Ciaron Smith is another one who points out Kimi’s style of driving and why it’s so underrated. I already liked Kimi due to his aforementioned cold personality, and liked him even more because of his driving style… imo one of the more underrated World Champions out there
And like that, you’ve also explained how Kimi was able to adapt so quickly to the 2007 Ferrari despite the shift from Michelins to Bridgestones - Kimi and Michael had similar enough driving styles
Senna developed his blipping technique in karts. So its not due to turbo lag. He did it all of his career. It was his way to manipulate weight transfer.
@@WolfeF1Explained most of the time if you're smooth - you're going too slow. The car has to go in a smooth way on its tires slip angle - carrying most speed without scrubbing it or overheating the tire too much. How you keep the car on that slip angle - is an art. The steering and pedal inputs will not be smooth. Look at Schumacher vs Herbert data comparison video through bridge corner in silverstone. Herbert smooth and slow. Schumacher not smooth but much much faster.
@@Mart-Man I understand what you mean but I think you mix several things up because you get deceived by appearance. Let's look at Schumacher. He was a master at managing tire loads (stems from his karting days when he had to use his competitor's used tires because of money problems). Peter Sauber said in the Sauber Group C cars (Beat Zehnder confirmed this), Schumacher was the fastest while using the least tires, fuel and being the smoothest on his material. How is that possible when his driving style "looks" aggressive on the surface? You would think that it was the opposite. Because we are talking about weight transfer and how to put load through a car. If you look at Schumacher, you can see how he flows with the car and how the back of his car almost floats around the corner. He never unsettles his car, he never has to lift because he has to wait until his car gets settled, he never mismanages his weight transfers because it always flows with the momentum of the car. In order to achieve that, he had to exactly correct these microslides. It allowed him to keep the momentum smooth, to not unsettle the car and to keep the car in the exact perfect slip angle. Other drivers were not as gifted and able to do what Schumacher did. They would not be able to manage those microslides, they would therefore unsettle the car, fight the car and become slower. This is why they would have to slow down a bit and apparently drive smoother because they could not flow with the car like Schumacher did. So actually, if you don't look at steering inputs but on the momentum of the car, Schumacher was one of the smoothest drivers. And his tire usage or his fuel usage speak a clear language. His car is in fact so settled that he can rotate his car with throttle application and by modulating the differential. Notice how his steering twitches and how he opens the steering wheel a bit whenever he starts to apply the throttle. He finishes the rotation by using gradual throttle application. Remember the telemetry from Schumacher and Herbert? There you could see how gradual Schumacher's throttle application was while Herbert braked much more aggressively, was off the throttle longer (he had to wait until his car was settled) and accelerated later. Schumacher was able to rotate the car with the throttle and it gave him the huge advantage of having a smooth weight transfer and a settled car on the exit. As a basic rule, you should never make sudden and immediate inputs which unsettle the car and mess up weight transfer. This gradual and smooth throttle application allowed MSC's car to have a stable weight transfer and to stay settled on the exit while others were much more out of shape and unsettled. MSC was also not the latest and most aggressive braker, again because his aim was to have that perfect weight transfer and to keep that car settled. This is how MSC kept within that perfect slip angle. I remember reading in a book that he had a huge fight with John Barnard because of exactly what I was talking about. John Barnard thought that having a stable rear was paramount for being a fast, aggressive driver and MSC demanded the exact opposite (eventually lead to Barnard's sacking). Barnard couldn't understand what MSC meant when he was talking about rotating the car as quickly as possible with throttle, a stable front, weight transfer etc. Barnard couldn't understand that flowing with the momentum of the car and operating tires at the edge was much more important than simply being able to be aggressive on the surface. He apparently asked MSC how in the fudge MSC expected to be fast with such an unstable car (any wrong inputs would insettle the car). MSC answered that this was exactly his job as a racing driver. Well, Rory Byrne understood what MSC wanted and they are now in the history books. If you solely look at steering inputs, it looks aggressive. But if you understand how Schumacher modulated his car, carried momentum, played around with weight transfer, used the throttle to his advantage and kept his car settled at all times, then you can see how smooth he really was. Only a tire that has a stable load and is subject to smooth weight transfers delivers stable grip. Steering inputs might look aggressive, but the paradox is that it is actually the smoothest. Think of it this way, you can't afford having aggressive weight transfers this close to the limit, because anything could unsettle the car. MSC had to correct these microslides in order to keep the car within that smooth window and he was only one of the very few who had the talent to actually do it. I took MSC as an example because it is so apparent what made him fast, but all fast drivers have that sense for weight transfers and know how to not unsettle the car. Lewis Hamilton is another example. His approach is different, but the aim is exactly the same. He works much more with the brakes which is why he used to experiment with different brake suppliers a lot during Free Practice. But to again, you can see how Hamilton is a master in managing weight transfer and keeping the car settled. It's like watching different artists making great art in different ways. But I wouldn't necessarily say those unilateral things like smooth means going too slow or things like that. Racing at the limit is much more complicated than that and usually, there needs to be nuance. If you could summarise an artform which only a handful perfected worldwide in just one sentence, then it wouldn't be that special. So try to look deeper underneath. Don't look at appearances but try to understand what a driver actually tries to achieve and you will understand what I mean.
