#f1 technical analysis

[leftneb]

There is Something Seriously Wrong with this Logo..... Chapter Two

So. Lots of you have seen this post by my dear partner ( @lailau7904 ) in which the Williams F1 design team get absolutely torn to bits. In the case you haven't read it yet I highly recommend you do because a) it's really fucking funny and b) it makes what I'm about to tell you even funnier. Though you don't have to, this post touches on entirely different things still regarding this one goddamn logo.

The original post starts like this:

Innocent enough, we made an assumption in good faith that the logo displayed on the Wikipedia page would be the same one as the official version used by Williams. Buckle the fuck up because I'm about to tell you why that was the worst mistake we could have made.

Please. Please I beg of you keep reading this took YEARS off our lifespans. Like the original post was fun and all but it was merely the top of the iceberg. If this were an hbomberguy video this would be the part where he reveals that the background was a greenscreen the whole time. More below the cut!!! :333

The Truth

Already after only a few hours after hitting "post" on the dissection, people started pointing out to us that we'd missed an absolutely crucial detail on the Wikimedia page we got the logo from, pay careful attention:

See THIS?

Yeah this means that that image is not, and never was, the official logo of Williams. All along it had been the work of a Wikipedia user by the name of Juanchocarbonero. Here you can even see the (admittedly painful) history of the file as provided by Wikimedia, this image was uploaded all the way back in 2016, it even underwent an update when the team changed their colour scheme to a lighter blue without getting fucking fixed.

But to me the absolutely most painful part about this page is the "File Usage" section. Which gives you a quick preview of just how deep the goddamn disease that is this piece of graphic design sin really spreads.

And just to clarify: the official version of the logo used by Williams on merch etc is perfectly fine. It's a nice piece of graphic design. I still quite like it. But the story doesn't end there. Not even close.

Consequences

When you look up "williams logo" on Google the image provided by Wikimedia the very first result that pops up, if you're looking for a high-quality .png of this logo that, logically, is what you'll end up using. And I mean, why wouldn't you? What reason do you have not to use it? As long as you don't look to close (oops) it's a perfectly fine, high-definition, clean and transparent image of the logo! No shit people are going to use it!

But this raises a question: Why IS it the most widespread version of the logo? That's fucking weird isn't it? Surely if the actual logo used on ex.: the official Williams F1 website (which, again, is perfectly fucking fine) was available they would've just used that, right?

Now. Small problem. If you want you can go ahead and open whatever search engine you use, if you do that I'm gonna need you to type in "Williams logo" into the search bar, and just try finding a picture that is

of the actual official logo (you can tell the bootleg from the real thing by checking if the middle segment of the W has spiky ends or flat ones. We're looking for flat ones here)

high quality (no pixels or blurring visible to the naked eye)

a transparent png (none of that chequered background bullshit)

NOT a logo with any words (such as: Williams or Racing) visible in it. those don't count.

If you didn't feel like doing any of that, I'll just tell you the answer: you fucking can't. Nothing like that EXISTS. The closest I could get are these two, both of which are mid to ass quality, so they don't count either.

No sensible individual is going to scroll google search results for 5 minutes straight just so they can use a 200x200 image, especially when they think a perfect alternative is right there.

I even found several recoloured versions of the diseased logo, including one as a sticker on Redbubble! Fuck me that's a horrible sight!

The Search

Because I wrote the previous paragrahps after we'd figured out exactly what had happened, you might be under the impression that by this point in trying to answer the question "Why the fuck is that image on Wikipedia instead of, idk, the real fucking thing?" we'd at least established the existence of said "real Williams F1 logo". You'd be wrong, because for somewhere around 24 hours after we'd made the initial, horrifying discovery of just how fucked the Wikipedia version is, we genuinely could not tell if that was the official logo or not.

The ones displayed on their website weren't at all downloadable or even copyable, a non-ass quality of the damn thing just didn't seem to exist anywhere, so we didn't dare draw any conclusions. And we were still foolishly operating on the assumption that Wikipedia wouldn't just lie to us. (this is why your teachers hate it when you use it a source btw. like this is the ONE time it's actually been reasonable)

So, in the hopes of finding the offical Williams Racing logo, the non-scuffed one because clearly it exists, somewhere, we consulted an expert on Intellectual Property: my mother!

What this "consultation" actually roughly looked like was: we went on a walk and I started rambling about the Situation from Last Night before she cut me off and pulled up the website of the World Intellectual Property Organisation, aka the place they store all the Copyright information of like, everything.

BEHOLD:

(pictured; THE ACTUAL FUCKING LOGO I CANNOT BELIEVE IT'S EXISTED THIS WHOLE TIME)

Link to the actual real official legal document because goddamn this rabbithole just kept getting deeper so I like, have that now.

For refence, here is the official copyrighted version and the Wikimedia file overlayed on top of each other. As you can tell, it's disgusting. It's a poor, eyeballed imitation at best.

The copyrighted logo is horrifically low quality because, guess what, that image also isn't downloadable or copyable from the page. I really really cannot blame Juanchocarbonero for uploading his own version to Wikimedia because there legitimately does not exist a version of this logo that is freely available to the public. Like that goddamn abomiation is all we have. It's the effort that counts I guess.

