s pit crew, who gather their equipment and tyres and move from the garage into the pit apron in front of the garage. The lollipop man – a crew member with a big carbon-fibre lollipop –stations himself in line with where the nose of the car will stop and holds out his lollipop directly in the driver’s path, giving him a clearly visible guide for his precise stopping place.
Pit lane entry: The driver enters the pit lane at full racing speed but brings the speed down to the pit lane speed limit of 80 km/h (60 km/h in the very tight pit lane of Monaco) before he crosses the white line that denotes the start of the speed limit area. As he crosses the line, he engages a pit lane speed limiter that electronically prevents the car from accelerating above the speed limit. Selecting the limiter automatically pops open the fuel filler flap. Although the pit lane limiter helps, the driver is the one responsible for being under the speed limit as he crosses the line entering the pits. The limiter only prevents the car accelerating beyond that speed once it’s already below it.
Hitting the marks: The driver stops the car in the appropriate spot. As the car stops, the lollipop man brings down his lollipop in front of the driver. Imprinted on the face of the lollipop is the word “brakes” to remind the driver to keep his foot on the brake pedal so that the wheels don’t turn as the wheel nuts are spun loose. The driver must also prevent the engine from stalling, which they can be prone to.
It is essential that the driver stop at precisely the same place that his crew are awaiting him. Failure to do so means that the crew have to drag their equipment and tyres up to the car, costing valuable seconds. To help the driver hit the mark, the stopping place for the front and rear tyres and the lollipop man are marked out by extremely tough-wearing adhesive tape.
Front jack: Crouching next to the lollipop man is the front jack man. The instant the car stops he levers his jack under the nose of the car and lifts it into the air. The jack is made from steel tubing and has a quick-release button to bring the car back down.
In most cases the car only needs to be jacked-up around two inches though at certain tracks the pit lane is on an incline and the jacking height has to be increased, which is done by giving the jack bigger wheels. Because teams have different nosecones giving different aerodynamic characteristics, they need also to have specific jacks to suit them, with specially tailored mating points.
Rear jack: The rear jack man has to wait until the car has passed him before getting into position. He then places his jack beneath the car and raises the rear of the car.
Starter motor: The rear jack has a fitting incorporated into it for a starter motor. The starter is there ready to bring the engine back into life if the car stalls. A car may stall due to driver error or trouble with the gearbox, clutch, or hydraulics system. The starter is fitted with an extra-long lead as a precaution in the event that the car stalls after jumping forward a few feet.
Wheel changing: Each wheel has two crew members. One operates the compressed air-driven gun that removes the single, central retaining nut. The other removes the old wheel and fits the new. The gun man then re-attaches the nut and tightens it to around 500 lb/ft (pounds per foot). The wheel nut and the socket of the gun are magnetised to prevent the nut falling to the ground. This whole process takes around three seconds. To prevent the nuts working loose, the right-hand side of the car uses righthanded threads, the left-hand side of the car left-sided threads. This means that the guns of the right and left sides have to work in opposite ways. Teams usually colour code them to denote which is which. Each wheel man has a spare gun with him and usually a couple of spare wheel nuts too, just in case.
Refuelling: A transparent plastic shield is fitted between the filler and the rear of the car to prevent any spilt fuel reaching the hot exhausts. (It’s transparent so that the lollipop man can see through it and know when the rightrear tyre has been attached.) Two refuellers attach the hose to the car’s filler. One handles the hose itself, the other presses on the “dead man’s handle” which has to be kept down in order for the fuel to flow. As soon as this handle is released – as it would be by the man running away, for example –the fuel stops flowing. The rig delivers the exact amount of fuel that’s been programmed in, at the rate of 12-litres per second.
Fuel shrinks in volume when it is chilled, enabling more of it to be contained within each litre. The regulations allow the fuel to be chilled to 10 degrees C below the ambient temperature.
The rig is standardised and provided by the governing body to the teams who are not allowed to modify it in any way. Attached either to the hose or to the refuellers’ helmets are indicators showing when the fuel is flowing and when the process is completed. As soon as these indicators tell the refuellers that the car is full-up, they release the latch that holds the nozzle to the filler and then use a second handle to release the nozzle from a connector on the car. Overseeing the whole operation are two crew members, each with a 60-litre fire extinguisher. Larger capacity fire hoses are at hand in the garage. An additional safety feature on the fuel rig are earthing strips that are wired to the refuelling rigs and reduce the chances of static electricity discharging –highly undesirable with all that fuel around.
Lollipop up: The lollipop man, who’s been watching the whole operation intently, lifts the lollipop. He does so only when he’s satisfied that all four wheels have been attached, the refuelling completed, the nozzle removed from the car, and that another car isn’t about to be in his man’s path. Only then can the driver leave.
Pit lane exit: The driver, while waiting for the crew to finish, will have armed his launch control. The launch control, in concert with his pit lane speed limiter, governs his getaway. As he crosses the line denoting the end of the pit lane speed limit he disengages the speed limiter and accelerates hard back up to race speed, taking care not to cross the next white line – the one that denotes the exit lane back onto the track – before he reaches the end of the pit lane itself. Failure to respect this will incur a penalty.

