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The 2002 Season F1fan-eBook 
| Do you see the eBook Contents pane on the left? No? Then access the entire F1-fan eBook here! |
Time & Timing
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Car racing and the technology that necessarily accompanies it evolved at such a fast pace in the last half-century that seconds have become too broad a unit for measuring lap times.
The controversy that arose after the US Grand Prix on whether or not the Ferrari duo Barrichello-Schumacher had broken the record of the closest finish in F1 history provides a good illustration of the rate of technological progress just mentioned.
What precisely is the controversy?...you may need a reminder.
When Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher crossed the final line, their cars did so with a time-interval of 0"011 between them -- eleven thousands of a second!
Thirty years earlier (1971) in Monza, in one of the most memorable finishes ever, British driver Peter Gethin won the Italian Grand Prix just 0"01 -- one hundredth of a second -- ahead of Ronnie Peterson (Sweden) and a pack of four other contenders, all of whom took the final flag within the minute time-interval of 0.6 seconds.
Other than the time issue under focus, these two GP finishes at stake differ in most other aspects. The hair-raising finish in Monza 1971 resulted from a most exciting fierce contest among rivals, up to the very last split second, in contrast to the amicable carve-up finish that sealed the 2002 Indianapolis race three decades later, culminating with Rubens Barrichello's surprising victory.
Other than the time issue under focus, these two GP finishes at stake differ in most other aspects. The hair-raising finish in Monza 1971 resulted from a most exciting fierce contest among rivals, up to the very last split second, in contrast to the amicable carve-up finish that sealed the 2002 Indianapolis race three decades later, culminating with Rubens Barrichello's surprising victory.
The time issue being the current theme, however, we'll abstain from whatever sporting-related considerations.
Let's see why a controversy stemmed as to who is the record-holder.
In 1971, the chronometers used in Grand Prix racing were not as fine-tuned as today's, and therefore would not recognize differences beyond one hundredth of a second. The level of accuracy employed today, in turn, registers time units as minute as one ten thousandth of a second -- that is, 0.1 milliseconds (for a detailed explanation of F1's current timing system, please see TAG Heuer's ).
How can we then tell whether the duo Gethin-Peterson or the duo Barrichello-Schumacher should go to the record books as having been in the tightest ever Grand Prix finish?
That is, the Gethin-Peterson difference, in today's terms could have been any of the following:
- 0"010, in which case Gethin-Peterson would retain the record, or
- 0"011, which would level up with the difference recorded in the Barrichello-Schumacher finish, and therefore yield a tie for the record, or
- any time-interval between 0"012 and 0"019, which would hand the record to the Ferrari team-mates in 2002.
From a merely statistical viewpoint, it could be safe to hand Barrichello-Schumacher the record. For there is one single chance in ten that Gethin-Peterson could have retained their record after the 2002 U.S. Grand Prix, and another unique chance in ten that Barrichello-Schumacher have merely equaled the Gethin-Peterson record on September 29, 2002. There are, nonetheless, eight chances in ten that Barrichello-Schumacher are the current and exclusive record-holders now.
However useful and helpful statistics is, though, life has its own idiosyncracies and charms, among which the ability to defy the safe precision that we comfortably seek in numbers. In other words, despite the odds above in favor of attributing the record to Barrichello-Schumacher, it could very well be that Gethin-Peterson's 0"01 from 1991 would translate itself into a 0"010 or 0"011 difference in today's terms. If this were the case, then of course they would retain or share the record, accordingly.
As we cannot turn the clock back and use today's far more accurate chronometers to time that ultra-exciting race finish from Monza 1971, there is no way to harmonize the controversy.
The closest we might come to this would be by converting Barrichello-Schumacher's 0"011 to a time-interval compatible to those obtained from the chronometers in Gethin-Peterson's racing days. This would leave us with an identical figure for both finishes: 0"01.
Whatever preference you may have, if you do, the controversy cannot be possibly settled, however, for lack of a common denominator underlying the comparison.
To be totally fair, perhaps two classes of records could be established: records based on two- and on three-digit degrees of accuracy beyond the minute dimension of a second. This way, Gethin-Peterson could hold their record, and Barrichello-Schumacher also theirs, the latter of which beats the next shortest time difference ever at the final flag, registered by Senna-Mansell, as they crossed the finish line in Spain, 1986: 0"014.
At any rate, you can pick your choice. The statistically founded approach, which hands the record to Barrichello-Schumacher? The average-based approach, which ties both Gethin-Peterson's and Barrichello-Schumacher's finishes? Or the dual approach, which considers each mark within its own timing context?
No wonder there was so much discussion regarding this record.
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