F1 EXCLUSIVE: Former Lewis Hamilton engineer names rival who extracts 100% from car

Mercedes, Hamilton, socials — Photo: © IMAGO

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EXCLUSIVE: Former Hamilton engineer names rival who extracts 100% from car

One of those who brought Hamilton to title names another driver as the one to extract the most from a car

Jim Kimberley

Tuesday 9 April 2024 09:12

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Becoming one of the best Formula 1 drivers in the world is down to more than just driving fast.

Using the team surrounding you is crucial to understanding the car beneath you so you can extract every ounce of performance from it.

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Lewis Hamilton made his way to seven world championship titles in the sport with the help of a voice in his helmet through each race.

Yet his race engineer cited another driver as someone who reaches the maximum of whatever car he drives.

Driver vs team advantage

Speaking exclusively to GPFans, Frederic 'Fifo' Guyot, Hamilton's race engineer during his title-winning GP2 campaign, gave his thoughts on how much difference the driver makes compared to the team.

Guyot now manages Formula 2's ART GP team, and with the championship solely running 'spec series' cars that are mechanically identical to each other, he breaks down how the best drivers still rise to the top.

"I would say, there is maybe half a second between every team, maybe more, but I'm not sure," begins Guyot, before explaining why the personnel in a team make open advantages."

"If I came in as an engineer tomorrow and joined Hitech (a rival F2 team), I'm not going to have the expertise of somebody who's been at ART for 17 years.

"After you have the driver, [with] half a second and also a bit more for the last guy on the grid.

"And the relationship between driver and engineer," continues Guyot.

"I will say you can also have half a second in this to give the confidence to your driver to go to 100% of what the car has in the end, and maybe more sometimes.

"And you can see it in F1 with Alonso, who is able to extract the maximum 100% of each car, even if it's a bad car, and some drivers cannot.

"So this also comes from the mentality, from the way you work with your driver, you give him confidence.

"I think it's half and half. You [the engineer] can make a difference also if the driver goes in the car thinking he has the best car in F2."

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