My mother suggested that a possible reason for this could be avoiding the production of knockoff merch, or at least making it recognisable in case it is sold. Think about it, when your logo Doesn't Exist online, no one can use it without a license! It's kind of genius! I'm also about 99% sure they didn't orchestrate it so, it was good luck I guess?

interlude: How the FUCK does Copyright even work

I did immediately think to myself "we should REALLY fix the wikipedia version, like, stat" because I cannot in good conscience have this information available to me and not do anything with it, for the good of the people. However, this poses an issue: was the logo really not scuffed on purpose? Could it be that that version uploaded to Wikipedia isn't a 1:1 of the official logo because of copyrighting issues? To find out I had to look deeper, by comparing the official, website-available logos of various other F1 teams I came to conclusion that: [........................]

Yeah so I wrote that paragraph before actually checking for refences, but even after probably an hour of trying very hard to make sense of the copyright documents and copyright law in general we could not make sense of any of it. According to my mother (again, the closest we have to an expert, like she actually works with copyright in the context of companies but she's not specifically an IP expert. just to clarify) it's actually a lot worse for Wikipedia to have a falsified version of the Williams logo, than it would be to use the copyrighted version. This is because they're spreading misinformation by pretending that's the actual logo. And yet.

According to the Copyright Tag (the one on the top) in the Licensing section of the Wikimedia page for the thing pretending to be the Williams F1 logo, it's fine to use it because just a bunch of shapes. The thing is however, that it says that for pretty much every F1 team's logo, most of which are sourced straight from the official website. So this doesn't really mean anything tbh. According to our local expert (still my mother) it's fucking confusing. So I've decided to leave that at that.

update October 20th: as far as the Wikimedia pages on copyrighting tell me, uploading the official logo could, potentially, get me into serious legal trouble with Williams because of copyright laws. Which is still confusing because as said, every other team's logo is sitting uncontested on their respective Wikipedia pages. So basically we still don't know.

Okay. Backtrack. We forgot to ask something very important:

HOW?

HOW does one fuck up a perfectly fine logo THAT BAD.

WHY does one make their own scuffed tracejob and HOW does it end up like THAT. Clearly something must have gone horrifically wrong for it to end up like that.

I have a theory as to what might have happened:

It was either drawn or painted by hand, for a physical paintjob it's actually sort of impressively precise, but still objectively fucked. For a while I outright refused to believe that it could have been done in a digital program with the types of mistakes that were made, but you'll see this theory (partially) disproven later on so I retract it for now.

Operating on the assumption that it wasn't done digitally, a likely theory could be one involving a picture of scan of the paintjob. If the picture was taken at an angle or the logo itself was on a curved surface that COULD potentially explain the weird sort of slide everything has to it.

From then the picture might have been inserted into a digital art program, and the area of the logo might have been automatically selected using the magic wand tool, which could explain the weird growth at the top and that odd rounded off corner.

We also drew the conclusion that the file itself had been "tampered with" (aka cropped manually) by a human, because no computer would generate a resolution of 3356x2543 (you can that this is the original resolution on the Wikimedia page)

WAIT HOLD ON IS THAT IT?

The question of how the Fuck this guy managed to mess up the logo, and even more specifically why some edges were fine and some weren't (ant colony looking thing on the top left) bothered us so much that I at one point started just looking up "WIlliams logo" with the results filtered down to pre-2017 in an attempt to find when exactly the messed up logo was created. As if that would be any help.

Now what I definitely didn't expect to find was THIS

ENHANCE

Yes, you're seeing it right, THAT is the original 'Williams logo with the fucked up arm angles and lenghts'. Which PROVES that, contrary to our previous belief, Juancocarbonero was NOT the origin of the mistakes. Instead it was [checks notes] a DeviantArt user by the name of Nerdkid56?

The original DeviantArt post, which as of 9:47pm CET on the 13th of October 2024 I am about 90% sure is the actual first appearanace of the scuffed logo, is from May of 2015, which lines up well with the original upload date of the fucked up logo onto Wikipedia (November 2016). At the time that DeviantArt post was almost the only source for the logo.

And in the case you needed any convincing that those two logos are the same, here they are overlayed. You may notice that it's one shape (excluding the rounded corner which isn't visible at this resolution.)

This discovery is essential to understanding why the current scuffed version is the way it is. You might remember our confusion about the way some edges are fine while some are attempting to leave the image, the whole thing is a weird Frankensteinian amalgamation of vectors and magic wand mistakes. With this knowledge we can now assume that the mistakes happened in 2 layers:

Nerdkid56: likely just eyeballed the proportions. I'd guess he drew one arm before the other and flipped it around without really checking the angles. Also didn't give a shit about whether the arms lined up with the base or not. Legitimately bad design made in a digital program.

Juancocarbonero: why he used the scuffed W logo instead of the normal ones that were also perfectly accessible by 1 goddamn Google search is a mistery. HOW he even got access to it is another question I do not think we'll have answers to. And I've already explained some of the things we think may be responsible for the uneveness and bumps. Point is he fucked it up even more.

My theory for why Juanchocarbonero used the scuffed version instead of any other available picture goes like this: it was the only png he could find. Practically every other search result for "Williams Logo" that predates 2017 is a jpeg or absolute ass quality (sometimes both for good measure) so, despite it's flaws, Nedkid56's trace of it could have been the best option available at the time (the quality is actually very very good since it's a vector image, and I guess our friend Juanchocarbonero doesn't have an eye for design considering he didn't notice uhm, everything that is wrong with that model.)

