00:00I'm Max Steppen and today I'll be answering your questions from the internet.
00:04This is F1 Driver Support.
00:07So, when is the best time to pit?
00:14In our team together with Oracle we run over 8 billion simulations before the race basically
00:21starts.
00:22So it gives us a lot of opportunities to make sure that we have the right strategy out there
00:27and know when to pit basically.
00:29Do F1 drivers watch endless hours of tapes of each other in car film of other drivers
00:34like football players do?
00:35I mean we do look at on boards of even other drivers, yourself, you do look back sometimes
00:41on the years before but the thing is that also the F1 cars every year they change and sometimes
00:47with that the balance changes, the weather has a massive influence as well, the wind direction
00:53has a big influence so yes you can learn a little bit of it sometimes or you can use
00:57it as a little bit of a reference to start but then it's very important to basically
01:02just go off what you learn throughout the weekend and then just try and optimize it from there.
01:06What's your best advice to improve your overtaking ability?
01:09Well practice a lot, I mean practice makes perfect if that's in the real world, the virtual world,
01:16the more you race you know the more you you come into these kind of situations where you have to
01:20either defend or overtake.
01:22Asking F1, which track statistically is the most exciting? Overtakes, accidents, flags,
01:29pits of the weather, drama and unexpected winners consistently?
01:32I guess Baku maybe? I think of the history of F1 probably is a bit unexpected with stuff,
01:38you know exactly like it's all spelled out there. A lot can happen there, good or bad.
01:44Wet races are boring, cars are slow and there is no racing, the only entertainment is driver mistakes.
01:49Sir or ma'am, you are an idiot. Wet races are not boring, cars are not slow and there is racing most of
01:58the time. That's definitely not the only entertainment, the driver mistakes, so I very heavily disagree.
02:05You like them?
02:06I like them, yeah. I mean I like wet races, dry races. It also depends a lot on how much rain,
02:13when it comes in, start of the race, middle of the race, stuff like that. They can be very entertaining.
02:18What's up with the new F1 obsession in the USA? What's up with that?
02:25I guess, you know, having a series on Netflix helped a lot. Also throughout Covid, you know,
02:31people being more aware of what's going on, you know, especially when you were
02:34mainly sitting at home, right? You couldn't really do much. That definitely helped a lot. And then of
02:39course, I think also the ownership has really pushed it, of course, to have three races in the US,
02:44showing more awareness for the sport here. So I think all those things definitely help.
02:49What is the biggest difference between a good driver and a great one?
02:53I think the difference between a good one and a great one is to be, first of all,
02:57consistently performing well, especially when the pressure is on, you know, to get the best out of
03:03yourself. You know, these kind of moments really define, I think, the difference between a good and
03:07a great driver.
03:07What is Max Verstappen's biggest weakness and in what way does it affect his performances,
03:12if at all? Well, I will never tell you. No, you will never say something like that about yourself,
03:19even if you know what it is. You try to work on it and that's it.
03:23Why do F1 drivers need to be physically fit? Well, like in any other proper sport,
03:29if you're not fit, you can't perform at your very best. You know, within those one and a half hours
03:34as well in the race, there are a lot of forces on your body and you need to make sure that you're
03:39not busy trying to hold on to the car and basically, yeah, be fit enough to drive the car and be busy
03:44with other stuff as well. Does anyone know about the mental preparations the drivers do to stay on top
03:49of their game? It depends on the driver, you know, some do more than others. Some keep it very simple,
03:56some need to do a whole different kind of prep before they jump in the car. I'm probably on the
04:02least side of things where, you know, you do a bit of warm up for your muscles and stuff and
04:06tiny reaction games, but you can also easily just sit in the car and go. You know how driving and
04:12sneezing at the same time is horrific for that split second. What do F1 drivers do? How can they
04:16sneeze and drive? It doesn't really happen that often. I think for me it only happened really,
04:22I think when you're a bit ill then it can happen, but yeah you have to deal with it. I mean it's
04:27like what half a second, a second that it's not nice, but it can happen. How different is each F1 car?
04:35Well, just looking at it already, most of them of course look quite different and that's of course
04:39from the things that you can't see. Most of the things of course underneath are completely different
04:43or designed in a different way and that's I think also what makes F1 very special. You know,
04:49you have all the teams racing, but they all try to find it in their own way to be competitive.
04:55Why do F1 drivers all drink out of inordinately long straws? Can't they just drink from normal
05:00bottles or reasonable length straws like us models? I don't know what they exactly mean with that
05:05because for me it's quite a short straw that I have connected in my helmet. At least for me it's
05:12quite a normal straw. I don't know what they've been looking at to be honest. What is the benefit of
05:18eating ice? Why do F1 drivers eat ice? Like an ice cream or what? I don't eat that.
