Oversteer vs understeer driving style camp

[hsg]

I find in many videos they explain how oversteer is faster than understeer, do you agree with this?
If that is true why is Alonso so fast? Is Lewis in understeer camp? Who has the most oversteer style? Why neutral balance-car slide equally at front and back, is not fastest?

[fourmula1]

As a simple generalization in F1 it is likely the fastest setup is whatever gives the driver the most confidence. We're not talking about understeer pig vs. tail happy devil. Balance can be shifted more subtly and also be setup differently for corner entry and exit.

In theory most drivers agree that understeer sucks when you literally cant get the car to go where you want it to go and that pointy cars are fast.

[polesetter]

As a simple generalization in F1 it is likely the fastest setup is whatever gives the driver the most confidence. We're not talking about understeer pig vs. tail happy devil. Balance can be shifted more subtly and also be setup differently for corner entry and exit.

In theory most drivers agree that understeer sucks when you literally cant get the car to go where you want it to go and that pointy cars are fast.

Well said! I think there’s a quite a bit of hype around this whole stuff because of an interview from Albon a few years ago. With the GE Cars it’s totally different anyway and so far i have never seen a good example of how aggresive Max’s car is compared to others who are just as fast. Just clickbait and narrative building in general.

[Badger]

Take two drivers driving the same car, one can drive the car to its limit with a slight understeer set-up, and the other can drive the car to its limit with a slight oversteer set-up. The second guy will always be faster because he is maximising the rotational potential of the car whereas the understeer guy is leaving rotation on the table. Rotation and grip level determines cornering speed. There's only one downside to oversteer, it's harder to drive! Understeer controls itself, the driver controls oversteer.

[TNTHead]

Which definition of understeer and oversteer do you take: at the brink of sliding first the front tyres slide: understeer, or first the rear tyres start to slide first: oversteer?

[f1isgood]

I think the most important thing is that the car is responsive. The degree of responsiveness that a driver can handle varies but a good responsive car is something that can turn and can allow the great drivers to extract lap time.

Understeer or oversteer is also often a gross simplification. All the drivers you mentioned would do great in a fast car.

Verstappen's car these entire regulations have had a laziness to turn in. He's done decently well. The only car this cycle that clearly rotates extremely well and is more on the nose visibly is the McL39. The responsiveness is incredible on that car.

[Tommy Cookers]

... oversteer is faster than understeer ....
If that is true why is Alonso so fast?

once all cars oversteered because the designers didn't know what they were doing ...
until the W125 Mercedes-Benz of 1937
Jack Brabham said he deliberately drove tail-out to save the front tyres which the 1959 Cooper ate
so he invented the driver-adjustable ARB (later it was and still is banned)

because understeer allows more power to be used
it worked for adult drivers like Alonso and Prost and Lauda

so-called rotation (acceleration in yaw) may be a factor on entry to slow corners
its fans ignore the deceleration/reversal in yaw on exit from slow corners - this allows more power to be used

[Greg Locock]

I suggest those in favor of oversteer in their car's setup need to look at transient step steer response, they are in for a shock. U/S gets to the steady state latacc more quickly (yes you have to apply more SWA for a given latacc).

[Vettel165]

Its just a simulation but on my PS5 (T300 wheel) I always prefer a neutral setup of course. But more maybe slightly towards the oversteer. I like a stable rear end of course, but I can handle some oversteer, but if I have understeer I have no pace at all. I like to brake quite late, but at the same time I want the car to rotate into the corners quite easily. Leclerc and Max are the masters of a extreme oversteer setup, if I would put more front wing on the car then I have on the rear, I will just slide of the track. No chance. Usually using 20-30 (Front-rear) wings on the medium downforce tracks, on low downforce tracks 12-20 (front-rear), and on max downforce tracks like Monaco (42-50 front-rear). In the game max downforce is 50 wings, min 0. But this is just me.

[hsg]

what is rotation, response? explain with physics
are you talking about polar moment of inertia?

[PlatinumZealot]

I find in many videos they explain how oversteer is faster than understeer, do you agree with this?
If that is true why is Alonso so fast? Is Lewis in understeer camp? Who has the most oversteer style? Why neutral balance-car slide equally at front and back, is not fastest?

There is a thread on this already. It's a good database.

The thread is called "Driving styles preferences"

But just to comment on the topic all the same, I think ground effect throws something different into the equation. It's not about understeer or oversteer anymore. It's about who can live with the fickle and unpredictible nature of these cars. Even from session to session it throws what the driver has learned on it's head.

Imagine a zone of air under the car that is in an ever changing flux of streamline flow, then cross vortices, then shocks, bursts, leaks... Belches and farts even.. It's just doing it's thing while the engineers hope and pray the car sucks down to the ground and behave as intended.