Questions tagged [formula-1]
For questions relating to the class of open-wheeled auto racing known as Formula 1.
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What procedures does the FIA take when there are thunderstorms?
For the 2022 Formula 1 Season, Miami is hosting one of two races in the USA.
Miami, and Florida as a whole, has a bit of a reputation for quite severe thunderstorms, and particularly whereby sporting ...
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0answers
36 views
FIA regulations and analysis of telemetry data on brake-testing
In 2018 at Baku, subsequent to analysis of telemetry data, FIA concluded there was no proof that the front car (Lewis Hamilton) was involved in brake-testing during safety car restart. In that case, ...
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47 views
Why do many people consider Max Verstappen comparable to Lewis Hamilton?
I'm one of those Americans who watched DTS and eventually got into F1. This is the first actual season where I watched all the races and I'm still learning the sport. I am not emotionally attached to ...
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1answer
61 views
When is/was the 2021 Formula 1 champion officially decided?
After the final 2021 race in Abu Dhabi, post-race protests were thrown out and it is now being reported that Max Verstappen is the drivers' world champion.
Is this technically correct? Or is the ...
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50 views
Difference in Mercedes and Aston Martin teams in F1
Before the start of the F1 2021 season, it was said that low rake F1 cars would be at a disadvantage because of new aerodynamic regulations by FIA. Red Bull with a high rake F1 car was slated to win ...
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1answer
90 views
In F1, which tyre to start on if the "fastest time"-tyre is damaged?
During Q3, if the driver loses a tyre due to a puncture, which tyre would he start with in the race the next day?
Secondly, if the pole sitter tries to improve his lap time in Q3 and while doing so ...
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1answer
29 views
Formula 1: How does Sprint Qualifying affect the starting grid on race day?
The 2021 F1 season introduced "Sprint Qualifying" (hereby abbreviated as "SQ") in some races as an experimental event during the race weekends (i.e. Monza and Brazil GP). SQ is ...
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1answer
92 views
What matters the most when it comes to being successful in Formula One?
I've been watching Formula One for the last 14 years. I have seen many drivers who came from the Driver Academies of Mercedes or Ferrari, with championship wins in GP3 and GP2. But when they enter ...
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1answer
80 views
In F1 (or other motorsports), how is a lap time counted?
How is a lap time counted in Formula 1 (or other motorsports)?
Does timing begin when the front, or middle, or back of the car touches the start/finish line?
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1answer
3k views
What's the (official) motivation for requiring cars to have at least one liter of fuel post-race?
I've read in the news about the rule regarding fuel left
Vettel was disqualified from second place after his car was found to have less than the mandatory one litre of fuel required for post-race ...
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1answer
115 views
Race Start Procedure when everyone pits on Formation Lap
During the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix, after the initial start was red-flagged due to a turn one incident, the field started their second formation lap, with all cars on intermediate-wet tyres.
It ...
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2answers
2k views
In F1 why does the checkered flag appear when the driver has not finished and is further down in position?
Why does a driver in (say) 13 place have a checkered flag but positions 4-12 have no flag yet?
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1answer
190 views
What happens after a car finishes an F1 race
After crossing the finishing line in F1, how much further ahead do drivers go? Obviously they can't stop right at the finishing line. Are there any regulations here? How do they exit the track? is ...
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1answer
78 views
Which F1 driver was overtaken after swerving towards his team at the pit wall?
Which F1 driver swerved towards his team at the pit wall, causing him to be overtaken? Other things I remember:
He lost the race and his job because of this.
It may have been in a Renault.
It may ...
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1answer
85 views
Highest rank in last season without retiring?
With Perez almost not having a drive next year after finishing 4th in the Drivers championship, I wonder:
Who are the top 5 of drivers that had the highest rank of the Worlds Driver Championship in ...
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1answer
82 views
What parts of an F1 car are mandatory per rules?
I really wonder, so if I would try to make the simplest, most stripped down but still legal F1 car, what parts are absolutely needed?
I'm gonna guess the halo, safety cell and 4 tires are mandatory, ...
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1answer
62 views
Under what circumstances were F1 teams allowed to re-use old chassis built by other teams?
