Lewis Hamilton is concerned tomorrow’s qualifying session at Monza will be a “nightmare” due to traffic problems caused by drivers trying to get slipstreams.
Last year most drivers in Q3 failed to start their final laps in time having backed off too much as they tried to get in line behind each other. Around 15 cars bunched up together while performing their qualifying simulations today.The FIA has told drivers they will be required to observe a maximum lap time between two points on the track tomorrow in order to ensure they do not drive too slowly. However Hamilton remains concerned the session could still prove messy.
“It was difficult in the past,” he said. “Obviously we didn’t even get to do the last lap last year. So I think it’s going to be interesting.
“I heard they might put in place a [maximum] time that we had to do in our out-lap. So maybe that will help.
“But still I think it’s going to be a nightmare still in the last corner with everyone trying to get a gap. It’s definitely going to be hard work.”
Hamilton ended second practice almost nine-tenths of anyone not in a Mercedes. However he expects the times to close up on Saturday.
“It felt like we made some improvement from first practice to second practice,” he said. “In first practice, it didn’t feel great. But then [that’s] because it’s all low downforce here, so a lot a sliding around.
“I think in second practice [we made] some steps in the right direction. So I think it’s going to be close between a bunch of people.”
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David BR (@david-br)
4th September 2020, 17:00
Hamilton’s solution at Spa was smart and elegant, just using the clear track space ahead to concentrate on the perfect lap. He made everyone else look like slower drivers needing a tow to artificially boost their lap times. That said, they have two shots in Q3, one team mate, so taking it in turns, they can just ignore everyone else and guarantee a tow each, whether or not the other teams exploit that advantage. As the fastest team, that means Mercedes should (with a decent lap from each driver) secure P1 and P2.
lucifer (@lucifer)
4th September 2020, 17:20
i was thinking the same thing. let each team mate get a chance and if you mess up then tough luck.
Joe (@jb784)
5th September 2020, 3:31
Why not have the “towing” driver also set a lap – just in free air. That can be the banker lap. Then swap and repeat.
roadrunner (@roadrunner)
5th September 2020, 2:56
Yeah, Leclerc “invented” that trick last year in Spa and it worked this year as well. But we have to consider that both had the best car and a healthy margin over their teammates so they didn’t really have to care.
Monza is different though. Even a one car tow seems not to be enough. A Mercedes 1-2 seems a given but who of them comes comes first and especially how the rest of the field will line up depends on good timing, good slipstream and luck.
I’m looking forward to a real mixed up grid.
F1oSaurus (@)
5th September 2020, 9:48
@roadrunner Leclerc did not run in clean air, he got a tow from Vettel on the first try. Then on the real run he was supposed to give Vettel the tow, but then it all went wrong and Vettel even overtook Leclerc.
roadrunner (@roadrunner)
5th September 2020, 12:14
I was referring to Spa last year, when Leclerc – like Hamilton this year – didn’t want to play the slipstream game. Which at that track at that time they both could afford.
Don frika del prima
5th September 2020, 8:06
“He made everyone else look like slower drivers needing a tow to artificially boost their lap times.”
Not so difficult if everyone has a car that’s a second or more slower than a Mercedes.
John H (@john-h)
5th September 2020, 8:19
Spa is one thing though, Monza is on another level in terms of the tow benefit.
Balue (@balue)
5th September 2020, 8:43
I don’t even know what you’re saying here. It was smart and elegant to have a dominant car so you don’t need to fuss looking for a tow? Are you serious?
F1oSaurus (@)
5th September 2020, 9:49
@balue It’s really not that hard to understand, seeing how without the tow he was half a second faster than Bottas.
Jere (@jerejj)
4th September 2020, 17:01
As I already brought up my point in the previous article of this matter, I’ll go about it a bit differently this time: On FIA.com, there’s a section named ‘event and timing information’ for each event that features different info for the relevant event, and data for each session, etc., which I’ve been using since 2014, so I’ve been aware for a while that a maximum time set for slow laps between SC2 and SC1 after Friday’s running has been in place, so I’m surprised no one else seems to have been aware of this until recently. I already pointed this out twelve months ago following the infamous Q3-mess, and have been doing that again occasionally between last season’s and this season’s Monza events.
Here’s the one I use for each race weekend: https://www.fia.com/events/fia-formula-one-world-championship/season-2020/italian-grand-prix/eventtiming-information
And this season, I’ve also been using this separate section on the same site:
https://www.fia.com/documents/season/season-2020-1059/event/31675
Jere (@jerejj)
4th September 2020, 17:04
And for this event, the time that has been chosen as the maximum allowed is 1:43.0 or 1:43.000.
