1
00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:07,800
Speaker 1: Earning questions, insightful answers, listener's choice. So on Monday I

2
00:00:07,880 --> 00:00:13,960
Speaker 1: received a call and then a voice note from listeners

3
00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:16,800
Speaker 1: who because we were talking about the Chinese Grand Prix

4
00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:20,079
Speaker 1: and how brilliant it was. Why was it brilliant because

5
00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:27,200
Speaker 1: the goat made podium. Lewis Hamilton made podium for the

6
00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:31,080
Speaker 1: first time with Ferrari, which was incredible. So we were

7
00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:33,480
Speaker 1: discussing it and then to listeners said, can you please

8
00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:37,319
Speaker 1: do your Formula one muster class of thoughts. So this

9
00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:39,720
Speaker 1: is what we're doing today, as I promised. So if

10
00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:43,760
Speaker 1: you've got questions about Formula one, Oh, you want to

11
00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:47,320
Speaker 1: understand something, you want to challenge something, you welcome to

12
00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:50,760
Speaker 1: call us on one one eight eight three h seven

13
00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:54,080
Speaker 1: oh two, or send a voice note on seven to

14
00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:56,240
Speaker 1: seven O two, one seven or two or a text.

15
00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:00,000
Speaker 1: Moto racing is in fact one of the most white

16
00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:03,080
Speaker 1: spots in the world, and at the very top of

17
00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:08,360
Speaker 1: that pyramid sits Formula one right, and every year the

18
00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:14,400
Speaker 1: championship travels across the globe with teams and drivers competing

19
00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:18,480
Speaker 1: in a series of high speed races known as Grand Prix.

20
00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:20,960
Speaker 1: And my guests will explain more about this, but the

21
00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:27,000
Speaker 1: sport is fascinating. It combines cutting edge technology, you know,

22
00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:31,720
Speaker 1: elite athletic performance. Strategy is also an important element in

23
00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:37,200
Speaker 1: Formula one, and the massive global audiences are always watching

24
00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:39,760
Speaker 1: these things. They're always watching the drivers, They're always watching

25
00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:44,600
Speaker 1: the performance of the cars, They're always watching the strategy

26
00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:48,559
Speaker 1: of the various teams. So any question you have about

27
00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:51,960
Speaker 1: Formula one, bringing up the whole purpose of this is

28
00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:54,919
Speaker 1: to get you to understand it a little bit better,

29
00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:58,560
Speaker 1: as has been requested by some of our listeners. Hendrik

30
00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:03,120
Speaker 1: Fairvood is a Media one correspondent joining us on the line. Hendrick,

31
00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:04,720
Speaker 1: thank you so much for making time for us.

32
00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:07,440
Speaker 2: Good morning, good morning, can dark to talk to you.

33
00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:10,120
Speaker 1: Great to chat to you, man. So I don't know

34
00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:14,560
Speaker 1: where to begin. Maybe we should begin with just explaining

35
00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:19,720
Speaker 1: the seasons of Formula one, how they work, like how

36
00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:24,559
Speaker 1: many grand priests do we normally have, and how do

37
00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:29,640
Speaker 1: the teams themselves even decide on the drivers that they're

38
00:02:29,639 --> 00:02:33,520
Speaker 1: going with for each season or for that period of years.

39
00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:41,040
Speaker 2: Okay, that's a very wide question. Not answer it too

40
00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:43,800
Speaker 2: wide if you don't mind, But I think you know,

41
00:02:43,960 --> 00:02:47,480
Speaker 2: for the understanding of the sport, maybe motorsport in general,

42
00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:49,880
Speaker 2: it's a good idea to just go back, you know,

43
00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:53,960
Speaker 2: to the beginning and slightly take a look at where

44
00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:56,160
Speaker 2: it all started. And of course the first motor race.

45
00:02:56,760 --> 00:02:59,200
Speaker 2: I think people agree on that the first motor race

46
00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:02,679
Speaker 2: happened when the second guy bought a car way back

47
00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:05,720
Speaker 2: in the nineteenth century, because I think it's the kind

48
00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:08,359
Speaker 2: of an innate thing in human nature that we want

49
00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:11,760
Speaker 2: to compete. So obviously the one guy had at the

50
00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:14,880
Speaker 2: first car, his neighbor bought a car as well, and

51
00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:17,480
Speaker 2: they decided they want to race each other and see

52
00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:19,160
Speaker 2: which one of the got the fastest car. So that's

53
00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:22,360
Speaker 2: basically I think where the whole concept of motorsports started

54
00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:25,880
Speaker 2: shortly after the invention of the motor car, but it

55
00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:30,760
Speaker 2: developed into a sport very quickly over the beginning of

56
00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:36,400
Speaker 2: the twentieth century, and in nineteen fifty the world championship,

57
00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:39,120
Speaker 2: the Formula one World Championship was established, and that's what

