Q: How should I break in new tires on the track to make them last longer?

Q: “The question I have is about heat treating to break in new tires and improve tire longevity. I usually heat cycle a set of tires for 20 minutes on a single session, then take the tires off and let them sit for 24 hours. I then put them back on for the remainder of the 2-3 day event. I run a set of tires for about half a season, ~4 events. Is there a better way of getting the tires ready for a season, and is there a normal life of tires that would indicate a replacement point? Could I run tires for a full season without suffering hardening and loss of grip?”

Q: Which reference points are the most important when approaching & driving through race track corners?

Q: “I’m doing my yearly brush-up on the basics and realized that I’m thinking more about the start of throttle rather than the End-of-Braking. Pretty close in terms of where and when in the corner, but not quite! I also think about the point of full throttle to make sure I don’t get there too soon (or too late!). How do these three points rate in terms of importance? And if a driver gets one wrong, which one has the highest cost in terms of lap time? Which one can be compromised with the least penalty?”

Q: How can a driver out-brake another on the outside of a corner like Lewis Hamilton tried on Max Verstappen in the Brazilian Grand Prix?

Q: “Here’s my conundrum. As a theoretical proposition, how is it possible to make an outside pass (I’m thinking of Lewis’ attempt in Brazil when Max pushed him off track)? In this example, it is assumed that these are perfect drivers who are absolutely at the limit. If Car A is ahead of Car B and takes the correct line through the turn – it seems to me that it should be impossible for Car B to pass Car A. Since Car B will be, by definition, off line, his maximum speed must be less than Car A’s. Thus, he can’t pass Car A. Or is it that outside passes are an attempt to freak out Driver A, and provoke him into a mistake? Or make Car A slow down?”

No Dumb Questions With Jeff Braun: Episode 1

Welcome to a new podcast series, No Dumb Questions. Jeff Braun and I sit down to answer your questions, and we promise – there are no dumb questions, maybe just some dumb answers. On this episode, we address how to get comfortable with high speed corners, how to approach a situation where a faster setup is not what makes the driver most comfortable, and what we are most looking forward to in 2022. Tune in for our new series!