How the Virtual Safety Car works

The Virtual Safety Car is relatively new to F1. Introduced in 2015, it was a means of forcing all the cars to slow down around the track at once.

The language around the VSC is never particularly clear but the whole process is actually a lot simpler than it may sometimes seem. This video explains what it's supposed to do, how it works and why it's so effective.

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Writing / Illustration / Animation / Editing / Narration:
Stuart Taylor

Credits Music:
"Chess Moves" - Telegrams

sharecode: chainbearsharef1

[xChrisSx]

I imagine drivers seeing a ghost VSC via augmented reality in their visors in the future. That'd be cool if it's reliable

[mkl_]

That "strange comment" Vettel made has now been confirmed by FIA: it is possible to exploit the VSC system due to the loophole that Vettel mentioned.

[jammok]

You can also gain time by going slower than the VSC allows and like Sebastian said save distance, and speed up when it's about to end to have a higher speed when it ends essentially giving you a better start speed than everyone else. As long as you are behind the VSC at the time of end it should be ok, it's risky but so is racing in general.

[jakes.]

Can we just take a moment and appreciate how goddamn long the animation and calculation for the time difference visuals must have taken!

[npxox]

Really wasn't aware how vsc work mate 🙏... Keep up the good work ✌️

[CallMeMarex]

Finally a good and understandable description of the VSC. I always knew the VSC existed and was slowing down the cars while roughly maintaining the distances between them, but now I actually know how it works in detail (how does the driver know, who controls it, benefits). Thanks :)

[stephenwhiddett]

I knew drivers had to stick to deltas under VSC but never knew the technicalities about sectors and 50m updates. Its great to learn new details. I'm pretty sure you don't work in F1 Stuart, so where do you get this in depth knowledge from?

[mixedgaming]

The VSC calculation taken every 50M works based upon the distance from the finish line. The exploit Sebastian Vettel talks about is that, if you carefully chose the optimum (literally shortest, not fastest), you can save just a little time. The VSC's calculations are distance-based, not based upon fixed points.

[alcosta]

I think what Vettel refered to was that one can mantain higher speeds (to keep tyres and breaks up on temp) if you do crazy, longer racing lines, thus cheating the "go slower" purpose of the VSC

[AdzSONLINE]

I had no idea how this actually worked, absolutely fascinating thank you

[rudyramadhana]

So, the analogy for this is a ghost like in any racing game time trial. Amazing analogy you have there

[leonardantal]

The cool thing about your videos is that even if you know the topic pretty well, you still have some interesting details to learn. Keep it up mate!

[mohammedfaizan]

The most detailed explanation there is.

[TheJokerit]

Not directly related to the topic of this video, but the marshaling sectors (aka mini-sectors) are also used in instances where a driver has improved in lap time and or sector time following an off-track excursion, and or a yellow flag-zone to determine whether the improvement was a direct outcome of the off-track excursion or not and whether he slowed down sufficiently for the yellows or not respectively. Examples concerning the former are the numerous instances from last season's US GP weekend, for example, where the drivers were allowed leave the track briefly with all four wheels at turns 9 and 19 because it was determined that it doesn't give an advantage in overall lap or sector time by looking at how much time it takes to drive from the light panel before the corner(s) in question to the light panel following the corner. The examples concerning the latter, on the other hand, are, for example, the cases of Hulkenberg and Rosberg in 2016 Austrian and Hungarian GP qualifying sessions respectively.

[elPatrixf]

I had no idea it worked like this. Awesome job man!

[Slimmeyy]

Somewhat getting freaked out. You're nailing the subjects I don't understand about F1.
Perfectly.

[stavrosk.]

The best videos explaining F1 by far. The author goes immediately to work. No useless banter, pseudo reflections. Clear, concise and complete. Great job.

[roelfrizzle]

Amazingly simple explanations! I really learn from these videos and watching races is getting far more interesting. One request, would you like to make a video on how F1 chassis are constructed and how much they vary from team tot team? Thank you!

[ChrisC_]

I cant describe how much i look forward to your videos. Great Stuff

[odd-looking-dude]

Crystal clear explanation as always. Great channel. Thanks 👍