58
00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:41,720
Speaker 2: we are having today still. It's the World Championship of

59
00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:45,440
Speaker 2: Formula one cars. And Formula one basically means that there

60
00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:49,240
Speaker 2: is a set of regulations to which these cars have

61
00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:53,040
Speaker 2: to conform. In other words, you know, they are single

62
00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:58,920
Speaker 2: theater cars and they are open cockpits. And basically that's

63
00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:03,000
Speaker 2: the formula. And there are many, many, many regulations that

64
00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:05,600
Speaker 2: stipulate you know, the size and the weight and the

65
00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:09,120
Speaker 2: and the and everything that goes into that. But basically

66
00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:13,320
Speaker 2: Formula one means the top formula in single seater racing

67
00:04:13,440 --> 00:04:16,160
Speaker 2: in the world, and it's all governed by a body

68
00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:20,280
Speaker 2: called the f i AID, the International Automobile Federation f

69
00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:26,120
Speaker 2: i A is the French lettering for them, and and

70
00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:29,880
Speaker 2: they basically set the rules and the regulations. But then

71
00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:32,680
Speaker 2: there is another body, and that is the body that

72
00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:36,919
Speaker 2: owns the commercial rights to the sport, and that is

73
00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:40,880
Speaker 2: the body that negotiates the venues where the events take place.

74
00:04:41,279 --> 00:04:44,599
Speaker 2: That's the body that puts together the calendar, and that's

75
00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:47,400
Speaker 2: also the body that actually makes the money that that

76
00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:50,479
Speaker 2: eventually gets distributed amongst the teams at the end of

77
00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:54,960
Speaker 2: every season. So that's that's basically the structure of what

78
00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:57,440
Speaker 2: we have at the moment. How do teams decide who

79
00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:00,279
Speaker 2: they want to have to drive for? Well, initially that

80
00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:06,800
Speaker 2: basically meant, you know, the richest team could clear the

81
00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:09,800
Speaker 2: best drivers because they offered them the most money to

82
00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:13,719
Speaker 2: drive for them. And so clearly when you are a team,

83
00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:16,279
Speaker 2: you want to have the best man behind the wheel.

84
00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:19,000
Speaker 2: When I say man, I mean driver. We've had one

85
00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:21,919
Speaker 2: or two females in Formula One over the years, but

86
00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:25,240
Speaker 2: unfortunately at the moment there isn't There isn't a female driver,

87
00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:28,159
Speaker 2: but there's nothing that stops them to do that, apart

88
00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:33,360
Speaker 2: from from societal societal situations, which is a completely different conversation.

89
00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:36,440
Speaker 2: But anyway, so every team would like to have the

90
00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:40,640
Speaker 2: best driver. Teams are allowed to enter two cars thir team,

91
00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:43,120
Speaker 2: so they want to have the best two drivers behind

92
00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:46,560
Speaker 2: the wheel, and it really depends on the kind of

93
00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:49,720
Speaker 2: contracts that they offer. Also from the driver's point of view,

94
00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:54,080
Speaker 2: a driver who reaches Formula one would like to drive

95
00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:56,960
Speaker 2: for the best team. It's not just about the money,

96
00:05:56,960 --> 00:05:59,039
Speaker 2: but they want to drive for the best team because

97
00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:01,599
Speaker 2: that offers them the best opportunity of winning the world

98
00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:06,279
Speaker 2: championship title, the title of the world champion driver. That's

99
00:06:06,279 --> 00:06:10,599
Speaker 2: a very prestigious title in terms of world sports. We

100
00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:14,680
Speaker 2: know the Formula One World Champion is known well outside

101
00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:21,159
Speaker 2: the sport itself, so it's a global prestige title globally,

102
00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:24,280
Speaker 2: and drivers want to go for that apart from the scent.

103
00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:26,880
Speaker 2: As I said earlier on, it's an innate thing by

104
00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:30,720
Speaker 2: for for human being to compete, and everyone who is

105
00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:33,440
Speaker 2: in the sport wants to beat everybody out of course.

106
00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:37,440
Speaker 1: So here's a question that comes out a lot, Hendrick,

107
00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:41,400
Speaker 1: because you said, you know, people want to drive for

108
00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:43,760
Speaker 1: the best teams. You want to join a team that's

109
00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:46,520
Speaker 1: got a really good car or invests a lot of

110
00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:51,240
Speaker 1: money in really getting the best teams and getting the

111
00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:54,840
Speaker 1: best car. But sometimes you've seen like moments where McLaren

112
00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:59,599
Speaker 1: dominates in Formula and then Red Bull dominates, and then

113
00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:04,240
Speaker 1: Miss Saidies comes dominates Ferrari, and people often wonder if

114
00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:07,880
Speaker 1: that is sort of pre arranged in some way to

115
00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:11,160
Speaker 1: make Formula One more fascinating, or is it just a

116
00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:15,040
Speaker 1: pure effect of the different teams just investing a lot

117
00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:18,200
Speaker 1: in technology and getting their cars to be the best,

118
00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:21,440
Speaker 1: and some some teams just happen to have a good

119
00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:22,200
Speaker 1: best car.