Non-refuelling stops

If a driver pits and isn’t refuelled then he’s in some sort of bother. Either he has a technical problem that needs immediate attention, or he’s been given a penalty for some sporting infringement. The less severe of these is a drivethrough penalty where he has just to drive through the pit lane at the regulation speed limit of 80 km/h (50 mph) before immediately rejoining the race. The harsher penalty is a stop-and-go, in which the driver has to remain stationary for 10 seconds before rejoining the race. Typical offences for which such penalties are awarded include passing under yellow flags or jumping the start.

Understanding refuelling stops

A Formula One car with a big enough fuel tank to do a full Grand Prix distance of 190 miles (305km) would be hopelessly slow. Not only would the car be very heavy at the start of the race, but it would also be aerodynamically inefficient because the fuel tank, which would need a capacity of around 330 litres, would have to be huge. The primary reason for pitting then is to refuel the car. During the fuel stop, teams also routinely check the tyres. As well as having fresh tyres fitted, the driver may take the opportunity of making other changes to the car while he is being refuelled.
The car’s handling may have changed since the car was set up before qualifying the day before. Maybe the car is now understeering too much for the driver’s liking. A quick cure would be to have some extra angle put on the front wing, something that can be accomplished in just a few seconds –usually less than the time taken to refuel.
The driver may have set his car up for the best possible lap time in qualifying, with quite high downforce levels, but he may now be finding that he needs more straight-line speed in order to defend his position in the race. In this case front and rear wing angles might be reduced. Again, this would take less time than is needed to refuel the car.
Depending upon the nature of the circuit and how much lap time penalty there is for a given weight increase, the main question is how many pit stops to make. Traditionally, most circuits have been best suited to two-stop strategies. However, the 2003 regulations stating that no fuel can be added or taken away between qualifying and race mean that three stops are now quite common in order to have the cars as light as possible in qualifying.

Safety and danger in the pits

A highly charged competitive environment compressed into a narrow pit lane where cars share space with crew members and where raw fuel is in close proximity to red hot engines and exhausts makes for a potentially lethal combination.
But while no-one can deny that a Formula One pit lane is a fundamentally unsafe environment, strict safety rules play their part in keeping things under control. These include the following:

• Pit lane speed limit: The speed limit during pit stops is 60 km/h during practice and qualifying, 80 km/h during the race (60 km/h at Monaco). This limit was introduced in 1994 after a mechanic was injured in the Imola pit lane.
• Rules against going in reverse: Reversing in the pit lane is prohibited. If a car needs to be moved backwards, the crew must push it.
• Restriction on numbers of personnel in the pit lane: The crew of the competing cars are only allowed out of their garages and into the pit lane on the lap preceding their car’s pit stop. Other than officials, these are the only people allowed in the pit lane during the race. After the stop, they must return to their garages.
• Fire-resistant clothing: All pit crew members wear fire-resistant Nomex suits similar to those used by the drivers. These suits can withstand heat of up to 800 degree C for 12 seconds. In addition, the pit crew must wear full-face crash helmets for further protection from fire.
• Limited fuel pressurisation: Fuel delivery is limited to 12 litres per second, outlawing the high-pressure refuelling used in previous years. This rate of delivery produces a limited pressure that reduces the chances of spillage and fuel nozzle or rig failure compared to the old high pressure systems.
• Standardised safety valves for rigs, hoses, and fillers: In addition to the dead man’s handle on the fuel rig (this handle ensures that fuel flow stops the moment pressure is released on the handle) the inlet valves and fillers are standardised and designed in such a way as to prevent leakage of inflammable vapours. A two-way system equalises pressure as the fuel is delivered.
• Things can still go wrong though, as demonstrated by Ferrari in the 2003 Austrian Grand Prix when flames erupted from the filler of Michael Schumacher’s car during a routine stop. This was later traced to a faulty seal.

Pit Stop Crews

• Two men at each wheel who work in concert to change the tyres
• A front jack man who raises the front end of the car
• A rear jack man who raises the rear of the car and restarts the motor if it stalls
• A lollipop man, who drops the lollipop in front of the car to signal where it should stop
  
• Three refuellers (including one on stand-by) who add the necessary fuel
• Two fire extinguisher men who stand by in case of a fire
• Maybe a visor cleaner (some drivers prefer not to have one) who wipes the visor of the driver’s helmet In addition, a team manager usually oversees the whole operation.

That leaves a couple of spare pit crew to do any changes to the car such as wing settings. With the exception of the team manager, the pit crew usually double up as mechanics. No formal qualifications exist that specify who can or can’t be a member of the pit crew, but crew members are invariably fully trained as mechanics. The lollipop man is often the chief mechanic. During a pit stop these folks move in high gear. Each has a job to do and must do it quickly and well.
Between pit stops the pit crew gets to sit down in the pit garage and watch the race on the monitors. They swear when their driver messes up or make rude signs at the screen when he’s not assertive enough in dealing with another driver. They make friendly banter with each other. This is one of the few chances they get over the whole weekend to relax.