Conclusion

The only way to right these wrongs is to go back, to the very beggining of this saga. Wikipedia. Williams I'm so sorry for what you've had to endure. I know what I have to do now. When I eventually make a proper vector image of the official logo and upload it to Wikimedia it'll all be over. And I WILL do it (but not rn this has already robbed me of like 3 whole days of my life. soon)

All of this is, admittedly inconsequental, but also absolutely fucking hilarious. Like imagine. you. one single guy, you make ONE mistake in a silly little "tracing this logo" project because you couldn't be arsed to check the angles of a silly little W. And some other guy, who you likely don't even know, over a whole ass year later, takes your flawed piece of design, makes it even worse somehow and uploads it to a site from which your little tiny innocent mistake becomes the most widespread version of a logo used by an actual real company worth over 700 Million US Dollars. HOW. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN. WHY HAS NO ONE FIXED THIS??? IT'S BEEN 9 YEARS

Just to give you a final look on just how widespread this plague is, here are some examples of media the fucked up version of the logo is featured in:

this Mr V's Garage video (the original reason we started this conversation in the first place)

the thumbnails of these two videos by Tommo, this one by FP1Will, and this one by RicksF1Addiction

such an amount of random places. likely fanmerch and fanart, and like, pretty much any place someone wanted to use the logo. it's everywhere. if you've ever had the Williams logo displayed in anything you've made I can guarantee you 99.9% chance you used the fucked version

and late thank you to everyone ( @bumblewyn @mid-nighttiger @vro0m @lemonsgovroom @mikraas @leclerced fucking hell I kept needing to add people to this list because compiling all of this took absurdly long) who pointed out our misconception in the reblogs of the original post and contributed to us actually looking into this further. and sorry to everyone for accidentally spreading misinformation lmao (it's too funny not to have been worth it tho) (ALSO it's not really our fault is it)

and to keep the tradition of ending on a live discord reaction:

[silentreigns]

Where was this video when I was first getting into F1 because I learned a lot

[aoimeru14]

I know I'm just a nerd with a dream but:

What if, in preparation for the next season, we start a technical/analytical F1 (or Motorsport) community here on Tumblr?

Like, it can be a safe space to learn and share opinions/articles/cool facts on strategy, tyres, telemetries, rules and so on!

It can also be a safe space for anyone who wants to share an unbiased opinion, nerd on raw data (I'm looking at you, engineering graduates) or just help new fans catch on the sport!

Or just be a cozy place for seasoned fans who want to learn something new (I, for one, still need to learn A LOT of technical aspects of this sport) either for having a better understanding of the races/strategies or just for making more plausible fanfictions (I know you would like that, you FF writers!).

Also... I got this idea while yapping with another user recently and I really liked that! (You know who you are, thank you for the great time!)

That's why I got brave and asked. 🧡

In conclusion, what do you think? Would you like that?

[f1]

[slutforpringles]

I know F1 journalists seem to be so drama/clickbait focussed in their reporting, but it's pretty disappointing to have watched that press conference and not seen a single question asked to Daniel about last weekend's race, how him and the team debriefed following the race, what conclusions were reached and if they had put some better procedures/communication in place to make sure it doesn't happen again. I know it's not the driver market headline that lots of people want to read, but there's so little emphasis placed on reflecting on previous races, particularly if you're in the midfield, and I find it disappointing as someone who loves the more technical and in-depth race analysis parts of F1 journalism.

[boxboxblog]

F1 Break: In the Mean Time

Alrighty, so as we are all well aware the 2024 season has officially come to a close. This means we will not see cars on track until late February and no racing until mid-March.

If you are looking at the almost 3 month long break we have ahead of us and panicking over what to do with yourself (like I often do), I find Winter break is a great way to get a little deeper knowledge on F1 and it's history.

Shows or Movies:

Drive to Survive (Netflix): Controversial, but fun, this "docuseries" makes the behind the scenes of F1 into a real spectacle. As long as you take a lot of their insinuations about people with a grain of salt, it's good fun and helps get view into the politics of F1.

Rush (Prime or AppleTV): A rather dramatized version of the Lauda v Hunt rivalry, but good fun.

Hunt v Lauda (Prime): If you want a less Hollywood look at this rivalry, this documentary is great.

The Formula 1 Story (YouTube): Covers the creation and evolution of F1 and it's history.

Schumacher (Netflix): Documentary on the 7x WDC's life, career, and legacy.

A Life of Speed: The Juan Manuel Fangio Story (Netflix): Covers the story of Fangio and his championships wins.

Senna: No Fear, No Limits, No Equal (Netflix): Documentary about Ayrton Senna, has a habit of saintifying Senna but is quite informative.

Fernando (Prime): A documentary about Fernando Alonso during his time racing with IndyCar. Interesting view into another series with a familiar face.

Grand Prix Driver (Prime): A short series following McLaren during their 2017 pre-season. Great look into what teams do over the break and how they prepare.

Villeneuve Pironi: Racing's Untold Tragedy (Max): A look into the Villeneuve-Pironi rivalry and it's tragic end, seen from the perspective of both of their families.

One: Life on the Limit (AppleTV): Looks into safety throughout F1's history and the early risks involved in F1.

Science of F1 Design (YouTube): Mini-series that dives into the technical side of F1, on the official F1 channel.

Podcasts:

F1: Beyond the Grid: Official from F1, this showcases interviews with drivers, TPs, and other important figures in F1 history.