@@LeTangKichiro I know all of that. Hence I said: "The car has to go in a smooth way on its tires slip angle - carrying most speed without scrubbing it or overheating the tire too much. How you keep the car on that slip angle - is an art. The steering and pedal inputs will not be smooth." Also during Ferrari times, Rubens was way better at not overheating the rear tires and thus Michael could learn and evolve. He became faster still thanks to Rubens. Be ut Rubens had his own issues and was never all that consistent. Yes, weight transfer is important. it is part of steering/braking/acceleration as it dictates where the weight goes and that dictates the amount of friction any given tire has (both by how much weight it gets and its deflection and increase in tire patch). Friction is another way of saying grip. Heat changes the coefitiant of friction in tires hence you lose grip. Car being "settled" just means that you're using the max grip (or at least not over the available amount) available for any task at hand. (Also tires reach max grip at their specific slip angle) Overal tire grip is best visualized as a unit circle. full up - grip used for braking, full down - acceleration, sides - cornering. Hence trailing brakes is an important concept to maximize grip usage. If you spike out too much - aka ask for too much grip by braking at max power and turning for example - car cant handle that much grip demand and slides/becomes unsettled. Also due to slip angle dictating max grip point - you must slide. Rear must be unstable. More or less. Michael, Max, Ayrton like to "slide" into the corner and thus turn faster and exit straighter but the cost there is more heat in rear tires and they do more work and thus lower grip on exit but the exit speed is higher thus you can be faster in that way. Lewis, Fernando, Jenson like to slide less on entry but have more grip for exits. They launch of corners better with that style but exit corners slower but with less tire tempe in the rears but more in fronts. All in all, its a matter of utilizing all of the grip available to you in an efficient way. Both styles with lose rear and planted rear can be fast if you setup/design the car correctly. Also those styles will have corners where they are superior as well as tracks. Michaels main streght just like any other great champion was being able to extract close to max performance consistently. Just like Lewis, Fernando, Max, Ayrton, etc, All greats have been known as "tire whisperers" who save tires mostly as they manage the used grip and available grip, thus overheating and sliding the tireless. Anyway, i like this discussion with a fellow motorsport fan who loves details :)
Ayrton's throttle blipping also worken in the NA cars because it reduced the weight transfer towards the rear axle making the front have more grip and therefore allowing him to rotate the car quicker then the others.
I was taught when riding if I run out of road basically stand up and crank the bike over by staying off the seat and use the throttle. Same as steering wheel and accelerating.
Well i think Michael especially in 2000's abused the traction control of the car and pushed it to the very limits. The throttle technique it wasn't only Senna who did it, many drivers in fact were pushing the car there. Senna was very fierce on his braking, utilised lots of engine braking especially when downshifting but that made him many times DNF, at least before 90's when Senna was more mature in his driving. Raikkonen had a very extreme and wild style in the traction control era he was using as less as possible traction control while on Schumacher or Alonso you hear it working overtime that cut in throttle response.