Balue (@balue)
4th September 2020, 19:48
Interesting page, thanks. (although opening PDFs is old-fashioned and a bit of a pain)
James
4th September 2020, 21:52
https://media1.tenor.com/images/b7388a4a9ef937d4b9698d27f4634696/tenor.gif?itemid=16243057
Balue (@balue)
5th September 2020, 8:45
Another thing that annoys me is Sam Elliot. To the point of being unbearable actually.
abananasplitz
4th September 2020, 17:01
nightmare?… i doubt the merc even need a slipstream to be a second ahead as usual.
DaveW (@dmw)
4th September 2020, 17:36
Won’t the teams just respond by waiting until the last moment to leave the pits? The queueing will be at the pit exit instead of the track. Then they the people at the back of the queue are still in the same situation as before.
bob (@riptide)
4th September 2020, 18:09
I expect they will all appear once the the Mercs or Max appear as they are both at the far end of the pit; which gives the lesser teams a heads up to put themselves in the mix. And they will all be coming to a stop just before the qually lap launch as the tyres will be too hot with the pressure Pirelli now insist on them all having.
paulipedia (@paulipedia)
4th September 2020, 18:06
Qualifying shootout, 2 laps each
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
4th September 2020, 19:09
How did they qualify here years ago with more cars on the grid years ago. Slipstream may be more beneficial now but it isn’t hard at all to get the more important job done in everyone does the sensible things and themselves a little further apart and don’t go all at once. I think some smart teams in Q3 may leave earlier than the rest that all wait until the last moment on their 2nd attempt.
anon
4th September 2020, 22:00
@thegianthogweed one thing that is worth remembering is that, from 1950 through to 1996, qualifying took place over two different sessions and on multiple days (one session on Friday and one on Saturday), whilst there was also a separate pre-qualifying session to cut the size of the grid down.
It therefore meant that drivers had far more opportunities to set a lap in qualifying, so it didn’t matter so much if you hadn’t optimised everything to the nth degree. More importantly, it also meant that the track tended to be quieter at any one particular point in time because drivers could spread their laps over several hours.
To some extent, the change in qualifying format to the 1 hour and 12 laps in 1997 did result in an increased number of traffic problems near the end of the session – however, to some extent the drivers would still rely on getting a banker lap in earlier in the session, so it was often the case that drivers would focus on optimising their individual laps rather than chasing slipstreams.
To some extent, the rule changes in 1998 that reduced the wheel track made getting a tow a little less important too, given the reduced frontal area meant the cars had a reduced wake. There was also a slight secondary effect from having slightly narrower tyres too, particularly around 2009, which reduced the turbulent wake of the wheels and thus the drag that the wheels produced.
There were still some attempts by teams to slipstream each other around the track in the 2000s, but it wasn’t as prevalent as now the benefits of getting a slipstream in the past tended to be smaller and, once you took into account potential time losses in the corners due to the turbulent wake effects, the balance tended to be fairly neutral.
DonSmee (@david-beau)
4th September 2020, 22:23
These two meter wide cars are way draggier than before.
Roger Ayles (@roger-ayles)
5th September 2020, 12:17
@thegianthogweed One difference between now & the past is the tires as even the qualifying tires they had until 1992 weren’t as sensitive to the one’s we have now. You didn’t need to baby them so much on outlaps as they weren’t mandating such extreme tire pressures. They have to be 26psi when leaving the blankets this weekend (That figure will increase as they are on track & temps increase under load), You go back 10+ years and they were running them as low as 13psi.
Cars are draggier than they were in the past, They are no wider than they were pre 1997 & the tires are as wide as they were until 1993 but there is a lot more aero bits around the cars now compared to then.
And I actually think DRS also plays a part in the drag as since DRS was introduced they no longer feel the need to take all of the downforce off the cars like they did in the past. The rear wings can’t be as skinny as they have to run DRS & the drag DRS drops also means they no longer remove any of the extra aero bits as they used to before 2011. So the cars are producing more drag than they may do if they didn’t have DRS.
Balue (@balue)
4th September 2020, 19:49
Vowles will ace this as usual
John H (@john-h)
5th September 2020, 8:22
Teams should go out early and slipstream each other at the start of the session. Just avoid the mess entirely. It always baffles me that they all leave things to the end, no track evolution is not that significant in just 5 minutes.
As long as it’s not dangerous, I say let them work it out for themselves. It will be entertaining as it was last year.
John
5th September 2020, 9:14
Why does he even care. His Merc could start from the back and still win….
F1oSaurus (@)
5th September 2020, 9:51
I wouldn’t be surprised if that maximum time is only going to make it worse. Only now the problem will be at the end of the lap rather than at the beginning.
They will do their warm up lap and end up too close at the end just before the hot lap. they need to hold back for a gap and all bunch up, clock runs out, only a few get a lap.