Pit Stop Basics

Pit stops have become one of the most tense and exciting features of a Grand Prix, and races are frequently won and lost in this high pressure environment. Amazingly for a sport that is all about speed, for between 7 and 12 seconds (the time of an average pit stop), a stationary car becomes the focus of all attention, the most interesting thing that is happening in the race. The pit stop has also emphasised the team play aspect of Formula One making individual team members such as jack men and refuellers highly visible as part of a winning effort. Most of all, the pit stop has underlined the intellectual challenge of Formula One racing. The reason is that race strategies based on the timing and number of pit stops have assumed greater significance, and pit stops can have a huge effect on the outcome of the race. Pit stops are an intrinsic part of modern Formula One. They aren’t compulsory, but dividing the race into stints punctuated by pit stops and thereby having a relatively small amount of fuel on board at any given time is by far the fastest way to get a car through a Grand Prix race distance. This advantage is amplified by the fitting of new tyres during a refuelling stop. There is never any question of whether to have a pit stop or not. The only question is how many.
The pits is the name of the area between the race track and the garages where the team are based for the duration of the race. This area is called the pits because originally, in the dim and dusty past, there was a pit dug out of the track surface where the team personnel would sit and signal their drivers. Originally only this actual pit delineated the working area from the race track. In more modern times, the areas have been separated by a pit wall, and it is now in this area that the selected team members – usually the team principal and two or three race strategists – base themselves during the race. Across the other side of the pit lane the rest of the team – engineers, data loggers, and pit crew – sit in the team garages.

Understanding F1 Safety Car

The Safety Car – nowadays a supercharged Mercedes SL piloted by an experienced race driver – neutralises the race in situations where an incident or set of circumstances has exposed competitors or marshals to immediate danger. The Safety Car slows the competing cars to a speed that ensures the safety of those concerned. This could be to protect marshals clearing an accident, or it could be for a sudden extreme downpour that has made the track dangerous. Any time advantage a driver has built up over a rival before the Safety Car came out is nullified as the cars bunch up together. It might give the chasing driver a second bite at a race that had previously been as good as lost. If the Safety Car comes on the track anywhere near your intended pit stop window, it could be very good news. In this situation a driver normally pits immediately. The amount of time he loses to his rivals is obviously far less at Safety Car speeds than it would be if they were still racing flat-out. This can be such a big advantage that you might see a team bring both its cars in together in this situation, even though they’re allowed to work on only one car at a time. The time that the second guy loses while waiting for his teammate to be replenished is far less than he’d lose if he had to do another lap at Safety Car speed.
Another thing to consider is the probable length of the Safety Car period. If the incident looks serious, you can probably bet that the Safety Car will be circulating for a long time. These slow laps still count as race distance, and so your average fuel consumption is going to be significantly lighter than you’d planned for. Depending upon what stage of the race it occurs, a smart strategist works this to his team’s advantage, maybe converting from a two to a one-stop strategy.
Sometimes the implications are quite bizarre. At Malaysia in 2001, Ferrari drivers Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello – who were in first and second places – went off on the second lap as they hit a treacherous mix of oil and heavy rain water. Both rejoined but were now back in 10th and 11th places. New leader David Coulthard spun later on the same lap and pitted immediately. He changed to wet weather tyres and quickly resumed. The Ferrari drivers pitted together, but because they were so far back, they did so in the knowledge that the Safety Car had just been scrambled, which was not the case when Coulthard had pitted. With the field circulating at Safety Car speeds, the Ferrari pit team had longer to decide what tyres to put on their pitted cars – all they had to do was make sure they rejoined before the field lapped them. They reasoned that, with the Safety Car controlling speeds in the wettest conditions, they could afford to fit intermediate tyres. It was a decision that won them the race.

F1 Race stoppage

If an accident blocks the track, the race is stopped by red flags shown at every marshalling post. If this occurs more than two laps into the race but before 75 per cent of the allocated distance has been completed, the race is restarted 20 minutes later, with the grid formed by the race order on the lap prior to the red flag. The cars must line up on the grid and cannot make for the pits. No fuel can be added to the cars on the grid. Because the results in this instance are an aggregate of the elapsed times of each competitor from the two parts of the race, it’s quite conceivable that strategies will be unaffected. Any advantage carried by one driver over a rival is still maintained in the aggregate result, even if not on track. But consider, say, the McLaren driver who was leading the Williams rival until pitting just before the stoppage. The slower Jordan and Sauber cars directly ahead of him – which might previously have been out of his way – are now holding him up because the restart has bunched them all together. The Williams rival who has not yet pitted is on a clear track and is brought in earlier than planned in order to take advantage of the McLaren’s delay and get out still ahead. Lots of celebration at Williams, glum faces at McLaren. Stoppages that occur after 75 per cent distance can throw the race wide open for different reasons. In this situation, the race is considered over, and the race order on the lap preceding the stoppage becomes the result. This would be very bad news for any driver who had pitted just prior to the stoppage. Who said life was fair?

