SAP Perfect Lap Issue 03
Russian Lesson
Race Date:
2014
12th October
Circuit Name:
Sochi
Autodrom
First Grand Prix:
2014
Number of
Laps:
53
Circuit Length:
5.853km
Lap Record:
1:40.896
V Bottas (2014)
012
As Formula 1 reflects on the inaugural Russian GP,
McLaren can be thankful of the data-processing tools
and expertise at its disposal to enable the Team to
achieve the best possible result at an all-new venue.
“To boldly go where no man has
gone before” Forgive, if you will, this
.
paraphrase of the famed opening-credits
prelude to Star Trek, for it summarises
neatly the challenge just met by all
Formula 1 teams and their legion of
personnel after venturing forth to a new
F1 circuit in a country that had never
before hosted a grand prix.
Yes, F1 just turned its first wheel at
Russia’s all-new Sochi Autodrom,
discovering a fast, atypical track that
once upon a time might have baffled
drivers and engineers in pursuit of the
perfect set-up. A long, arcing 180-degree
left-hander that asks drivers to accelerate
through the gears before braking while
turning? That’s tricky Turn Four and
back in the day it would have demanded
hours of race-weekend practice time to
perfect the best compromise between
ride heights, spring/damper rates, tyre
compounds and aero settings, among
myriad other performance-influencing
parameters.
But that was then. In 2014, every Sochibound team – even the humblest – was
able to rely on copious intelligence
gleaned from advance-party visits and
illicit ‘chats with mates’ who’d already
scouted the latest new grand prix
destination. The grandee teams, such
as McLaren, meanwhile, were able to do
much, much, better that that.