Coping mechanisms for challenges outside an F1 driver’s hands

If you watched qualifying for IndyCar’s GMR Grand Prix of Indy to kick off the month of May you’ll have seen the fourth-closest Firestone Fast Six in history, with under 0.3s covering the entire six, and the gap between pole and second coming in at …

If you watched qualifying for IndyCar’s GMR Grand Prix of Indy to kick off the month of May you’ll have seen the fourth-closest Firestone Fast Six in history, with under 0.3s covering the entire six, and the gap between pole and second coming in at below 0.003s.

Granted, it wasn’t a clean session, but the margin between pole and second in Formula 1’s Miami Grand Prix a week before was logged at 0.361s, and the top six was spread out to the tune of nearly a second.

But Monaco delivered a thrilling fight for pole position, and F1 has actually seen the two closest field spreads in the history of its current qualifying format this year, with Q1 in Bahrain the tightest at 1.188s from P1 to P20, just pipping Miami’s 1.214s.

Yet as we all know, there’s no way Logan Sargeant can hope to make up that deficit from last to first just through setup and driver skill, such are the differences between F1 machinery. It’s one of the most fascinating and impressive factors of the category, with the regular upgrades — such as the ones set to be introduced in Barcelona this weekend — having such an influence on car development and performance.

But it also means there’s only so much a driver can do. They might be performing at the top of their game but the equipment will always be the main limit to their results.

Take Valtteri Bottas for example. In 2021 there were regular poles, podiums and a dominant win in Turkey thanks to the Mercedes he had at his disposal. A year later, he’s restricted to a solitary top-five and 10th in the championship, but many would say his first season at Alfa Romeo saw him driving as well if not better than before.

“It’s hard, and it’s definitely not always fair,” Bottas tells RACER. “There’s so many variables in this sport, like the car, the condition of the car, the setup, all these kind of things. So it’s not easy to accept sometimes if this guy is probably driving worse than me but he’s a few places ahead, and vice versa.

“Sometimes somebody might win a race that probably didn’t drive the best on the grid that day. That’s the nature of the sport — it’s always been like that. So it’s not always fair and you need to learn how to deal with it and accept those factors.

“I think in the end the main thing becomes focusing on your own work, making sure that you’re making the most out of it. Because that’s the driver’s job — to squeeze everything out of the car, and then after, give the best feedback you can.”

That feedback can only fully start once the car hits the track for pre-season testing, and its limitations or weaknesses can be felt in full. But drivers are well informed long before that point about the new chassis they’re going to be receiving, and where the team expects it to stack up.

“You normally get a pretty good prediction on aero numbers compared to last year, so then you can kind of guesstimate something,” Bottas says. “Let’s take an example of Aston Martin — you don’t know for a team like that if they’re gonna make a big jump over the winter or not.

“If you’re on a similar level than the previous year when you start a new season, then you know you’re screwed! So you need to be quite a bit up. And also, over the winter, normally in the wind tunnel how they find the performance, there’s like a graph. And if there’s been like a steady state, or if it’s been like that (sharply up), then you kind of get an idea that, OK, it’s been a good winter or a bad winter.

“Other things as well, such as new mechanical things — regarding the suspension, balance tools, stuff like that — you kind of know what’s coming, and then you can try and guesstimate where you’ll be.”

Lionel Ng/Motorsport Images

And despite what teams and drivers say, their whole mood is impacted by how competitive the car looks from the outset. Lap times are always analyzed and understood, and that can mean a pretty clear picture of where a team is likely to be fighting during the year, which in turn can be tough to handle knowing what the next 12 months are likely to hold.

“Of course it makes a difference,” Bottas agrees. “Let’s say, from all the conclusions from winter testing, if you see that you’re dead last, you know it’s going to be a tough season. But if you’re top three, you know that, ‘OK, there’s a great chance.’ So yeah, for sure that makes the mood, but the key thing is never let the mood kind of drag you down, or drag the team down.

“You always need to stay motivated in this sport and always need to keep pushing people and asking for more, because that’s how the sport works. But yeah, of course, in Formula 1 everything is more fun when the car is good, that’s just how it goes!”

