SUMMARY
- F1 teams do anything possible for a victory, from making the best strategies to fastest cars.
- Sandbagging is when a driver hides their car's true speed to surprise their competitors.
Formula 1 drivers are known for their competitive nature and the hunger that becomes their number one driving force. However, some drivers may go to certain extents just to get competitive and earn an advantage over others to win a race or a championship. While many would prefer to pressure their competition with their speed, some hide the capabilities of the car.
One of the many ways that a driver may showcase their competitiveness is by sandbagging during the qualifications or during a race to throw off another driver’s strategy. Last season Max Verstappen was caught in a similar situation where he was accused of sandbagging before the Hungarian GP. However, he denied those allegations and confirmed he had trouble with the car.
What is sandbagging?
Every driver has their way of pulling off their strategies and throwing off everyone from their game just to have a better chance at winning a race. Sandbagging is a similar process wherein a driver slows down his car and produces a slow performance to confuse their competition with the speed of their car. This simple technique is known as sandbagging.
To conceal their true speed for the race, a driver could do this during qualifications to get targets off their back only to leave everyone surprised as he moves faster and wins a race. The other teams plan their strategy based on the driver’s performances and the capabilities of the car throughout the season and based on the previous races.
Mclaren aracından memnun olmadığını bir çok parçayı değiştirmediğini falan söylüyor ama bence eski Mercedes’i örnek alıyor sandbagging yapıyor! Araç baya dengeli arakası baya sağlam görünüyor! Rüzgara karşıda değişiklik göstermiyor. #f1 #F1Testing #McLaren pic.twitter.com/9s6LfKHRLD
— Oğul Can Kepsutlu (@OKepsutlu) February 21, 2024
One of the many teams who have a long history with sandbagging is Mercedes. In 2017, Mercedes fabricated the perfect plan to throw off Scuderia Ferrari and Kimi Raikkonen. During the testing, Ferrari finished with a great practice and finished ahead of Mercedes and soon Hamilton and Bottas talked about how the Monza team were hiding their true speed.
This gave the Prancing Team hopes of doing better than anyone. However, the hope was shattered by the seven-time champion after he grabbed the pole position during qualifications and left Raikkonen off the radar. Although Hamilton was set to win a race, Sebastian Vettel went on to win the race after Max Verstappen held him back.
Is Sandbagging illegal in F1?
Sandbagging is a process where a driver conceals the real speed of the car just to throw off their competition from their A game. Nevertheless, this activity is not allowed, with many also arguing that it is cheating. Nevertheless, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton were stuck in the same boat when it came to sandbagging in 2023.
Just 5️⃣ days until pre-season testing begins.
Not long before the teams can start trying to look at each other’s work and figure out how much everyone is sandbagging, all while trying to get as many laps in as possible.
How we’ve missed you, #F1. pic.twitter.com/GTDiG830Sl
— PlanetF1 (@Planet_F1) February 16, 2024
Although it is illegal and considered cheating, the drivers go to any extent just to secure a position for themselves while leaving their competition behind. Sandbagging has been considered cheating in not just in Formula 1 but in motorsports in general.