What teams do during F1's most boring sessions

In Formula 1, there are two main performance differentiators to focus on: aerodynamics and tyres.

Across a grand prix weekend we have to ensure we are using the car's aerodynamics to the maximum potential for a given circuit layout. Secondly, we need to have tyres working in the correct operating window and determine our tyre strategy for qualifying and the race.

In FP1 on Friday, the track conditions are usually poor, so the priority in this session is to check the car is functioning correctly from both an aero and suspension perspective, while also measuring tyre temperatures and pressures.

Following that, we do one long run to understand how the car behaves on a high fuel load. Because of the poor track conditions we are not doing any detailed set-up work at this stage. We would only make significant alternations if fundamental changes are needed - such as downforce levels, rear rideheight or heave (damper) stiffness.

Although track condition is relatively poor, driver feedback is very important. For example, if they feel the car is very easy to drive in high speed corners, it may suggest we could take the downforce off to take advantage of a straight-line speed gain. However, if a driver is struggling in those corners, we may simply wait for track to improve before taking any actions.

For downforce levels, we can look at sector times, GPS traces and speed trap data. We can also analyse GPS from every other car. This gives us some idea of how our rivals are changing their engine modes and energy deployment.

We also look at fundamental system set-up such as brake-by-wire (BBW) mapping. This varies from driver to driver because of the slight differences in driving style.

We need to dial in some shape to their braking phase to give the driver a certain level of consistency. For example, if the brake balance was completely flat, regardless of how much pressure they apply with their left foot, then most likely the front tyre will lock when the inside wheel is unloaded while turning into corners.

To avoid that we shift the brake balance rearwards, but if that transition is too steep it could induce oversteer when releasing the brake pedal.

One of the problems is that the driver does not consistently apply exactly the same brake pressure every lap, so we have to balance the brakes to allow a consistent, predictable car but also be as close to the optimum as possible.

Ramping things up

Approaching the second free practice session on Friday afternoon we shouldn't be making any big changes.

However, if we had misjudged anything and the car wasn't working correctly, that would be addressed at the end of FP1 so we start FP2 in good order.

In this session we finalise brake maps, engine and torque maps and collect data about the tyre compounds available to us. Because track conditions are more representative, the second session is more about balance adjustment and learning about tyres.

We do one run on the harder compound tyres and a second run on the softest tyre. This is a simulated qualifying run and the driver must make sure he gets the out-lap right to prepare the tyre for the qualifying lap.

We need to make sure the set-up offset between the tyre compounds is correct, because when we go from harder to softer tyres, normally the car balance changes.

You naturally have a higher grip level, which means we can put more front load in the car and increase aero balance. The key is to have the car in an optimum balance despite the change in tyre.

However, one thing we need to consider is the offset between the tyre compounds isn't equal.

In order to gain good understanding on all compounds, we often split drivers. This means one driver goes from hard to soft tyre, whereas the other driver goes from medium to soft. For a driver who goes from hard to soft, it is not easy for him to extract everything out of the soft tyre as the grip delta can be very large.

For one lap performance, we focus more on the soft tyre because it's very unlikely (especially for teams like us in the midfield) that we can qualify on the medium tyre.

Once FP2 has finished and we have had a debrief with both drivers, I then speak with the team back at base and point them in the direction of a few areas in which to do a detailed analysis.

When Haas first started in F1 a few years ago we didn't have a support group, but now we have a small performance team back at the factory.

A few hours later we reconvene and have a meeting that also includes the aerodynamicists based in Italy. By Friday night we will have a clear idea about tyre strategy.

Last chance to nail it

We use FP3 to fine-tune the car for qualifying.

This is where we prepare the car, not just from an engineering perspective, but for the driver. We'll normally have two sets of qualifying tyres in FP3 and for each of those runs we keep set-up changes to the absolute minimum - maybe only a small aero balance or map adjustment. We want to keep the car consistent and allow the driver to get the best out of it.

At the start of FP3 the car should be 90% set up for qualifying and the race.

The drivers might go in slightly different directions on car set-up yet can't be totally opposite because the car has got fundamental characteristics. We can fine tune the car to each driver's style and this means it's likely there are some differences in aero balance, mechanical balance and brake map shapes.

Romain can deal with a more oversteery car on corner entry, as he likes to feel the car turning in.

Kevin needs a stable and consistent car on certain parts of corner entry. This is critical because it's all about giving a driver confidence. If Kevin has rear instability, he will have to reduce entry speed and lose time.

With Romain, if he turns and the car doesn't respond immediately he loses lots of time.

Fundamentally, despite aero, tyres, brakes and engine power, the driver remains a significant performance differentiator and it's important for engineers to understand what they need to enable them to be confident behind the wheel.

We need to develop a relationship to understand how we can optimise a car with the right balance characteristics to enable them to get the maximum out of the car both over a single lap for qualifying and a race distance. After FP3, if everything is reliable, it's up to them to deliver on-track.