Perhaps the toughest time is for a rookie, when the step is made from winning regularly in junior categories that are spec series, offering a much more level playing field. To go from that being the norm to a car that might not allow you to compete with most of the other drivers on the grid can be tough, though Bottas admits his own career path smoothed that transition.

“I was quite OK with it. Obviously, first year, everything is exciting anyway. The car wasn’t great, but that didn’t really put me down because I was focusing on trying to prove myself, that I belong in Formula 1. And then I finally had a couple of highlights in the first season which then secured me the drive.

“Then the next year already we actually then had a big jump — the 2014 Williams, I think six podiums, which was pretty cool. So, I’ve had good and bad cars and you just learn how to deal with it.”

Competitiveness is the focus rather than simply being quick. Pace is relative, and for someone like Bottas the priority is always lap time over changes and developments that suit his driving style or make the car more to his liking.

“I take lap time whatever. If I have to drive the car sideways, if the lap time is good, it’s all about performance,” he says. “It doesn’t matter — even when it was the porpoising issues and stuff, for me, if there was porpoising I would always take a setup that is faster, no matter what.”

Maximizing what you have to work with brings its own emotional rewards, but Bottas admits there’s still nothing like strong results – which are hard to come by for all but F1’s top teams. Jake Grant/Motorsport Images

But another popular myth is that drivers are most proud of a drive where they’ve maximized the result over the end result itself. There is some truth to that, but Bottas admits everyone performing to their maximum is still no substitute to a better return, even if not everything clicked at 100%.

“You feel good and proud — if I feel like I’ve done the most I could and if I feel like I’ve performed at my best level. But still, the result is so important that there’s this underlying feeling of disappointment if you don’t get the result you wanted.

“So it’s tricky. And also the mood in the team, if you have a sort of target of a result, no matter how well you drove, if you didn’t get there, nobody is cheering.”

A results-driven business where your driving sometimes can’t have an overriding influence on the result. Tough gig.

Valtteri Bottas se quitó el calor del GP de México con una “caguama”

La famosa “caguama” bien fría calma el calor de cualquiera y eso lo pudo constatar Valtteri Bottas quien se ganó el corazón de México

El calor en la pista del Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez el pasado domingo durante la carrera de la Fórmula 1 alcanzó temperaturas muy elevadas por lo que los pilotos sufrieron deshidratación, pero nadie como Valtteri Bottas para quitarse la sed en México.

Foto ESPECIAL

El piloto de Alfa Romeo publicó una historia en su Instagram donde festejó haber quedado dentro de los puntos en el GP de México acompañado de una “caguama”, una botella de más de un litro de cerveza mexicana que el finlandés no dejó escapar la oportunidad de probar y fue captado por su novia la ciclista Tiffany Cromwell.

La famosa “caguama” bien fría calma el calor de cualquiera y eso lo pudo constatar Valtteri Bottas quien de inmediato se ganó el corazón de la afición mexicana que ya lo adoptó como un hermano más.

Los comentarios en redes sociales son muy chistosos pues es una bebida de lo más popular en México y ver al piloto de Alfa Romeo con el producto en sus manos fue mágico para muchos mexicanos que disfrutan de “echarse sus caguamas” los fines de semana.

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De fiesta a tragedia, Bottas derrumba a Mercedes en 30 minutos

Parecía ser un día de fiesta para Mercedes, pero no fue así, la escudería alemana se destruyó en 30 minutos previo al GP de Italia

Valtteri Bottas fue el gran vencedor del Sprint del GP de Italia, sumó los tres puntos y parecería un día de fiesta para Mercedes, pero no fue así, la escudería alemana se destruyó en 30 minutos.

Todo parecía indicar que el Sprint en Monza sería puras alegrías para Mercedes, así había comenzado el fin de semana con la clasificación de sus dos pilotos en 1 y 2 para la prueba de hoy.

© Sipa USA

Pero en la largada, Hamilton perdió muchas posiciones y aunque lo intentó concluyó en quinta posición. Bottas aguantó toda la carrera el embate de Verstappen e incluso llegó a ponerse con dos segundos de ventaja del neerlandés pero de nada sirvió su esfuerzo, perdió la pole sancionado por cambiar elementos de su unidad de potencia y saldrá de último dejando al de Red Bull en el sitio de honor.

