I guess they are that used to analysing at speed that they can remember insane amounts of data and detail

As I understand it, any time you face a scenario that looks like it has really major consequences for you, you get a rush of adrenaline that massively slows your perception of time and you find yourself able to process far more information than normal—and an F1 driver is already habitually processing a lot of those fine details anyway. (I can claim some small experience: I was once a passenger in a road car crash. I remember looking up and seeing the oncoming car, heading straight for my side, probably less than a second before impact, but I reached the point where I’d processed so much stuff and time had slowed so much that I was consciously thinking “ok, enough now, just hurry up and happen and let’s get this over and done with”.)

Yes, that perception of time slowing down is apparently normal. I’ve been in a few car crashes and remember in one of them seeing the windscreen bending and being amazed at how flexible it was and just watching to see how far it would bend before it cracked, then thinking, “can’t wait to tell the guys down the pub about that.” It never crossed my mind that I might not get to tell them.

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<div class=”bbp-reply-author d-flex align-items-center flex-wrap”>Bez
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<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>As I understand it, any time you face a scenario that looks like it has really major consequences for you, you get a rush of adrenaline that massively slows your perception of time and you find yourself able to process far more information than normal</span>

Yeah, I got run over while training for the London Mini Marathon when I was ~15 (so getting on for 30yrs ago).
I can remember so many small details from that event – the feel of the rain on my skin, the noise of the front tyres sliding on the wet road, thinking I could jump over the bonnet of the car (I couldn’t), the sensation of flying through the air, watching my walkman batteries bounce along the road, as it hit the ground etc.

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Just like films where real-time goes to slow-mo & then back to real time.

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What is going on with quotes? It worked for ages, but seems to have gone back to how it was when the ‘new’ forum was implemented.

The quote buttons do weird things to the formatting….gah!

True – I have had a couple of incidents like that – not least when I was riding in a pack and everyone else turned left and I continued straight on (I was heading off home a different route at that point). Must have been touching 40mph and a car turning right assumed we were all swinging off left and started to pull across in front of me. I can remember the look on the passenger’s and then the driver as she screamed at him to stop. The calculation as to whether to brake, swerve and come off or would the car stop in time etc.

I guess it was just the shear amount of detail Berger could recall, more than I think ‘normal’ people would but yes, I guess the combined factors of time seeming to slow plus it’s their job = an insane recollection of a tiny fraction of time.

I guess the F1 drivers have so much exposure to driving at high speed they’ve developed an ability to process information on timescales that us mere mortals can’t really imagine.

The closest I’ve ever come to speed (and its about as close to F1 as I am to becoming the Pope) was at one of those track days. I did a couple of laps in a Ferrari which was bloody quick to me, but then paid for a couple of passenger laps in a Radical SR1. I can’t really remember minute details as the speed was so unnatural to me, but the one thing I did take away was the braking. The guy still had his foot flat to the floor and was accelerating well into the braking areas of the car I was driving just before 😬 I can only imagine the amount of info the F1 guys process.

A translation of an interview with Grosjean:

Interviewer : Romain you do remember every single moment, right? We often praised your excellent physical condition which helped you stay conscious. Do you remember everything?

