James Allison explains a perfect start in F1
The departure procedure will be different starting this weekend. It was therefore an opportunity to ask James Allison, the technical director of Ferrari, to describe a perfect start in F1 and to detail the differences the regulatory change will bring.
All the drivers interviewed on the subject over the weekend, whether it be Fernando Alonso or Marcus Ericsson, tell us the same thing: the change in starting regulations will not have much impact on them.
During the press conference with team leaders, the question was asked about what exactly this famous procedure consists of and what the role of the two mentioned clutches was. It was James Allison, technical director of Ferrari, who volunteered to explain the process: “(i) To move a car from standstill to motion, there is a certain level of grip available on the track. The tire has a level of grip and the track has a level of grip. What we are trying to do is to get as close as possible to this maximum level of grip but not beyond it. »
According to the British official, a perfect start is one where, when the driver releases the clutch pedal, they are able to reach the point where they apply the optimal level of torque, allowing them to both avoid wheelspin at the start and utilize all the available power.
In order to define this “magic” point, tests must be conducted over the weekend to accurately determine the available level of grip: « *Our job over the weekend is to precisely judge how much grip we have and adjust our clutches so that when the driver launches, the clutch closes exactly at the point to transmit the maximum torque to the road.* »
In the old procedure, the driver had two clutch pedals at their disposal. They would fully press the first one while the second was precisely adjusted by the engineers so that when the first pedal was released, it stopped exactly at the level of the second, thus allowing optimized starts.
From now on, engineers will no longer be able to give any advice on the subject during the formation lap: « The actual start will be made solely by the driver. If he thinks the clutch is too open or too closed, he will have to make the decision himself. We might be in the garage saying to ourselves, “No, don’t do that!” but we won’t have the right to stop him. »
We will see on Sunday if many engineers will lament on the pit wall when the lights go out…
From our special correspondent in Spa-Francorchamps
