When it comes to winning an F1 race, does the driver, the team or the car have the biggest impact? A study seeking an answer to this question yielded interesting results.
Searching for the answer to this question, researchers studied eight seasons of F1 races, where Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes seemed to have an almost perfect winning formula. The results were published in the journal Applied Economics and it was announced who played the main role in F1 races.
There has long been a belief about F1 racing that has been called the “80-20 rule” and it is claimed that the car/team is responsible for eighty percent of the success and the skill of the driver for only twenty percent. But that ratio isn’t right, says lead author Duane Rockerbie of the University of Lethbridge.
In the results of the research, it is said that the effect of the team and the vehicle on success is close to twenty percent, while the effect of the driver is around fifteen percent. The thing that has the biggest impact on F1 success is said to be the driver’s interaction with his team, with an impact of around 30-40 percent.
The researchers say this shows that the driver’s influence extends beyond the track, contributing to the production of better cars and strategies. According to Rockerbie, while more talented drivers are in good communication with their teams, they also make a great contribution to the development of team technology. Tool technology is also improving drivers.
The money and millions spent by F1 racing teams were also analyzed in the study. “A team that averages 10th every race will need to spend an additional $164.6 million to finish consistently ninth,” said Rockerbie. It will require an increase in its budget (average of $195.86 million).”
But that amount varies from season to season, depending on budgets and caps, and data shows that big spending doesn’t necessarily guarantee success if raising a driver’s salary means sacrificing elsewhere.
In short, when answering the question of who has the biggest share in success, it is not right to think only in the triangle of the pilot, the team and the car. The most important factor seems to be the relationship between the team and the driver. Other factors come soon after.
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