For the sake of this article when we speak of ‘free time’ we are speaking of time that has no monetary cost attached to gaining it and crucially no ‘special talent’ required to achieve it – these time gains are available to the expert and novice alike. Before we all get excited that for no cost or effort you can suddenly go half a second faster and solve all of your performance problems unfortunately there are only marginal gains on offer here... but these are quantifiable gains that can help you gain (or not lose) real tenths and hundredths.
Being on the white line (edge of the track) when turning into a corner – It can be proved mathematically that the more you can open up a corner (reduce it's radius) the less you have to slow down and the faster you can drive through it. If a driver leaves just a 12 inch margin at the entry to every corner and they are driving on a track that has ten corners, they will have successfully narrowed the trac
k by ten feet over the lap!
Making improvements: Generally inaccurate positioning can be due to the driver a) Not thinking it’s important, b) Not being aware that they are doing it, and c) Having poor peripheral vision – they are not comfortable positioning the car accurately. In training pay attention to your positioning after each run on your sim by watching your re-plays.
Using the full width of the road on the exit – This works on the same principle as above - unnecessarily tightening the corner on the exit tightens the whole corner and reduces the speed that the car can take it at. It can be caused by a number of things – classically the driver has turned in too late and the car runs out of energy on the exit; they have gone in too slow and the car has insufficient energy; their vision has locked onto the apex kerb and they are late on the throttle… or a combination of all four. More inexcusable than any of these is where there is still road to be used, but instead drivers hold onto the steering on the exit and doesn’t let the car run to the edge of the track / kerb. The loss here is in the scrub created on the front wheels by holding the car in unnecessarily. Making improvements: Without changing the turn in point or entry speed and just by looking at the exit earlier and releasing the steering (this will happen automatically) the front wheels will scrub less and free speed will have been achieved. Again, check your sim replays to monitor if or how much you are doing this.
Being straight and parallel with the white line when braking – Irrespective of whether you are on, or 12 inches away from the edge of the track it is essential that wherever possible the car is completely straight when you hit the brake. When a driver initially hits the brake (and in many cars this can be a significant pressure especially for slower corners) it is important that there is zero lateral load on the tyres so that you get maximum braking efficiency and avoid any chance of locking a wheel or destabilizing the car.
Making improvements: There are many corners where a driver has to position quickly to prepare for the next corner/braking area and it is here that driver a) Does not have awareness of what they are doing or the importance of maximum braking efficiency, and b) Are too slow in getting the car positioned and straightened up. Again, sim re-plays are excellent for identifying this.
Being precise with up changes and not hitting the rev-limiter – This is another very common problem especially with less experienced drivers. There can be no argument here; time spent on the rev-limiter is time when the car is not accelerating! In the heat of competition and especially in races when the mind is at near 100% CPU occupancy, accurate up changes can be missed. This is most likely to happen in the lower gears when the up changes from slow corners come thick and fast – starts especially from first to second can easily be missed (it can be safest to deliberately short shift first to second).
Making improvements: a) Monitor this with your engineer and b) Bring awareness to it in your simulator training – especially the 1st to 2nd in start practice sessions).
Not Changing early on up-changes – This is the opposite of hitting the rev-limiter, this is where a driver lacks precision / consistency with their up-changes, this can only be due to the driver paying little attention to it or being distracted by racing pressures. All engine builders will set an optimum number of rev’s that should be achieved before changing gear to ensure that the engine stays as close to its optimal power band at all times. Most modern Formula and GT cars will have change lights on the steering wheel so in theory it should be very difficult to make mistakes.
Making improvements: a) Bring this into your awareness and understand the importance optimizing the engines performance, and b) Work with your engineer to ensure that the timing of the change lights is timed with your reaction to them.
Positioning from one side of the track to the other. There are many tracks where the car has to position from one side of the track to the other. Ideally the driver takes the longest diagonal line that they can (ensuring that the car is straight and neutrally loaded and on the white line when they brake) – this ensures that the car travels the shortest possible distance which again is a time saving. The pit straight at Brands is a perfect example of where you will see drivers lengthen the track unnecessarily by positioning suddenly and late.
Straightening the wheel momentarily on the exit of slow/medium corners – In slow and medium speed corners a car has the capacity to accelerate hard but this can be affected by steering scrub – if a car has a completely straight steering wheel the front wheels are creating no scrub (scrub being the friction created between the tyre and the tarmac caused by the driver turning the car (which wants to keep going in a straight line). A car with one degree of steering applied on the exit will not be able to accelerate as well as a car with steering straight ahead, and this only increases as more steering is used. There are many corners where this can be applied and in fact the principle applies to all corners to a lesser and greater extent. Good examples would be Luffield at Silverstone, Becketts at Silverstone (National Circuit), Redgate at Donington, etc., etc.
Making improvements: Just bring this into your awareness.
Not riding the brake (left foot brakers) – This is actually quite a common mistake that drivers can make, where unconsciously they rest their left foot on the brake pedal and this can apply very small amounts of braking especially on bumpy tracks.
Making improvements: Check this on the data.
Avoid excess grip pressure on the steering wheel - Points 2 and 7 above rely on the driver feeling for grip/scrub on the front wheels through the steering and drivers who through anxiety/tension/trying over-grip the wheel deprive themselves of being able to feel the subtle effects of scrub on the car’s performance.
Making improvements: a) Bring this into your awareness by adding it to the scored area on your Driver Assessment, and b) Every time you cross the start line consciously relax your grip on the steering.
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