Don’t Get Caught Out

What would have been the perfect race strategy under normal circumstances can be ruined by an unforeseen incident or set of circumstances. An intruder taking to the track to demonstrate against alleged unfair dismissal by former employees Mercedes lost McLaren victory in the 2000 German Grand Prix. That couldn’t have been anticipated. The timing of the intruder’s track walk brought the race under a safety car period at exactly the wrong time for McLaren – which coincidentally used Mercedes engines! Ferrari’s Rubens Barrichello was the beneficiary and took his maiden Formula One victory. Conversely, what had been a flawed strategy can be rescued from oblivion by a race incident or sudden adverse weather. Sometimes such situations create a magical split-second opportunity of advantage for the sharper pit lane strategists.

Great overtaking moves still happen

One of the greatest Formula One overtaking moves of all time happened as recently as 2000, at Spa for the Belgian Grand Prix, proving that it isn’t quite an art lost to Formula One. The race was a flat-out battle of wills between the two men fighting for that year’s World Championship: Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen. Schumacher’s Ferrari had led most of the race but in the late stages was rapidly being caught by Hakkinen’s McLaren.
Schumacher, with more rear wing, was slower up the long hill that follows on from Eau Rouge, perhaps Formula One’s greatest corner. This made him susceptible to attack under braking for the tight right hander, Les Combes, at the end of the uphill straight.
A few laps from the end, Hakkinen got a run on the Ferrari there and sliced his car to the inside. At around 200 mph Schumacher began to edge Hakkinen over towards the grass. The McLaren’s front wing actually touched the rear of the Ferrari as a horrified Hakkinen was forced to lift off. But now he was angry.
On the next lap, the two cars came to lap the BAR of Ricardo Zonta at the very same place as their earlier encounter. Schumacher opted to pass on the left, and in an instant, Hakkinen dived for the right. A startled Zonta thankfully remained on his line as Hakkinen squeezed past and then proceeded to outbrake Schumacher. It was a great gladiatorial victory for the Finn who afterwards was seen to be having a quiet but stern word with Schumacher.

Best place to overtake

Having said all that, some corners are conducive to overtaking:

• A tightly connected left-right or right-left sequence – where the outside line for the first part of the turn forms the advantageous inside for the second part or vice-versa – allows cars to pass each other. The revised Nurburgring track in Germany includes some of these exciting corners.
• A long straight followed by a slow hairpin – which increases the braking distance, also works and has been used well at the revised Hockenheim track, also in Germany, as well as at the Malaysian circuit of Sepang. The Senna Esses at Interlagos combines both these features and is a classic overtaking spot. Juan Pablo Montoya made himself a hero to millions at this spot in only his third Formula One race, rubbing tyres with Michael Schumacher to take the lead of the 2001 Brazilian Grand Prix.

At such tracks race strategies can be more aggressive as light, two-stopping cars cannot be held up indefinitely by heavier one-stoppers. Formula One purists might try telling you that because overtaking is rare, it’s more special in Formula One than in other forms of the sport where passing and re-passing is frequent but relatively insignificant. Don’t worry if you feel indignant at this – it reflects well on you as a Formula One fan. You might reply along the lines of “That’s a dangerously complacent attitude, and Formula One really needs to address this part of its show if it’s to keep its fans entertained.” A lot of thought is being given to the overtaking issue by both the governing body and teams. Circuit design and lessening the cars’ downforce are the favoured areas of investigation. But Formula One tends to spend a lot of time arguing with itself before any changes are made. Don’t hold your breath.

Overtaking and Why It’s Rare

Once past the first corner of the race, overtaking in a Formula One car is an incredibly difficult art. Here’s why.

• Passing on the straight: The power difference between even the fastest car and the slowest is rarely enough make overtaking simply a matter of blasting by on the straight. For that to work, the driver needs to complete the move before the next corner arrives, because unlike racing on an oval track, there is only one real “line” through a corner; anything else is much slower. Therefore the overtaking car would need to get completely in front of the car it’s passing rather than just nosing ahead, in order to then take up track position for the next turn. It’s rare for such a performance differential to exist between cars to make this possible.
• Passing under braking: This is where the moves – such as they are – are usually made. But this is by no means easy. With over 2000kg of pressure pushing the cars into the road, they can decelerate with enormous force –up to 5g. Even the act of lifting your foot from the accelerator pedal creates around 1g of deceleration – around the same as a full emergency stop in your road car – and that’s before the brakes have been applied! Consequently the braking distances for corners are incredibly short. The shorter the braking distances, the less opportunity there is to pass under braking.
• Slipstreaming: The driver of the car behind can benefit from the slipstream effect. This is where the car ahead punches a hole through the air, greatly reducing the air resistance for any car immediately behind it. This effect means that the following driver can use less throttle for the same speed and then simultaneously pull out and floor the throttle to gain a brief surge that might get him ahead. To be successful, the driver has to carry out this move just before the cars enter the braking zone – and on the inside line for the corner. Given that the defending driver is allowed one blocking move between corners, he should invariably have that situation covered, forcing his attacker to take the long way round – the outside.