Bring Back V10s: a deep-dive into the V10 era from the 90s to the early 200s.

Missed Apex: Dives into more detailed and technical things. Can be a bit biased, but c'est la vie.

Parc Ferme: Goes into race strategies and regulations.

The Race F1: Race analysis, technical breakdowns, etc.

EngineBraking: The hosts worked as engineers in F1 and have great insight.

Shift+F1: Very beginner friendly look into F1, light and humerous.

Books:

How to Build a Car by Adrian Newey: If you are interested in the more technical aspects of F1, these insights from possibly the greatest F1 car engineer of all time would be a fascinating read.

The Mechanic by Marc Priestley: Stories from a McLaren mechanic about life inside the paddock.

The Winning Formula by Ross Brawn: Dives into strategies behind winning teams.

Life to the Limit by Jenson Button: A humorous look into Button's career, is pretty lighthearted and fun to read.

Survive.Drive.Win by Nick Fry: The story of Brawn GPs 2009 championship.

F1 Mavericks by Pete Biro: Dives into innovators in F1 throughout its history, from drivers to TPs to engineers.

The Death of Ayrton Senna by Richard Williams: A heavily researched look into Senna's career.

The Physics of Racing by Brian Beckman: A very scientific approach to understanding how F1 cars run.

F1: All The Races by Roger Smith: A detailed account of every single F1 race ever. Pretty hefty, but interesting.

Formula 1: The Champions by Maurice Hamilton: Profiles of every single F1 champion and a look into how they got there.

My Life in Formula 1 by Niki Lauda: A great insight into of of the F1 legends himself, goes through his career and his own personal viewing on his rivalry with James Hunt.

Popular YouTube Channels:

Chain Bear: Goes into F1 technical aspects in simple ways, such as what ground effect is and how the tires operate.

Driver61: Explains car performance, driving techniques, and race strategy from an ex-racing car driver.

CYMotorsport: Goes into F1 controversies, innovations, and strategies.

The Race: Dives into different controversies and different f1 happenings as well as race overviews.

F1 Reverse: Dives into different times in F1 history, as well as some gossip here and there.

Nico Rosberg: Info from the mouth of an F1 champion, does some race analysis and analysis of particular race tracks (I like his How to Master series the most)

All Time Great Races:

You can also rewatch some old races, especially if you have the F1TV subscription. I will list some super great races to watch.

1994 Australian GP

1996 Spanish GP

1998 Belgian GP

1998 European GP

2005 Japanse GP

2008 Brazilian GP

2011 Canadian GP

2014 Bahrain GP

2019 German GP

Other Motorsports:

Finally, diving into other motorsports during this time is super doable in my opinion. F1 is not alone in this massive world, and their are dozens of other very interesting series. MotoGP is one of my all time favorites, and is racing on two wheels instead of four. If you think F1 drivers are crazy for doing what they do, just wait until you see someone fall off a bike and skid across the pavement at 150 mph, then you will understand real crazy. IndyCar is also a blast, and although people tend to equate it to F1 it is very different. I will list some great documentaries/series that dive into other motorsports below.

MotoGP Unlimited (Prime): A look into the 2021 MotoGP season, follows riders and teams. Great first look into how that world works.

Fastest (Prime): A look into the MotoGP rivalry between Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo during the 2011 season.

Marc Marquez: All In (Prime): Story about MotoGP champion Marc Marquez and his return to racing after an intense injury.

100 Days to Indy (Netflix): Story about the drivers in IndyCar and their path to the Indy 500.

Nascar: Full Speed (Netflix): A documentary that follows a few teams and drivers as they take part in the championship.

NASCAR: The Rise of American Speed (Prime): Explores the history of this sport, super duper interesting especially with the similarities and differences to F1.

Alrighty, I hope this post is helpful! I will be doing some more series and posts throughout break, but if anyone has anything they wish to know about as always my asks are open!

Cheers,

-B

[blorbocedes]

as an ancient nico fan, i wanted to ask you, like, what made you notice him, even though he has long quit the sport? this is interesting to me, because i know why he is such an exemplary star, and i was worried that the time will be unforgiving to him, to his achievements or his talents, but thankfully i was proven wrong!

I wanted to be an informed hater and turned into a lover instead 😅

when I got in f1 around 2022 nico was regarded widely as a joke youtuber/fandom villain, but also the allure of brocedes~ that apparently a childhood best friend broke up an entire friendship and betrayal just to win the championship, well that's just a delicious narrative

so I was fully ready to hate on the guy because everyone else did and I wanted to fit in. only problem is I didn't know the guy. he retired in 2016 I don't know shit about him, beyond him being harmlessly cringe on commentary. so to be an effective and accurate hater I set on a journey to find out more about this rosberg dude and all the evils he did~

what made me notice him is that he was really pretty (I'm not gonna lie, I wouldn't have cared as much if he looked like kubica), he was the son of the wdc who won a wdc in the nepotism failbaby sport, and he'd beaten lewis hamilton in his prime while also having been childhood friends (what!!!)