05:27Do F1 drivers really lose weight from the sheer tension of a single race? I mean,
05:32I lose weight from sweating and my effort that I put in during the race, not from the tension,
05:37but everyone's different I guess. How do drivers usually get into F1? Well,
05:43first of all by being better than others. Most of the time because you start racing and go-karting
05:48and then of course you go up up through the ranks and that can go in many different ways to be honest.
05:53There are a few categories out there, but yeah, it's more or less like other sports, right? You
05:59move up the ranks throughout your career to get to the highest possible.
06:04What's a random F1 moment that you remember or sticks with you? I mean, winning your first race,
06:08you will always remember that. Your first title, stuff like that. Those are always very special
06:14special moments. How do F1 drivers take a league? Well, you cannot during the race. I mean,
06:19there's no toilet in the car. So you have to try and make sure that you go before the race starts.
06:25Otherwise, it's a very long race to try and keep it in.
06:28How would an 80s or 90s Formula 1 car do against the modern Formula 1 car?
06:34Not very good, I would say. They're a bit slower, but that was also, I mean,
06:38it depends a lot on the regulations as well, right? And the knowledge increases over the years, so
06:44it's normal. How do F1 drivers reduce their reaction time? Well, you can do maybe some pre-race,
06:51like warm-up to help. That might help a little bit, but normally I think when you
06:56you sit in the car, you, I think, with the adrenaline also kicking in your reaction time,
07:02naturally, like you're really fired up anyway. How do F1 drivers see through the halo? Well,
07:07it's with your eyes, like the 3D vision, like you kind of look around it. We also, most of the time,
07:13not looking straight, like always looking left or right. Who is the all-time F1 GOAT? Well,
07:19I leave that up for the people themselves to judge that, right? Everyone has their own one,
07:25and I guess that's also what makes it nice, right? To have fans having their favorite driver or not.
07:30This might be a dumb question, but how do F1 drivers train? Like, do they do practice races,
07:35friendlies? Unfortunately, we can't really practice a lot in F1. Yeah, we have a few test days,
07:40but like throughout the year, we cannot drive the F1 car a lot. So we spend a lot of time on our
07:46simulator, so more virtual. It's of course to reduce the cost as well, otherwise people go,
07:50our teams go testing a lot. So that's the only way to try and make sure you keep developing your
07:57F1 car and try and get more performance out of it. Pit stops, when to undercut, overcut.
08:03Yeah, I mean, it depends a bit on the track layout, the tire deck. You know, on some tracks,
08:07an undercut is, of course, very strong because the wear on the tires is very high. So when you're
08:12getting to the end of a stint, you might be, let's say, two seconds slower than when you put a new
08:16tire set on. So then it's very important to know when to undercut. But on some tracks,
08:21the tire deck is not very high. So basically, every lap, of course, the fuel load is coming down.
08:27And that's actually giving you more lap time than actually the wear is increasing. So then an overcut
08:33can sometimes work as well, like Baku sometimes actually, because then the warm up with the tires
08:38also out of the box can be quite tough. And especially between walls, you always take a little
08:43bit more caution on the outlap. So yeah, there are a few tracks where overcuts work,
08:47but mainly I would say undercuts are the way to go. Out of curiosity, how many hours does the driver
08:52actually spend in the car training and practicing? And how many hours do they spend training,
08:56practicing on the in-house sim? Too many hours. Throughout the race weekend, I mean, you have
09:01the practice hours, then you have Kolfang in the race. So, well, what is it? Three hours of practice,
09:07more or less. And then how many hours do they spend training, practicing on the in-house sim? I mean,
09:10you do like, at least for me, like 20, 25 days a year. I would say it's more like nine to five
09:16day. So you do quite a lot throughout the year. And then besides that, of course,
09:20you're constantly discussing a lot of things with the team, you know, even when you're not sitting
09:24in the sim or the real car. What is the greatest max step in victory in your opinion? For me,
09:29it's the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix. Honestly, for me, it's difficult to pick one. Like I said before,
09:38probably winning your first one was still like an amazing one. Yeah, there have been some really
09:43good ones. I don't know. I cannot pick, to be honest. How different will 2026 of one cars be
09:49to drive? They will be very different. The engine is already completely different. So that will require
09:55a different kind of driving style, the cars naturally as well. It will be, I think, a big change
10:01for everyone to get on top of these things. And especially, I think the first few races, you will see
10:04quite a big difference between the teams and understanding what to do. I don't think even
10:09we know fully what is exactly going to happen. So yeah, try and not make it too complicated.
10:16What specific innovation or rule change in Formula 1 over the past decade has most genuinely improved
10:21the competitiveness or excitement of the race as well? I guess it's a bit of a love-hate relationship,
10:27but I do think DRS has helped to race a bit more in some tracks. Unfortunately, with having so much
10:33downforce on the car, sometimes it's very hard to follow. And that's why, yeah, we need the DRS
10:38sometimes. So opening the rear wing up on the straights to be able to fight on the straights
10:43and into the braking zones. Otherwise, I think you would have had a lot of boring races in some tracks.
10:49All right, that's it. Thank you for all the questions and see you next time.
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