There wasnt any turbos in the 90s, senna used that technique because of weight destribution, have more grip on the corners and get out of curves faster than the others (sorry for bad english 😅)
@@WolfeF1Explained Tbh you video said 80's and the majority of the 80's was turbo, so you are not wrong. I still wonder why he blipped the throttle in the non turbo cars tho, even if it's for weight distribution reasons (which I doubt) it still begs the question whether blipping was the best way to do it. Usually the softer/smoother the inputs - the better it is, therefore one has to wonder why he didn't just hold throttle if it were for weight distribution reasons.
This was an excellent video full of great analysis! But from the title NGL thought it would be about studying the styles of drivers like Maldonado, Grojsean and others like it. TBH I'd love to see a video breaking down where they went right and wrong to explain how they can be so quick at times but crash magnets at others, take care and awesome work
I have a V shape style, with hard rotating in the entry and syraighter exit that i learned in sim. However it slows me down in rental karting where you need to keep revs up and sometimes is faster to do wider turns to keep the revs, and definetly softer steering
Yup for me personally the V shape style works best for things with high power where exits are more important for lap time and corner exit speed to lean on that power and you can be more aggressive A kart doesn’t have as much power so momentum becomes the name of the game you have to be smoother It’s kinda like on sims I would drive a touring car different to a formula car
Please analyse the driving style from Ukyo Katayama in the 90s. He made in one corner more steering movings than Others. In 94 he was really fast with this style.
Hamilton is actually a relatively early breaker, like any short-corner driver is. He prioritises corner entry so he can get the car straightened out and on the throttle earlier. Verstappen is very similar, and I would say he is much more smooth than aggressive.
I just realized something. If the 2026 engine regulations stays as it is, the engine might end up with a lot of turbo lag. meaning Ayrton Senna's driving style could actually become viable again.
I think Verstappen's style is what Schumi would've been if he was still driving today. Max is a bit smoother since he has to adapt with the cars now having better downforce and more fragile tires - so he doesnt have to throw the car around as much and scrub the tires. Nonetheless, both preferred that extremely twitchy oversteering setup that has alot on the front end whilst having a loose rear end that only they could drive. Its incredible really, especially how difficult it is just trying it on the sim
Wonder if you can drive like Schumi on the sim even. Max's style maybe, since it's a bit smoother; but Schumi goes back to 0 or even countersteer mid corner briefly.
So you're telling me I could've been a Senna-Schumacher lovechild (on sim racers, I prefer an oversteery setup with a high downforce front-end and I blip the throttle a lot in the center of the corner).
Please analyse the driving style of Ukyo Katayama. He made in one corner more steering movings than Others. In '94 He was very fast with this strange style.
* Drivers in the early 2000s didn't "drove aggressively". It was the car. It was lighter, snappier, quicker. If you didn't reacted quickly to it it'd snap and you'd spin. Just like happened when Lauda tested the Jaguar in 2002. He didn't had those reflexes anymore. * Senna didn't stab the throttle for the turbo to spin, he stab it to keep the engine revs higher and the car moving faster, being early to accelerate again and keeping the car on the edge of grip. He kept doing it long after the turbos were gone.
I love this video so much, finally someone take notes of Raikkonen's talent instead of his cold personality
The Iceman...
Ciaron Smith is another one who points out Kimi’s style of driving and why it’s so underrated. I already liked Kimi due to his aforementioned cold personality, and liked him even more because of his driving style… imo one of the more underrated World Champions out there
@@sandalogaming6766 Yes im a big fan of Ciaron Smith's work. He has alot of analysis on Kimi's driving style
Kimi doesn't have cold personality. He's softer than teddy bear.
Schumacher steering + Senna throttle = Racing game with a keyboard
Haha so true. Mouse sensitivity all the way up!
Guess you need to make Schumacher Throttle technique as well coz it's special
And like that, you’ve also explained how
Kimi was able to adapt so quickly to the 2007 Ferrari despite the shift from Michelins to Bridgestones - Kimi and Michael had similar enough driving styles
Good observation mate. The best F1 drivers can adapt to different car setups.
Senna developed his blipping technique in karts. So its not due to turbo lag. He did it all of his career. It was his way to manipulate weight transfer.
Smooth isn't always fast! Thats right.