120
00:07:24,120 --> 00:07:26,120
Speaker 2: I think I think the last one. You know, there

121
00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:31,280
Speaker 2: are a lot of conspiracy theories, conspiracy theories in you know,

122
00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:33,520
Speaker 2: related to Formula One. A lot of people think that

123
00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:37,320
Speaker 2: everything is being arranged behind the scenes and that everything

124
00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:40,960
Speaker 2: is sort of artificial and so. But the trouble with

125
00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:45,320
Speaker 2: that is, by definition, if everything is arranged behind the scenes,

126
00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:48,600
Speaker 2: why would they then allow any single team to dominate

127
00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:51,400
Speaker 2: for for a period of five, six, seven years. You

128
00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:54,800
Speaker 2: know that doesn't make sense at all. No, it's a

129
00:07:55,240 --> 00:07:58,800
Speaker 2: formula one is a meritocracy basically, so it means that

130
00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:01,320
Speaker 2: the best will rise to the top and they will

131
00:08:01,320 --> 00:08:03,960
Speaker 2: fight as hard as they possibly going to stay on top.

132
00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:08,400
Speaker 2: One must always remember that from a team's point of view,

133
00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:11,520
Speaker 2: they want to dominate. Every team wants to be on top,

134
00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:13,360
Speaker 2: and once they get to the top, they wouldn't want

135
00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:16,800
Speaker 2: to dominate because they don't like to lose. It also

136
00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:19,920
Speaker 2: has a financial component to it because the prize money

137
00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:22,400
Speaker 2: at the end of every season is divided amongst the

138
00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:25,960
Speaker 2: teams or fifty percent of the total or total income

139
00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:30,320
Speaker 2: or revenue or formul one is divided by amongst the

140
00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:34,840
Speaker 2: teams and the generally speaking the top team, the champion

141
00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:39,000
Speaker 2: of the previous year, gets the mote money. So that's

142
00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:41,840
Speaker 2: obviously what they wanted to achieve it. It is a

143
00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:47,320
Speaker 2: financial incentive. And again, you know, if you take any sport,

144
00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:51,199
Speaker 2: you know any team wants to stay on top of

145
00:08:51,559 --> 00:08:55,360
Speaker 2: their chosen sport, whether it's rugby or football or cricket

146
00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:58,120
Speaker 2: or anything. And if it's your team, you enjoy your

147
00:08:58,160 --> 00:09:01,120
Speaker 2: team staying at the top. You don't want to be beaten.

148
00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:04,680
Speaker 2: You don't care about the spectacle for for the of

149
00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:07,800
Speaker 2: the sport. You as a fan don't care about, you know,

150
00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:10,960
Speaker 2: the other fans of the other teams, how they are feeling.

151
00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:13,240
Speaker 2: You want your team to be on top. So it

152
00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:17,200
Speaker 2: really depends on your perspective. I am an observer of

153
00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:20,000
Speaker 2: the sport as a whole, so for me it is

154
00:09:20,080 --> 00:09:24,320
Speaker 2: important that we have not too much of one team

155
00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:27,880
Speaker 2: dominating for too long. And what you would normally find

156
00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:32,120
Speaker 2: is that, you know, the regulations change on a fairly basic,

157
00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:36,920
Speaker 2: fairly regular basis, sort of every five years, they change

158
00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:41,120
Speaker 2: the regulations in order to to to rain the teams

159
00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:43,000
Speaker 2: in a little bit, because if you if you leave

160
00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:45,800
Speaker 2: them to to you know, to develop any kind of

161
00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:48,800
Speaker 2: technology and leave with all the freedom in the world,

162
00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:51,720
Speaker 2: it will become a completely unsustainable sport. So you have

163
00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:54,160
Speaker 2: to rain them in after a while, get the car

164
00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:56,240
Speaker 2: to be a little bit slower, and then what happens

165
00:09:56,280 --> 00:09:58,880
Speaker 2: normally is and we've seen this now, this is this

166
00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:01,440
Speaker 2: current season that it. You know, some teams that were

167
00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:05,000
Speaker 2: not on top in the in the previous dispensation might

168
00:10:05,120 --> 00:10:08,680
Speaker 2: get the new set of regulations right in a better

169
00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:12,319
Speaker 2: way than than other teams, and then you have a

170
00:10:11,920 --> 00:10:15,200
Speaker 2: new team that rises to the top. So that is

171
00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:16,959
Speaker 2: actually what we are seeing at the moment.

172
00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:21,439
Speaker 1: So a Grand Prix is spread over what three days?

