Qualifying
The term time training or qualifying in motorsport refers to the training session to determine the starting grid in the race. In some races you first have to qualify for a starting place with a fast lap time, as there are more participants than starting places. The fastest driver starts from pole position , i.e. first place on the grid. Depending on the racing series, there are different modes that are made up of the following core modes.
Qualification modes
Timed practice
In classic timed practice, all drivers have the opportunity to set their fastest lap within a certain time. All vehicles can be on the track at the same time. In some cases, the number of laps in timed practice is determined by regulations. In most cases, the drivers only have a limited number of sets of tires available. In long-distance races there are often two timed training sessions, some of which take place on two different days. Usually times are not added up, instead the fastest lap counts for the starting grid.
Individual time trial
In the individual time trial, each driver only has one chance to set his own time. He is on the racetrack alone or with a sufficient distance from another pilot. Usually there are only two to three vehicles on the route. While one is on his flying lap, the other pilot has his out lap from the pit lane. This will be timed by the race management. Usually the pilot only has one flying lap available to drive a timed lap. On very short racetracks or on ovals, however, you are often granted two flying laps in a row.
Elimination proceedings
The elimination process is similar to classic timed practice. However, there are several passes here. All the pilots start in the first run, but those with the slowest times are eliminated for the next run. Usually three rounds are driven in which only the fastest times per round count.
Qualifying race
The qualification race , also known as the sprint race , is a race over just a few laps. Sometimes there are races with all participants or in different starting groups. The fastest time of the race then decides on the starting grid in the main race. Pit stops are also possible in the qualifying race. Such a race is usually held shortly before the main race or after a previous qualifying session.
Examples
Formula 1 until 2002
The pole position on the starting grid is usually determined in qualifying training on the Saturday before the Sunday race. From the 50s to the 70s , the Grand Prix racing cars even started with three to four cars from the front row, depending on the race course, which reduced the advantage of the best position somewhat.
Until the end of 2002, this so-called qualifying consisted of a one-hour session , during which both the amount of fuel and the time of deployment were free for all teams. This enabled the teams to compensate for the weaknesses of their monoposti . Due to their center of gravity, some chassis were sometimes better off with more gasoline on board than with a small amount (as would actually be expected). Up until the beginning of the 1990s , special soft rubber compounds were even made for the tires by the manufacturers at the time, Goodyear , Pirelli and Michelin , which "only" lasted three to four laps, but were completely sufficient for a single, excellently timed lap. For a long time, it was also common to either use special expansion stages of the engines , which could be moved beyond the speed limit customary in racing , or assemblies that had not yet been fully tested on the test stand, but which were replaced by the more proven engines for actual racing.
Gradually, these technical variants were discontinued in order to reduce costs. However, one special feature of qualifying should last for a long time. Since every race track is very dirty or slippery at the beginning of the race weekend, and the required tire wear for slicks or the former grooved tires is not yet sufficient to achieve the optimal times, the top teams always avoided their three to four turns at the beginning of the training allowed to complete twelve total laps. As a result, the smaller teams were in a sense mostly forced to play the “vacuum cleaner” for the big stars, who then usually only intervened 20 to 30 minutes later.
As a result, the crowd in the last ten minutes of a session was so great that some drivers found it difficult to drive an ideal lap with a dozen racing cars on the track. On the other hand, a teammate in some Grand Prix was his comrade quite a wind shadow "buy", which was not welcome, but was still allowed by the rules ago. The slipstream took on extreme forms in some one-make cups , in which two previously agreed partners pushed each other bumper to bumper across the straights and after a certain time changed roles.
Formula 1 from 2003 to 2005
Since the 2003 Formula 1 season , teams have been obliged to have exactly the amount of fuel that was in the tanks at the start of the race ready inside the car during qualification training. Refueling or draining the fuel, such as changing the set-up , i.e. the basic settings via wishbones , wing settings and suspension dampers, etc., is prohibited and is only permitted in exceptional cases, if, for example, strongly differing weather conditions make safety concerns come to the fore, or a corresponding chassis part is damaged. However, changing the engine is prohibited and will result in the vehicle being passed back ten places on the starting grid.
Since the beginning of the 2004 Formula 1 season , it is no longer the classification of the previous race or the previous season that decides on the reverse starting order, but a previous qualifying in which the reverse mode is still used, i.e. H. the winner has to be the first to hit the dirty slopes and therefore find the worst conditions there. The driver who is best placed in this first part of the qualifying training is then allowed to start his fastest lap last in the actual qualifying .