@@WolfeF1Explained most of the time if you're smooth - you're going too slow. The car has to go in a smooth way on its tires slip angle - carrying most speed without scrubbing it or overheating the tire too much. How you keep the car on that slip angle - is an art. The steering and pedal inputs will not be smooth. Look at Schumacher vs Herbert data comparison video through bridge corner in silverstone. Herbert smooth and slow. Schumacher not smooth but much much faster.
Thats right. Microcorrecting the wheel and modulating the pedals to stay on the optimum slip angle is hard to do smoothly.
@@Mart-Man I understand what you mean but I think you mix several things up because you get deceived by appearance.
Let's look at Schumacher. He was a master at managing tire loads (stems from his karting days when he had to use his competitor's used tires because of money problems). Peter Sauber said in the Sauber Group C cars (Beat Zehnder confirmed this), Schumacher was the fastest while using the least tires, fuel and being the smoothest on his material. How is that possible when his driving style "looks" aggressive on the surface? You would think that it was the opposite.
Because we are talking about weight transfer and how to put load through a car. If you look at Schumacher, you can see how he flows with the car and how the back of his car almost floats around the corner. He never unsettles his car, he never has to lift because he has to wait until his car gets settled, he never mismanages his weight transfers because it always flows with the momentum of the car. In order to achieve that, he had to exactly correct these microslides. It allowed him to keep the momentum smooth, to not unsettle the car and to keep the car in the exact perfect slip angle. Other drivers were not as gifted and able to do what Schumacher did. They would not be able to manage those microslides, they would therefore unsettle the car, fight the car and become slower. This is why they would have to slow down a bit and apparently drive smoother because they could not flow with the car like Schumacher did. So actually, if you don't look at steering inputs but on the momentum of the car, Schumacher was one of the smoothest drivers. And his tire usage or his fuel usage speak a clear language.
His car is in fact so settled that he can rotate his car with throttle application and by modulating the differential. Notice how his steering twitches and how he opens the steering wheel a bit whenever he starts to apply the throttle. He finishes the rotation by using gradual throttle application. Remember the telemetry from Schumacher and Herbert? There you could see how gradual Schumacher's throttle application was while Herbert braked much more aggressively, was off the throttle longer (he had to wait until his car was settled) and accelerated later. Schumacher was able to rotate the car with the throttle and it gave him the huge advantage of having a smooth weight transfer and a settled car on the exit. As a basic rule, you should never make sudden and immediate inputs which unsettle the car and mess up weight transfer. This gradual and smooth throttle application allowed MSC's car to have a stable weight transfer and to stay settled on the exit while others were much more out of shape and unsettled. MSC was also not the latest and most aggressive braker, again because his aim was to have that perfect weight transfer and to keep that car settled.
This is how MSC kept within that perfect slip angle.
I remember reading in a book that he had a huge fight with John Barnard because of exactly what I was talking about. John Barnard thought that having a stable rear was paramount for being a fast, aggressive driver and MSC demanded the exact opposite (eventually lead to Barnard's sacking). Barnard couldn't understand what MSC meant when he was talking about rotating the car as quickly as possible with throttle, a stable front, weight transfer etc. Barnard couldn't understand that flowing with the momentum of the car and operating tires at the edge was much more important than simply being able to be aggressive on the surface. He apparently asked MSC how in the fudge MSC expected to be fast with such an unstable car (any wrong inputs would insettle the car). MSC answered that this was exactly his job as a racing driver. Well, Rory Byrne understood what MSC wanted and they are now in the history books.
If you solely look at steering inputs, it looks aggressive. But if you understand how Schumacher modulated his car, carried momentum, played around with weight transfer, used the throttle to his advantage and kept his car settled at all times, then you can see how smooth he really was. Only a tire that has a stable load and is subject to smooth weight transfers delivers stable grip. Steering inputs might look aggressive, but the paradox is that it is actually the smoothest. Think of it this way, you can't afford having aggressive weight transfers this close to the limit, because anything could unsettle the car. MSC had to correct these microslides in order to keep the car within that smooth window and he was only one of the very few who had the talent to actually do it.
I took MSC as an example because it is so apparent what made him fast, but all fast drivers have that sense for weight transfers and know how to not unsettle the car.