173
00:10:22,040 --> 00:10:24,880
Speaker 1: Can you just explain then what happens in it three

174
00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:27,000
Speaker 1: days because a lot of people normally focus on the

175
00:10:27,080 --> 00:10:32,120
Speaker 1: last day of the main race day, but what are

176
00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:34,959
Speaker 1: the first two days and how significant are they in

177
00:10:35,559 --> 00:10:37,240
Speaker 1: the broader context of the spot.

178
00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:44,320
Speaker 2: Well, no, technically, well let's just say we have twenty

179
00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:46,440
Speaker 2: four races. Well this year we're going to have twenty

180
00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:48,920
Speaker 2: two because two of those races in the Middle East

181
00:10:48,920 --> 00:10:52,080
Speaker 2: have been canceled, so normally there are twenty four races

182
00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:52,680
Speaker 2: in this season.

183
00:10:53,080 --> 00:10:56,240
Speaker 1: They just replace those countries, just bring it to South

184
00:10:56,280 --> 00:10:59,160
Speaker 1: Africa and yeah, something.

185
00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:05,360
Speaker 2: Quite not quite unfortunately, But that's also a completely different

186
00:11:05,400 --> 00:11:07,920
Speaker 2: conversation where obviously if you can want to talk about it,

187
00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:09,880
Speaker 2: we can go. But the fact is that you know,

188
00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:13,920
Speaker 2: every most of the of the events, as you say,

189
00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:17,440
Speaker 2: run over three days Friday, Saturday and Sunday. When I

190
00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:19,719
Speaker 2: say most, there are a number of them, six of them,

191
00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:23,480
Speaker 2: where that that format is a little bit different. But

192
00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:26,200
Speaker 2: the normal format would be two practice sessions of one

193
00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:29,720
Speaker 2: hour each on the Friday morning session and an afternoon session.

194
00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:33,640
Speaker 2: Then a Saturday would be a morning practice session in

195
00:11:33,679 --> 00:11:36,640
Speaker 2: the morning and a Saturday afternoon you would have the

196
00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:39,440
Speaker 2: qualifying session where they set the order of the grid,

197
00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:41,920
Speaker 2: the starting order for the Grand Prix, and then the

198
00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:44,840
Speaker 2: Grand Prix is normally on the Sunday afternoon. So that's

199
00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:48,800
Speaker 2: the normal the normal format. On six occasions they have

200
00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:51,040
Speaker 2: what they call a sprint weekend where they have an

201
00:11:51,080 --> 00:11:56,240
Speaker 2: additional shorter race basically to to I think give people

202
00:11:56,280 --> 00:11:59,079
Speaker 2: more opportunity to see these cars race race each other.

203
00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:01,640
Speaker 2: So on those weekends you will have just the one

204
00:12:01,720 --> 00:12:04,800
Speaker 2: practice sation the Friday morning, you will have qualifying for

205
00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:08,280
Speaker 2: the for the sprint race on the Friday afternoon, then

206
00:12:08,320 --> 00:12:11,040
Speaker 2: on the Saturday morning you will have the sprint race.

207
00:12:11,520 --> 00:12:14,720
Speaker 2: Saturday afternoon you have the qualifying session for the Grand Prix,

208
00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:16,680
Speaker 2: and then on Sunday you've got them one Prix right

209
00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:17,400
Speaker 2: to normal.

210
00:12:17,720 --> 00:12:20,160
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, I've got some questions coming through now from

211
00:12:20,200 --> 00:12:22,600
Speaker 1: our listeners. We'll get to those after the break. It's

212
00:12:22,600 --> 00:12:29,520
Speaker 1: eighteen after eleven turning questions, insightful answers, listeners Choice. Twenty

213
00:12:29,559 --> 00:12:33,520
Speaker 1: minutes after eleven o'clock, it's the Formula one must Class

214
00:12:33,559 --> 00:12:36,440
Speaker 1: some of the basics around the Formula one sport with

215
00:12:36,520 --> 00:12:41,000
Speaker 1: Hendrik Rut, who is a Formula one correspondent. Hendrick, I

216
00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:42,679
Speaker 1: just want us to try to be quick with the

217
00:12:42,760 --> 00:12:44,760
Speaker 1: questions from a listener so we can cover as many

218
00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:51,520
Speaker 1: as possible, and I'll start with this one about engineers. Why.

219
00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:54,880
Speaker 1: The question is why do the drivers have their own

220
00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:59,040
Speaker 1: individual like sort of engineers or is it the teams

221
00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:02,560
Speaker 1: that would have one engineer and can you have So

222
00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:05,400
Speaker 1: that's the first question. The second question is can you

223
00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:10,400
Speaker 1: have the two cars being different and what would cause

224
00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:13,000
Speaker 1: that if they're coming from the same team.

