I am going to my first Formula 1 practice session tomorrow (I’ve never even seen it on TV) and I may not be able to make the first session. Do drivers generally practice on both sessions or do they choose one? Are there drivers that skip the Friday practices all together?
I’m sure the real F1 fans on the board will be along to provide a better answer shortly, but it’s very rare for a driver to miss either practice session, and practically unheard of for them to skip one or both deliberately. I think missing practice used to be more common 15+ years ago, when the cars were a lot less reliable than they are now and sometimes mechanical problems would prevent a team or driver from taking part in practice.
Practice is just that - although most of the field will have raced at the track before, they may have only done so a handful of times, and inevitably conditions will be slightly different this time round. Sometimes the track will have changed as well (as in it could have been re-surfaced, had the radius of a corner changed, a chicane added). As well as giving the drivers practice, it’s perhaps more important to help the teams get the settings on the car just right, as each car has myriad adjustable items that need tweaking differently for each race.
I’ve never been to a live F1 session either, but I have it on excellent authority that IT IS LOUD. If you’re going to be anywhere near the track (and I assume you will be otherwise, why go?) you may want to consider earplugs. OTOH, the noise is one of the main attractions! Enjoy.
In recent years, F1 has had a problem. Test sessions are strictly regulated. so the opportunities for young driver development is very limited. In order to deal with this, teams will try and give their reserve driver some time in a car by subbing them in for one of their main drivers in first practice.
So there may well be names you don’t know.
Not this time. This weekend is the first F1 race at the new Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
I’m watching now and it seems all the top teams are out with their prime drivers.
Vettel fastest by 1.4 seconds! Looking forward to P2.
You will not really be able to take too much meaning from the first practice session.
They will be trying out different fuel loads to see how the suspension reacts, and will do a longer run to see how the tyres handle the wear.
They will then adjust all sorts of settings, especially in the engine management system to alter the drive characteristics.
I’m not too crazy about this new track. T1 is simply assinine, as is T11. They seem to be designed for maximum carnage. The rest of the “backside” looks too narrow and winding for much more than single-file racing.
We’ll see…
Bother, said Quartz, as his headphones ran out of charge.
I’m watching qualifying and the place seems to be packed.
Thank you Houston for an incredible race.