It used to be the case that new F1 teams could re-use outdated chassis designs built by other teams, however I'm confused about the circumstances under which they could do so.
In 1992, Andrea Moda ...
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2answers
778 views
Is it just me or when driving down the pits, the pit wall will always be on the left?
I think at every track, when you are driving down the pit lane, the pit wall will always be on the left, and the stands on the right.
Am I right on this? If I am, is there a logical reason why it ...
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0answers
74 views
Assymetrical setup in modern F1
Back in the day (60's, 70's and 80's) F1 cars could have assymetrical suspension setups — packers, dumpers, springs, camber, anti-roll bars etc... — which makes sense: in Imola you are mostly turning ...
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1answer
381 views
How does an F1 driver become slower with age?
I have never understood clearly how an F1 driver loses pace as they grow old, I understand it has to do with instincts & reflexes getting slower but these drivers do have telemetry data, So Seb ...
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1answer
75 views
Naive questions about the Engine of a Formula1 Car
I'm not very familiar with engines and how they work. I know what "cc", "hp", "V6", "turbo" and the like mean, but I ignore how their correlation can improve (...
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1answer
4k views
What decides where you are in the pitlane, and is there an advantage that could be got depending on where you are in the pit lane?
In F1, the teams currently seem to be stacked where Mercedes/ferrari are early in the pitlane, and Williams is at the end.
How is the order of teams decided for the pitlane, and is a position ...
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0answers
67 views
When was an open face helmet used for the last time in open-wheel car racing?
As for Formula 1, the last time an open face helmet was used was during the 1974 Swedish GP by Leo Kinnunen, and the last time it's been used during an official F1 weekend was at the 1975 Monaco GP by ...
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2answers
3k views
What is the coldest Formula One race ever held?
With the announcement of three new F1 races in Europe during October and early November, there's been a lot of discussion about the potential for those races to be unusually cold - especially the ...
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When 'lapped cars may overtake', can you unlap yourself more than once?
With Latifi being 5 laps down at the end of the 2020 Hungarian Grand Prix, I wonder... if a safety car were to be deployed, and at some point lapped cars were allowed to overtake, could Latifi have ...
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1answer
711 views
Why is the start/finish line halfway down the grid?
In F1, it would be simple enough to have the Start/Finish line (the line where the lap is counted) be the line in front of pole position, but for a weird reason the line is down the grid, somewhere ...
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1answer
91 views
F1 Styrian GP 2020 first lap incident
In the Formula 1 Styrian Grand Prix 2020, Leclerc collided with Vettel during the first lap. Why was Leclerc blamed for this collision in the press? It did not seem like it was intentional.
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0answers
80 views
What are the exact dimensions of Silverstone?
I'm trying to create a model of Silverstone and need the exact dimensions of the track. I need the lengths of everything and the angles and sizes of every corner. Does anybody know where this can be ...
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2answers
492 views
Are there official Formula One rules regarding apex disputes, faults in passing and the like?
Is there any official rule book for racing in Formula 1 to determine who's at fault in a racing incident, who has the apex/exit etc? I'm aware there's one describing other things like pit stops, ...
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2answers
197 views
What's the best refuelling strategy in Formula 1?
I'm interested in how race strategy changed during the refueling eras. Say we have a 60 lap race, you could pit on lap 20 and 40, or you could pit on lap 21 and 42. I wanted to see which strategy ...
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0answers
125 views
How much does a Formula 1 car really cost?
I have come across several websites claiming that the Formula one car components prices are known and the total price for a car is in the $12-15 million. The websites I'm referring to are like this ...
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1answer
406 views
Can the official fastest lap of a race be set in the first lap in F1?
Actually there are many reasons that make the cars slower in the first lap of a race.
Cars accelerate from 0 kph
Traffic is at maximum
Tyres are not at ideal temperature (still soft tyres can perform ...
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1answer
3k views
Which Formula One races did Scuderia Ferrari not take part in?
Scuderia Ferrari are the only team to have competed in every season of the Formula One World Championship since its inception in 1950. However, during the 2019 Chinese Grand Prix, the 1000th F1 race, ...