225
00:13:14,679 --> 00:13:17,880
Speaker 2: Well, basically every driver has its own race engineer, because

226
00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:20,080
Speaker 2: we have to remember that these cars are at the

227
00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:26,800
Speaker 2: absolute limit of of technological development, and so therefore you

228
00:13:26,880 --> 00:13:30,200
Speaker 2: have to have somebody with an engineering background to be

229
00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:33,720
Speaker 2: able to guide the driver as to how he could

230
00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:36,960
Speaker 2: get the best out of that car. The driver is

231
00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:40,880
Speaker 2: also technologically well well versed, I think, but not as

232
00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:44,120
Speaker 2: much obviously as a qualified engineer and experienced engineer. So

233
00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:47,199
Speaker 2: therefore each driver has an engineer, and each driver also

234
00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:50,679
Speaker 2: has its own preferences and driving style. So one driver

235
00:13:50,800 --> 00:13:53,280
Speaker 2: might prefer, you know, the car handle in a certain

236
00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:55,920
Speaker 2: way and another driver might prefer the car to handle

237
00:13:55,920 --> 00:13:59,079
Speaker 2: in a different way. So therefore you have to have

238
00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:02,280
Speaker 2: an engineer for each driver, and you know, they have

239
00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:05,000
Speaker 2: to be guided as the race progresses as to whether

240
00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:07,440
Speaker 2: something is maybe wrong in the car or if there's

241
00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:09,520
Speaker 2: a problem and how they could fix it and stuff

242
00:14:09,559 --> 00:14:12,960
Speaker 2: like that. So that's the engineers. The two cars differ basically,

243
00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:17,000
Speaker 2: they are the same because of those strict regulations that

244
00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:19,880
Speaker 2: are told that I've said earlier on. But each driver

245
00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:22,200
Speaker 2: again has its own preferences and they set up the

246
00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:24,880
Speaker 2: cars in a different way, in an individual way in

247
00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:28,080
Speaker 2: order to suit their own driving style and own preferences

248
00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:29,480
Speaker 2: the best as they possibly could.

249
00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:34,280
Speaker 1: Okay, another question is around DRS. Please can you explain

250
00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:37,960
Speaker 1: what DRS is and when does it become enabled? Then

251
00:14:38,360 --> 00:14:40,920
Speaker 1: could you have a race where DRS is not enabled.

252
00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:46,280
Speaker 2: DRS stands for drag reduction system that is a system

253
00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:49,600
Speaker 2: up to the end of last year whereby the rear

254
00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:51,840
Speaker 2: wing of the car is opened. In other words, the

255
00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:55,280
Speaker 2: plane is open to allow more air to go through,

256
00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:58,680
Speaker 2: so to speak, and therefore it reduces drag. And if

257
00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:01,360
Speaker 2: you reduce drag, you can increase your top speed for

258
00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:04,080
Speaker 2: straight line speed. And that was the whole The whole

259
00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:06,880
Speaker 2: idea was to enable cars and drivers to be able

260
00:15:06,920 --> 00:15:08,800
Speaker 2: to get closer to the car ahead of them and

261
00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:11,440
Speaker 2: to be able to pass them. D RS does not

262
00:15:11,560 --> 00:15:14,800
Speaker 2: exist anymore in the new regulations that came into being

263
00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:18,200
Speaker 2: from from this season onwards. There's no more d r s.

264
00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:20,680
Speaker 2: But there is what they call a boost button, and

265
00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:23,040
Speaker 2: that is when the driver can press literally press the

266
00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:26,680
Speaker 2: button on his steering wheel and he then gains an

267
00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:32,080
Speaker 2: extra amount of electric power from his car's battery packed basically,

268
00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:34,880
Speaker 2: and therefore that would allow him to pass the car

269
00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:37,800
Speaker 2: closest to him. There are all kinds of technicalities as

270
00:15:37,800 --> 00:15:39,800
Speaker 2: to when it is allowed, where it is allowed, and

271
00:15:39,840 --> 00:15:41,560
Speaker 2: when you can do it, and that sort of thing.

272
00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:46,000
Speaker 1: But is it within the two seconds in the second

273
00:15:46,080 --> 00:15:48,360
Speaker 1: base in one second at any court?

274
00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:50,840
Speaker 2: They call it a detection point that at some point

275
00:15:50,880 --> 00:15:53,360
Speaker 2: around the track, when they get to the detection point,

276
00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:55,960
Speaker 2: the two cars and if they are separated by a

277
00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:58,440
Speaker 2: second or less than the guy behind has the boost

278
00:15:58,480 --> 00:15:59,920
Speaker 2: button available for.

279
00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:03,560
Speaker 1: Okay, another question, do the cars change every year? Like

280
00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:06,840
Speaker 1: the regulations that lead to the cars changing. Is it

281
00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:08,880
Speaker 1: every year or is it every five years?

282
00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:12,480
Speaker 2: Well, the regulation, it's not a set period, but it's normal.

283
00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:16,120
Speaker 2: It seems to settle down to around about every five years.