I would watch his YouTube videos, esp the ones in the sim/track analysis where he'd explain the best way to optimise a track and then do a q&a, and he was so knowledgable and his enthusiasm was infectious. like did I understand what downshifting was? no. was I riveted hearing him explain why milliseconds of downshifting at the exact time on a corner matters? absolutely. that's when I was like oh he knows what he's talking about, like from a technical standpoint and not just I'm driving the car.

the more I learned about him the more fascinating he became, the five languages but not his father's, the way he was perceived by the media vs his actual personality, being the youngest ever test driver at 17, scoring points and fastest lap on debut (!!!), people thinking he only got the seat bc daddy was a world champion, enduring the britneyfication for long hair/feminine. he's also so fast, like his monaco pole laps are something out of a beautyyyyy. and then being paired up with fucking michael schumacher, having the midfield campaigns of all time at the same time while his peers and friends are winning championships. I also found him using every tactic at his disposal incredibly clever, like why shouldn't you play the media if you speak 5 languages and know german media will be more sympathetic vs british media will paint you as cold and unfeeling. his 2016 campaign that actually started after 2015 USGP when he lost the wdc -- the complete self control, restraint and putting yourself through the impossible and making it on the other side. and yet his winning radio was telling his wife WE did it, not me/i. even though it was the greatest personal achievement he never shied away from his wife's role in it and even his decision to retire is really admirable. he did it and he got to leave it behind on a high, which I think is almost impossible in f1 to do.

I think I'd have been more insane if I got to watch him live, nico the f1 driver and nico the happily retired girldad are kind of distinct entities and I enjoy both but in separate ways ofc.

but please if you (anyone reading this) was a nico fan back when he was racing how was that like!!!! how was 2016 like for you!!! and Living Through it live

[cherrari]

How would you recomend one approach learning about racing without any prior context? I now understand the rules (eh like not the specifics specifics) and im willing to watch a lot of videos, understand the superficial engineering of the car, telemetry, the superficial physics of racing, understand racing lines, defending, attacking, etc. But would you say I should learn about X first as a basis and then move to Y or I should just try whatever?

i think the single best thing you can do is watch old seasons. you'll see so many different types of racing, how f1 has evolved over the years, and why certain things are the way they are now. 1990, 1994 (with additional reading), 1998-1999, pretty much any/all seasons between 2006-2012 (more additional reading for 2007), 2014, 2018-2019, and 2021. 2012 is by far the most popular and what i'd recommend starting with but tbh you can also just look up the results of these and pick whichever one sounds most interesting to watch. you don't even need to watch the races, just watch the highlights

chain bear has some easy to digest videos on racing, but i would be very wary of 95% of youtubers who make "f1 analysis" videos because literally almost every one i click on is bullshit. especially those "comparing drivers' driving styles" videos that talk about how a driver prefers a specific "type" of understeer or oversteer

i think it also largely depends on how much physics you're willing to learn. the popular books written by engineers are often a good source of information, though not unbiased. e.g., newey's autobiogaphy, milliken's "race car vehicle dynamics," and seward's "race car design," in order from least to most technical. learning about aerodynamics a little past superficial but not necessarily professional-level understanding will make your life much easier in understanding the car development race

the f1 technical regulations are incredibly dry reading, but also genuinely good for learning about all the constraints on f1 cars. they're also handy to know in case you get into arguments online with people who don't know them 🙂 for specific questions or details on car development, the f1technical subreddit can be a good source. just make sure the person commenting actually knows what they're talking about. the f1technical forum is either the best or worst place for information, the team threads are incredibly biased but the more neutral car and engine threads tend to have information you won't easily find anywhere else

ultimately though, unless you're going to school for engineering and working in motorsport, there's no reason to feel pressured about learning every aspect of how the sport works. there are certain aspects of f1 that interest me more than others and i've focused a lot on learning about those aspects, but i'd never claim to have a good understanding of the sport as a whole because i am not a professional engineer

[milfclaren]

Okay. so far this is theoretical and maybe far fetched but i need y’all to hear me out please. all the written media surrounding f1 is based on the technical aspect of the sport (track or strategy specific pieces, beginners guides, different lists and rankings), or it’s gossip/insider info from around the paddock (who’s signing where, where there’s drama, etc.) but there is no actual cultural analysis/commentary pieces in f1/motorsport writing. and i just feel that’s a huge gap. i’ve never seen a sport that lacks it so completely, to this extent. it feels intentional in a way (for starters, one media conglomerate runs the Entire org/sport and for two, corporate sponsored content is the Only other option). even if you go to different motorsport blogs and websites it’s all content of a similar vein to what i mentioned before. any cultural analysis of f1/motorsport that i’ve found is ALWAYS by individual blogs and fans online? very rarely is it ever official content. anyways i have ideas i could write about At Length. if i could hash out the logistics of this type of sport analysis (building my overall knowledge base of the sport, figuring out a platform to put this analysis on, establishing an audience for it), i guess the questions i have for YOU, dear reader, are

1) would you be part of that audience? is a written cultural analysis of f1/motorsport something you might read/watch/listen to? have you noticed the same gap and would you be interested in seeing it fulfilled? is there anyone else writing or making this style of content already?

2) are there any specific ideas or topics within f1/motorsport YOU would like to see analyzed or critiqued? this can be about anything related to the sport in general, i’m so serious. i can share some ideas i have, but i’m just One person and i want to know what other people notice and think as well.

[charles-leclerc-official]

Well, I didn't think I'd be explaining the details of an F1 PU in this race analysis, but I guess that's what's on the menu. That and untangling the tyres and pits and timing math.

Might take longer because I am waiting for more info from Ferrari on the technical side of things, so this will probably take longer. I think I know but I need confirmation and hopefully some more details.

