questions i have about f1

while watching [[ Formula 1 Drive to Survive ]] and trying to learn more about f1, here is a qna dump of everything that has sparked my curiosity so far…

- during an f1 car crash, how long and how much does it take to rebuild? also how does it happen? engineers or spare parts? - during a crash, teams rarely “repair” a car in the traditional sense. modern f1 cars are built like modular systems, so most damaged parts are swapped rather than rebuilt. a broken front wing is replaced in minutes, but heavier damage like suspension or floor replacements can take hours. if the carbon-fibre chassis itself is compromised, the car is done for the weekend because the tub cannot be reconstructed at the track. the people doing this work are the mechanics and engineers travelling with the team, following strict assembly procedures. think of it as dismantling and reattaching lego pieces, except every piece costs tens or hundreds of thousands.

• can f1 drivers talk to each other over radio? during the scene of mick schumacher getting his first ever points in f1, vettel and verstappen both congratulated him, seemingly over the radio
  • drivers cannot talk to each other over the radio. they only communicate with their own race engineers. when you hear messages from drivers congratulating another, it’s simply the broadcast stitching clips together or drivers talking to their engineers after the race. there is no direct driver-to-driver channel.
• fernando alonso was defending the two mclarens, apparently giving time for ocon to get closer to ricardo. question - is it in the sense of delaying the two so that ocon can catch up? but based on that, wouldn't slowing down would also result in the mclarens easily over taking him? based on the scenario, it seemed like alonso was intentionally slowing down, not just defending - since defending without slowing down wouldn't really help ocon that much. also commentator was saying how alonso was playing with the two mcclarens
  • alonso’s defensive driving against the mclarens worked because some tracks allow a skilled defender to slow the cars behind without letting them past. by slowing his apex speeds, blocking exits, and forcing his rivals into dirty air, he reduced their ability to accelerate cleanly. this bought time for ocon to catch up or escape. it was intentional but legal, and the mclarens couldn’t simply drive past because the circuit layout didn’t offer straightforward overtaking zones.
• is it possible for two cars of the same team to hog the lanes, wouldn't it be almost impossible to overtake?
  • two team-mates can defend together, but only within the rules. if both cars position themselves cleverly, they can make overtaking extremely difficult, especially on narrow sections. they still have to leave space when another car is significantly alongside, so they cannot physically block the track as if closing a door.
• during a crash between ricardo and stroll, stroll said he gave him sufficient space, i understand that during overtakes you have to give a width space or something, but in that particular scene when stroll was overtaking ricardo (i think), ricardo just drove on his lane and knicked stroll a little - wouldn't say its intentional but he i guess he didn't intentionally avoid the contact, so is this considered some kind of penalty?
  • incidents like the ricciardo–stroll contact depend on overlap. the rule is that if the car on the outside has enough of its nose level with the other’s rear wheels, the driver on the inside must leave space. if there’s insufficient overlap, the driver keeping the racing line is usually allowed to continue without penalty. when it’s unclear or both contributed to the contact, stewards call it a racing incident.
• when does standing start happen?
  • standing starts happen at the beginning of a race and after a red flag when conditions are appropriate. rolling starts are used when the track is too wet or unsafe for cars to be stationary on the grid again.
• how does pitting strategies work in terms of speeding up when someone pits, assuming that everything goes well in a pit. technically since everyone has to pit it will just even out eventually(?)
  • pit strategy doesn’t simply “even out.” when a rival pits, the driver who stays out often pushes extremely hard on worn tyres. they try to produce a fast out-lap equivalent and gain enough time so that when they eventually pit, they come out ahead. this is why early or late pit stops can completely flip positions. the undercut (pitting early) and overcut (staying out) are both viable depending on tyre degradation and traffic.
• when drs enabled, doesn’t it technically apply to the person behind when he gets overtaken? meaning they can keep drsing each other? 
  • drs is based on being within one second at a detection point. if several drivers are close together, you get drs trains where multiple cars behind each other all receive the advantage, cancelling out the benefit and making overtaking harder. it’s entirely possible for both a chaser and the car ahead to have drs at the same time.
• burnouts celebration require permission?
  • celebratory burnouts do require permission because stopping in unusual places or doing donuts can be dangerous while marshals and other cars are still moving. when it’s safe, race control allows it; otherwise drivers can receive fines or warnings.
• is it common for f1 drivers to hang out post season? or anytime, aka are they real friends?
  • some drivers spend time together off-season, but it depends heavily on personality and era. you see genuine friendships like norris and sainz, or leclerc and gasly, but rivalries and workload mean most relationships stay cordial rather than close.
• actually how is it possible for f1 to not test their car and only be able to do so when the season begins?
  • teams don’t fully know how their car behaves until the season starts because testing time is heavily restricted. they rely on wind tunnel simulations, cfd modelling, and a few days of pre-season running. the real behaviour only becomes clear once the car runs in race conditions.
• are they allowed to redesign car throughout the season? or just mini upgrades and fix
  • teams can upgrade the car throughout the season almost continuously. they change wings, floors, sidepods, diffusers, and cooling packages. what they cannot do is build a completely new chassis due to homologation limits, but the car at the final race can be significantly faster than the one that started the year.