Grosjean : Yes. Everything. I remember the impact, despite the shocking figures, 53G, but for me it didn’t seem that violent. I remember undoing my seatbelt, trying to get out of the car, finding out I’m stuck. I said to myself “Well I must be upside down no problem they will come and get me” so I sat down again. I waited a bit, looked at my left a saw a big orange color, and at first I didn’t understood what that was. Then I realized there was fire, tried to get out from the right, didn’t manage to, tried to get out from the left and didn’t managed to so I sat down once again. I thought of Niki Lauda, sweared a bit thinking that it can’t end like this, that’s not possible, my last race can’t be this. I sat down again and saw death, thought “this is it, I’m going to die”, and my body relaxed at that moment, accepting my fate, asking myself from which side I am going to burn first, will it be hurtful? I had that thought for my kids, pulled as much as I could my left foot to try and unstuck it, that’s why my shoe fell of and I managed to free my foot. I turned my head, tried to put my hands in the fire, and I saw my gloves, which are normally red turning black from burning. I obviously felt the pain in my hands, managed to pull my head out, then my torso and at the time I freed my torso I know I am going to live. My hands are burned yes but I am out of here. I then felt Ian Roberts’s hand pulling the top of my overall to make me come down on the right side of the rail. I have no idea whereas I am on fire or not, he taps my back so I don’t know if I am a human fireball walking or if there isn’t any fire anymore. I shook my hands, felt they were burned, removed my gloves quickly as to prevent my skin from sticking to them if they are… You know the image of the skin detaching. So I removed both of my gloves instantly, my feet hurt, it was almost there that I felt the most pain at that moment. I arrived at the safety car, the medical car, the doctor talked to me, I sat down and they told me “the ambulance is there we will put you on the stretcher”. I told them “no, I want to go by foot, I want the helicopter to film those images of me walking towards the ambulance to show everyone I am ok”. I surely have wounds but I am able to walk, I was still in control on that side. Then the pain started to intensify and to hurt. I arrived at the medical center, saw Jean Todt, who asked me my wife’s number. We tried to call Marion, one of the only number I know by heart. I give him the number, we try to call, she doesn’t answer, and Jean tried and tried and tried again until I hear him say “Marion it’s Jean Todt, I’m with Romain!”. He puts the phone on speaker and I remember saying “mosquito it’s me I’m here”. I hear Marion on the other side bursting in laughter, crying at the same time, I heard my dad behind and my kids. They knew I was here, conscious and alive.

Courtesy of user Atamin on /r/formula1

^^ nice!

He’s an odd one, Romain Grosjean. I seem to remember when he first started he kept making silly mistake but was fast & the commentators would say that they are rookie mistakes, but you can see his potential. I get the impression that they weren’t rookie mistakes; just how he is when he drives.

He’s obviously a good driver, but in a field of mega-talent he often looks like he hasn’t quite got it.

But, he comes across as a great guy & I really feel for what he’s going through at the moment. He was very lucky to have survived, although I wonder what the psychological scars are going to be.

I hope he can drive at the last race of the season & I also hope this isn’t his last season in F1, but fear it might be.

An excellent read that translation. Scary to think that at one point he’d accepted his fate and sat down for it to happen then decided to try again!

Quite like the fact he calls his wife ‘mosquito’ 😁

Not convinced about about an F1 track with a sub 55 second lap (they’re down to 55.1 after less than 30 minutes already). Seems a bit Mickey mouse.

Russell quicker than Bottas at the moment. This will be very interesting. Nice to Albon putting a time in as well. I so want him to see him do well…

Stop the count!

First time I’ve had a live timing list sitting next to me during a practice session, I think… go George 👊😀

Honda currently looking pretty good too: all four cars in the top 6!

Raise the IQ of both teams?

https://the-race.com/formula-1/ferrari-chassis-department-chief-moves-to-haas/

Russell fastest in FP1, brilliant 🙂

Not a bad morning’s work from George there – he’s got to be pleased with that. More pleased than Bottas that’s for sure!

I was listening on 5Live, and they were debating what it means if Russell can jump into Lewis’s car and be fastest. Their conclusion was that, to the man in the street, it’ll confirm the view that it’s not the driver, it’s the car; but for the more informed, it’ll confirm that Russell is very very good, and Bottas is not….

That’s brilliant news. Top bloke.

according to Toto, Bottas broke his car early in the session and couldn’t stop….

Wolff saying that Bottas had a car issue. Anyway, it’s all just fluff until Saturday afternoon… we shall see.

…if he were a better driver he might not have broken his car!! 🙂

Anyway, it’s all just fluff until Sunday afternoon…

Fixed that.

I guess Wolfe read my earlier post and wanted to delay the humiliation

Who is going to start writing Bottas’s excuse for not winning the next two races?

That really would be humiliating for him if it is anything other than mechanical issues.

If the BBC are to be believed, then Bottas’ broken car was caused by an off-track excursion…

I wonder if he’s using LH’s actual car or is in a spare/test?

They only take two cars plus a box of bits to a race. I don’t know the rules if using a different car/pu/hybrid system for a third driver would incur penalties. I assume so.