[puckpocketed]

Hehe hello van it is midnight for me and also hot but here are somethings (aka two things)

F1 has a beginners guide, it introduces a brief history, some techniques stuff, teams, circuits

There is a podcast that I have a love hate relationship with called mattp1tommy (YouTube link) obviously some opinions they have in my driver I don’t agree with but that is because my driver can do no wrong in my eyes. But they cover all the races and breaking news (and there has been a lot of breaking news this year 💀)

Also grill the grid it is to show case the drivers personalities and is very fun to binge watch

Another YouTuber that I personally enjoy is lawvs not just because he is an oscar fan, but also because he makes fun food for though videos, idk how to describe them okay 😭 I just enjoy them

Obviously there is drive to survive on netflix but not many people like it because it misrepresents a lot of drivers* and makes some moments that we’re really that frantic overly dramatic

*a common theme in dts (drive to survive) is that they portray max verstappen as a villian, which he isn’t he’s just a good driver that sometimes pisses people off (naturally)

Also I know you like analytical things and there is this great series called “jolyn palmer’s f1 tv analysis” he breaks down technical aspects from a race (and they are fan questions that a submitted via instagram) and they’re in-depth and jolyn is honestly a great person, here is his most recent one about the race in qatar

But this is all I got rn but if you have questions please ask :) I’ll try and answer them the best I can

HELLO?? that is so many resources thank you for putting them all together so quickly!! every day i orbit closer and closer to. zoomies . attempting to be casual about this hobby :3 <- i will let everyone know how this goes

[paddockanalysis]

Welcome to My Formula 1 Blog!

Hi everybody! A little bit about me while I prepare my first report! I don’t feel comfortable sharing my real name so just call me Ana (short for analysis). I’m straight (she/her). I’m Eastern European, more specifically from Hungary!

As Formula 1 is huge in Europe, despite me being born in Australia, because of my European parents I grew up with F1! So I’ve been watching Formula 1 for years and years. My dream is to one day be a F1 Race Engineer, I’m currently studying Mechanical Engineering!!

My favourite driver of all time is Kimi Räikkönen The Iceman he’s an absolute legend! And I love how much we can see of him in Piastri. As I do have family in Italy going for Ferrari was only natural, it’s a shame that Vettel didn’t get a chance to win a championship in the legendary Ferrari but it is what it is!

If you have any questions I’m happy to chat! Mwah💋!

This blog is dedicated to exploring the world of Formula 1 through in-depth reports and analyses. From championship-winning strategies to the dynamics of individual drivers and teams, my goal is to provide unique insights and thought-provoking discussions about the sport we all love.

Whether you're a die-hard fan or just starting to learn about F1, you'll find content here that dives into the complexities of racing, from technical nuances to human stories behind the wheel. 

Don’t be shy to message and leave suggestions for future posts!

Key Posts

Below are links to some posts I hope you enjoy!:

How Max Verstappen Won Each Championship from 2021 and Onwards (links coming soon) 5 parts

2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

What Did Lando Do Wrong in 2024? (In editing thank you for those that helped realise my mistakes🫶)

What Did McLaren Do Wrong in 2024?

What’s the Difference Between Franco Colapinto and Logan Sargeant? (link coming soon)

Why is the Gap Between Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen So Large? (link coming soon)

What Can Be Expected of Formula 1’s New 11th Team? (link coming soon)

How Can Lando Norris Challenge Max Verstappen More in the 2025 Season? (link coming soon)

The Waste of Valtteri Bottas’ Potential. (link coming soon)

The Math Behind Formula 1 (link coming soon)

Feel free to explore, share your thoughts, and suggest future topics. Let’s delve into Formula 1 together!

PLEASE DONT COPY MY WORK!!

[alianoralacanta]

Have you seen the article Bernie Collins wrote on how Carlos helped Ferrari choose the right strategy for Charles?

At this point the information is given to Leclerc that Sainz is targeting a one-stop strategy. Leclerc agrees that it is the best opportunity to win and immediately begins work on the tyre saving required to pull it off.

Weren't Charles' laptimes reflective of a one-stop even before he "agreed"? Plus it was confirmed that the one-stop was the pre-agreed strategy (by both Fred and Charles after the race) so his times make sense.

This line in particular... So although Leclerc then took the plaudits and the glory on the Monza podium in front of the adoring Tifosi, he couldn’t have pulled off such a famous victory without the help of his Ferrari team mate.

I can't believe this lol, I'm convinced this is to push a feel-good teammates narrative for Monza or something (I usually love Bernie by the way.)

I would love your thoughts on the article!

I'm glad I waited on this one. Turns out the full radio transcripts don't support Bernie's conclusion, and initially I thought they did (if for different reasons than Bernie). Leclerc was definitely aiming for a one-stop all along. Indeed, he was going faster as the hard tyre stint went on (on average), which is the opposite behaviour to that expected by someone suddenly changing to a more conservative strategy. That is not in doubt. However, I thought I'd heard Bozzi ask to go onto Plan C (which in context would have meant going to 2 stops rather than 1) partway through the race, shortly before Sainz suggested Plan B (the one-stop). This would have led to Sainz deserving credit for saving Ferrari from losing confidence in its convictions. The first paragraph you quoted would still be nonsense, but at least the second one you quoted would be justifiable. However, looking back through the Channel 4 highlights where I thought I'd heard it revealed that this was just an error on my part. Plans of any letter were never mentioned on that program.

