#f1 primer

I am once again infodumping about F1, but this time it is about some of the lore in as unbiased of a fashion as I can.

If you notice anything wrong with this presentation (whether it be ALT text, a fact, something formatted oddly, etc.), please feel free to tell me, I will gladly fix any errors!

And, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

F1 Contract Negotiations: The Ultimate Guide to the 2024 Williams Contract Negotiations Saga (EDITED)

If you've ever asked yourself "what really happened during Carlos' contract negotiations?" and "how much do we really know about it?" - this is for you!

I compiled all the relevant quotes and bites from the assorted podcasts, interviews and press conferences, made a handy timeline, and presented it oh-so nicely. Now, all the information about the "secret meetings" in "various hotel locations" can be found in one place! Enjoy💙

Chosen sources: Full list in the last slide!

How Sainz Will Turbocharge Williams - with James Vowles | F1 Nation Podcast (5 August 2024), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zodLL9POfeE.

EXCLUSIVE: Late nights, secret meetings and colossal contracts – James Vowles on how he signed Sainz (29 July 2024),  https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/exclusive-late-nights-secret-meetings-and-colossal-contracts-james-vowles-on.2KTdZFiYOsMCIRT6GdRlLA.

‘He's an incredible driver’ – Vowles says Sainz is top of Williams shortlist for 2025 (7 June 2024), https://www.formula1.com/en/video/hes-an-incredible-driver-vowles-says-sainz-is-top-of-williams-shortlist-for-2025.1801235335357520279.

Sainz poised to announce F1 deal with Williams in Barcelona (June 2024), https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/06/20/sainz-poised-to-announce-f1-deal-with-williams-in-barcelona/.

Vowles has his ‘heart set’ on signing Sainz as he says ‘odds are in my favour’ for Williams to secure him (29 July 2024),  https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/vowles-has-his-heart-set-on-signing-sainz-as-he-says-odds-are-in-my-favour.6tOC9hN3OfIO24JLvY8JMm.

Vowles describes 'emotional reaction' from Williams team to Sainz signing as 'largest I've ever seen' (8 August 2024),  https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/vowles-describes-emotional-reaction-from-williams-team-to-sainz-signing-as.3THrWsaiypWlASRFJhkztP.

Sainz believes Williams can make an F1 performance leap akin to McLaren with their “very strong project” (August 2024), https://www.pitdebrief.com/post/sainz-believes-williams-can-make-an-f1-performance-leap-akin-to-mclaren-with-their-very-strong-project/.

James Vowles: On The Right Track With Albon + Sainz | F1 Beyond The Grid Podcast (2 October 2024), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMyUNzNETuk.

Carlos Sainz: Pain, Pride + Potential | F1 Beyond The Grid Podcast (4 December 2024), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26PsKeH_ytA.

for the polite anon who asked for an F1 version of my motogp primer (found here for anyone interested)

The basics!

Because a lot of this primer uses language that you might not remember or sort of vaguely understand, here's some basic explanations of physics stuff that comes up:

Energy: this is defined as 'the ability to do work' - how much capacity you have to do something, such as move, or react! There are several different forms of energy: kinetic (movement), thermal, light, gravitational, electrical, sound, chemical and nuclear. Energy can be transferred between these different forms - for example, some of the light energy produced by light bulbs is transferred into heat, which is why they are hot to touch. It can also be transferred between different objects that are touching. This can cause other objects to move, such as water rippling, or other objects to begin to heat up, like a pan on a stove.

Particle: in science, this refers to an extremely small piece of stuff, most commonly a molecule or an atom. Although the air seems invisible to us, it is actually made up of various gases and other types of particles. We don't feel the pressure these particles exert on us because we produce enough energy to move through them without them bothering us, and we don't see them because they're so small and create a colourless gas!

Pressure: the physical force exerted on or against an object by something coming into contact with it. In this primer, this mostly refers to the pressure caused by the particles that make up gases, which collide with the things around them as they move around randomly. Pressure can be relative in the same volume - high pressure areas have more particles in the same volume than low pressure areas, which have less. Pressure can be changed by increasing the volume - more volume with the same amount of particles equals a lower pressure.

But wait ... physics matters in F1?