Checo Pérez finalizó noveno el sprint pero arrancará en octavo para el GP de Italia el día de mañana, la segunda línea de parrilla fue para Daniel Ricciardo y en tercer puesto irá Lando Norris.

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Verstappen obtuvo la pole y Checo saldrá cuarto en Estiria

Max Verstapen de 23 años consiguió este sábado su tercera pole position de la temporada y Checo Pérez saldrá cuarto en Estiria

Max Verstapen de 23 años consiguió este sábado su sexta pole position desde que participa en la máxima categoría, la tercera de su temporada y camina firme en busca de otra victoria que lo separe aún más de Hamilton que saldrá en segunda posición.

La segunda fila de la parrilla la formarán Lando Norris de McLaren y el mexicano Sergio Pérez de Red Bull que mejoró mucho con respecto de las prácticas del viernes donde finalizó en décimo tercera posición.

Sin embargo Checo se vio beneficiado de la penalización de Valtteri Bottas pues el piloto de Mercedes terminó segundo en la clasificación, pero por su incidente el día de ayer fue relegado hasta la quinta posición en la tercera fila de la parrilla.

Buena oportunidad para Red Bull de conseguir puntos importantes que agrande aún más su ventaja sobre Mercedes y por fin romper la hegemonía de la escudería alemana de siete títulos consecutivos.

Muchas emociones nos esperan en el Gran Premio de Estiria en Austria en casa de Red Bull y en una pista que comienzan a dominar a placer durante la temporada 2021 de la Fórmula 1.

Foto portada vía © SIPA USA

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#VIDEO Valtteri Bottas tiene penoso incidente que Red Bull agradece

Valtteri Bottas fue sancionado con tres posiciones en la parrilla de salida por un penoso incidente en el pitlane donde derrapó su auto

La lucha de Mercedes por remontar posiciones en la clasificación de constructores no se dará este fin de semana durante al Gran Premio de Estiria, pues de entrada su piloto Valtteri Bottas ya fue sancionado con tres posiciones en la parrilla de salida por un penoso incidente en el pitlane.

Bottas derrapó su monoplaza durante un cambio de neumáticos de rutina durante los segundos libres de la práctica de este viernes.

De milagro se las arregló para no estrellarse contra el muro de pits y no atropellar a ningún miembro del staff de McLaren, quienes incluso tuvieron que auxiliar al piloto de Mercedes para regresar al auto en su dirección original.

Michael (Massi, director de la FIA), eso es absolutamente ridículo”; “Podrían haber sacado a uno de los chicos [mecánicos] o el muro de pits“. declaró Paul James director del equipo McLaren.

Tras el incidente y la queja presentada por McLaren la FIA convocó a Bottas a una audiencia donde se le sancionó con tres posiciones en la parrilla, por conducción peligrosa en la línea de pits.

Red Bull agradece el incidente, pues de entrada con una buena quali, solo tendrán que preocuparse por el desempeño de Lewis Hamilton al frente de la parrilla y ya se vio que Checo y Verstappen comienzan a trabajar bien en equipo.

Foto portada ESPECIAL

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Valtteri Bottas got forced out of the Monaco Grand Prix by a stuck wheel nut and people had so many jokes

This was both terribly sad and absolutely hilarious.

You’ve been there before: In a rush, trying to get somewhere important, and, sure enough, you have to switch out the tire on your car. You scurry back to the trunk, get the jack, hoist that flat off the ground and go straight for the first lug nut and … nothing. Doesn’t budge.

Where you go next depends on your own personal MacGyver quotient and/or whether you have AAA and think they can get there soon enough.

It’s usually inconvenient, but whatever.

Now imagine you’re the pit crew for a Formula 1 car in one of the world’s most prestigious races, the Monaco Grand Prix. If this happens to you … well, it’s highly, highly embarrassing and costly.

And it did! To poor Valtteri Bottas.

The tire never came off and Bottas was forced to retire. That’s just absolutely devastating.

Bottas, who was in second at the time, said after the race that he felt he would have been in position to win the race had the snafu not happened; Max Verstappen ended up in first.

Here’s how the Mercedes team explained what happened:

Bad luck and controversy have seemed to follow Bottas recently, so this was wrenching to see.

But it’s also the sort of thing the internet mocks ceaselessly. People on Twitter had so much fun with it.