One of my friends on Twitter tracks Leclerc's and Sainz's radios all the way through each race. I am not sure how she does this (I assume she has only one pair of ears) but she spotted that at no point did Leclerc agree to two-stop. There were a couple of comments that suggested that Leclerc and Bozzi were instead trying to bait McLaren into two-stopping. The one I think might have tripped Bernie and several other analysts, was a prompt to think about tyre wear, soon followed by mention of a lettered plan. Leclerc had done a very slow lap prior to this message. However, Ferrari's experience over the last few races is that Leclerc can have a few slow laps and then clear the tyre, quite reliably. Barring a request from Leclerc, it would be surprising to pit him after only one slow lap. Naturally, Leclerc sped up again the moment Piastri pitted (to do his in-lap). (The baiting was probably superfluous, since I don't think McLaren could have one-stopped even if it had tried. Tyre management is one of the McLaren's only technical weaknesses). In tricking McLaren, I think Ferrari managed to trick several analysts. I don't think this is about pushing a feel-good narrative, it is simply a mistaken analysis. That it feeds into a pro-Sainz attitude that would be appreciated by Sainz's sponsor that is about to take up a position as F1's sponsor, is purely coincidental and would not have entered Bernie's mind. It might, however, have been considered by the F1 site's editor, in an opportunistic sense.

[mecachrome]

for an incredibly new f1 follower, what would you recommend for getting up to date with teams and racers and performances and history? apart from dts lol

oh that is a good question!!! i don't think i'm even the best person to answer this but honestly i think it all comes naturally if you pick a specific thing/team/person you're interested in and set out to learn more about that topic, because everything is so connected and with time you can fill in those knowledge gaps pretty quickly :') more under the cut:

dts is imo perfectly acceptable for learning names and faces for the first time and basically creating a vague outline of a given subject (i've said it's like using duolingo for learning a new language lol), so if you watch it and are like oh—i'm interested in charles or mercedes or learning more about technical regulations or whatever, then you can just dive deeper into that via wiki / youtube / podcasts + published media + old race archives and build up from there!

otherwise i think the main thing is just to start watching the actual races when the season gets underway, and in order to properly appreciate them then also read up on + watch videos about the technical/strategy side of the sport as well. back in the day i used to really like chain bear and i still always recommend it to anyone who asks! after that i would just seek out like... a community/server/place where other people are discussing news real-time; this could be meeting people on tumblr and twitter, but personally i'm subscribed to r/formula1 because it's the most active composite source of f1 news and Discourse. if you're reddit-averse i also just keep a big list on twitter with a bunch of random data accounts, official driver/team accounts, journalists, etc. that helps me keep up with the season in a tidy fashion—though honestly f1 journalism is so unserious that you don't really need to do that because most journos regurgitate the same three quotes in slightly different formats, so if you want to follow One Guy who won't disseminate bs info i'd recommend chris medland. or just general sport publications like autosport, motosport.com, the athletic if you're already subscribed to it (pretty lacking for f1 though since it's american lol), etc... some sites like the-race are very contentious though so i'd say just tread with caution!!! on the data side i personally enjoy fdatanalysis and f1telemetrydata (i've also used f1-tempo to do my own telemetry analysis but idk if that's useful). but again i'd highly recommend the subreddit since it keeps everything i just mentioned in one place anyway 😭

other media recs:

f1tv, if it's available in your area, has pretty much everything you need to follow f1 in its entirety. i hate to shill for paid media but i genuinely think it's good; you can watch every f1, f2, f3 session real-time, as well as go to the archives and revisit old races for each series from most seasons. it also has technical shows and a whole host of minidocs with bite-sized info that are probably less sensationalized than dts. if you don't have f1tv though then a lot of decent content is cross-posted to the f1 youtube so honestly the official channels are all pretty good for keeping up with the sport.

podcasts: if you're an auditory person then podcasts are a great way to deepdive into f1 history. personally i believe that 80% of men running f1 podcasts should be legally barred from ever having an opinion on motorsport, so i don't listen to that many, but i do enjoy the official f1 podcast beyond the grid (i listen to it on spotify but you can also find full transcripts on the f1 site) since, you know, they get official personnel on and i appreciate the wide range of personalities interviewed—from drivers to tps to various types of engineers. i've also heard good things about shift+f1, the race, and engine braking, but i haven't checked them out so i'd recommend just looking podcasts up yourself and seeing what vibes with you! though some podcasts are just like... I'll eat this because you're interviewing my guy but i would never watch/listen to you otherwise. (cough pit stop...)

books & autobiographies: again if you want to dive more into old f1, then you can always read a book!! i read jenson's autobiography life to the limit earlier and was very endeared, it's a super breezy but charming read ❤️ adrian newey's memoir is also a decent overview of a clearly brilliant and accomplished mind, i enjoyed the technical details and found his early career path especially interesting.

docus, movies, tv: there's also plenty of f1 media outside of f1tv, so you can always check those out; f1 movies aren't necessarily that accurate or frankly good but sometimes it's fun just for the Vibes and the love of the sport. for ex rush (2013) covers james hunt & niki lauda's rivalry, netflix has a schumacher (2021) doc, the brawn gp miniseries ft. jense came out last november, just things like that... some current individual drivers also have their own random miniseries so you can always seek those out, for ex i watched maxv's anatomy of a champion the other day just for the fun of it LOL.

i don't know whether any of this is helpful... but maybe other people can reply with their own recommendations!!!

also if you're interested in f2, f3, etc. then honestly just follow feeder series on whatever platform since they cover everything pretty well; feeder_series on twitter, r/f1feederseries, plus they do interview podcasts on youtube/spotify so i like watching those to keep up with young drivers. you can also watch chasing the dream for succinct f2 narratives; it used to only be on f1tv but it gets uploaded on youtube now so it's fairly accessible. lmk if you have any other questions or something specific you'd like more info about!!!