284
00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:18,640
Speaker 2: We had a major change in twenty fourteen, then we

285
00:16:18,680 --> 00:16:23,400
Speaker 2: had another major change in twenty twenty two, and then

286
00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:25,560
Speaker 2: we had this change now in twenty twenty six, and

287
00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:28,200
Speaker 2: we are due for a next change in twenty fifty one.

288
00:16:29,080 --> 00:16:35,280
Speaker 2: That's when they sort of decide how to re define

289
00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:38,680
Speaker 2: how the cars are designed. But there's no set rule

290
00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:41,240
Speaker 2: as to how many times the cars the rules have

291
00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:45,280
Speaker 2: to change. Individual cars do change from race to race, however,

292
00:16:45,480 --> 00:16:48,640
Speaker 2: and those are fine upgrades that they have when they

293
00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:50,800
Speaker 2: find that something is not quite working the way they

294
00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:54,360
Speaker 2: want in one race or the next race, have different

295
00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:56,520
Speaker 2: demands on the cars they can make, and they do

296
00:16:56,600 --> 00:16:59,480
Speaker 2: make changes. They call it upgrades. So what they do

297
00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:02,640
Speaker 2: is they bring upgrades to to all the cars, every team,

298
00:17:02,680 --> 00:17:05,280
Speaker 2: to all the cars at every rate. So there are

299
00:17:05,320 --> 00:17:07,520
Speaker 2: subtle changes to the cars right throughout the season.

300
00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:09,639
Speaker 1: Okay, and then if I go to the calls and

301
00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:12,399
Speaker 1: what's up. Another text here says Clement, how do the

302
00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:15,640
Speaker 1: drivers prepare for these races because sometimes these races last

303
00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:18,560
Speaker 1: nearly two hours at extremely high speeds.

304
00:17:19,600 --> 00:17:23,000
Speaker 2: Yeah, these drivers are absolutely indite athletes. There are Olympic

305
00:17:23,080 --> 00:17:25,600
Speaker 2: level athletes in terms of their fitness and their preparation.

306
00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:31,000
Speaker 2: So they do very very precise exercises to enable them

307
00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:34,520
Speaker 2: to deal with the g forces in you know that

308
00:17:34,560 --> 00:17:37,280
Speaker 2: they have in the cars when they go through corners,

309
00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:41,040
Speaker 2: they deal with up to five or six g's sometimes

310
00:17:41,359 --> 00:17:43,760
Speaker 2: under breaking they can they can also have to deal

311
00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:46,399
Speaker 2: with under about five gs. So you have to be

312
00:17:46,560 --> 00:17:49,800
Speaker 2: super fit. You have to be able to deal with

313
00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:52,680
Speaker 2: a heat in the corpet. As you said, they are

314
00:17:52,920 --> 00:17:55,480
Speaker 2: obviously there's no air conditioning in these corpets, so and

315
00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:59,600
Speaker 2: they are dressed in thick layers of protective clothing, so

316
00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:02,520
Speaker 2: they can get very high temperatures in the corpit. They

317
00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:05,040
Speaker 2: have to be able to deal with that. And all

318
00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:07,560
Speaker 2: the time, when you're dealing with those kind of pressures,

319
00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:10,840
Speaker 2: you still have to be able to consider the race situation.

320
00:18:11,240 --> 00:18:14,800
Speaker 2: I have to consider race tactics, have to consider how

321
00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:17,480
Speaker 2: do you actually attack or how do you defend? All

322
00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:19,960
Speaker 2: those kind of demands are placed on the drivers. It's

323
00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:21,760
Speaker 2: not like you're just sitting behind a wheel and just

324
00:18:21,800 --> 00:18:23,480
Speaker 2: turning the wheel and going through cord.

325
00:18:23,640 --> 00:18:27,159
Speaker 1: So who decides on the strategy then, well.

326
00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:29,960
Speaker 2: The race engineer is, as we mentioned earlier on, is

327
00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:34,320
Speaker 2: to a large degree involved in that whole situation. But

328
00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:38,560
Speaker 2: teams have their own strategy people as well. You know,

329
00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:43,120
Speaker 2: teams have a bunch of people sitting back at the factory,

330
00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:45,320
Speaker 2: at their home base and at the track as well,

331
00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:50,879
Speaker 2: where they analyze and use data and analysis to create

332
00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:53,920
Speaker 2: all kinds of scenarios and then decide on the best

333
00:18:54,119 --> 00:18:57,320
Speaker 2: strategy onwards. So it's a collective decision by the team,

334
00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:04,040
Speaker 2: often driven by the chief, the chief race engineer.

335
00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:08,760
Speaker 1: Okay, you are calling us from Sentin, good morning, came

336
00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:11,320
Speaker 1: a going shop shot man, Go ahead, good man.

337
00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:14,399
Speaker 3: I wanted to ask as as a as a nerd

338
00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:16,679
Speaker 3: fan of the spot in terms of watching like the

339
00:19:16,760 --> 00:19:19,800
Speaker 3: lap times and the mini sectors. I wanted to ask

340
00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:21,560
Speaker 3: the correspondent like.

