LEADERSHIP driver’ s performance. The baseline strategy is refined in light of the live data. It is further refined after securing the pole position and finally honed online while the racing is on.
Strategy in F1 also has many elements because one has to deal with multiple hurdles and choices. There are limitless trade-offs involved. What is chosen is important however, what is left-out is equally important. Strategy crafting in F1 is identifying choices available and choosing them carefully in light of hurdles posed by variables discussed above.
Players: Choice making starts with the selection of the drivers and members of the team, well ahead of the season. Having celebrity players like Lewis and Max is an advantage but also a disadvantage because they are the object of envy and are focused on by competitors in their strategy crafting. Protecting such key players and empowering them to win the championship is the key element of the team strategy. It calls for making the teammate play the second fiddle. He has to support the main player by providing leveraging opportunities like toeing, overtaking, slip-stream, DRS, etc. In F1- 2021 Abu Dhabi, Lewis Hamilton had mounted a big lead of 10 seconds over Max Verstappen. Sergio Perez, Max’ s partner held Lewis for a while and helped Max to reduce the lead by 3 to 4 seconds.
Pit-stop strategy: A good pit stop is a fundamental element in F1; one that may lead a team to the top of the podium. Teams have to arrive at the golden mean of the number of‘ pit-stops’ to be taken and tyres to be changed. The higher the number of pit stops better will be the tyre support system but about a half minute gets wasted for every pit stop. Part of this strategy is the decision of when is the right time for a car to have a pit stop, which tyres should be used and taking into consideration what the competitors might do. Releasing a car from the pits into a convoy of slower cars is typically avoided, as it will cost time; and in F1 even milliseconds are precious. So, an F1 team needs to be able to plan and implement a flexible pit stop strategy. One strategy could be to start with medium tyres and take just 1 pit-stop for a tyre change in Lap 21 to 26 to change over to hard tyres and continue till the end. But remain open to play tactics if some incidence happens then either change tyres after 15 laps to reduce the pit time or change tyres a second time in case of the arrival of the safety cars after an accident.
Undercut Strategy: It is a strategic overtaking method. A driver is made to change tyres before his main competitor who is racing ahead of him. By pitting for fresh tyres first, a driver can make use of the extra grip immediately and quickly close the gap to the car ahead. Additionally, it puts pressure on a rival to change tyres and he does so within a couple of laps. Once he goes to the pit stop for changing tyres the driver can speed high. Tyres support this extra high speed since they are brand new and also got heated well in those couple of laps. Even when the competing driver returns post pit stop, he takes time to match the speed as his tyres are cold. Thus, the undercut strategy provides its pay-offs for 4 to 5 rounds. Max Verstappen used it in the French GP F1-2021 to gain an advantage over Lewis Hamilton.
Free Pit stop Strategy: Some teams smartly blend tactics with the undercut strategy or nullify the advantage gained by the competitor. It is called exploiting a‘ free pit stop’ or‘ cheap pit stop’. Forecasting is done about the likely arrival of the safety car based on the track, weather and the decision to change tyres is scheduled based on their position during the race vis a vis their main opponent. Tracks play a major role in causing accidents. Some tracks promote racing at high-speed drivers get tempted to compete on speed and smash each other calling for a safety car. Some tracks have many sharp twists and turns they also cause accidents.
Slipstream or Toe Strategy: Slipstreaming occurs when a car is behind another down a straight. The lead car produces circulation behind the car as it produces downforce, this generates an area of lower pressure behind the car. Slipstream is good for the car behind, as the cars don’ t have to push as much to gain higher top speed. In the collaborative strategy, one player of the team leads and the other follows his car to get the benefit of the slipstream.
Engine Change strategy: Drivers change engines more frequently than expected change. They have to face a penalty of five positions in such a case but they sometimes go for it to gain an advantage in speed. Lewis Hamilton changed the engine against the penalty in the F1-2021 to keep pace with Max.
Strategy to score fastest car point: There is one bonus point available for the driver who records the fastest lap in the F1 race. However, he must also finish in the race in the top 10 to qualify for the point. This point is useful for the team and to the driver who is competing for the championship. Otherwise, it is considered a highly risky strategy that can create an accident, wear tyres much faster and put pressure on the engine too.
Best of the rest strategy: In this strategy the team realizes the challenges involved in winning the championship. They focus on getting on to the podium as number three rather than trying to fight with the leader or challenger. They do not craft their strategies to out-perform these top two teams but try to overpower all other teams and stand on to the podium as number three. It is also called podium strategy.
As a professor of Management, I always believed unless there is entertainment there is no learning. Formula-1 Grand Prix is a mega business too. It has a turnover of more than US $ 4 billion; employs around 50,000 people in more than 30 countries; and embodies cutting edge technology in the automotive industry. Managing F1 is like managing a Fortune-500 company. It supports many other businesses like video games, automobiles, auto components, entertainment and tourism, hospitality, etc. Hence, leadership, management and strategy lessons from F1 are useful in managing business organisations. ■
Prof. Dr. Ajit Patil was awarded‘ Top Voice on LinkedIn- 2017’. He is a Management Writer; Marketing, Business Development & Retailing Consultant. He conducts Management Development Programmes; trains & coaches Sales & Marketing teams. He has been teaching MBA students in India & overseas for over 20 years. He can be reached at: Ajitpatilmumbai @ yahoo. co. in.
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