In Formula One (F1) racing you will hear that teams need to be on “the right tyres at the right time”.
Millions are spent on developing and building an amazing, quick, powerful and agile car, but it is the tyres (which the teams have no say in) that play a huge part in the race result.
Not any old tyre will do. There are five to choose from with different characteristics – three for dry conditions, one for rain and one for somewhere in between.
The right choice is crucial to race success and depends on the weather, car, driver and track along with how the race has progressed, how many laps to go and what position you are in the race. Amongst others.
The rules require all cars to change tyres at least once and use at least two different types in each race. Choosing which to start on, when to change and what to change to makes a difference. Different tyres take a different amount of time to become effective and they will last for different amounts of time.
The time taken to change tyres matters too (McLaren changed all four in 1.8 seconds in 2023 (see HERE), the drive into and out of the pits costs most time, as you can see HERE for the same record pitstop).
Difficult to wrap your head around all of that isn’t it? Unless you have done it year after year. Which is exactly why the best teams generally nail it race after race – a possible threat to the result can be turned to their advantage.
And so it is with good financial planning. Which isn’t simply about going as fast as possible in a straight line, it’s about all the other factors and conditions and using them to our advantage.
We are not paid to be the quickest car on the track, we are paid to make sure you’re on the right tyres at the right time.
p.s. The photo is my favourite driver in my favourite F1 car – the 1988 McLaren which won 15 out of the 16 races, with the imperious Ayrton Senna winning 8: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_Formula_One_World_Championship