Hard graft
When the FIA cuts the number of test days, or shortens practice sessions, there is usually uproar amongst teams. Yet most engineers will breathe a secret sigh of relief, because trying to extract accurate data from track testing is an engineer’s nightmare.
Changing weather conditions, track evolution and traffic make it nearly impossible to conduct representative back-to-back tests. While the vibrations and interference on a racecar disrupts sensors, so the data you record is often peppered with errors. By the time you’ve accounted for these, you’re usually left with a few laps of data, from which you must decide how to make the car faster and more reliable.
Even if you’re fortunate enough to experience optimum test conditions, it’s still up to the driver, mechanics and yourself to execute the test perfectly. At which point the human condition comes into play.
Compare this to the almost clinical environment of a driver-in-the-loop (DIL) simulator, where you can choose a dry track, turn tyre degradation off and remove other cars. The driver can complete repeatable back-to-back testing in consistent conditions, giving the engineers endless laps of data to analyse. Given all that, it’s no wonder race engineers and drivers now spend more time in the simulator then they do at the racetrack.
However, simulators cannot yet fully replicate the physical world, so final validation still must be completed at the track. But today’s advanced motion platforms, coupled with faster running vehicle models, means