The physics behind F1 cars dictates how the team develops their cars! Understanding why the updates they add to the car work why they do helps them to develop further changes, or to make adjustments according to the race weekend. There are a few different forces teams need to think about during development and set-up:

Drag

Downforce

Ground effect

Some cars have high or low drag - what does that mean?

Simply: how much drag a car has directly translates to how easily the car moves through the air. The more drag the car has, the less energy goes into acceleration, as more energy goes into moving the particles in the air out of the way. Complicatedly:

The energy of an F1 car produces different types of energy, the most obvious ones being kinetic, thermal, and sound. Most of the kinetic energy the car produces goes into making it go fast, but since some of the particles that make up the air are touching the car, some of that kinetic energy has to go into pushing those particles out of the way so the car can move past them. This makes the car less efficient, as less of the energy produced is going toward its intended purpose: zooming! The horizontal force the car experiences caused by these air particles pushing on it as it moves them out of the way is called drag. There are a few different types of drag that an F1 car can experience:

Skin Friction Drag: what it sounds like! Some particles in the air have qualities that make them attracted to surfaces, such as the wings or chassis of an F1 car. These particles can stick to the car, and then become attracted to other particles that are free in the air. These attractions can build up layers of particles. The attraction between particles attached to the car, and particles in the air increases the amount of energy the car has to use to move them out of the way

Form Drag: this just refers to 'normal' drag - the force caused when an object pushes the particles in the air out of the way. The shape of an object can affect the amount of form drag it experiences. The smaller the area moving through the air, the less pressure it experiences, and therefore the less drag experienced

Induced Drag: this is a type of drag caused by a second force an F1 car experiences, downforce. Downforce creates an area of high pressure and an area of low pressure. The particles in the air try to even this out by moving from the area of high pressure to the area of low pressure. This happens most around the front and rear wings of an F1 car. However, it's unavoidable, because downforce is vital to the function of an F1 car!

If an F1 car is high drag, this basically means it is designed in a way that is not efficient for moving through the air, so it wastes loads of the energy produced by the engine. These cars often have huge speeds losses on straights when compared to low drag cars. Low drag cars are great at moving through the air! They have lots more energy left over to go into speed.

How do you make a car high or low drag?

F1 engineers use a few different techniques to reduce drag. Here are some of them:

Endplates: induced drag means that the air moving over the front wing and rear wing of F1 cars wants to go down underneath them, from the area of high pressure to the area of low pressure. Endplates stop them moving sideways over the plates, and instead keeps them moving in a straight line over the wings. On the front wing of the car, the endplates also reduce drag by directing air over the wheels of the car, and not into them!

Sidepods: remember how Mercedes refused to have sidepods, and then added them as an upgrade? Sidepods help to reduce form drag by directing the air flow in specific ways over the car. This also helps to increase downforce - they're kind of important!

Nose: F1 cars have super thin noses. This helps to reduce form drag - the smaller the area experiencing pressure as it moves through the air, the less energy is used!

DRS: the drag reduction system on an F1 car opens the rear wing during specified zones on each circuit. This removes the induced drag caused by the wing generating downforce, so the car gains around 10 extra km/h!

To see how these different components change how air is directed over the surface of the car, you can watch the tests teams often do early in free practice 1. During aerodynamic tests, they add neon paint to areas of the car and record how it spreads!

Most of these components are regulated by the FIA, but teams can design and adjust them within those regulations to get different effects to suit different circumstances. This can be why you see teams bringing different sidepods, or wings, to different tracks! Power circuits (e.g. Monza) refer to circuits where the speed of the car is most important to its performance. These circuits typically have a bunch of straights and slow speed corners, where downforce isn't useful, but reducing drag is!

What's downforce?

Simply: downforce is a term mainly specific to F1 that refers to the force that sucks the car down toward the floor when it moves. The more downforce a car has, the faster it can go! Complicatedly:

Downforce refers to the vertical force that a car experiences due to the particles in the air pushing downward on it. This happens when the car isn't moving, but also when it does! As the car moves and air flows over it, the particles in the air collide with the car and create pressure. Downforce is also sometimes called 'negative lift', as the opposite of lift occurs.