These modes always found their supporters and opponents. The fact is, however, that with the old process, viewers and TV users in particular complained that hardly anything was offered in the first half hour, and voices are now increasing that this new process is too confusing and boring. However, it is particularly interesting for the smaller teams, as their sponsors can now also be presented in full format.
In connection with the Suzuka Grand Prix 2004, when Saturday qualifying was postponed to Sunday due to a typhoon , there were voices, such as those from Jean Todt ( Ferrari ) who, for cost reasons, shortened one race weekend to two instead of the previous one considered three days. However, this can hardly be in the interests of the local organizers.
In view of the low number of overtaking opportunities on many racing circuits in today's motorsport era, and especially in sprint races over short distances, pole position is considered to be "half the battle" for a possible subsequent victory.
Formula 1 from 2006
In order to achieve higher audience ratings, the qualifying mode was changed at the beginning of the 2006 season to a three-part mode with an elimination procedure, which for the most part is still valid:
- In the first 20 minutes of qualifying (phase 1 or Q1), all drivers can start with the fuel quantity of their choice. Each driver can drive as many laps as they like during this time, and a ranking list is drawn up with regard to the lap times. The six (2010–2012: seven) worst-placed drivers are no longer allowed to participate in the following elimination rounds, but are allowed to refuel for the race.
- In a further, 15-minute round (phase 2 or Q2), six (2010–2012: seven) more pilots are screened out of the starting field according to the same pattern, who are therefore no longer allowed to compete for better starting positions in the third round. They too can refuel for the race.
- In the third round (phase 3 or Q3), the starting positions one to ten are finally determined within 10 minutes. After that, these pilots are also allowed to refuel; this has not been allowed in the race since 2010.
Parc fermé conditions prevail throughout qualifying . This means that no more technical changes may be made to the car, with the exception of changing the fuel quantity and changing tires within the first 30 minutes. Pilots who finish their last timed lap after the end of the actual qualifying must complete the so-called outlap , which can affect their fuel calculation and the refueling window.
DTM
In the DTM there was only one timed practice in 2000. Then there was an additional sprint race before the main race in 2001 and 2002. In 2003, timed practice was combined with an individual time trial for the ten best drivers. Since 2006 there has been an elimination process similar to Formula 1, which was expanded to include a fourth section in 2009, in which the best 4 drivers battled for pole position in an individual time trial. In 2014, the qualifying mode was brought into line with that of the Formula 1 World Championship , so the individual time trial of the fastest four drivers from the third qualifying segment is no longer required. The reason for this change was the reduction in TV airtime by ARD .
V8 STAR
In addition to qualifying, the V8-Star also had a qualifying race. There were several starting groups with four vehicles each. Only two laps were driven between which the pit lane was driven and a pit stop had to be completed. The time for this race decided the starting grid.
Other sports
The term “qualifying” is also used in the English language in other sports, such as B. Football used in a qualification for a World or European Championship .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Stefan Ziegler: "Less TV time: DTM shortens qualifications". Motorsport-Total.com, April 14, 2014, accessed April 16, 2014 .
literature
- Jörg-Thomas Födisch / Erich Kahnt: 50 years of Formula 1. The winners , Heel: Schindellegi 1999, 215 pages, ISBN 3-89365-615-4
- Peter Gruner, Das Formel-1-Lexikon , ECON: Düsseldorf 1997, 474 S., ISBN 3-612-26353-6
- Bruce Jones, Formula 1 encyclopedia. Drivers, teams, races and legends, Sportverlag Berlin: Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-328-00848-9
- Fight at the limit. The Formula 1 Chronicle 1950–2000 , ed. v. Willy Knupp, RTL book edition: Zeitgeist Publisher: Düsseldorf / Gütersloh 2000, ISBN 3-89748-277-0
- Ulrich Kühne-Hellmessen (Ed.), Crazy Formula 1. With complete chronicle and super statistics, Sportverlag Europa: Zürich 2004, ISBN 3-9522779-6-7
- Peter Scherer, 50 Years of British Grand Prix Drivers , o. O., 1999, 233 p., ISBN 0-9530052-8-3
- Achim Schlang, The Formula 1 aces of our time , Motorbuch Verlag: Stuttgart 1984, 213 S., ISBN 3-613-01035-6
- Koen Vergeer, Formula 1. History of a fanatic love, Rütten & Loening: Berlin 2001, 270 pages, ISBN 3-352-00638-5
