Got into Formula 1 recently, and they constantly talk about “conserving tires”, but the tires are always on the road? It’s always spinning? Do they just mean go slower??? Why would you want to go slower in a race?
In: 2
They go slower, but only a little bit so.
Still, in a sport as tight as racing, tenths of a second matter. Teams are constantly balancing tire wear and going faster.
Lots of great explanations here already but wanted to share an interesting attribute of high performance tires, and racing tires in particular that is at play here.
Racing is about driving “at the limit:” controlling the car at 10/10ths of its abilities. Go any faster and you’d crash.
So what is 10/10ths? Well The tires in F1 actually produce the most grip slightly BEYOND their limit. That is to say, quite non-intuitively, they provide more grip when the tire slips slightly, than when it is at the limit of adhesion (gripping without slip).
So to go as fast as possible on a racing tire you’re constantly pushing it slightly beyond its ability to stick.
That extra speed also comes with extra tire wear…
Driving slightly slower than 10/10, at 9.8/10 can have have a minor impact on performance and a huge impact on tire life as you create a lot less tire slip in linear (braking and speeding up) and lateral (cornering) acceleration.
Unfortunately if the guy behind you is driving 10/10, you’ll get passed.
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