{"id":38846,"date":"2021-11-16T11:00:25","date_gmt":"2021-11-16T19:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/?p=38846"},"modified":"2024-03-23T09:16:11","modified_gmt":"2024-03-23T16:16:11","slug":"q-whats-going-on-with-the-way-fernando-alonso-turns-the-steering-wheel-so-aggressively","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/q-whats-going-on-with-the-way-fernando-alonso-turns-the-steering-wheel-so-aggressively\/","title":{"rendered":"Q: What\u2019s going on with the way Fernando Alonso turns the steering wheel so aggressively?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Q<\/strong>: \u201cI read or heard somewhere that Fernando Alonso initiates his turns with somewhat of a \u201cjerk\u201d on the wheel. I\u2019ve actually seen a video of him doing just this IN THE RAIN!!! (Probably is a holdover from his karting days). So, I\u2019m wondering: what happens at the contact patch when steering is applied during the first few rotations of the tire? The springs and sway bars haven\u2019t yet been fully activated and the dampers are just starting their movements. Is there a momentary increase in grip at the rubber-pavement interface? What\u2019s going on in that instant time frame? Does Alonso know something? Or am I chasing unicorns here?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

A<\/strong>: \u00a0I\u2019ve read the same thing – that Alonso is very abrupt with his turn-in. I\u2019ve also noticed it when watching his in-car camera. This certainly goes against what Rob Wilson teaches – Alonso does not \u201ctell his tires what he\u2019s going to do,\u201d he just does it and demands his tires follow along!! This takes a huge amount of confidence, which is something that Alonso has no shortage of. I\u2019d be surprised if you put another driver in Alonso\u2019s car that they wouldn\u2019t complain that it oversteers – I think Alonso initiates a little understeer with the abrupt turn-in, and that balances the car\u2019s natural oversteer balance. It\u2019s that technique which I talk about for being fast in the rain – initiate some slide so you know what you\u2019ve got, so you don\u2019t have to react to it.<\/p>\n

At the same time, I think his abrupt turn-in does make the front tires work harder, and it\u2019s only because of his great skill for sensing the tires that he\u2019s able to make them last at the same time. It would be really interesting to see his steering trace compared to some other drivers. I wonder if his total amount of steering angle is slightly less, even though it\u2019s more abrupt at the beginning? Does he ask a lot of the tires at first, but then is very gentle with them after that?<\/p>\n

This is one of those questions that we cannot answer without more data! But it is fun to think about it.<\/p>\n

But back to your question: what\u2019s going on at the contact patch of the tire\/track interface? My understanding of tires and vehicle dynamics is that when you (or Alonso) initially turn the steering wheel, the tire twists, as the wheel is what moves first. In those first few rotations of the tire\/wheel immediately after you\u2019ve turned into a corner, the wheel is pointed on the angle that you\u2019ve initiated by turning the steering wheel, but the tire is lagging behind in angle slightly. It\u2019s this twisting of the tire (so that it\u2019s not quite on the same turned angle that the rotating wheel is) that is the slip angle.<\/p>\n

Imagine taking a rubber eraser and pushing it down on a table, then twisting it. That \u201ccontact patch\u201d of the eraser stays in the same position relative to the table, and yet the part you\u2019re holding with your fingers is pointing in a slightly different angle due to the twisting action. It\u2019s the same kind of thing with the tires. The challenging part of getting a mental picture of this is that the tire\/wheel is rotating at the same time (unlike our rubber eraser).<\/p>\n

Despite what Alonso is capable of doing, if you gently increase the steering angle, the front tires will continue to grip the track surface for longer than if you \u201cshock\u201d the contact patch with a sudden turn of the steering wheel. There are countless numbers of superstar athletes who do things that go against what is \u201cright,\u201d and yet they make them work, and I\u2019d suggest that the way Alonso turns the steering wheel into many corners is one of those exceptions to the rule.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ask Ross: \u201cWhat happens at the contact patch when steering is applied during the first few rotations of the tire? Is there a momentary increase in grip at the rubber-pavement interface? Does Alonso know something? Or am I chasing unicorns here?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ask-ross"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38846"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38846\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38848,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38846\/revisions\/38848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}