Formula 1: Drive to Survive; Questions from watching Season 6

[Anonymous]

Prefacing this by saying I've never watched an F1 race on tv, but after stumbling onto Drive to Survive, I'm a fan of the series at least.

Some questions:
- There are some moves that seem like they should be illegal. Like in one episode Yuki ends up qualifying P15 because Verstappen seems to be in the way. How does this happen - aren't the drivers staggered in their start times?
- Which of the F1 drivers have the most a**hole reputations? It might just be the editing, but I am not a fan of Verstappen or Ocon. Is having a win-at-all-costs mentality a requirement to be an F1 driver?
- It seems like the car matters a great deal in what teams are on top. Which drivers do you think would be the best if they were all given the same car?
- Is there any hope for Alpine? I feel like through the seasons they've gone through so many changes. Any Ryan Reynolds magic? Williams seems hopeless as well. In Williams' case, it seems like a money issue?

And a couple of random comments:
- It seemed like they focused less on the personal side of the "main characters" this year.
- It felt like it was overdue for Steiner to go. I couldn't believe he brought back both Magnusson and Hulkenberg (who apparently has the record for most Formula One career starts without a podium finish).

I'm sure I'll have more questions but will leave it here for now. Any other questions or comments from other fans of the show? Yes, I know this might fit under the Entertainment Forum as well.

[Anonymous]

A couple other things to watch: Grand Tourismo and Rush. These are both based on true stories.

[Anonymous]

No F1 fans?

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Prefacing this by saying I've never watched an F1 race on tv, but after stumbling onto Drive to Survive, I'm a fan of the series at least.

Some questions:
- There are some moves that seem like they should be illegal. Like in one episode Yuki ends up qualifying P15 because Verstappen seems to be in the way. How does this happen - aren't the drivers staggered in their start times?
- Which of the F1 drivers have the most a**hole reputations? It might just be the editing, but I am not a fan of Verstappen or Ocon. Is having a win-at-all-costs mentality a requirement to be an F1 driver?
- It seems like the car matters a great deal in what teams are on top. Which drivers do you think would be the best if they were all given the same car?
- Is there any hope for Alpine? I feel like through the seasons they've gone through so many changes. Any Ryan Reynolds magic? Williams seems hopeless as well. In Williams' case, it seems like a money issue?

And a couple of random comments:
- It seemed like they focused less on the personal side of the "main characters" this year.
- It felt like it was overdue for Steiner to go. I couldn't believe he brought back both Magnusson and Hulkenberg (who apparently has the record for most Formula One career starts without a podium finish).

I'm sure I'll have more questions but will leave it here for now. Any other questions or comments from other fans of the show? Yes, I know this might fit under the Entertainment Forum as well.

I didn't see your post until just now. I've been watching F1 since I was in high school. However, I only watched the first season of Drive to Survive so I am not really caught up on much of what you are asking about.

F1 has a lot of complex rules. During qualifying there are no set times separating cars. They go out when the want. After coming out of the pit, the drivers will do at least one warm up lap during which they will not go full speed. In addition, because cars in front of them create turbulence, they try to keep some distance back from the car in front. While they are doing that, other cars are going full blast trying to set their best times for qualifying. Naturally this creates situations in which a fast car suddenly comes up on a slow car and has to either break or go off the racing line. The slow driver's crew should warn them of an approaching car and tell him to get off the racing line. But, sometimes the slow driver still interferes with the fast driver which should result in a penalty for the slow driver. In the situation you described, it seems like Yuki interfered with Verstappen rather than the other way around.

There are other moves that are illegal. Drivers are not supposed to swerve in the braking zone and are only allowed one blocking move and then another to return to the racing line. So drivers should not be swerving back and forth blocking someone behind them.

To reach this level of competition, drivers have to be very ruthless. Some are more blatantly aggressive than others. Magnusson is known to be uncompromising and more than willing to crash rather than give ground. Verstappen has gotten better over the last two years, but before that he was known to routinely force a competing driver to either cede the position or crash. This resulted in several crashes between him and Hamilton. Because I am a Hamilton fan, this put Verstappen at the top of my hated list.

The best drivers right now are Verstappen, Hamilton, and Alonzo. Put them in the same car and it would be anybody's guess which would win. The problem however, is that drivers tend to prefer certain characteristics in their car so the same car would not work for each. Years ago there were two tire manufacturers and the tires had different strengths and weaknesses. One brand favored some tracks and the other favored other tracks. Schumacher used one brand and Alonzo used the other. You could almost predict the winner before the race based on which tire worked best on the track.

Probably the best young driver is Oscar Pastri. But, most of the drivers could be winners in the right car on any given day. A good way to tell who is good is watch a race that is wet. The rain removes some of the advantage of the car and increases the importance of the driver. Jenson Button once had the longest number of races without a win. But everyone knew he was good, he just didn't have the car. When he finally won, it was in the rain.

I have low expectations of Alpine and Williams. Steiner was very popular with fans and I was sorry to see him go. I personally think he has been plagued by not such great drivers. I like Hulkenberg however though he has not lived up to the expectations everyone had when he first started.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for taking the time to post!

I didn't see your post until just now. I've been watching F1 since I was in high school. However, I only watched the first season of Drive to Survive so I am not really caught up on much of what you are asking about.

F1 has a lot of complex rules. During qualifying there are no set times separating cars. They go out when the want. After coming out of the pit, the drivers will do at least one warm up lap during which they will not go full speed. In addition, because cars in front of them create turbulence, they try to keep some distance back from the car in front. While they are doing that, other cars are going full blast trying to set their best times for qualifying. Naturally this creates situations in which a fast car suddenly comes up on a slow car and has to either break or go off the racing line. The slow driver's crew should warn them of an approaching car and tell him to get off the racing line. But, sometimes the slow driver still interferes with the fast driver which should result in a penalty for the slow driver. In the situation you described, it seems like Yuki interfered with Verstappen rather than the other way around.

