How the words of F1 champion Rindt still resonate with modern technology

This month we’ve had two interesting questions to answer. Our first questioner, as a club racer, is used to a range of set-up adjustments for everything from historic cars to more modern single-seaters and GT3 cars.

They ask what are the range of set-ups for a Formula 1 car for different circuits, different conditions, and what is typically changed from Friday to Saturday? 

Parc ferme and the lack of unofficial testing have fundamentally changed the way a team approaches a race weekend. Prior to these restrictions being imposed, the way an F1 team would approach a grand prix was not dissimilar to your experience in club racing.

There would generally have been a test prior to the race weekend and, although this would have been at a different venue to the race, the circuit would have been chosen to have similar characteristics to the next GP track.

A number of set-up variations would be tried as well as new components, both aerodynamic and suspension related. In addition, as there were few tyre restrictions in those days, several compounds and constructions may have been evaluated.

From this matrix of tests, a number of candidate solutions would be taken to the next race and evaluated against a baseline set-up during free practice on Friday. Along with trying these new parts, the driver would be feeding back to the engineer their feeling about the car.

Using this human response and the data available, the engineers would fine tune the set-up, mainly using the tools of springs, anti-roll bars, ride heights, cambers and aerodynamic settings. At one time, there was even a 30-minute session on Sunday morning, something that was particularly useful if sudden inclement weather prevailed as it did in Melbourne this year.

If it did rain, there were no restrictions on what could be changed, although changeable conditions often led, as they might do today, to compromises having to be made.

These days are somewhat different. The restrictions on circuit testing have led to a huge investment in ensuring that as much optimisation as possible is done before the car even runs. Simulators’ increasing sophistication has elevated them to a position where they are now an engineering tool as much, if not more, than they are a driver training tool.

The 30-minute pre-race warm-up used to be handy if the weather took a sudden turn for the worse

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Teams arrive at a circuit with most of the variables already fixed and maybe just a couple of minor checks to be made. For example, a lower downforce setting may be better for racing but worse for qualifying, and the two solutions may be run to ensure that the physical test arrives at similar conclusions to the simulator test, thereby allowing better decisions to be made as to which to adopt for the weekend.

With this in mind, you might ask ‘what’s left to do?’ and the answer is simple: tyre evaluation. The current F1 tyre is extremely sensitive to track temperature, car set-up, the energy imposed on it by the circuit characteristics and the driving style.

So the majority of free practice these days is spent trying to optimise for best tyre performance, both over a single lap and longer runs indicative of the race situation.

Human beings’ quest for knowledge will always find a means to an end even when the obvious route to that end is stopped, whether it be by regulation or other means

The general pattern of a weekend is to spend first practice on general evaluation, perhaps some flow-vis and aero tests, the second session looking at both a low fuel qualifying set-up and a high fuel longer run, and the third session to fine tune any leftover problems.

Of course, during a sprint weekend even this regime is limited, bringing more jeopardy into the weekend as a whole, something I think is good for the fans.

Our second question is, on the face of it, simpler but got me thinking for a long time: which innovations do you wish F1 hadn’t produced? I’ve often been asked about innovations F1 should be proud of, but never the negative version.

Firstly, I have to point out that you can never ‘un-invent’ something. Human beings’ quest for knowledge will always find a means to an end even when the obvious route to that end is stopped, whether it be by regulation or other means.

I would also say that there is a total conflict between my passion as an engineer and my passion for the sport. I think though that this conflict resolves in wishing that aerodynamics didn’t play such an important part of performance.  

Don’t get me wrong, the science of aerodynamics is fascinating and the application challenging, but to repeat Jochen Rindt’s words in this very magazine on 23 May 1969, when writing about his opposition to wings: “This could mean that the man in front is actually going slower than you, but you cannot pass him because, after getting near to him, your wings stop working and you cannot go so quickly. This fact spoils racing to quite a large extent.”

Not much has changed, has it?

This article is one of many in the new monthly issue of Autosport magazine. For more premium content, take a look at the May 2025 issue and subscribe today.

Want to ask Pat a tech question for a future issue? Let us know on autosport@autosport.com

Jochen Rindt’s Lotus 49B leads the Matra MS80 of Jackie Stewart at the 1969 British GP

Photo by: Motorsport Images