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[quote=jsteele][quote=Anonymous]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. [/quote]

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.

[quote=Anonymous]
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.  [/quote]

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.

[quote=Anonymous]
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. 
[/quote]

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). 
[/quote]

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