Lewis Hamilton is another example. His approach is different, but the aim is exactly the same. He works much more with the brakes which is why he used to experiment with different brake suppliers a lot during Free Practice. But to again, you can see how Hamilton is a master in managing weight transfer and keeping the car settled. It's like watching different artists making great art in different ways. But I wouldn't necessarily say those unilateral things like smooth means going too slow or things like that. Racing at the limit is much more complicated than that and usually, there needs to be nuance. If you could summarise an artform which only a handful perfected worldwide in just one sentence, then it wouldn't be that special. So try to look deeper underneath. Don't look at appearances but try to understand what a driver actually tries to achieve and you will understand what I mean.
@@LeTangKichiro I know all of that. Hence I said:
"The car has to go in a smooth way on its tires slip angle - carrying most speed without scrubbing it or overheating the tire too much. How you keep the car on that slip angle - is an art. The steering and pedal inputs will not be smooth."
Also during Ferrari times, Rubens was way better at not overheating the rear tires and thus Michael could learn and evolve. He became faster still thanks to Rubens. Be ut Rubens had his own issues and was never all that consistent.
Yes, weight transfer is important. it is part of steering/braking/acceleration as it dictates where the weight goes and that dictates the amount of friction any given tire has (both by how much weight it gets and its deflection and increase in tire patch). Friction is another way of saying grip. Heat changes the coefitiant of friction in tires hence you lose grip. Car being "settled" just means that you're using the max grip (or at least not over the available amount) available for any task at hand. (Also tires reach max grip at their specific slip angle) Overal tire grip is best visualized as a unit circle. full up - grip used for braking, full down - acceleration, sides - cornering. Hence trailing brakes is an important concept to maximize grip usage. If you spike out too much - aka ask for too much grip by braking at max power and turning for example - car cant handle that much grip demand and slides/becomes unsettled. Also due to slip angle dictating max grip point - you must slide. Rear must be unstable. More or less. Michael, Max, Ayrton like to "slide" into the corner and thus turn faster and exit straighter but the cost there is more heat in rear tires and they do more work and thus lower grip on exit but the exit speed is higher thus you can be faster in that way. Lewis, Fernando, Jenson like to slide less on entry but have more grip for exits. They launch of corners better with that style but exit corners slower but with less tire tempe in the rears but more in fronts.
All in all, its a matter of utilizing all of the grip available to you in an efficient way. Both styles with lose rear and planted rear can be fast if you setup/design the car correctly. Also those styles will have corners where they are superior as well as tracks. Michaels main streght just like any other great champion was being able to extract close to max performance consistently. Just like Lewis, Fernando, Max, Ayrton, etc, All greats have been known as "tire whisperers" who save tires mostly as they manage the used grip and available grip, thus overheating and sliding the tireless.
Anyway, i like this discussion with a fellow motorsport fan who loves details :)
Ayrton's throttle blipping also worken in the NA cars because it reduced the weight transfer towards the rear axle making the front have more grip and therefore allowing him to rotate the car quicker then the others.
Yeah that's right. Astute observation! Pedal modulation is key to being fast.
Again as the video said "Fishing for grip"
I was taught when riding if I run out of road basically stand up and crank the bike over by staying off the seat and use the throttle. Same as steering wheel and accelerating.
Well i think Michael especially in 2000's abused the traction control of the car and pushed it to the very limits. The throttle technique it wasn't only Senna who did it, many drivers in fact were pushing the car there. Senna was very fierce on his braking, utilised lots of engine braking especially when downshifting but that made him many times DNF, at least before 90's when Senna was more mature in his driving. Raikkonen had a very extreme and wild style in the traction control era he was using as less as possible traction control while on Schumacher or Alonso you hear it working overtime that cut in throttle response.
There wasnt any turbos in the 90s, senna used that technique because of weight destribution, have more grip on the corners and get out of curves faster than the others (sorry for bad english 😅)
Yeah that makes sense! Good pickup, the turbos were before the 90s, my fault...
@@WolfeF1Explained Tbh you video said 80's and the majority of the 80's was turbo, so you are not wrong. I still wonder why he blipped the throttle in the non turbo cars tho, even if it's for weight distribution reasons (which I doubt) it still begs the question whether blipping was the best way to do it. Usually the softer/smoother the inputs - the better it is, therefore one has to wonder why he didn't just hold throttle if it were for weight distribution reasons.