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2answers
2k views
Why do F1 drivers move towards the pit wall at the end of the race?
On the last lap, at the start-finish straight, just as they are ending the race, F1 drivers (especially those at the front) move their car off the racing line towards the wall.
I'm guessing that they ...
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1answer
195 views
Best Chassis in F1 cars [closed]
I have read that recently last year that Red Bull racing cars have the best chassis.
How do we analyse the chassis of an F1 Car?
what is the science behind the best chassis and the worst?
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1answer
2k views
Five red lights in F1 - When were they introduced and do they bring any advantage?
I'm wondering. The 5 red lights, that light up 1 by 1 for the start of the race, and then the race starts when they all shut down. When were they introduced? And are there any advantages to the five ...
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0answers
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What would happen in Formula 1 if a stateless person wins a Grand Prix? [closed]
There are about 12 million stateless people on Earth. What would happen if one of them wins a Formula 1 Grand Prix? What anthem gets played?
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2answers
2k views
In F1 classification, what is ON?
I saw that on reddit. On thye official clasisfication for the Grand Prix, the second to last column is 'ON'. Seems to be something relating to laps, but I can't figure out what.
So what is ON in ...
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2answers
3k views
What are scrubbed tyres?
I'm reading Mark Webber's book and in it he says that during the the 2005 Belgian grand prix he was amazed that his team put him on new intermediate tyres instead of scrubbed tyres on a drying track.
...
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1answer
170 views
How does a Formula 1 team determine the first car/driver?
The following regulation talks about the first car of a team. Since the cars carry driver names and numbers, I didn't think that the teams have to officially determine their first cars.
To help ...
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2answers
1k views
Lowest championship finishing position for a defending champion
Which F1 World Drivers Champion has the lowest finishing position in the season following a championship winning year?
Examples:
1981, 1983 and 1987 WDC Nelson Piquet finished 11th in 1982, 5th in ...
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1answer
248 views
Driver with the longest time between F1 race starts
Robert Kubica, who last drove for Renault in the 2010 season, is now confirmed to be back on the grid for Williams next year, over 8 years since his last Grand Prix start.
Assuming he goes on to ...
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2answers
5k views
Were the super-hard tyres ever actually used?
For the 2018 F1 season, Pirelli introduced two new tyre compounds - the hypersoft, and the super-hard. For 2019, the compound system will be simplified so that at each race they'll simply be known as "...
8
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1answer
254 views
Has anyone ever taken pole position without setting any fastest sector times?
During qualifying for the 2018 Mexican Grand Prix, Max Verstappen very nearly took pole position despite not setting the fastest time in any of the three sectors. (Other drivers had gone faster than ...
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1answer
298 views
Why are artificial chicanes placed at the run off for long straights?
Why do tracks like Monza, Le Mans and Daytona Road Course feature run off areas that have several foam barriers that drivers need to drive around?
I understand that these were placed so that drivers ...
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1answer
159 views
How does the FIA keep track of the teams' power unit allocations?
In 2018, F1 teams are allowed only 3 units of the Internal Combustion Engine, MGU-K and MGU-H, and 2 units of Energy Store, Turbocharger and Control Electronics. Gearboxes must also be used for 6 ...
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2answers
2k views
Why did/do F1 racing teams wear face masks?
I've seen this clip on Youtube here, were the box crew of Ferrari are shown all wearing protective face masks. The clip is from 1998 and I don't know if this is still the case.
I'm wondering why they ...
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1answer
352 views
Why did Force India get docked all constructors points?
Prior to the Hungarian Grand Prix, Sahara Force India entered administration and was bought out by the consortium Racing Point UK, renaming themselves Racing Point Force India in the Belgian Grand ...
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2answers
133 views
Highest Formula One WDC ranking without a podium finish?
Last year, with only drivers from Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull finishing on the podium, Force India drivers Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon finished 7th and 8th in the championship with no podium ...
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1answer
726 views
Why are the practice sessions called "free" in Formula 1?
Free practice is a widely used term in motorsports, but I specifically wonder what "free" means in Formula 1. I've some choices without any reference.
Is it related to drivers, car parts, number of ...