Interesting - I thought it was like time trials in the Tour de France. It seems like you could try to mess with other drivers quite easily.

There are other moves that are illegal. Drivers are not supposed to swerve in the braking zone and are only allowed one blocking move and then another to return to the racing line. So drivers should not be swerving back and forth blocking someone behind them.

I've noticed sometimes the drivers drive quite defensively, especially if they are trying to help their teammate who is ahead. It sounds like they can't swerve but can still position their car strategically. Again, I have this Tour de France mindset for some reason, but I guess it's not the same idea that there is one star and the other driver is supporting. Both drivers' points are important I know.

To reach this level of competition, drivers have to be very ruthless. Some are more blatantly aggressive than others. Magnusson is known to be uncompromising and more than willing to crash rather than give ground. Verstappen has gotten better over the last two years, but before that he was known to routinely force a competing driver to either cede the position or crash. This resulted in several crashes between him and Hamilton. Because I am a Hamilton fan, this put Verstappen at the top of my hated list.

Hamilton seemed so untouchable for so long. He has appeared more human these past couple seasons but yes, I'd pick him over Verstappen any day.

The best drivers right now are Verstappen, Hamilton, and Alonzo. Put them in the same car and it would be anybody's guess which would win. The problem however, is that drivers tend to prefer certain characteristics in their car so the same car would not work for each. Years ago there were two tire manufacturers and the tires had different strengths and weaknesses. One brand favored some tracks and the other favored other tracks. Schumacher used one brand and Alonzo used the other. You could almost predict the winner before the race based on which tire worked best on the track.

Regarding tires, I know there are dry tires and wet tires. And it seems that all cars need to stop 1-2 times to changes tires and that figuring out when to do the pit stop can make a big difference.

Probably the best young driver is Oscar Pastri. But, most of the drivers could be winners in the right car on any given day. A good way to tell who is good is watch a race that is wet. The rain removes some of the advantage of the car and increases the importance of the driver. Jenson Button once had the longest number of races without a win. But everyone knew he was good, he just didn't have the car. When he finally won, it was in the rain.

Good tip. I wonder why they change the cars if they already have a good car. Like that one season it seemed like the change in cars made Mercedes go from the top to not the top. I can understand tweaking a little bit but it must have been a drastic change for such a big impact.

I have low expectations of Alpine and Williams. Steiner was very popular with fans and I was sorry to see him go. I personally think he has been plagued by not such great drivers. I like Hulkenberg however though he has not lived up to the expectations everyone had when he first started.

Well, hopefully Steiner's book did well. I know it's not all the TP but he helped pick the drivers! Hulkenberg reminds me of a Hemsworth brother.

Thanks again for your insights!

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:I've noticed sometimes the drivers drive quite defensively, especially if they are trying to help their teammate who is ahead. It sounds like they can't swerve but can still position their car strategically. Again, I have this Tour de France mindset for some reason, but I guess it's not the same idea that there is one star and the other driver is supporting. Both drivers' points are important I know.

Yes, drivers are allowed to position their cars defensively and that is actually a skill. But, this becomes almost a chess game. Frequently the bests defensive position is not the best racing line. So, when a driver positions his car defensively, he might compromise himself elsewhere.

Regarding star and supporting drivers, different teams have different philosophies. Teams can give team orders requiring one driver to sacrifice himself for the other. There is a famous instance when Schumacher's teammate was practically forced to come to a stop to allow Schumacher to pass him and win the race. Red Bull tends to always have a #1 driver. Mercedes, on the other hand, tends to take a "let them race" approach. But, of course, Hamilton is still their #1 driver.

Anonymous wrote:
Regarding tires, I know there are dry tires and wet tires. And it seems that all cars need to stop 1-2 times to changes tires and that figuring out when to do the pit stop can make a big difference.

There are six dry tire compounds but only three are selected for each race. One for hard, one for medium, and one for soft. Teams are required to use at least two compounds unless it rains.

If it rains, teams can use intermediate or full wet and there are no requirements to use multiple compounds.

The choice of tire compounds and when to change are important strategic decisions.

Anonymous wrote:
Good tip. I wonder why they change the cars if they already have a good car. Like that one season it seemed like the change in cars made Mercedes go from the top to not the top. I can understand tweaking a little bit but it must have been a drastic change for such a big impact.

There are periodic rules changes affecting the technical requirements of the cars. Mercedes had a dominate car but then a rules change prohibited several aspects of their design. Their redesign didn't work out. They made significant changes this past off season and in today's testing took 1st and 2nd place. Let's see if that holds for the race (which, btw, is this Saturday instead of Sunday like normal).

[Anonymous]

There are periodic rules changes affecting the technical requirements of the cars. Mercedes had a dominate car but then a rules change prohibited several aspects of their design. Their redesign didn't work out. They made significant changes this past off season and in today's testing took 1st and 2nd place. Let's see if that holds for the race (which, btw, is this Saturday instead of Sunday like normal).

That explains a lot! Look forward to the new season.

[Anonymous]

I was a fan of F1 all my life but stopped watching early in this season. I just can’t watch Max Verstapppen. I remember watching his dad’s car go up in flames back when they had to refuel. The way the higher ups cheated Lewis Hamilton was disgraceful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was a fan of F1 all my life but stopped watching early in this season. I just can’t watch Max Verstapppen. I remember watching his dad’s car go up in flames back when they had to refuel. The way the higher ups cheated Lewis Hamilton was disgraceful.

Looked up Max’s father - doesn’t sound like a great guy.

Yes, Abu Dhabi in 2021 seemed very unfair!