Tech Heads F1 Podcast - Ep. 8 (Blake Hinsey aka Brrrake)

Welcome back to the Tech Heads F1 Podcast! Bryson and Molly are fresh from the US Grand Prix and joined in the Tech Heads studio by Dr. Obbs and Blake aka Brrrake, former F1 Performance and Simulator Performance Engineer. Blake has worked at Force India, Red Bull Racing, and the likes of Paul DiResta, Sergio Perez, Daniil Kvyat and Max Verstappen. In this episode we recap Blake, Bryson, and Molly's time at COTA, Blake's storied and what he would call "fraudulent" F1 career, insights to performance engineering, what it is, and how to engineer an F1 car, a typical weekend in a trackside role, working in the simulator, the Dark Art of tyre science, and the wild/controversial tech teams brought to the track for COTA and Mexico City. In this weeks "Tech Focus" segment Molly talks about the role of AI and Machine Learning in calling the strategy of races. We talk about THAT NASCAR finish, and answer listener questions. This episode was a ton of fun to record and we think you'll have just as much fun listening to it! This Texas sized episode is filled to the brim with incredible F1 insight and F1/non-F1 racing tech. You wont want to miss it!!

COTA Rewind - (2:14)
What Makes COTA So Great - (9:41)
How Did Blake Get Into F1? - (11:04)
A Trackside Perfermance Engineer's Role - (13:07)
What Can You Actually Infer About Another Car From Telemetry? - (15:35)
How An Engineer Uses Data to Improve Performance - (19:56)
The Dark Art of Tyre Science - (23:32)
Working With F1 Drivers - (27:27)
Objectively Evaluating Race Strategy - (33:11)
Working With Track Aerodynamicists - (40:28)
Reynolds Number and High Altitude Effects - (48:20)
Curved Wind Tunnel Walls Won't Save You! - (51:19)
Transitioning To A Simulator Performance Engineer - (53:40)
How Accurate Are Simulators? How Do You Update Them? - (57:47)
Where To Find Brrrake - (1:05:35)
Tech Focus: AI & Machine Learning for Race Strategy - (1:08:12)
Listener Questions! - (1:16:34)

Hosts:
Bryson Sullivan (@NaturalParadigm)
Dr. Obbs (@dr_obbs)
Molly Oxner (@mollym_o)

Guest:
Blake Hinsey (@brrrake)

Listener Links:
Pit Rho Clip for pit crew not listening to the model.
https://t.co/xOdLxTlzEV - Clip is 8 mins shows the team following and then not following the model link will take you directly to the start of the NASCAR clip

Ross Chastain wall-ride
https://us.motorsport.com/nascar-cup/news/ross-chastain-wall-riding-playoffs-hamlin-martinsville/10393087/

VLC Player On the Pit Wall?
https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/8j60gs/if_you_ever_wondered_what_software_they_use_on_a/

Bottas Crash Due To Rear Wing Stall (Reynolds Number)
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/bottas-reveals-rear-wing-stall-caused-massive-scare/653909/

How wind affects race cars visual examples in 2 minutes or less:
https://www.tiktok.com/@abunchofredf1ags/video/7108153267862981930