The amount of downforce an object experiences increases according to the square of its speed. This means that if you are travelling at 50 km/h, with 10N of downforce, and double your speed to 100 km/h, you increase the amount of downforce you experience to 40N (WARNING! MATHS: 50 x 2 = 100, 2² = 4, 10 x 4 = 40).

Teams want lots of downforce on their car for a few different reasons:

Downforce stabilises the rear of the car. This makes it easier for the driver to handle the car and predict what it will do

The more downforce you have, the higher the top speed of your car is

Teams want extra speed in medium and low speed corners. Because of the above principle, its actually easy to find extra downforce in fast corners! Medium and slow speed corners are the problems.

What's a ground effect? How does it work?

To generate more downforce, F1 engineers now consider the ground to be part of the system that produces different forces on an F1 car. This principle is called the ground-effect, and it can be used to produce ground-effect downforce. Ground-effect is also used to explain why planes float before they reach take-off speed!

In modern-day F1, most ways that are used to produce ground-effect are based off Bernoulli's principle. This principle refers to the effect that occurs when an object is lowered to the floor as air flows around it. As air moves between the object and the ground, it accelerates as the amount of space it has to move between them decreases. This causes pressure between the object and the ground to decrease, while pressure above the object stays the same - this creates an area of low pressure, and an area of high pressure. The object then experiences an overall downward force, which presses it toward the floor!

The area of low pressure underneath the car also works between the floor of the car and the track surface by trying to decrease the volume that the particles are contained in - it either tries to pull the track up towards the floor of the car, or pull the floor down toward the surface. This 'pulling' force acts as a vertical force, so it technically increases downforce!

How do you get extra downforce?

Anything that helps to either increase the pressure over the top of the car, or decreases the pressure underneath the car can help! The most common way engineers do this is by considering the entire car to be one big 'wing', but there are couple of methods:

The front wing: the front wing directs air close to the surface of the track up and over the body of the car, which increases the amount of air causing pressure over the top of it. This creates an area of low pressure under the front wing, and an area of high pressure above it

The skirt: the skirt around the floor of the car prevents air from entering underneath it from the sides. This stops the low pressure area underneath the car from being interrupted!

The flaps and fins: flaps and fins along the sides of the car force air into little spirals that create and trap a vacuum that 'seals' the edges of the car

The floor: the floor of an F1 car is covered in venturis - these are ducts that slowly expand toward their end. This both accelerates the particles in the air through the duct as they try to accommodate for the increase in space, but also decreases pressure under the car. The floor of the car is one of the biggest ways teams utilise ground-effect to increase downforce!

Ride height: adjusting the ride height of an F1 car refers to adjusting how low it sits to the ground. Decreasing the ride height increases downforce according to Bernoulli's principle. It is also one of the favoured ways to increase downforce, as it is one of the few that does so without massively increasing drag!

Sidepods: sidepods can be used to direct air flowing over the car toward the floor and into the venturis to increase downforce. Wide sidepods can also function in a similar way to the skirt of the car

Some of these components can be adjusted every race weekend to suit the conditions of the track. For example, the ride height can be adjusted, as can the angles of the front and rear wings. High downforce circuits (e.g. Monaco) are those where having a lot of downforce is advantageous. They are characterised by lots of corners, and very few, often short, straights. At these type of circuits, having low drag isn't super important - how attached to the floor you can get your car is!

Let's go porpoising! - Gunter Steiner

Porpoising refers to the rapid upward and downward movement of the body of the car as it bounces on its suspension. This is caused by the floor of the car being sucked too close to the floor, and the low pressure becoming problematic. It causes the air to stall underneath the car, which forces it to bounce up so the air underneath it can be released. This cycle continues over and over again, and you end up with porpoising!

The problem arose after the regulation changes for the 2022 season, when using the ground effect to generate downforce was allowed again! It dominated the way F1 cars were engineered throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, and then was disallowed after regulation changes. There were fears about cars losing the downforce generated from the ground affect, and then shooting off the track. The FIA reintroduced it in an attempt the reduce the effect of dirty air.