[lestappenforever]

I’ve just watched a couple of the TPs post race reactions, as well as saw the strategies that the teams used and we can conclude a couple of things from it:

The Mercedes power unit had quiet a noticeable presence today, especially with Williams, who fun fact, also take a lot of the legal components that they are allowed from Mercedes, according to James Vowles (Zak Brown, where did you dip to now). Alex and Logan both had the pace, and could have been in points today. But the power units on both the cars, in addition to Logan’s steering wheel caused them the race. But the issues were not only in the Williams, Mercedes themselves had issues, with the batteries not working properly or dying. Mercedes, what is wrong with the power units after securing multiple multi year contracts?

You can take the man out of Ferrari but not the Ferrari out of the man (Laurent Mekies I’m looking at you). The way RB handled today’s race was actually shit. Again this team was close to points, even closer than the Williams with Yuki P11. But the way they handled the race, and especially in those last few laps, just proves that Laurent still doesn’t have the handles of how Red Bull teams work, he’s, you could say, still stuck in the Ferrari haze. The car is actually good, which we saw in testing and the data, but the team handling was just shit today, and with this, Red Bull could overlook both of them, even drop one of the 2, for Liam, who was promised (maybe even signed?) a seat for 2025.

Nico is absolutely unlucky, and that is a ghost that is hunting him down. Man had a good start, but that collision with Lance cost him his race, which he could have finished in the point. Also, that Haas has pace, it’s not so bad. Let’s see if the absence of Guenther and the presence of a more technical TP is going to impact the team.

Zhou is impressive. He gained quiet a lot, with gaining 6 places and the car is not that great. I did not know his game.

Ferrari pulled a Ferrari. That’s all that could be said. Charles was very confident yesterday. He even was visibly very upset with the fact that he got P2, to today. Like, yes we don’t know if there was something, but fucking it up to the extent that the car is dangerous to even stop. This man just signed a fucking multi year contract, don’t make him regret it.

And finally, we now understand Red Bull’s runs. The runs that were only (or mainly) on C1, C2 and C3 only. They were able to properly visualize the race. And the fact that we saw how everyone in Red Bull expected the car to be slower shows that they have cooked (Adrain Newey, looks like you did it again). And the fact that these runs of Free Practices and Testing showed correct data of this track, not really focusing on topping the time sheets or any of that shit. They put their heads down and focused on the time sheets that mattered, focusing one race at a time, as well as visualize how the car is going to be and how it will work and react, gathering the data needed for checking the car (in football terms: partido a partido).

So yeah, these are kind of my initial post race analysis. Still want to geek more, but I guess this is enough for now?

(I wasn’t going to be able to sleep until I got this off my brain or I would have been overthinking all night long)

I love this analysis so much.

The way VCARB fucked Yuki over by forcing him to let Daniel overtake and proceeding to not even being able to overtake the fucking Haas in front of him is absolutely appalling. I know Yuki has some temper issues he definitely needs to work on when he's in the car, but I fully support his anger this time. The move was completely uncalled for, and VCARB desperately need to realize that they can't put their eggs in the wrong basket. No matter what his die-hard fans say, Daniel is not the future of F1 and Red Bull.

With the exception of Max pulling a very Max race and being superior to the rest of the grid, my favorite part of yesterday's race was definitely Zhou. He did so well, and it was such a pleasure to see him finish P11. I really hope this season will be good for him because I so desperately want him to succeed.

Ferrari being Ferrari was, sadly, not even remotely surprising. But, it's only the first race of the season and Charles still being able to drag that broken fucking car to P4 is impressive as hell.

Red Bull has handled testing and the first race weekend masterfully, and their 1-2 finish yesterday was truly deserved. I have a feeling this season will be a good one for them, even if their domination might not be quite as extreme.

(I hope you've had a great night's sleep, lovely. ❤️)

[slutforpringles]

You got shitty when I said that you set Daniel up on Reddit but why on earth would you post an article on there with the headline of Daniel saying it’s good to keep some people quiet AFTER the qualifying he’s just had?? All you’re doing is giving people a platform to just slag him off, you know how people react to him and literally anything he says, even if the whole article is relevant.

People will shit on Daniel no matter what.

I posted an article that was full of detailed and interesting information, with quotes from Bayer, Marko and Ricciardo. It's the only article so far that's actually had a more technical analysis of DR's performance in regards to chassis and floor upgrades. I can't change what the headline is because they're the rules on reddit, nor am I going to stop posting interesting articles because people refuse to actually read past the headline - all their shitty comments demonstrate is either their personal bias or inability to read more 30 words at a time.

I post things that I read and find interesting, that have new insights/information or that I think others might also enjoy - and I'm not going to change that because certain online F1 fans can be assholes. I've gotten heaps of comments from people on reddit saying they like what i post. If you don't like it then there's a block button for a reason, both here and on reddit.