You may often come across terms, used by broadcasters or journalists, at a grand prix meeting that does not resonate with you.
But such is the technical and strategic rigour of Formula 1, such terms are frequent and may be worth knowing. Here are four of them.
Virtual Safety Car
Commonly used during the race, although also within race control’s jurisdiction during practice sessions, this is where the cars are mandated to lap the circuit, and parts of it, under a speed limit, while an incident is cleared.
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The virtual safety car is used as opposed to a safety car, which is a longer process and eats into racing laps. In theory, the drivers should not gain time, or lose time, during this period, as they are all lapping the track at the same pace.
However, once the green flag is waved, you can lose a position or heaps of time, if you do not time the restart well. This is what Sergio Perez learned, when he was passed by George Russell at the 2022 French Grand Prix, when a virtual safety car period ended.
LAP 50/53
RUSSELL OVERTAKES PEREZ FOR P3 👊
Checo is caught sleeping by the virtual safety car restart as the Brit storms past him! #FrenchGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/o5tgLPiWQM
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 24, 2022Grand Slam
If a driver starts from pole; leads every lap; wins the race and sets the fastest lap, then they have completed a grand slam. It is certainly not a similar meaning to the men’s golf grand slam, which means winning all four of the sport’s majors, but it values a perfect weekend for a Formula 1 driver.
Jim Clark has won the most grand slams, with eight, followed by Lewis Hamilton, with six. The last time a driver scored one of these was Max Verstappen, during last season’s opening round at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Switchback
This is where the attacking driver compromises their entry to a corner, allowing the defending driver to lead through the apex of the corner, so that they can apply the throttle earlier, get a better exit and win the position.
This is often achieved by drivers with a better tyre performance, as they rely upon good traction and grip to pull this sort of overtake off.
It is a technique that is most common in karting, which Lewis Hamilton ensured to keep as part of his racing arsenal, once he reached Formula 1.
Even in 2023, his savvy deployment of this sort of overtake was made on Lando Norris, at that year’s United States Grand Prix.
Great battling between the two Brits! ⚔️
Norris defends hard but can’t stop a charging Hamilton 💪#F1 #USGP pic.twitter.com/gwlTuheGdY
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 22, 2023Sectors
To you and me, a Formula 1 track is made up of three sectors. At the end of each, particularly in practice and qualifying, we are informed of how competitive a driver’s sector was. Was it quicker, or slower, than the best time set in the session at that point?
On the screen, we are given a graphic to determine the competitiveness of that sector. If it is purple, it is the quickest of the entire session. If it is green, it is a personal best. If it is yellow, it is slower than a personal best.
Sometimes a commentator may refer to a sector that exceeds the number of three. That is because their track map is divided into more specific sectors, which allows them to detect where an incident may have happened.
But the traditional three-sector design is one that we all know and are presented with.
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