By Ed Valentine,
Drivetrain, half shaft, launch control, track rod. The escalating terminology of DNFs in Formula One demonstrates how complex and technological racing has become. Cars do not suffer an “engine problem” anymore but instead have “energy recovery system – kinetic” issues. As the machinery becomes more complex and modern the dictionary of driving excuses will continue to grow.
Despite the trickle-down effect of race car technology filtering onto the road there is limited research in the area of Grand Prix attrition rates. With the boom in technology and driver aides since the turn of the millennium this seemed a good opportunity to investigate the primary causes of driver DNFs in F1 over the past 20 season.
Data presented below in the first figure has been analysed from every round of the F1 World Championship from 2000 – 2019 and charted with the top 4 causes of attrition in those events. The rate of DNFs has also been examined to determine if technological progress includes increased reliability.
Drivetrain, half shaft, launch control, track rod. The escalating terminology of DNFs in Formula One demonstrates how complex and technological racing has become. Cars do not suffer an “engine problem” anymore but instead have “energy recovery system – kinetic” issues. As the machinery becomes more complex and modern the dictionary of driving excuses will continue to grow.
Despite the trickle-down effect of race car technology filtering onto the road there is limited research in the area of Grand Prix attrition rates. With the boom in technology and driver aides since the turn of the millennium this seemed a good opportunity to investigate the primary causes of driver DNFs in F1 over the past 20 season.
Data presented below in the first figure has been analysed from every round of the F1 World Championship from 2000 – 2019 and charted with the top 4 causes of attrition in those events. The rate of DNFs has also been examined to determine if technological progress includes increased reliability.
The bar chart shows that by far the prevailing cause of a DNF is driver error. Across the entire analysis over 35% of failures to finish result from driver crashes, spins or collisions. The number was decreasing however as gadgetry meant the cars became easier to drive but with the addition of more street style circuits where cars run at a cigarette paper’s width from the barriers this number is now on the rise. It could be argued that drivers are suffering from what behavioural economist call the Peltzman effect whereby the more safety systems that are in place the more risks they take. In some respects, the technology has outgrown the skill of the driver. It should be noted that there are 4 more races per season now than in 2000. This is reflected in the next figure
There is spike in engine/ power unit issues from 2014 – this is resulting from the new power unit technology brought about by a rule change. The rule aimed to cut costs and make engines greener. While they achieved the latter teams have lost prize money and sponsorship revenue by parking up before the race ends.
The second figure considers failure rates within races. The overall rate of retirements has dropped since 2000 with the figure being about 30% of where was 20 years ago. Cars are about 8-10 seconds faster per lap now than they were back then which underlines the increase in driver aides, the raised standard of driving and the durability of the technology at play. 2019 saw a race where all drivers reached the chequered flag, a rare event in the sport.
There is spike in engine/ power unit issues from 2014 – this is resulting from the new power unit technology brought about by a rule change. The rule aimed to cut costs and make engines greener. While they achieved the latter teams have lost prize money and sponsorship revenue by parking up before the race ends.
The second figure considers failure rates within races. The overall rate of retirements has dropped since 2000 with the figure being about 30% of where was 20 years ago. Cars are about 8-10 seconds faster per lap now than they were back then which underlines the increase in driver aides, the raised standard of driving and the durability of the technology at play. 2019 saw a race where all drivers reached the chequered flag, a rare event in the sport.
A Formula One car typically has 80,000 component parts. If everything is 99.9% in working order that’s 80 parts that are not. With billions of dollars spent on incremental .001 second eye-blink gear change improvements it would be worth ensuring the most expensive component in the machine, the driver, can keep the car on the road. Otherwise the teams’ accountants will have a lot of insurance claims to look forward to.
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