Porpoising became so wide-spread and severe among the teams that the FIA had to stage a technical intervention with a change to the regulations. The edges of an F1 car's floor have to be 15mm further away from the surface of the track than previously, which allows stalled air to be released and decreases the area of low pressure underneath the car. This appears to have fixed the problem! However, porpoising is still one of the more memorable parts of the 2022 season.

How does this help me understand what Adrien Newey is cooking in there?

I know that the title of the primer suggests that I do, in fact, know 'what Adrien Newey is cooking in there.' I regret to inform you that I don't. He's beyond all of us.

Pictures from @/Carlossainz55 on X

Family

Father: Carlos Sainz Sr.

Mother: Reyes Vázquez de Castro

Older sister: Blanca Sainz Vázquez

Younger sister: Ana Sainz Vázquez

-> His dogs (yes he’s definitely a dog person): check this Sainz dogs masterpost

-> More Sainz family lore includes:

Carlos' younger sister, Ana Sainz, married into nobility in 2023 by tying the knot with Rodrigo Fontcuberta, son of a son of Duke and the Marchioness (source)

Carlos' paternal grandfather was a successful business man (source)

Although more will be said below, Carlos' father is a big name in the Spanish sports scene since his teenage days trying out with the Real Madrid Football Club and winning a national squash championship at the age of 16. He has also made a name for himself in the motorsport scene, specifically in rally racing (source)

Photo from Vroomkart Spain

Racing Career

His Wikipedia page provides a concise but good chronology of his various stages from his karting days (starting at the age of 8), to Red Bull Junior Team (starting 2010), to Formula BMW (2010), to Formula 3 (2012), to GP3 (2013), to Renault 3.5 (2013), and finally to Formula 1.

This biography page on Carlos also provides a slightly more detailed description of his racing career.

Driver preference: Carlos prefers a car with understeer rather than oversteer (source)

On choosing his F1 driver race number: "The S of my first name is like a 5 and so is the S of my last name, so that makes #55". Moreover, the #5 is his favourite number, but that was already taken by Sebastian Vettel” (source)

Formula 1 Teams

Scuderia Torro Rosso (2015-2017): Teammate with Max Verstappen (2015-2016) and Daniil Kvyat (2016-2017)

Renault (2017-2018): Teammate with Nico Hülkenberg

McLaren (2019-2020): Teammate with Lando Norris

Scuderia Ferrari (2021-present): Teammate with Charles Leclerc

Picture from @/carlossainz55 on Instagram

Some Formula 1 Achievements

Carlos has achieved 18 podium finishes and 2 race wins.

His first podium was at the 2019 Brazilian GP. Carlos considers it as being his favourite race of his career (source)

His first win was at the 2022 British GP.

His second win was at the 2023 Singapore GP (making him the only non-Red Bull driver to win a Grand Prix during the 2023 season).

Some Important Characters in Carlos’ Racing Career

-> Carlos Sainz Sr.

Two-time World Rally Champion a.k.a. El Matador

Helped Carlos out throughout his karting days and had the network and financial means to support his son in his racing career. He has been a mentor of sort for Carlos and can sometimes be seen attending some of his son’s F1 races.

Carlos' father had recently retired from his racing career when Carlos was old enough to get into the world of motorsport. He mentions that he did not grow up on his dad's races but that he still admires him and his achievements (source)

Picture and quote from this source

-> Fernando Alonso

Fellow Formula 1 driver and double World Drivers Champion.

In 2005, Carlos makes his first visit of the Formula 1 paddock at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona. He meets Fernando Alonso who he describes as his “childhood hero”. This meeting was also a decisive one for young Carlos to choose to pursue a career in Formula 1.

They are now good friends on the paddock.

Picture 1 from @/TheBestF1es on X; Picture 2 from @/SoyMotor on X; Picture 3 from @/Carlossainz55 on X

-> María de Villota (source for quotes)

Professional motorsport driver and Formula 1 Test Driver. For those interested in the history of women in F1, I recommend reading about her career.

Carlos’ mentor in his formative years learning how to race at Madrid Driver’s School.

She unfortunately had a test driving accident making her lose sight in one eye in 2012. She passed from a cardiac arrest in 2013.

Carlos has honoured her importance in his career by incorporating her iconic star (la estrella de villota) in every helmet design of his since 2014.

