I am a Formula 1 fanatic. The sport is unpredictable, exciting and intellectually intriguing. Everything about the drivers and the cars is about maximizing every last drop of performance and gaining even one hundredth or one tenth of a second. The level of attention to details and state-of-the-art technologies that go to every aspect of the sport is astonishing. Here are a few clips that I found very helpful in understanding the sport. Even if you are not interested in the racing, I think it’s interesting when you are just curious about how stuff works
Car setup
A car setup is instrumental to the performance of the car. It’s more of an art and trial-error than science and there are a lot that go into the setup such as the nature of the tracks, driver preference, strengths & weaknesses of the cars, weather, tyre…The video below explains how one millimeter can mean the world in a car setup!
Braking System
Brakes are crucial in racing, even in commuter cars. As F1 cars travel at such a high speed and brake multiple times in one lap, brakes can get hot and fail, causing drivers to crash and fall out of races. The video below from Mercedes explains how brakes work and how setting up brake systems in certain races can be an engineering nightmare. For instance, Monaco Grand Prix is a twisty street track where speed is low and brakes are applied almost constantly. After every corner, brakes get increasingly hot. Cooling down brakes is a challenge as they are usually cooled when drivers accelerate in straights; which is, as mentioned, not what happens in Monaco.
In Baku Grand Prix, the challenge is different. Half of the track is made of long straights and the other half is a street circuit. At the end of long straights, brakes are cold and drivers run the risk of not having the best performance from brakes for the twisty part. Then, during the twisty part, there is not enough cooling for the brakes.
Logistics
A F1 calendar consists of around 21 races a year, spanning across the globe over a period of 9 months. Teams have to manage car parts, communication equipment, hospitality settings, fuel, kitchen, etc… Managing the logistics of a race, especially back-to-back races in different countries miles away from each other is a daunting challenge. This video explains very well this aspect of Formula 1
Steering wheel
Do you think you can remember how all the buttons work and make them work while driving at 180mph?
Minh Quang Duong 