Jolyon Palmer on how to adapt to a new song

Jolyon Palmer, former Formula 1 driver and now expert on the official website of the championship, explained how the drivers are preparing for the upcoming Grand Prix of Las Vegas, which will be held on a new circuit unknown to everyone..

Whenever a new circuit appears on the championship calendar it is always interesting. Any way you look at it, there are just lingering questions. Teams start looking for possible settings and working on the simulator very early, several months before the race, as this can affect the process of upgrading the cars. But the racers have a tighter schedule, so they start preparing a little later.

The circuit in Las Vegas is completely new and because there are high expectations attached to this Grand Prix, the drivers immediately thought about this when the race was included in the seasonal calendar.

But in reality, since they are maximally focused on each coming weekend, and this stage is the penultimate of the season, it is likely that everything was limited to just a superficial acquaintance with information about the circuit, and they started to discuss something. with the teams only after the summer break, when this race was already looming on the horizon.

When I took part in Formula 1, a new city circuit also appeared on the calendar: the Baku City Circuit in the capital of Azerbaijan. The race there took place in June, but we only really started preparing for it after a series of the first four away Grand Prix, when the race weekend in Baku was already approaching.

It’s important to learn a new song before you get there, and it’s best to do this on a simulator. Many of the circuits are of course new for Formula 1 debutants. Oscar Piastri has now been introduced to the Mexico City circuit for the first time. However, in such cases, teams have a large amount of information collected in previous years, which allows them to understand a lot.

Before my Formula 1 debut in 2016, I had never driven around Melbourne’s Albert Park, but after watching the Australian Grand Prix on TV as a child and also driving around this virtual circuit on PlayStation, I felt like I was doing quite well. I know her.

Of course, racers still drive simulators on these tracks, but not to remember where to turn right and where to turn left, but to figure out what settings are needed there, experiment with the trajectories and find the right rhythm.

But as happened to me before the first race in Baku, this year in the case of Las Vegas we have to return to the most basic things. No information has been collected in previous years, there is nothing to rely on, and if you start working on the simulator, you will have to start everything from scratch.

Ideally, a simulator session would take place at least a week before heading to a new circuit, but in reality the calendar is so busy that this is not always possible. In my case, the race in Baku took place one after the other after the Canadian Grand Prix, so I had to practice on the simulator a few weeks before. And since the Grand Prix of Las Vegas was preceded by a series of three overseas stages in a row, the drivers must have been busy with simulators at the base of their teams for some time.

For me personally, learning city circuits was more difficult than getting used to stationary race tracks. From the car, the bends are less visible there, because you only see barriers and fences on the sides, especially if the race takes place in the dark.

You are completely focused on the illuminated track, while there is only darkness around you. Sometimes when you’re racing down a long straight, you can’t really see where the track will ultimately turn. A few years ago I was convinced of this again in Jeddah, when I took part in the filming of the first Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

This is exactly why it is so important to train on a simulator. I usually start with a long series of laps to get used to the track configuration.
Then during each break there is a conversation with the engineers, after which the work resumes and gradually you get the feeling that you are slowly getting used to the job.

Once you feel like you’re feeling pretty comfortable, you can start attacking more aggressively, experimenting with trajectories, driving around curbs, and working on your speed. All of this helps get you in the right mindset before you even hit the track, but I made sure to start the weekend with a walk around the track on Thursday to gather as much information as possible.

When it comes to a new circuit, as in the case of Las Vegas, along the way you get the first chance to see what the curbs actually look like, and this is a very important part of the circuit. We need to understand if it is possible to attack them? And is there a risk of damage to the car because the opposite edges are too high and steep?

It is also important to look at how the departure zones are organized, what kind of coverage is available; this is all useful information to help you orient yourself.

By the time you start training you should already have an almost perfect knowledge of the track, although of course in the first laps, when you first start to perceive it from the cockpit of the car and the level of grip, the The sensations will still be specific, especially at the low temperatures expected in Las Vegas. But by the end of the first set of laps you should already be driving in a more or less normal manner.

It is also useful to learn the turn numbers in advance. It’s easy to remember which direction to turn, but it’s also important to know the turn numbers so you can provide the team’s engineers with accurate feedback immediately.

Sometimes, when studying a new route, you can even tape a diagram of it somewhere in the cockpit, and then your engineer will have exactly the same one before your engineer’s eyes – and when you discuss certain turns, you’ll be sure to do the same means.

This is all very basic stuff, but if you don’t have a diagram of the ring handy, or if you don’t immediately remember the configuration, you’ll be surprised how much time you can waste trying to explain where exactly a ring sits . there is a specific bump on the track, or where the car starts to skid.

Ultimately, you’ll reach the desired speed level on a new track if you work effectively with your engineer and adapt to unexpected challenges. It’s not just about remembering where and how to turn. With the arsenal of tools at the teams’ disposal in 2023, everyone will be able to learn this, but by the end of Friday training, the more attentive riders will be in a more advantageous position and able to get started. on the nuances earlier than others.