Video credit to @/diirtyrose on Tiktok

“I have Maria Villota’s star with me. She was the first one that I got into a single-seater with. She teached me how to drive it.”

“I made the personal decision to wear Maria’s star on my helmet since 2014. It’s not carrying the legacy but I do carry my personal Maria De Villota inside the helmet”

-> Michael Schumacher

Former Formula 1 driver with 7 World Drivers’ Champion titles.

Carlos has mentioned that he was also an important figure he idolized growing up.

Carlos met him once in his karting days and raced for Schumacher’s karting team in Germany (source)

Picture from @/p1_coach (Rupert Manwaring) on Instagram

-> Carlos Oñoro Sainz

Carlos’ cousin and dedicated manager (source)

Mostly stays behind the scene except for him being featured on Netflix’s Drive to Survive.

-> Rupert Manwaring

Until very recently, Rupert was Carlos’ performance coach. He is now moving on to another phase of his career and has joined Max Verstappen’s team.

Cute goodbye/thank you post from Rupert to Carlos

Fun facts about Carlos Sainz

-> Miscellaneous

He’s a Millennial and it shows sometimes, but it’s cute!

About his Chili 🌶️ nickname: no exact moment or story, nor is it related to him liking spicy food. Simply his friends joking around and calling him Chili. Carlos has said perhaps because it goes from Carlos -> Charlie -> Chili (source)

About his Smooth Operator nickname: Originates from his multiple radio messages where he refers to or sings the song. Carlos says he doesn’t have a particular attachment to the 1984 song by Sade but that he heard it for the first time on the radio during the 2019 British GP and he liked it a lot (source)

Getting his $300k watch stolen and catching the thieves and holding them off until authorities got to the scene (source)

His closest friends on the grid are Lando Norris and Fernando Alonso

Carlos is famous for his impeccable post-race hair (compared to other drivers). Carlos, however, has stated that he doesn’t agree and that his hair looks like a mess after a race (source)

He has a surprisingly simple hair care routine. Showers in the morning and one shampoo. Precisely one and not two or his hair gets too fluffy (source)

Carlos signed his Ferrari contract in his pyjamas at home during COVID lockdown (source)

In an old interview asking what animal he would be, Carlos said that he really likes meerkats and made a reference to the Lion King (source)

He definitely is like the “papá” equivalent of a mamma’s boy. Some fans may disagree with Carlos Sainz Sr.’s parenting approach, but Carlos mentions him a lot in a positive manner and seems to like spending time with him during his break.

For instance, on an interview asking what advice he would have for his younger self, Carlos said the following: “Listen more to my dad. 90% of the time, he was right.” (source)

But also, clearly adores his mother and his two sisters. He always thinks about them when he makes a post to highlight International Women's Day.

His favourite number is 5 (source)

In addition to la estrella De Villota, Carlos' helmet always feature  the Spanish flag and the Virgin of Pilar (source)

Carlos currently has a girlfriend (source)

Carlos collects his helmets and caps (source)

He hates shopping and said that he rarely buys anything he doesn't need (source)

When asked what an ideal day looks like for him, Carlos answered "Go running early morning, have lunch with the whole family – and that is a big one – then play golf in the afternoon and probably later in the evening go to a movie." (source)

When asked to choose between the power of invisibility and flying: "Being able to fly - definitely. It would make life so much easier! Just think: you spread your arms and take off directly from the racetrack. But only if no strange outfit like tights or a cape is involved! (Laughs)" (source)

Carlos believes in attraction at first sight but not love at first sight (source)

-> Sports and Leisure

Carlos is an avid fan of golf, quite skillful at it too, and one the first Netflix Cup in 2023. He says Lando Norris is his “golf buddy” (source)

Apart from golf, Carlos is very athletic. He has said before, “I love sports and training. For me, training is not only a sacrifice, but also something I enjoy. […]. I am very sporty and I do all kinds of sports; whatever sport you ask me, I try to practice it at a decent level” (source)

Here is a list of some sports he is adept in: Tennis, Paddle tennis, Football/Soccer, Cycling, Surfing, Running, Skiing, Wakeboarding.

