F1’s black art: The ‘Sweet Spot’

Formula One fans increasingly hear about how teams strive to ensure that their cars are “in the operating window” and thus able to either put in a blisteringly quick lap time in qualifying or maintain a fast race pace.

The optimal operating window is also defined as a car’s “sweet spot”. From a driver’s perspective, it is important to have this as large as possible.

Why is this? A large sweet spot means the car will be more benign and drivable. A small sweet spot will allow fast lap times, but the line between fast and unpredictable will be thin. Mistakes can be made more easily.

After Lewis Hamilton won eight of the final 11 races in the 2018 season, turning a tight title fight with Sebastian Vettel into a dominant campaign, he credited his run of form to keeping the car “in that sweet spot”.

“Last year I hit that sweet spot at some point during the season and started being really, really consistent,” Hamilton said at the time.

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