Well, let me tell you, that F1 thing, it’s all cars going zoom zoom. And they got this thing, a board, they call it leaderboard. I heard it shows who’s the fastest, you know, who’s winning this whole shebang. So, this is my way to tell you how to read F1 leaderboard, hope it works.
First thing you see, they got all them names. That’s them fellas driving them cars, you know? The one on top, that’s the leader. He’s the one winning, the big cheese. The other names, they’re all trying to catch up. It’s like a race, you see, just like when my grandson runs after the ice cream truck.
They got numbers next to them names. Now, them numbers, they ain’t just for show. They tell you how far behind the leader each fella is. Bigger the number, the further back they are. Like when you’re baking a pie, you gotta time it just right, you know? Too long in the oven, and it’s burnt to a crisp. So, if a driver’s got a big number, he’s like that burnt pie, way behind.
And you see them colors? They got red, yellow, all them fancy colors. Now, I ain’t one for fancy stuff, but I reckon they mean something. Someone told me something about 75% rule. Sounds like a bunch of hogwash, but apparently, if the race gets cut short, like when the rain comes pouring down, they only get some points. Not all of it. Only if they done more than 75% of the race. It’s like only getting a piece of that pie instead of the whole thing. Ain’t nobody want that.
I saw this fella named Bianchi, they were talking about retiring his number 17. Must have been a real good driver. You see, number 17 was retired in 2015. Something about respect. That’s nice, ain’t it? Respect is important. Like how you respect your elders, you know?
There’s these other things too, like undercut. That’s when a driver, he goes into that pit stop thingy before the other fellas. They change them tires real quick, like when we change the baby’s diaper. You gotta be fast, or you’ll have a mess on your hands. I reckon it’s kind of the same in Formula 1. Or you will lose your place.
- So, they go in, get new tires, and zoom, they’re back out, sometimes even ahead of the other guy. That’s the undercut.
- Sneaky, ain’t it?
- That pit stop, that’s important.
They do it real quick, like a hummingbird flapping its wings. If you blink, you’ll miss it. They say it only takes a couple of seconds to change all them tires and sometimes that F1 pit stop record change. That’s faster than I can say “apple pie.”
And them drivers, they got all them fancy gadgets in them cars. I heard they can see all sorts of things, like how fast they’re going, how much fuel they got, and even how hot them tires are. They call it telemetry data. It’s like them fancy phones the young folks got these days. They tell you everything, even the weather. I reckon it’s useful for them drivers, helps them go faster, I guess.
They got all them computers and stuff, analyzing everything. I heard about this F1 laps telemetry app thing. I ain’t got one of them, but I hear it’s like a magic mirror. It shows you all them numbers, all that data. It tells them drivers how they did on each lap, like how fast they went around each corner. It’s like when I look at my quilting squares, see which ones are the best. Each lap is like a square in the quilt, you know? Gotta make sure they’re all good to make a pretty quilt. Or a good race, I suppose. That is important to do the F1 telemetry analyze.
They even got books about this whole F1 thing. Imagine that, books about cars going zoom zoom. I reckon there’s a lot to it, more than I thought. Maybe I’ll have to read one of them books sometime. They say it’s got all sorts of stories, behind-the-scenes stuff. I like a good story, especially when it’s about something exciting. The F1 books have many interesting stories.
There is also a thing called Python library. I don’t know what it is. But I heard it can be used to access and analyze F1 data. It is useful to get F1 data. I don’t know how to use it, but it sounds like a good thing.
You know, this whole F1 thing, it’s more complicated than it looks. But I reckon if you just pay attention to them names, them numbers, and them colors, you can figure out who’s winning. And that’s what it’s all about, ain’t it? Winning. Just like in life, you gotta keep your eye on the prize. And maybe, just maybe, you’ll come out on top, just like them drivers on the F1 leaderboard.
Well, that’s all I got to say about that. Hope you understood some of it. It’s all a bit much for an old gal like me, but I reckon it makes sense to them young folks who like them fast cars. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I hear my grandson calling. He probably wants another piece of pie.
