FrontWing / Race strategy fundamentals

Why the fastest lap is only part of race strategy.

A Formula 1 strategy balances pace, tyre life, track position and the time lost in the pit lane. A useful what-if comparison makes those assumptions explicit.

Undercut and overcut

An undercut means stopping before a rival and trying to gain enough time on fresher tyres to move ahead when that rival stops. It depends on the new tyre’s warm-up, the older tyre’s pace and whether the earlier stop releases the car into traffic. An overcut attempts the reverse: staying out longer and making the extra laps count before stopping.

Tyre degradation and stint length

Compare representative lap pace across a stint while considering fuel burn, traffic and changing track conditions. A slower lap is not automatically tyre degradation. A model’s degradation slope is an estimate, and its usefulness depends on the laps selected and the conditions represented.

Safety-car pit windows

A safety car can change the relative cost of a pit stop because the field is travelling more slowly. The benefit still depends on track position, where a car is when the intervention begins, pit-lane restrictions and the timing of the restart. A simulation is a scenario, not a prediction of a guaranteed result.

Ask a precise what-if question

Specify the event, driver, alternative stop lap, tyre choice and assumptions. Compare the estimated outcome with the original race and inspect the supporting evidence. FrontWing’s Strategy Engineer offers a workspace for these questions.

Read the telemetry guide to understand the measurements behind a comparison, or meet FrontWing and its creator, Pranav Attarde.