341
00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:23,719
Speaker 4: When I watch it on TV the fans that are

342
00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:26,200
Speaker 4: they in the stadiums and on the stages and sometimes

343
00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:28,640
Speaker 4: even on the cross do they only get to see

344
00:19:28,680 --> 00:19:30,919
Speaker 4: like a particular part of the track, or do they

345
00:19:30,920 --> 00:19:34,000
Speaker 4: get to see like what's happening elsewhere if a cargoes off,

346
00:19:34,080 --> 00:19:37,080
Speaker 4: or if there's a pit stop, or if there's any

347
00:19:37,119 --> 00:19:42,280
Speaker 4: other or other just focused on one particular area in all, honestly,

348
00:19:42,359 --> 00:19:44,880
Speaker 4: it's always been my hesitance on whether or not even

349
00:19:45,040 --> 00:19:47,080
Speaker 4: making the trip to go and watch a race. If

350
00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:49,800
Speaker 4: I'm going to be putting the nosebleed section of a

351
00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:52,560
Speaker 4: second and I don't get to see anything I wanted

352
00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:54,840
Speaker 4: to know, is it worth making an effort to go

353
00:19:54,880 --> 00:19:56,000
Speaker 4: to one of these races?

354
00:19:56,480 --> 00:19:56,720
Speaker 2: Oh?

355
00:19:56,800 --> 00:19:59,240
Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, let me get Hendrick to respond. But look,

356
00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:01,720
Speaker 1: I've gone to watch it. I've watched the catar Gun

357
00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:04,400
Speaker 1: free and it was brilliant, So it's great to be there.

358
00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:07,480
Speaker 1: But to your point, Oh, my frustration was also that

359
00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:11,600
Speaker 1: you're just seeing this one part of the track, and

360
00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:15,080
Speaker 1: then if there's an accident or overtaking that happens, or

361
00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:16,760
Speaker 1: lapping that happens on the other side, do you hear

362
00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:19,639
Speaker 1: people scream but you've completely missed it. But sometimes there

363
00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:22,800
Speaker 1: are screens in and around the track. Kendrick, your response

364
00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:23,800
Speaker 1: to that, is it worth it?

365
00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:27,840
Speaker 2: Well? Absolutely, Clement, I would always if you can't afford

366
00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:29,720
Speaker 2: to go with a rand exchange rate as it is,

367
00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:33,440
Speaker 2: do you so, As I've often told people, you don't

368
00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:35,960
Speaker 2: go and watch a football match to actually follow the

369
00:20:36,960 --> 00:20:40,119
Speaker 2: details of the event. You go there for the atmosphere.

370
00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:42,880
Speaker 2: You go there for the experience. You get somebody at

371
00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:44,880
Speaker 2: home to record it for you so you can watch

372
00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:47,600
Speaker 2: that what actually happens when you give back. But yeah,

373
00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:51,919
Speaker 2: just quickly. There are big screens at various places around

374
00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:55,480
Speaker 2: the track so people can watch and see replays. And

375
00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:59,359
Speaker 2: then there obviously there is the if one TV app

376
00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:01,760
Speaker 2: that you could have on your cell phone where you

377
00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:04,800
Speaker 2: can actually then follow lifetiming and stuff like that if

378
00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:06,480
Speaker 2: you are at the track. But you know, when you

379
00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:08,359
Speaker 2: go to a Grand Prix, you go you go for

380
00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:12,000
Speaker 2: the experience. You don't really go there and compare many

381
00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:15,000
Speaker 2: secty times and lap times and stuff like that. You

382
00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:17,520
Speaker 2: go there for the enjoyment, for the experience, to be

383
00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:19,280
Speaker 2: able to say that you've been there, that you that

384
00:21:19,359 --> 00:21:21,879
Speaker 2: you've witnessed something great, and when you come back you

385
00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:22,840
Speaker 2: can watch the race again.

386
00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:27,199
Speaker 1: Yeah, check it out. Yeah that's what I did. I

387
00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:29,320
Speaker 1: went back to the hotel and I watched it again.

388
00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:32,520
Speaker 1: To hear the commentary as well, not to Simon.

389
00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:33,479
Speaker 3: I will make it.

390
00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:34,560
Speaker 2: I'll make any term.

391
00:21:34,520 --> 00:21:38,080
Speaker 1: To go watch it, all right, Incented, thank you so much.

392
00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:41,119
Speaker 1: Another question here sus Lemon, can you guess please explain

393
00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:45,399
Speaker 1: the broadcasting rights and where can people normally watch the race?

394
00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:50,720
Speaker 2: Hendry, Well, there are various broadcasting contacting place in South Africa.