He inherits all of LH’s component allocation.

Fixed that.

Oh, I dunno… I think in this case Saturday is maybe even more important; both championships are in the bag so points aren’t the big issue unless you’re sitting in car number 77.

We know Russell has a particularly high reputation for his qualifying speed, but Latifi and post-injury Kubica are both unknown quantities in qualifying: neither has had a teammate other than Russell. Now we get to see how he fares against a more measurable quantity: not only has Bottas had the same machinery as Hamilton but he’s been a close match for his pace all year. Even withat the 98-pole qualifying master in the car, the team will have plenty of data to make a comparison of Russell against him. And if (a huge if) there’s a 3-tenths gap at the end of Q3 then that would be astonishing.

The race is different: the Mercedes and the Williams will no doubt treat their tyres quite differently, and I’d think it’ll be even harder to get tyre management right first time out—especially on this new track which has unique characteristics—than to nail single lap speed. I’d be even more surprised if Russell came out on top in the race than in qualifying, unless Bottas has issues.

So personally I think tomorrow is in many ways the most important showdown.

I am wondering, and this is probably an over simplification, if Russell has been very good at wringing out the best of a poor, and previously very badly handling, car, then if the setup of the Merc suits his driving style he stands a very good chance of being very very fast?

As exciting as the Russel situation is…… is there not a good chance that Bottas is sticking to the development work they mentioned before the last round? Whereas Russel will just be hooning about the place

By all accounts Bottas was on the pace but kept going off-track, either getting lap times deleted or going through the gravel; Russell said he appeared to be a tenth and a half down on Bottas on outright pace. Doesn’t sound like development work, but who knows. Again, we’ll see come Saturday, and whatever’s gone on today we should expect Bottas to be right up there by then.

Vettel’s spin looked like fun. He’s the comedy gift that keeps on giving!

Whatever happens the rest of the weekend Russell had made a massive impression. If Mercedes don’t take up an option on him for 2022 then he’ll be hot property.

I have a feeling he’s rattled Bottas a bit but that familiarity with the car will be very valuable tomorrow as the track evolves through qualifying. If Russell gets within a few tenths of Bottas and is second on the grid he’ll have done very well. A pole would be very impressive indeed.

Whereas Russel will just be hooning about the place

Sort of disappointed his radio messages were reasoned, professional, almost cold, rather than ‘WEEEEEEEOOOOOWWWWWW!!!! THIS IS AMAAAAAZING’ or ‘I AINT NEVER GETTING BACK INTO THAT OTHER SHITBOX 🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕’.

Oh man, I really do feel quite bad about every negative thing that I’ve ever said about Romain Grosjean. I may not rate the guy as an F1 driver, but I do rate him as a human being. Bravo, the sport will be poorer after he hangs up his helmet and gloves.

So…Russell. He’s climbed into a Merc that doesn’t fit him and has had to learn how to manage a very complicated machine through an unfamiliar interface. He’s topped the timing sheets, twice going faster than Bottas who has had all season to learn the car. Russell’s going to have to compromise comfort to fit in that car, which will be very difficult to manage over a 90 minute race.

I really want to see him get a good result.

This analysis suggests that Bottas was much faster but couldn’t keep it on track. He’s been qualifying really well this year, so my money’s on him beating Russell in qualifying. Let’s face it, if Russell is within a quarter of a second of Bottas, everyone’s going to be impressed.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.ideal-lap-why-bottas-will-be-happier-than-his-lap-times-might-suggest.40XMgGMIKXMmwhdl3cjWk8.html

Bottas was much faster but couldn’t keep it on track

Er….

Er….

Point is that it’s a practice session, so the times count for nothing. When they get to Q3, Bottas will be more familiar with the car plus have more experience pushing to the limit on this track. Obviously, he needs to put it all together over a complete lap, but my money would be on Bottas being more likely to do that than Russell.

Probably – but Russell’s now had his first day in the car and time to look at the data, speak to the team and reflect…

On the Autosport podcast they had Bottas as averaging only 0.1something seconds down on Hamilton in qualifying.

Bottas is no mug.