strad wrote: ↑14 May 2018, 19:30
I think the problem is they monitor speed not distance.
The racing line while quicker at racing speed is in some corners the longer route. Swinging from inside to outside and such to achieve the racing line covers distance.
Picture drag racing where the quickest time is achieved by going dead straight and it costs you time to drive the extra distance if you weave on your way to the finish line.
In this case you can make up time by covering the less distance by hugging the tightest line rather than the racing line. Every time you change your position on the track to achieve the racing line you travel farther.
To Vettel the non-racing line is this "ridiculous" line.
everybody's aware you can have a faster way to go under VSC than just follow the delta - by saving distance," Vettel said.
Rather they monitor speed not time. The comment of Whiting also seems to confirm vettels claim:
”If it's measured every 50m then any advantage you can get for taking a different line on the track is going to be absolutely minimal.”
So he confirms there is an advantage only he downplays the magnitude.
The other thing you can read is that they benchmark every 50 meters. Question is who’s 50 meters? The suggestion is that it is based on wheel rotation rather than fixed trackside references otherwise line wouldn’t matter.
I am starting to get the feeling that the FIA instead took a shortcut in implementing this system. What would be the proper way is to measure section speed based on GPS or transponder, calculate the 40%, relay that to the car and then compare that to the cars actuals. That would mean that they would have to invest in the aquisition/ calculations and analyis capabilities, but also that they would have to invest in a new communication channel with the car. And of course certify all of that.
What I suspect they actually did is give the teams a couple lines of code like “measure the speeds during the last 5 standard laps and display a delta to the 40% on the wheel, then send a pass fail signal via the telemetry ( which FIA reads anyway)”. That means no investments needed other than 50 lines of code, and since they control the software on the car they can enforce it. However since it is confined to the cars isolated electrical systems they can only access the information which is available, and that is speed not position.