He isn’t scared of doing an activity if he is in control of the vehicle or equipment, but he does avoid skiing or more drastically dangerous sports to protect his career in racing (source)

Carlos about doing risky activities: "Doing something risky that I am not able to control. I am a bit of a risk-lover, but I have to be in control - not somebody else taking me down the risk-alley!" (source)

He can drive rally cars (source) and when asked in 2017 what his favourite buzz is apart from driving an F1 car, Carlos said the following: "Driving a rally car. One day I want to race in one of the big rallies." (source)

He sometimes plays video games like FIFA and Mario Bros. His favorite character in Mario Kart is Yoshi (source)

His favourite football team is Real Madrid and his favourite player is Luka Modrić (source)

Other athletes he idolized growing up and still respects to this day are Muhammad Ali, Rafael Nadal and Michael Jordan (source 1; source 2)

-> Food and cooking

Carlos follows a strict diet for his training. Here's what he had to say about it in a recent interview, “From Thursday to Sunday, I have a strict diet and I can’t eat from the buffet that is prepared for everyone. As an athlete, I have to eat my specific dishes… and when I pass by the buffet, I’m very jealous!” (source)

Overall, he still seems to enjoy food and recognizes how lucky he is to be able to do so without his weight fluctuating much “I can eat as much as I want and I will never go above 73 kilos. It doesn’t matter how much I eat because of the amount of sport [I do] and I think my constitution is just very, very, very good in a way. I think it will change with age, but at least it’s helping me now.” (source)

Favourite Dishes: "Whenever I come to Spain, I always go for the chuletón or the peppers and, of course, the tortilla, the ham and the croquettes" (source) + "Obviously from Spanish dishes, for me nothing beats a good tortilla or some good croquetas, maybe even some octopus. If not, my go-to cheat meal is always a hamburger” (source)

Favourite cuisines: "“I always say the best places where I eat are – not in this particular order – but Spain, Italy and Japan” (source)

Cooking abilities:  “I learned to make a ‘real Italian’ carbonara pasta, taught by an Italian. And I’m pretty good at it. I don’t cook much, to be honest, but what little I do cook I do decently" (source)

Is learning (hopefully learned by now) how to cook his father’s spaghetti sauce recipe: el spaghetti matador (source)

His fluffy pancake recipe that he can recite on the spot. He also doesn't put anything on his pancakes, just eats them as is because he likes the taste of the dough (source)

He’s not a big fan of spicy food but is starting to like it a bit more (source)

Not much information on his drinks of choice, but it’s well known that Carlos enjoys drinking coffee. He also mentioned that he enjoys going to eat tapas with beers in between race weekends (source)

Carlos says his food cravings are usually salty. That he has the "opposite of a ‘sweet tooth’" (source)

-> Music, Arts and Media

Carlos doesn’t play any musical instruments. He said he likes to listen to Jazz in the morning to relax (source)

Teenage Carlos said he liked rock music and named The Killers, Kings of Leon, and Muse as his top 3 bands at the time (source)

Carlos does see F1 memes but mostly from his friends sending it to him (source)

All-time favourite TV series: Game of Thrones, Suits and Money Heist (source)

He likes the James Bond movies (source) and Quentin Tarantino movies. One of his favourite movies is The Wolf of Wall Street (source)

When answering which TV character he would be, Carlos aid "the professor in Money Heist" (source)

In 2022, Carlos did the Spanish dubbing for a cameo in the movie Lightyear (source)

In 2017, Carlos claimed he had never cried to a movie but that The Lion King made him very emotional (source) Later he admitted that he cried to the 2007 movie I Am Legend (source)

Carlos doesn't seem to be a big reader, the only book he's mentioned he read in a 2017 interview is Andre Agassi's autobiography (source)

Carlos describes himself as a "passive [music] listener" rather than someone who will sing along to a song (source)

-> Education

His first language is Spanish but he is also fluent in English and Italian. He had to take French during his schooling but doesn’t speak it fluently (source)

He completed his primary and secondary studies at the British Council School in Madrid where he learned most of his English before starting his international racing career (source)

F1 Explains – 9 November 2023 Quick-fire questions with Bernie Collins & Lawrence Barretto

First, a sidenote: Daniel Ricciardo once did a shoey from one of Lawrence Baretto’s shoes. Daniel signed it and Lawrence has it on desk now.

