The comparison below is of two laps within half a second of each other around Suzuka driven by the same driver.
Just looking at the throttle position, brake position, speed, and steering wheel angle traces, the laps seem nearly identical. But the variance channel tells a different story. Variance is the time difference at certain points on the track. Note that the x axis is track distance, so at the cursor (at about meter 2626 of the lap), the slower lap is 0.345 seconds behind the faster lap. But then something interesting happens. Right after the blue cursor, the slower lap gained a lot of time. If you look at the track map in the lower right corner, you’ll note that this major dip in the variance trace is during the hairpin. It wasn’t well gained time, though, as it’s clear that in the faster lap, the driver got a better exit from the hairpin and the pulls away from his slower lap.
So what caused this deviation?
As the driver entered the hairpin, he was faster in the slow lap, leading to a huge gain in time. He got on the brakes within a 10 centimeters between the two laps but got off in very different manners. On the faster lap, he started getting off later but was fully off earlier. Overall, he slowed down more on his fast lap. A slower car allowed him to steadily navigate the middle section and set the car up for a fast exit.
When you’re approaching a challenge, think ahead. Do your prep work well so that you can focus during the task and position yourself for a great finish.
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