Blocking the other guy

So if the attacking drivers are allowed to change their lines more than once (as the preceding section explains), why don’t these aggressors simply pass him on the other side, knowing that their prey can’t change his line again? Because if the blocker has timed it right, he will have forced the attacker to lift off the throttle just as the front of his car is almost upon the rear of the defending car. This will have lost the attacker the advantage of momentum he had.
It’s therefore essential for the blocking driver not to make his move too early; otherwise the attacker can simply keep his right foot nailed to the floor and steer around the other side, shouting “Eat my dust!” as he flies by!

Launch control – it wasn’t always so easy

Since the 2001 Spanish Grand Prix drivers have no longer needed to judge the optimum revs, wheelspin, and gear change points to affect the best getaway. Now, a whole host of electronic gizmos are allowed on the cars, including launch control, so all the driver has to do is arm the system as he is lined up on the grid and then press a button as the starting lights change. Software systems then work out the ultimate acceleration.
Features such as this and traction control –which cuts power when the system detects excess wheelspin, thereby making the car easier to control – had been outlawed since 1994, but difficulties in policing the software meant they were reintroduced.

Getting the best start

Any advantage drivers used to gain by jumping the start lights and hoping noone important noticed have now been lost. Electronic tell-tales on the grid position inform the race directors of any driver that has anticipated the lights. A 10 second stop/go penalty or a drive-through penalty (at the discretion of the race directors) is applied to any competitor who does this. In addition, he will look foolish and might have a lot of explaining to do to his team boss at the end of the race.
Formula One cars employ “launch control”, a package of technical gizmos that allows them to achieve their maximum acceleration as soon as the driver presses the button. How quickly a driver reacts to the lights going out is therefore crucial, but every other aspect of getting the car quickly off the line – such as the engine revs and slipping the clutch – is controlled by the software, not the driver. But launch control cannot endow the car with acceleration it doesn’t have; it can only maximise the potential of the car as defined by its power, weight, gearing, and traction. So the one-stopping fuel-heavy car should still be slower away than its two-stopping fuel-light rival.
Those drivers on a heavy fuel load will be extra-anxious to keep any rivals behind them at the start. By preventing a two-stopping driver from passing them, they ruin the lighter car’s strategy by keeping it down to a one-stopping pace but with the extra fuel stop still to make. As the start represents the best opportunity for a light car to pass a heavy one, the driver of the heavy car often needs to be extra ruthless in the dash down to the first corner to keep any rivals from overtaking him.
The sporting rules specifically limit what a defending driver is able to do. The one move rule allows him one blocking move – defined as a move from one side of the track to the other – whereas the driver attacking from behind has no such limitation on his lines. Michael Schumacher has been the most ruthless exponent of this rule over the years; whenever he makes a poor start, he invariably cuts across the bows of any faster accelerating car behind him. Rivals on the receiving end of this treatment, notably David Coulthard and Jacques Villeneuve, have complained about it, feeling that it’s both dangerous and goes against the sporting ethic, but his reply is always the same: “The rules say I can.”
At the start, the race officials tend to concentrate on watching what is happening at the front. Further back, out of the limelight, all sorts of transgressions of etiquette and rules take place. You can get away with murder back there on the hectic opening lap.
You might think it has taken vital skills away from the driver. Don’t be shy about saying this out loud – you won’t find many people disagreeing with you, and, as of 2004, launch control is again going to be banned from use. Traction control remains, so at least you shouldn’t see your favourite driver wheelspinning out too early in a race.

Starting the F1 race

All the preparation – the development back at the factory, the testing, the practices, the qualifying, the debriefs – lead up to the moment of the start. A famous Australian driver once said, “when the flag drops, the bullshit stops”. There is no longer a starting flag but the basic premise still holds good.
The start procedure is as follows:

1. Start minus 30 minutes and the cars can be driven from the pit lane to their grid positions.
2. Start minus 15 minutes, the pit lane exit is closed and any car that has not yet left the pit lane will have to begin its race from there after the field has gone by on the first racing lap. This is not a good start to your race!
3. Start minus five minutes: the grid is cleared of all personnel (except the drivers of course!).
4. A green light signals the beginning of the warm up (or formation) lap. Any car slow away can only regain its grid position if it hasn’t been passed by every other car. Otherwise, it must start from the back of the grid. Other than passing slow-moving cars with an obvious problem, or regaining a grid position lost due to a slow start, drivers cannot overtake on the warm up lap.
5. At the end of the warm-up lap the cars take up their grid positions. When the last car is in place, a race official walks on to the back of the grid, signals the race starter with a flag, and leaves the grid once more. The race starter then initiates the starting light procedure.
6. A series of five lights on the start line gantry (a bridge-like framework set high over the track) come on in sequence. When the fifth light comes on, the race can start anytime between 0.2 and three seconds afterwards (the gap is pre-programmed by the starter before the race but kept secret).

And they’re off! The race is on the moment the lights go out.

