Jon Noble: The fix it or ditch it dilemma now bugging F1 teams

Repair or replace is a dilemma that all of us face in a modern world of high-tech gadgets. Drop our iPhone (other mobile phones are available) one too many times, and the final decision on fixing it or ditching it for a newer model often comes down to money. F1 teams face similar calls when it comes to the replacement of car parts too, especially in an era where the cost cap is so impactful on each season’s development programme.

In years gone by, when budgets were unrestricted, teams would not hesitate for a second in bringing through pristine new parts at each and every opportunity. Fresh out of the box, and not having had the need to be patched up, they would often be lighter, stiffer and smoother than race-used components – so it was a no-brainer from a performance perspective.

But as the cost cap has bitten, and teams try to hit peak efficiency in only forking out to fit new parts when they are also an upgrade (thereby killing two birds with one stone), the default option has been to repair for as long as possible. That is why when you look up close at a modern F1 car, especially with so many areas now naked carbon fibre, you can often see a patchwork quilt of in-the-field repairs that will be carried out until the team commits to the arrival of something better.

But as F1’s field has closed up and every millisecond now counts – as Austria’s Q1 being the closest in history shows – what was once a consideration about repairing or replacing has now shuffled up the order of priority quite a lot.

And perhaps no area has become such a focal point in relation to the ‘repair or replace’ debate than the floor. As is common knowledge in the current ground effect era, floor performance is critical to the making or breaking of car performance. Teams are investing a fortune in manipulating the airflow perfectly in this area of the car so it empowers the diffuser, steers clear of tyre interference and is directed to the right areas downstream for added downforce.

But one of the unintended consequences of this generation of cars is that they are forced to run super low to the ground – and that makes the floor susceptible to picking up damage from bumps, kerbs or anything else thrown at them. So the most important part of the car that teams want in perfect shape is the one that is most at risk of being broken…

Even without a heavy crash, car floors take a battering and require repair jobs on a regular basis

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

Mercedes technical director James Allison explained recently that loose gravel that is run over “gets ejected by the wheel like a machine gun bullet” before it hits any exposed areas of the car – be it floor, sidepod or other bodywork.

At the British Grand Prix, it was widely acknowledged that Max Verstappen had lost 100 points of downforce - equating to roughly one second of lap time - after he ran across the gravel and smashed up his floor in Q1.

Team boss Christian Horner remarked afterwards: “The floor was like something out of Scrapheap Challenge, but the mechanics managed to put it back together – it was super-impressive.” The scale of the damage made it obvious that Verstappen would need a new floor for the race, but teams do not always have that option – as sometimes minor breakages do not justify a full-on replacement.

"They're [floors] constantly being patched up, repaired and tidied when they're not on the car" Andrew Shovlin

This is especially true just before the race, where it has become increasingly common on the grid to spot mechanics making some emergency repairs to floor elements that appear out of skew following the reconnaissance laps.

But the line that divides repair or replace decisions is getting increasingly tight because the difference in grid slots is now almost nothing – as George Russell’s pole position with an equal time to Verstappen in Canada showed.

As Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin detailed recently, the performance comparison between a patched-up floor that is slightly heavier and a new one that is lighter has to be factored in as to the impact it will have on grid slots.

Car are frequently patched up on the grid after the reconnaissance laps before a grand prix

Photo by: Jon Noble

“If you damage it [the floor], you can lose well over a second, but wear and tear would normally be in the order of a tenth or so,” he explained. “But then they're constantly being patched up, repaired and tidied when they're not on the car. In an ideal world, you'd like that to not be bigger than a few hundredths. But when you look at the grid at the moment, quite often that's two, three places on the grid. Generally, that's the level that you're talking about. It is small numbers - hundredths of a second - but it is still important performance.”

With F1’s competitive picture putting almost nothing between Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes on current form, the reality is that all of them know that every single detail needs to be maximised if they are going to come out on top.

That will be especially true for this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, where the tight and twisty layout puts a premium on grid position because overtaking is not straightforward. Last year, the difference between poleman Lewis Hamilton and fellow front row starter Max Verstappen was just 0.003 seconds- with third fastest Lando Norris just a further 0.082 seconds further back. When margins are that small, there are a myriad of factors that come together that ultimately make the difference – but now among them is a call on running new or used car parts.

With margins so tight, particularly in qualifying, making the call between used and new parts can be pivotal

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images