Q: What construction and logistics have to go into a new street circuit, and how to teams prepare for a brand new track?

A: The streets used for the race track have to be re-laid with new tarmac, there has to be coordination with street opening and closing, hotels and other businesses around the circuit, etc. There is a full episode on racetrack design. To prepare for a new track, teams look closely at historical weather data (including temperatures and wind). They’ll load 2D and sometimes 3D scans of the track into their simulators, although often there isn’t full information yet because the final track hasn’t been finished. Lots of simulations and calculations in an attempt to get as much data as they can in advance. There’s also a full episode about how simulators work.

Q: How important is the engine manufacturer? Are they a glorified sponsor that provides an F1-approved generic engine or are there real technical differences between the engines from different suppliers?

A: There are differences between power units from different manufacturers. It also gives them a chance to really stretch themselves and bring in expertise from all around the company (e.g. if they also manufacture jet engines) and to hopefully get some good PR that will lead to more people buying their street cars. In 2023 for the first time, each engine manufacturer showed their engine off to the press to show the differences between each unit. 2023 engine manufacturers were Ferrari, Renault, Mercedes, and Honda. In 2026, Ford and Audi will join as new manufacturers.

Q: Why do drivers and engineers do track walks? Do all teams and drivers do this?

A: Not all drivers do it, some of them will do a run or go out on a scooter. Reasons to do it include looking for changes from last year (new bumps, changes to gravel or curbs (kerbs), etc.) as well as having a bit of uninterrupted time for drivers and their race engineers to talk to each other. Also can be helpful to the commentators/presenters. Helps everyone build/remember their muscle memory of the track if they’ve been there before.

Q: Is F1 using AI? Could it be used for race strategy?

A: Yes, most teams are already doing machine learning in calculations and simulations, but for now human input is still required (and probably always will be).

(Repeating this here because this is where it was in the episode) Q: What are race weekends like for media and broadcasters? Are there dedicated times the media can speak to drivers?

A: F1 is one of the sports where media actually get the most availability of drivers for the media. Thursday is Media Day. Each team puts out a list of times, usually a 5-20 minute window, where TV or print media can come along and ask questions. For TV it’s called a “scrum” where the media are in a sort of arc around the driver with all of their cameras pointed at the driver and they take turns asking questions. Written media is similar. If the driver misses that time for whatever reason, there usually aren’t any backup times. Media can also request one-to-one interviews at a separate time, but that is negotiated and set weeks and weeks in advance. Each team puts aside one hour for media time on a Thursday that includes the TV and written media scrums as well as any one-to-one interviews. Additionally, every weekend there are two press conferences held by the FIA on Media Day. Ten drivers do the press conference with written media where the drivers are all sat together at a desk or on couches answering questions. The other ten drivers do the TV pen, which is a U-shape with all of the TV crews standing around the outside and each driver works their way around the U talking to each TV crew. Each crew gets a maximum of two questions per driver. After each practice session, qualifying, and the race itself, the drivers will do the TV pen again and speak to written media. The top three finishers also do the post-race press conference.

Q: How much interaction is there between broadcasting teams from different countries?

A: A lot. They all see each other regularly so they get to know each other, and they often chat amongst themselves to communicate about what drivers have said to their home broadcasters, because they usually give longer/more detailed answers when they’re speaking in their native language.

Q: How does breaking news get shared with everyone?

A: Press releases used to be printed out on paper and handed out in the Media Center. Now each F1 team has a WhatsApp group specifically for media so they send info that way (e.g. about driver availability for interviews or problems with the cars) in addition to email and social media.

Q: Is there a dedicated space for journalists to write up their race reports?

A: Yes, it’s called the Media Center, there are desks, TV screens, food, and drinks (especially coffee!). The press conference room is in the Media Center as well, adjacent to the work area where journalists can sit and write.

Q: Has Bernie ever had a debrief delayed [when she was a team strategist] due to media interviews running long?