Understanding F1 Start

Overtaking wheel-to-wheel on the track is a relatively rare thing in Formula One. On the tightest circuits, such Monaco and Hungary, the total number of overtaking moves in a race is often less than half-a-dozen. Therefore the standing-start acceleration burst down to the first corner will usually represent the best opportunity offered a driver all day of making up places. Aside from being one of the most exciting parts of the race it also has serious implications on strategy.
A two-stopping car with only half a tank of fuel weighs around 60kg less than a one-stopper filled to the brim, a difference of 10 per cent in its total weight. This weight difference has a huge effect on the car’s acceleration away from the start. Similarly, a car on soft compound tyres usually has the traction to accelerate better than one on a tougher-wearing harder option. At a track where the quickest fuelling strategy is delicately balanced between two stops and three, the decision might be swung by the desire to be quick away from the lights. Even at those races where it’s clear which of the stopping options is quicker, a team may still reduce the duration of the first stint in order to make the car light at the start and accept the penalty of below optimum timing of the pit stops. Ferrari drivers Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine beat the faster McLarens at Monaco in 1999 by doing just this.

Things to Consider when Fueling a F1 Car

Both factors vary from track to track. Here are the vital pieces of information the teams will take into consideration:

• The way you qualify. Because fuel cannot be added or subtracted between Saturday qualifying and the race, the cars have to qualify with enough fuel on board to do the first stint of the race. Obviously a car planning to three-stop can qualify lighter than one on a two-stop strategy. The team needs to trade off the importance of qualifying position with the optimum race strategy.
• The weight of fuel. This varies according to how dense the fuel is, but the regulations specify the density must be between 0.725 and 0.77kg per litre. The largest tanks hold around 150 litres and brimmed to capacity will therefore weigh around 120kg.
• The amount of lap time this costs at the track in question. A half-tank car is quicker by around 2.4 seconds per lap around Suzuka than a full tank one, whereas over the similar distance of a Monza lap – with long straights and not many corners – the difference is only around 1.6 seconds. Suzuka therefore errs towards a two-stop strategy, Monza a one-stop.
• The consumption of fuel. How much fuel (and therefore weight) needs to be put into the tank and how much the car sheds as it races tends to be higher at a track with lots of accelerating, braking, and use of the lower gears. The Hockenheim track, as revised from 2002, induces heavier fuel consumption than any other on the Formula One calendar. Although lap times at the track are only averagely sensitive to weight changes, the big reduction in weight (because of the high fuel consumption) means that the total effect is large. It’s therefore another track favouring a two-stop strategy. At the other end of the pole is Nurburgring where there is relatively gentle fuel consumption but where lap times are highly sensitive to weight. The net result is very similar, and again a two-stop is favoured.
• Your qualifying position. If your grid position places you in an attacking position – meaning that you need to overtake other cars – you are more likely to opt for an aggressive two-stop strategy, even if the maths tells you that a one-stop is quicker. If it’s a track where pretty much everyone can be guaranteed to be on the same number of stops, you have a choice: depending on whether your strength is early or late in the stint, you can either short-fuel for the first stint, using your lower weight to pass cars and then hope to pull out enough of a time cushion before you stop to keep you ahead after they have stopped. Or you might choose to take on board as much fuel as you dare and hope you can keep up with cars that are lighter early in the race; when you stop later it will take less time as you will not spend as much time refuelling to get you to the end.
• Other cars and overtaking opportunities. The more pit stops you make, the more you are at the mercy of traffic – of getting caught behind slower cars after your stop but before they make theirs. At a track with plenty of overtaking opportunities this is less of a consideration than at a place like Monaco where passing places are few and far between. The timing of your stop might also be influenced by traffic – for example, you might come in earlier than planned so as to avoid encountering a bunch of lapped cars.
• How the brakes are wearing. At some circuits – such as Imola, Montreal and Monza – brake wear is extreme. A heavier fuel load places extra strain on the brakes, due to the extra weight and momentum that they are working against.
• The skill of the driver. The handling balance of the car changes a lot from the beginning of a stint to the end. This change will be larger the longer the stint. Some drivers can cope with handling changes better than others, so it is something that has to be taken into account.

Refuelling stops

A Formula One car with a big enough fuel tank to do a full Grand Prix distance of 190 miles (305km) would be hopelessly slow. Not only would the car be very heavy at the start of the race, but it would also be aerodynamically inefficient because the fuel tank, which would need a capacity of around 330 litres, would have to be huge. The primary reason for pitting then is to refuel the car. During the fuel stop, teams also routinely check the tyres. As well as having fresh tyres fitted, the driver may take the opportunity of making other changes to the car while he is being refuelled.
The car’s handling may have changed since the car was set up before qualifying the day before. Maybe the car is now understeering too much for the driver’s liking. A quick cure would be to have some extra angle put on the front wing, something that can be accomplished in just a few seconds –usually less than the time taken to refuel.
The driver may have set his car up for the best possible lap time in qualifying, with quite high downforce levels, but he may now be finding that he needs more straight-line speed in order to defend his position in the race. In this case front and rear wing angles might be reduced. Again, this would take less time than is needed to refuel the car.
Depending upon the nature of the circuit and how much lap time penalty there is for a given weight increase, the main question is how many pit stops to make. Traditionally, most circuits have been best suited to two-stop strategies. However, the 2003 regulations stating that no fuel can be added or taken away between qualifying and race mean that three stops are now quite common in order to have the cars as light as possible in qualifying.

