Racing In The Rain - by Jacques Villeneuve

Jacques Villeneuve Goes Flat Out On Full Wets

His father Gilles was an acknowledged rainmaster and Jacques
Villeneuve (the 1997 Champion) was a chip off the old block...


"In wet conditions the racing line is usually better away from the
dry line because there is more adhesion on those parts of the
track where less rubber has been laid down by the cars during dry
conditions. The rain tyres, with their grooved tread pattern,
bite down through the water (throwing it up into the faces of
following drivers!) and grip the track. How successful the tyres
are at doing this depends on the amount of rain and the nature of
the track surface, and this can vary a lot. In heavy rain on some
tracks rivers of water can flow across and puddles of water form.
Worst of all is when a layer of water builds up between the tyres
and the road causing aquaplaning, which can leave you like a
passenger in an out of control car.  

"When a driver says he likes racing in the rain it usually means
his car has a good wet weather set-up. It's amazing how much grip
a F1 car has in the wet. Maybe it has too much. The downforce
works extremely well - but only when you are going fast enough to
make it work. Similarly, rain tires suck up the water best when
they are squashed onto the track surface. This means that you
have to keep your speed up all the time, even on the straights,
or you risk aquaplaning and losing control.

"When racing in the rain the emphasis on downforce means you have
to keep your foot down even though you can't always see where
you're going. This heightens the dangers in poor visibility. When
there is some distance to the car in front you can see the twin
tracks left by its tyres. But when you close up on the car ahead
the spray it leaves behind can be like hitting a wall of dense
fog. It's even worse when the cars are bunched together because
the mist and water hangs in the air. The visibility problem is
especially acute on the straights because you have no idea how
fast the car in front is going. You're flat out on the throttle
and you won't see the guy ahead until you're right on his
gearbox. The red lights on the back of the cars are some help but
it's always hard to judge speeds. The car in front might even be
stopped and you wouldn't know it until it was too late.

"So there is always a certain amount of apprehension driving in
the rain. You are under more stress and you feel the tension in
your back and neck. You have to concentrate on staying relaxed
because if you become too tense you don't drive as well. In the
cockpit you try to do everything as smoothly as you possibly can,
being especially gentle on the throttle and the brakes. The
gearchanging is all done automatically, so you can keep your foot
down, though in really heavy rain you use short shifts to keep up
the momentum while not disturbing the traction.

"There are several reasons why some drivers are better than others
in the wet. They may simply be smoother, or maybe they can adapt
more quickly, to finding the right lines and to recovering from
getting sideways. Being able to quickly recover your car from
moments of lost adhesion is a big advantage. A lot of this has to
do with feel and experimentation. When you suddenly get sideways
you can't tighten up and over-react, nor can you afford to slow
down. You have to always keep pushing to the limits of the
conditions, while staying within your own capabilities.

"Car control on a wet track is mainly a question of feeling how
close you are to the limit and having the confidence to stay
there. You need quick reflexes and fast reaction times and you
also have to use your head. Staying on the road requires
alertness, anticipation, a certain amount of informed guesswork
and also some experimentation. To find out where to lift off in a
corner you keep pushing until you start to slide and then you
back off, though there is no guarantee the conditions will be
exactly the same on the next lap, so you have to flexible in your
thinking. It helps if you have a realistic imagination so that
you can see in your mind's eye the various options available and
then think fast to choose the right one. You have to be able to
visualise the situation internally and understand where you are
at any given moment in relation to the limits of adhesion.

- from Villeneuve, My First Season In F1, by Jacques Villeneuve
 (with Gerald Donaldson)