This was an excellent video full of great analysis! But from the title NGL thought it would be about studying the styles of drivers like Maldonado, Grojsean and others like it. TBH I'd love to see a video breaking down where they went right and wrong to explain how they can be so quick at times but crash magnets at others, take care and awesome work
Thanks a lot. Good idea!
@@WolfeF1Explained happy to help and looking forward to it!
I have a V shape style, with hard rotating in the entry and syraighter exit that i learned in sim. However it slows me down in rental karting where you need to keep revs up and sometimes is faster to do wider turns to keep the revs, and definetly softer steering
Yup for me personally the V shape style works best for things with high power where exits are more important for lap time and corner exit speed to lean on that power and you can be more aggressive
A kart doesn’t have as much power so momentum becomes the name of the game you have to be smoother
It’s kinda like on sims I would drive a touring car different to a formula car
Thats exactly right, you have to keep the speed up in karting because there's not much power.
This video earned a subscription. Thank you for existing.
Thanks for the sub! Really appreciate the kind gesture.
@@WolfeF1Explained
Well earned... Keep it up.
Thanks a lot mate :) Not stopping these videos anytime soon
One of the most interesting videos I've seen from you, great job mate
Glad you enjoyed it
Please analyse the driving style from Ukyo Katayama in the 90s. He made in one corner more steering movings than Others. In 94 he was really fast with this style.
Sure thing, I'll check him out
not talking about alesi's weird hand position is a bit sad imo
Do you have some honorable mentions ?
As Prost and understeer
Verstappen and his smooth-aggressive driving
Hamilton and his late braking
I'm doing them individually as a more in-depth video so yes!
Hamilton is actually a relatively early breaker, like any short-corner driver is. He prioritises corner entry so he can get the car straightened out and on the throttle earlier. Verstappen is very similar, and I would say he is much more smooth than aggressive.
That 1993 footage is so clean and HD
Yeah I know!
I just realized something. If the 2026 engine regulations stays as it is, the engine might end up with a lot of turbo lag. meaning Ayrton Senna's driving style could actually become viable again.
Perhaps...
I think Verstappen's style is what Schumi would've been if he was still driving today. Max is a bit smoother since he has to adapt with the cars now having better downforce and more fragile tires - so he doesnt have to throw the car around as much and scrub the tires. Nonetheless, both preferred that extremely twitchy oversteering setup that has alot on the front end whilst having a loose rear end that only they could drive. Its incredible really, especially how difficult it is just trying it on the sim
Wonder if you can drive like Schumi on the sim even.
Max's style maybe, since it's a bit smoother; but Schumi goes back to 0 or even countersteer mid corner briefly.
It is really hard to be smooth in an oversteery car, especially F1 in the sim.
What do you think their setup is on the f1 game or something
So you're telling me I could've been a Senna-Schumacher lovechild (on sim racers, I prefer an oversteery setup with a high downforce front-end and I blip the throttle a lot in the center of the corner).
Yeah!
Please analyse the driving style of Ukyo Katayama. He made in one corner more steering movings than Others. In '94 He was very fast with this strange style.
Sure thing mate! I'll check him out.
I love your content mate! Keep it up!❤❤
Thanks a lot!
* Drivers in the early 2000s didn't "drove aggressively". It was the car. It was lighter, snappier, quicker. If you didn't reacted quickly to it it'd snap and you'd spin. Just like happened when Lauda tested the Jaguar in 2002. He didn't had those reflexes anymore.
* Senna didn't stab the throttle for the turbo to spin, he stab it to keep the engine revs higher and the car moving faster, being early to accelerate again and keeping the car on the edge of grip. He kept doing it long after the turbos were gone.
Yeah, nice observations! Senna could really work that weight transfer. However, his style wouldn't work in today's F1 cars.
It´s kinda sad that we used to have all those weird and unusual driving styles and nowadays everybody kinda has the same style because of the cars
The tyres mainly.....
Could you do Vettel and Hamilton please and also amazing video ❤❤❤
Yeah I will! Thanks mate.