Safety and danger in the pits

A highly charged competitive environment compressed into a narrow pit lane where cars share space with crew members and where raw fuel is in close proximity to red hot engines and exhausts makes for a potentially lethal combination.
But while no-one can deny that a Formula One pit lane is a fundamentally unsafe environment, strict safety rules play their part in keeping things under control. These include the following:

• Pit lane speed limit: The speed limit during pit stops is 60 km/h during practice and qualifying, 80 km/h during the race (60 km/h at Monaco). This limit was introduced in 1994 after a mechanic was injured in the Imola pit lane.
• Rules against going in reverse: Reversing in the pit lane is prohibited. If a car needs to be moved backwards, the crew must push it.
• Restriction on numbers of personnel in the pit lane: The crew of the competing cars are only allowed out of their garages and into the pit lane on the lap preceding their car’s pit stop. Other than officials, these are the only people allowed in the pit lane during the race. After the stop, they must return to their garages.
• Fire-resistant clothing: All pit crew members wear fire-resistant Nomex suits similar to those used by the drivers. These suits can withstand heat of up to 800 degree C for 12 seconds. In addition, the pit crew must wear full-face crash helmets for further protection from fire.
• Limited fuel pressurisation: Fuel delivery is limited to 12 litres per second, outlawing the high-pressure refuelling used in previous years. This rate of delivery produces a limited pressure that reduces the chances of spillage and fuel nozzle or rig failure compared to the old high pressure systems.
• Standardised safety valves for rigs, hoses, and fillers: In addition to the dead man’s handle on the fuel rig (this handle ensures that fuel flow stops the moment pressure is released on the handle) the inlet valves and fillers are standardised and designed in such a way as to prevent leakage of inflammable vapours. A two-way system equalises pressure as the fuel is delivered.

Things can still go wrong though, as demonstrated by Ferrari in the 2003 Austrian Grand Prix when flames erupted from the filler of Michael Schumacher’s car during a routine stop. This was later traced to a faulty seal.

The Pit Crew

Up to 20 pit crew are allowed to service the car during a pit stop. Typically these include the following:

• Two men at each wheel who work in concert to change the tyres
• A front jack man who raises the front end of the car
• A rear jack man who raises the rear of the car and restarts the motor if it stalls
• A lollipop man, who drops the lollipop in front of the car to signal where it should stop
• Three refuellers (including one on stand-by) who add the necessary fuel
• Two fire extinguisher men who stand by in case of a fire
• Maybe a visor cleaner (some drivers prefer not to have one) who wipes the visor of the driver’s helmet In addition, a team manager usually oversees the whole operation.

That leaves a couple of spare pit crew to do any changes to the car such as wing settings. With the exception of the team manager, the pit crew usually double up as mechanics. No formal qualifications exist that specify who can or can’t be a member of the pit crew, but crew members are invariably fully trained as mechanics. The lollipop man is often the chief mechanic. During a pit stop these folks move in high gear. Each has a job to do and must do it quickly and well.
Between pit stops the pit crew gets to sit down in the pit garage and watch the race on the monitors. They swear when their driver messes up or make rude signs at the screen when he’s not assertive enough in dealing with another driver. They make friendly banter with each other. This is one of the few chances they get over the whole weekend to relax.

Pit Stop Basics

Pit stops are an intrinsic part of modern Formula One. They aren’t compulsory, but dividing the race into stints punctuated by pit stops and thereby having a relatively small amount of fuel on board at any given time is by far the fastest way to get a car through a Grand Prix race distance. This advantage is amplified by the fitting of new tyres during a refuelling stop. There is never any question of whether to have a pit stop or not. The only question is how many.
The pits is the name of the area between the race track and the garages where the team are based for the duration of the race. This area is called the pits because originally, in the dim and dusty past, there was a pit dug out of the track surface where the team personnel would sit and signal their drivers. Originally only this actual pit delineated the working area from the race track. In more modern times, the areas have been separated by a pit wall, and it is now in this area that the selected team members – usually the team principal and two or three race strategists – base themselves during the race. Across the other side of the pit lane the rest of the team – engineers, data loggers, and pit crew – sit in the team garages.

