If you’re not sick of us by now, then this is the place to be. We’re recording the first official episode of F1 Debrief, otherwise known as Sidepodcast Episode 76.
What a day we’ve had! The race at Spa was pretty mega in itself, and then you add in the controversial penalties and the enormous amounts of discussion that follow such decisions, and you’re left with a brilliant Sunday afternoon.
The rain continues, but it’s not enough to see a crazy grid in qualifying. Still, there’s a couple of things to note, and F1 Digest is here to straighten it all out for you.
A slow session with the rain coming on and off meant that tyre issues and setup changes were a real problem. Button didn’t make a very good start at all.
Bourdais topped the first session which gave us false hope that it was going to be another mixed up session. It wasn’t. The only other notable thing was Force India almost making it through to the second session, and failing.
A lot of drivers are relatively satisfied with what they achieved today considering the conditions, but know that it really all comes down to tomorrow. If it rains, which is looking less likely, the whole thing is going to be, as Massa puts it, a lottery.
Despite all the unusual events we have seen, with drivers topping timesheets when we weren’t expecting it, qualifying ended up as we might have anticipated. Still, F1 Digest rounds up all the action that got us there.
Very overcast at the beginning of the day, and poor Trulli was very much under a cloud. He only managed two laps, without setting a time. Probably better than the Renault’s though who set ridiculously slow times. When will that be banned?
Although Toro Rosso looked to be amazingly strong throughout every session, they couldn’t quite make it stick. Both through to Q3, but that’s about it. Massa and Hamilton both outshone their team mates as well.
It seems as though one side of the grid is more favourable than the other, so Hamilton is understandably concerned about the pace Massa will show off the line. Some of the names who are more used to being at the front are also expressing worries about being in amongst the traffic. Who’s money is on a safety car?
At first glance, it looks like McLaren will walk this weekend easily, securing a 1-2 in qualifying. However, there are glimpses of hope from unexpected quarters, including Kubica, Glock and maybe even Massa.
Another slow start to the day, but once the cars were out on track, it was worth keeping an eye on them. The Renault’s were trying out a radical new (slow) strategy, whilst Vettel was making the most of being able to get through an actual session.
Heidfeld had issues from the very start, whilst Kubica was very much best of the rest. Hamilton and Kovalainen led the way, looking unbeatable.
A five-place grid drop for Bourdais means that he lines up in 19th place, whilst at the very other end of the grid, Hamilton is ecstatic with the new updates to the car.
Welcome to the Sidepodcast Guide to Formula 1.
Pit stops are a funny thing – absolutely necessary to keep the cars running for the length of the race, but ultimately a bit of an inconvenience.
The pit lane runs alongside the start/finish straight, with the entrance just before and the exit just after the line. The teams set up their garages there, with mechanics waiting to assist their team and engineers monitoring all that is happening out on track. Given the amount of people milling around the pit straight, a speed limit is imposed to try and improve safety.
The pit crew is not insubstantial. Some teams have as many as 22 people ready and waiting for each pit stop, including three on each wheel, two on the fuel rig, two with jacks, some people clearing the sidepods and the lollipop guy. In a normal racing pit stop, the car will be flagged to come into the lane via radio. It used to be that signs were held out by the pit crew over the race track, but technology has made that all but redundant. You do find the odd occasion when the radios aren’t working and someone is risking their arms out on the pit wall.
Anyway, the car comes in to the pit lane and crosses a white line signalling an immediate reduction in speed. Drivers are often penalised for speeding in the pit lane. The lollipop man will be furthest away from the garage, indicating to his car where to pull in, and the driver will pull to a stop in the marked box. Immediately, the car is jacked up so that the wheels can be changed, and it will also be refuelled, and any adjustments made to tyre pressures and wing positions.
The average pit stop is probably about 6-8 seconds, and to get through the pit stop and out in front of your opponent, you probably need a 30 second advantage.
Teams can run any combination of pit stop strategies, fuelling their cars longer to run a one-stop strategy, or keeping the weight of the car down but having to stop two or even three times. There is no limit to the number of times a car has to pit, but the size of the fuel tank dictates that they must stop at least once during a race.
Sometimes, pit stops occur more often than the race engineer planned. When a car is in trouble and can manage to get back to the pit lane, mechanics can try their best to fix it and get it back out on track, albeit further down the running order. Often a car will limp into the pits and retire, if it makes it back to the garage at all.
If a driver breaks a rule, the stewards can impose a drive-through penalty which means the car has to visit the pit lane without stopping at his garage. Because of the speed limits within the pit lane, this can be disastrous.
The sport of F1 is notoriously lacking in overtaking – when it does happen it’s usually quite an event – and so a lot of the jostling for position takes place in the pits. It can be based around strategy, but for those cars at the front of the grid, a good lead is essential. Each lap that you stay out longer than your opponent, will gain you a few seconds advantage. That’s because you will still be running light, whilst the other driver will be full of fuel and heavier. So, of course, decisions need to be made about how heavy you will run to start with, which in turn impacts on your qualifying position as well.
It’s then that you start to see what a rich tapestry the sport really is, where seemingly off-hand decisions can result in a podium position or a retirement from the race. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the pit lane.
In our fourth instalment of the Sidepodcast Guide to Formula 1, we’ll be looking at how a Formula 1 car is different to that car out in your garage.
Theme music: Cedar Falls, Car Crash.
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