395
00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:52,920
Speaker 2: Obviously super Sport is showing it. So if you don't

396
00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:56,560
Speaker 2: have super Sport, unfortunately there's no television covers that you

397
00:21:56,560 --> 00:21:58,600
Speaker 2: can watch, but there is, as I mentioned the F

398
00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:02,920
Speaker 2: one TV Athlete you can have. You can you can

399
00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:06,440
Speaker 2: very good subscribe to that. It's excellent. I have it personally.

400
00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:09,000
Speaker 2: It's it's very cheap. If you don't have Supersport where

401
00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:10,920
Speaker 2: you pay one thousand round a month, so you can

402
00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:14,320
Speaker 2: go to subscribe to F one TV and you can

403
00:22:14,359 --> 00:22:16,760
Speaker 2: pay one thousand and a year, so that may can

404
00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:19,879
Speaker 2: much better sense. You can get all the different commentaries

405
00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:21,840
Speaker 2: that you get on Board Shot, you get life timing,

406
00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:24,800
Speaker 2: you get everything on your computer or on your phone.

407
00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:26,320
Speaker 2: So that's that's the way to go.

408
00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:29,600
Speaker 1: I think just the last question quickly, Hendrick. In fact,

409
00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:31,760
Speaker 1: it's two questions. One is please can you explain the

410
00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:35,320
Speaker 1: difference between Formula one and Formula two. And then the

411
00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:38,320
Speaker 1: second question is can you explain the tires. We often

412
00:22:38,359 --> 00:22:41,800
Speaker 1: hear medium solved, how do those work and what advantage

413
00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:42,400
Speaker 1: do they bring?

414
00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:46,080
Speaker 2: Okay, F one and F two basically is just a

415
00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:49,840
Speaker 2: question of the power availability and obviously technological differences as well.

416
00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:52,920
Speaker 2: But sent Formula two is step just below Formula one.

417
00:22:53,119 --> 00:22:56,199
Speaker 2: It's part of the ladder that junior drivers follow on

418
00:22:56,240 --> 00:22:59,200
Speaker 2: their way to Formula one. Formula two is the step

419
00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:02,399
Speaker 2: just below the number of smaller steps or smaller cars

420
00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:05,240
Speaker 2: and left stile for cars formulas below that as well,

421
00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:10,360
Speaker 2: from go karts onward. The tires, Basically, every race has

422
00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:14,960
Speaker 2: three dry weather tires available, the harder, medium, and the soft,

423
00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:17,879
Speaker 2: and they differ from a circuit to circuit, but the

424
00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:20,160
Speaker 2: soft one is the one that gives you the most performance,

425
00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:22,479
Speaker 2: but it doesn't last very long, so therefore you need

426
00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:24,520
Speaker 2: to change. Also, there's a regulation that you have to

427
00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:27,000
Speaker 2: use two of those compounds in the race itself. You

428
00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:30,200
Speaker 2: have to have at least one pit stop, So that's

429
00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:33,199
Speaker 2: a strategy decision by the teams whether they're going to

430
00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:35,080
Speaker 2: start on the soft and then go to the medium

431
00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:39,119
Speaker 2: and you gain some places at the beginning with a

432
00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:43,600
Speaker 2: better tire, then change to a more longer lasting tire

433
00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:46,960
Speaker 2: after their first pit stop, or you know, depending on conditions,

434
00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:48,919
Speaker 2: whether they use the medium and then go to the

435
00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:51,040
Speaker 2: hard or the other way around. If you at the

436
00:23:51,119 --> 00:23:53,720
Speaker 2: very back of the grid, you would probably start with

437
00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:55,879
Speaker 2: the harder of the two compounds that you're going to

438
00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:58,000
Speaker 2: use so that you can stay out longer, and when

439
00:23:58,040 --> 00:24:00,800
Speaker 2: the other guys go into the pits, do the pitch

440
00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:03,439
Speaker 2: stops before you. You can then gain some places on

441
00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:05,360
Speaker 2: the track before you have to go in. So it's

442
00:24:05,359 --> 00:24:08,320
Speaker 2: a whole strategy thing. But basically, the soft compound is

443
00:24:09,119 --> 00:24:10,840
Speaker 2: the quicker one. It doesn't last as long as the

444
00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:13,520
Speaker 2: medium one is a little bit harder. It last is

445
00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:17,520
Speaker 2: a bit longer, and the hard one is the hardest. Obviously,

446
00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:20,119
Speaker 2: is the hardest compound. It doesn't give you all the

447
00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:23,439
Speaker 2: performance and the grip, but it lasts much longer. So

448
00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:27,200
Speaker 2: it's a strategy choice on the combination that you want

449
00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:28,000
Speaker 2: to use in the race.

450
00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:30,439
Speaker 1: Hendrick, you've been great, brother, Thank you so much for

451
00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:33,720
Speaker 1: making time for us. Hendrik Footvood Formula one correspondent. It's

452
00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:34,040
Speaker 1: eleven