A: Many of the debriefs have been delayed by drivers, and blaming it on the media is an easy out when maybe it was actually the driver who stopped to get a coffee or whatever. Each F1 driver has their own press officer who helps them meet all of their press responsibilities. Often the drivers will talk longer than they are supposed to; Alex Albon and Oscar Piastri are specifically named as drivers who are very good at going off on tangents and talking to the media for too long. One time, Alex spent a good amount of time ranting about the roundabouts in Milton Keynes near the Red Bull factory is based.

Q: How is the order of the garages in the pit lane decided? Are there advantages to being in certain positions and does it play into race strategy?

A: At most tracks, the garages are in order based on how the teams finished in the constructor’s championship the previous year, so over a given season, the garages on either side of your teams don’t change. Sometimes the previous champions are right at the pit lane entry, sometimes near the exit, that depends on the track. If you’re right at the entry, it’s easier to come in and pit (i.e. there aren’t any other team’s mechanics in your way), but more difficult to get back out on track. Near the pit exit, the opposite is true (harder to get in, easier to get out). Depending on the track, it can be helpful to be right near the pit exit (e.g. if you want to get right out on track with clear air in front of you, Bernie mentions Monaco) or further back (e.g. if it’s better to have some other cars go first in qualifying, Bernie mentions Monza). The only exception to the rule of “garages are in order of last year’s championship standings” is Silverstone, where the pit lane is at about the same height as the track in the middle but at either end the pit lane is lower than the track so visibility is impaired. Because of this, the garages in the center (with a good view of the track) are considered most desirable and are thus taken by the top teams.

Christian Hewgill points out how surprising/impressive it is that drivers don’t pull into the wrong pit box more often. For example, at the 2011 Chinese Grand Prix, Jenson Button accidentally parked in the wrong garage and it cost him the lead in the race to Sebastian Vettel. Bernie points out that teams have done a lot of things to help drivers get to the correct pit lanes. It often happens when drivers switch teams (e.g. Lewis Hamilton once went into the McLaren pit when he had just moved to Mercedes, Sebastian Vettel went to the Ferrari pit once after he had switched to Aston Martin).

Q: What is parc fermé? What are the restrictions? How are they enforced?

A: Parc fermé is a period of time in which teams are not allowed to touch their cars or make any changes related to performance, however they can make changes related to safety. It promotes sustainability and rewards teams that do well in practice figuring out what works best for that track. During sprint weekends, teams only have one practice before the cars go into parc fermé, which makes it particularly difficult to adjust the cars to the track. Cars do often get taken apart and reassembled while in parc fermé to check components, clean things, etc., but the F1/FIA scrutineers will put stickers on the car parts to make sure the same parts are used when reassembling the car.

Q: What is an anti-stall? How is it different from a regular stall?

A: (Note that I am basically quoting Bernie verbatim here because I’ve never driven a manual/stick-shift car and don’t understand the details of how they work!) An anti-stall is very similar to a normal stall, but F1 have come up with clever ways to make sure the car engines don’t actually stall. In a regular manual car, if you were to let the clutch out too much or not give it enough throttle and the car stalled, the engine would cut out. At the starting grid, the driver might do the same thing (e.g. not give it enough throttle) and the car might stall, but the engine doesn’t actually cut out. (Another note: it’s not explicitly stated, but I think this is a safety thing so that even if the car stalls and doesn’t get a super fast start, the driver will be able to accelerate pretty quickly after, instead of sitting on the grid unable to move while the cars behind start crashing into the stalled car.)

Q: Why do F1 teams change names?

A: OK I started writing this in a way that makes sense beyond the short answers given on the podcast, but it really needs to be a separate post. The short answer to “why do teams change names?” is money. (Shocker!) 

Sometimes a team that also makes something else wants to promote one of their brands, e.g. Renault rebranding to Alpine, which is Renault’s sports car brand, or Toro Rosso rebranding to AlphaTauri, which is Red Bull’s clothing line. 

Sometimes a team will have a sponsor who pays enough money to be a title sponsor, e.g. Oracle Red Bull Racing or the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, where Oracle and Petronas are completely separate companies that pay a lot of money in addition to providing relevant expertise to their teams. 

(In the other post, I’ll get into Sauber/Alfa Romeo/Stake/Kick, don’t worry. 😂)

Q: How is the number of laps in a Grand Prix determined?