F1 Timing system question
Discussion
Was just wondering if anyone knew the name/make of the system which does the timing for the formula one races? and how they work? Random question i know, but can't seem to find any information on the internet.
From what i understand the information relayed to the teams and what is visible on their timing monitors are:
Drivers Name
Drivers overall lap time
How far a driver is behind the driver infront of him
Sector one time
Sector two time
Sector three time
Maybe the position of all cars on the track on a map?
Is there any other information shown on the monitor screens that i've missed? Thanks Guys.
From what i understand the information relayed to the teams and what is visible on their timing monitors are:
Drivers Name
Drivers overall lap time
How far a driver is behind the driver infront of him
Sector one time
Sector two time
Sector three time
Maybe the position of all cars on the track on a map?
Is there any other information shown on the monitor screens that i've missed? Thanks Guys.
Lauren87 said:
Is there any other information shown on the monitor screens that i've missed? Thanks Guys.
I think there's a colour coding to show if a sector was their PB or even the best of the day. Also, can't remember if they also show the best lap on there by driver, or just overall best.More info here:
http://www.formula1.com/live_timing/
I think those screens are exactly the same ones which appear on the pitwall. You need to signup and sign in to see them, but reg is free.
I always thought it was always AMB who did the timing system for F1 and it was badged by various sponsors. There is also an FIA GPS system on the car, and the teams have access to the feeds from each car showing their relative positions on the track. They certainly use this to plan pit-stops and to maximise qualifying windows.
Thanks everyone, appreciate your replies! Another quick question, im trying to get my head around 2/10ths of a second/ 8/10ths of a second etc etc. Say Alonso set a lap time of 1:28.318 and Vettel sets a lap time of 1:28.744, would that mean Alonso is 4/10ths of a second quicker than Vettel?
Lauren87 said:
Thanks everyone, appreciate your replies! Another quick question, im trying to get my head around 2/10ths of a second/ 8/10ths of a second etc etc. Say Alonso set a lap time of 1:28.318 and Vettel sets a lap time of 1:28.744, would that mean Alonso is 4/10ths of a second quicker than Vettel?
Yes, give or take 3 hundredths or so.woof said:
Yep pretty sure it's TAG Heuer timekeeping systems. I remember some mention of a new system that was used last year that's 1000th of a sec accurate.
We've had 1000ths of a second for quite a few years; I remember a British GP qualifying result where the difference between 1st and 2nd was 3000ths - I want to say it was Schumacher/Hill, but can't recall exactly.TonyHetherington said:
woof said:
Yep pretty sure it's TAG Heuer timekeeping systems. I remember some mention of a new system that was used last year that's 1000th of a sec accurate.
We've had 1000ths of a second for quite a few years; I remember a British GP qualifying result where the difference between 1st and 2nd was 3000ths - I want to say it was Schumacher/Hill, but can't recall exactly.I think you'll probably find that the timing system actually is capable of resolving down to 10,000th of a second but this info isn't published or used. Indycar have certainly been using 10,000th for a few years. The other thing is error needs to be less than resolution otherwise you're just guessing. If you're going to declare a time thats accurate to the 1000th then the error in your measurement really needs to be an order of magnitude smaller.
TonyHetherington said:
We've had 1000ths of a second for quite a few years; I remember a British GP qualifying result where the difference between 1st and 2nd was 3000ths - I want to say it was Schumacher/Hill, but can't recall exactly.
maybe it was 10,000th ? I do remember specific mention of it at one of the races - but hey, let's not split hairs 
TonyHetherington said:
woof said:
Yep pretty sure it's TAG Heuer timekeeping systems. I remember some mention of a new system that was used last year that's 1000th of a sec accurate.
We've had 1000ths of a second for quite a few years; I remember a British GP qualifying result where the difference between 1st and 2nd was 3000ths - I want to say it was Schumacher/Hill, but can't recall exactly.I don't know about F1...but I can tell you (some) about club racing - doubt it's of any use
Each car will have an unique identifying number (think car number) and this will then tally with the drivers name etc and be used to query a database to "light up the timing screens" or similar.
Cheers
The Moose
In 2009 the hi speed cameras (eg across the line for when Ferrari try another dead heat, or Lightning McQueen decides to race F1) had a resolution of around 10000frames per second, apparently this was being upgraded to nearer 20000 for 2010, the data is only ever published to 0.001 of a second becasue thats all the automated system resolves to. There are a number of redundancy systems and ultimately they can rely on camera frames to manually record times. The system is designed and programmed in house by Formula One Management and has been for a good few years, LG only sponsor it these days, non of the equipment/software is LG, a couple of chaps have been there long enough to still have their TAG watches from when TAG did do the timing.
Don't suppose you have an interview for one of the recently advertised FOM jobs do you?
Regards
Iain
Don't suppose you have an interview for one of the recently advertised FOM jobs do you?
Regards
Iain
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