F1 Safety Car

The Safety Car – nowadays a supercharged Mercedes SL piloted by an experienced race driver – neutralises the race in situations where an incident or set of circumstances has exposed competitors or marshals to immediate danger. The Safety Car slows the competing cars to a speed that ensures the safety of those concerned. This could be to protect marshals clearing an accident, or it could be for a sudden extreme downpour that has made the track dangerous. Any time advantage a driver has built up over a rival before the Safety Car came out is nullified as the cars bunch up together. It might give the chasing driver a second bite at a race that had previously been as good as lost. If the Safety Car comes on the track anywhere near your intended pit stop window, it could be very good news. In this situation a driver normally pits immediately. The amount of time he loses to his rivals is obviously far less at Safety Car speeds than it would be if they were still racing flat-out. This can be such a big advantage that you might see a team bring both its cars in together in this situation, even though they’re allowed to work on only one car at a time. The time that the second guy loses while waiting for his teammate to be replenished is far less than he’d lose if he had to do another lap at Safety Car speed.
Another thing to consider is the probable length of the Safety Car period. If the incident looks serious, you can probably bet that the Safety Car will be circulating for a long time. These slow laps still count as race distance, and so your average fuel consumption is going to be significantly lighter than you’d planned for. Depending upon what stage of the race it occurs, a smart strategist works this to his team’s advantage, maybe converting from a two to a one-stop strategy.
Sometimes the implications are quite bizarre. At Malaysia in 2001, Ferrari drivers Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello – who were in first and second places – went off on the second lap as they hit a treacherous mix of oil and heavy rain water. Both rejoined but were now back in 10th and 11th places. New leader David Coulthard spun later on the same lap and pitted immediately. He changed to wet weather tyres and quickly resumed. The Ferrari drivers pitted together, but because they were so far back, they did so in the knowledge that the Safety Car had just been scrambled, which was not the case when Coulthard had pitted. With the field circulating at Safety Car speeds, the Ferrari pit team had longer to decide what tyres to put on their pitted cars – all they had to do was make sure they rejoined before the field lapped them. They reasoned that, with the Safety Car controlling speeds in the wettest conditions, they could afford to fit intermediate tyres. It was a decision that won them the race.

Understanding race stoppage

If an accident blocks the track, the race is stopped by red flags shown at every marshalling post. If this occurs more than two laps into the race but before 75 per cent of the allocated distance has been completed, the race is restarted 20 minutes later, with the grid formed by the race order on the lap prior to the red flag. The cars must line up on the grid and cannot make for the pits. No fuel can be added to the cars on the grid. Because the results in this instance are an aggregate of the elapsed times of each competitor from the two parts of the race, it’s quite conceivable that strategies will be unaffected. Any advantage carried by one driver over a rival is still maintained in the aggregate result, even if not on track. But consider, say, the McLaren driver who was leading the Williams rival until pitting just before the stoppage. The slower Jordan and Sauber cars directly ahead of him – which might previously have been out of his way – are now holding him up because the restart has bunched them all together. The Williams rival who has not yet pitted is on a clear track and is brought in earlier than planned in order to take advantage of the McLaren’s delay and get out still ahead. Lots of celebration at Williams, glum faces at McLaren. Stoppages that occur after 75 per cent distance can throw the race wide open for different reasons. In this situation, the race is considered over, and the race order on the lap preceding the stoppage becomes the result. This would be very bad news for any driver who had pitted just prior to the stoppage. Who said life was fair?

Great overtaking moves still happen

One of the greatest Formula One overtaking moves of all time happened as recently as 2000, at Spa for the Belgian Grand Prix, proving that it isn’t quite an art lost to Formula One. The race was a flat-out battle of wills between the two men fighting for that year’s World Championship: Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen. Schumacher’s Ferrari had led most of the race but in the late stages was rapidly being caught by Hakkinen’s McLaren.
Schumacher, with more rear wing, was slower up the long hill that follows on from Eau Rouge, perhaps Formula One’s greatest corner. This made him susceptible to attack under braking for the tight right hander, Les Combes, at the end of the uphill straight.
A few laps from the end, Hakkinen got a run on the Ferrari there and sliced his car to the inside. At around 200 mph Schumacher began to edge Hakkinen over towards the grass. The McLaren’s front wing actually touched the rear of the Ferrari as a horrified Hakkinen was forced to lift off. But now he was angry.
On the next lap, the two cars came to lap the BAR of Ricardo Zonta at the very same place as their earlier encounter. Schumacher opted to pass on the left, and in an instant, Hakkinen dived for the right. A startled Zonta thankfully remained on his line as Hakkinen squeezed past and then proceeded to outbrake Schumacher. It was a great gladiatorial victory for the Finn who afterwards was seen to be having a quiet but stern word with Schumacher.

How to Overtake in F1 Race?

Some corners are conducive to overtaking:

• A tightly connected left-right or right-left sequence – where the outside line for the first part of the turn forms the advantageous inside for the second part or vice-versa – allows cars to pass each other. The revised Nurburgring track in Germany includes some of these exciting corners.
• A long straight followed by a slow hairpin – which increases the braking distance, also works and has been used well at the revised Hockenheim track, also in Germany, as well as at the Malaysian circuit of Sepang. The Senna Esses at Interlagos, combines both these features and is a classic overtaking spot. Juan Pablo Montoya made himself a hero to millions at this spot in only his third Formula One race, rubbing tyres with Michael Schumacher to take the lead of the 2001 Brazilian Grand Prix.

At such tracks race strategies can be more aggressive as light, two-stopping cars cannot be held up indefinitely by heavier one-stoppers. Formula One purists might try telling you that because overtaking is rare, it’s more special in Formula One than in other forms of the sport where passing and re-passing is frequent but relatively insignificant. Don’t worry if you feel indignant at this – it reflects well on you as a Formula One fan. You might reply along the lines of “That’s a dangerously complacent attitude, and Formula One really needs to address this part of its show if it’s to keep its fans entertained.”
A lot of thought is being given to the overtaking issue by both the governing body and teams. Circuit design and lessening the cars’ downforce are the favoured areas of investigation. But Formula One tends to spend a lot of time arguing with itself before any changes are made. Don’t hold your breath