MY TOP FIVE
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Pre-event preparation pays dividends – United States, IMSA SportsCar Championship, 2018
When I first went to the States, every track was new, and I quickly learned how important it is to prepare. I spent time on the simulator at home and with the team, but I also watched the previous year’ s races on YouTube. Even when you are out on track in practise, it is hard to get a feel for things like traffic management, and I learned so much from watching the full race back. It’ s amazing now how much onboard video is available from competitor cars!
Preparation is getting increasingly important as track time becomes more pressured, not only on the single-seater ladder but even in sportscars. We get four hours of testing before the race, but when you split that between two or three drivers, running and testing set-up changes, before you know it, even at Le Mans, you’ re into the race. That means all that preparation away from the track can influence the race far more than you might think.
You can’ t beat the real thing, of course, but especially if you’ ve never been to a track before, and especially if you’ re a junior driver, spending time learning what lines you can take, what kerbs you’ re going to use, what gears you’ re going to be in, enables you to turn up feeling like you’ ve already done FP1 before it’ s even started. You know what makes you quick on every corner before you even turn up, so you are already one step ahead.
Learning about data and engineering is vital – Formula BMW testing, 2008; Aston Martin Valkyrie testing, 2024
When we started testing the Valkyrie last year, there are so many electronically controlled systems on the car, I really found that having a good understanding of engineering helped me give better feedback to the engineers. Being able to analyse the data myself, as well as with them, has also allowed me to work on my own driving and back up what I am saying about the car.
I first became aware of the importance of data when I started testing cars. We did have data systems in karting, but they were not as sophisticated as they were in cars, so I was amazed what you could do with it! I was doing some Formula BMW testing, and I was able to compare my data to Marcus Ericsson, the previous year’ s champion, and set a target to match him. I discovered it was very tangible in terms of knowing what he was doing differently and where I needed to improve.
I had an engineer going through that with me, but I realised very quickly that while the driver coach and the team helped me enormously, if I learned more about how it all worked, there was so much of more I could get out myself by just constantly analysing and improving.
I am very analytical and when you have all this data and video to use, I feel like it is your virtual driver coach – but it’ s one thing to have it: It is another to maximise your use of it. I was certainly nowhere near as good as an engineer, so I had to learn how to get the most out of all the specific aspects.
As racing cars go down a more electronically controlled route, it requires better feedback, and in the Valkyrie, all the systems are so adjustable, as you go around you do need to be a bit of a mini engineer to get the most out of the car. That is partly for myself, to optimise the settings behind the steering wheel, but also to give feedback over the radio to the engineers and ask them to check the data.
Furthering yourself on the engineering side, with data and set-up, is vital, particularly for junior drivers, because if you truly understand it, you can guide the team in the right direction. Sometimes, what you feel and say on the track doesn’ t end up aligning with what’ s actually happening, but as you progress through your career, that knowledge is asked of you and expected of you more and more.
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Revolution- September 2025