Magic in the air, Super Start from Max, Lewis' hunt for win, Charles charge through - United States Grand Prix
Race start, Tyre degradation, Strategy and Telemetry analysis
1. RACE START:
The start of a Formula 1 race is an adrenaline rush like no other. It's pure excitement as those cars fly down on track, jockeying for position while trying not to make any mistakes that could cost them dearly later in the race.
2 time world Champion Max Verstappen started P2 on the grid: on the inside line to turn1 which is also the racing line having high levels of grip for traction. This grip differential is so high that it propelled every one on the inside line ahead of their counterpart on the outside.
As you can see, Max was quick on the reactions and launch, in fact the best of the field. While pole sitter Carlos had a poor start which dropped him back to second place within a few seconds of the start.
It is interesting to note than George starting behind had a good start and I noticed that almost every first lap collision happen due to a poor start from one of the drivers.
2. TYRE DEGRADATION:
Even though COTA’s track surface was resurfaced, it is still remains bumpy due to subsidence. This meant teams have to pit multiple times switching to new tyres for optimal lap times as the asphalt is too abrasive on the tires.
From the above chart, we can tell the medium tyres are the best performing compound and the gap is less than 0.5s, but the gap converges as you run more laps.
It is also interesting to notice that we didn’t encounter a cross-over between hards and mediums, indicating that mediums are good enough to run longer with little degradation compared to hards. This has been a pattern this year with the 22-inch tires.
For next year, though Pirelli is testing out new compounds to make the gap between C2-C3-C4 identical. Currently C2 is much closer to C3, rendering the softs tyre(C4) useless in most of the races. During the US grand prix race, only George tried out soft compound in his bid to get the fastest lap point.
If we compare the tyre degradation between the front runners, we see that Max’s medium tyre fuel corrected lap times are just a straight line in contrast to Lewis’ hards and Charles’ mediums which have a dramatic cliff-off towards the end.
Data also shows that Lewis saved his tyres in the beginning of his stint to use them later in his defense for victory, even matching Max’s lap times on a slower compound later on.
3. RACE STRATEGY:
High tyre degradation is expected making three-stopper potentially the safest bet. Lewis pitted on lap 12 effectively undercutting Max and in the next lap Red Bull responded to cover off this threat. Ferrari strategists has other things in mind, with Charles suggesting Plan E(xtend) to overcut the leaders.
On lap 18, Bottas lost the rear end and his car came to a hault in the gravel, requiring a safety car. In the last 5 races at COTA, we didn’t see a safety car- the circuit has sufficiently long run-off areas around the corners: VSC is enough to clear away the cars. As is the case with Formula1 and motorsports in general, past events don’t predict the future.
Unexpect safety car threw a wrench in several teams strategies, with several drivers on extended stints boxed in to switch for new tires. Charles was one of the winners as he came back into the mix fighting at the top
Seb and KMag were other lucky drivers who also gained an advantage. Seb’s second pitstop though is slower than Alonso’s Front wing change- dropping him out of points scoring positions, but with the tyre advantage he managed to crawl up the order eventually overtaking lone-stopper KMag in the final corner.
4. AIR-BORNE ALONSO:
On Lap 23, Fernando Alonso was launched into the air, after a high-speed collision with Stroll. At the time of impact Alonso was moving at 252 kmph (~157 mph), which is almost enough for a empty Boeing 747 to take off as pointed out by Sam on F1TV
The Spaniard is brave enough to hold on to the steering wheel to point his car away from the barrier ahead, while braking to decelerate further. The fact that he managed to finish P7 in a broken car is a fantastic display of his skill and determination. This race from Alonso is up there with his other brilliant moments, especially reminiscent of his 2018 race at Baku where he limped his McLaren on two wheels and finished in points
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