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The GPL Pit Stop System; the Parallel
If you think of your Team as a Formula 1 car then the GPL uses penalty points to mimic its time losses during a race. These are split into three parts; first the tangible loss making a pit stop, second the less tangible loss caused by its tyre wear and thirdly the loss caused by its fuel load.

Firstly, let's discount the third of these three. With the continuing ban on race refuelling, every car will start the race on more-or-less the same fuel load, around 240 litres. Therefore as it's a universal constant, we'll ignore it.

Instead, lets look first at the pit stop, splitting it into two time elements. First there is the "in pit lane" time, i.e. the time it takes a car to travel from pit lane entry to exit. This is as good as equal for every car as they must all observe the same strict pit lane speed limit. The second element is the time the car spends stationary in its pit box. Without the variable of refuelling there are only tyres to change, which in theory should also be roughly the same for every car. Consequently, we can regard pit stops as an ostensibly constant time. This is simulated at your GPL Pit Stop with a fixed Basic Penalty.

Back on the track, a Formula 1 car's speed is ultimately determined - like that of any other car - by the four bits of rubber at the corners. Pirelli manufacture four different dry weather compounds for a Formula 1 season. At each race - using simulations based on previous data including things like track surface and temperature - they elect one compound as the Prime, i.e. the one they consider the best compromise between speed and wear. In addition, they also supply the teams with a softer compound from the quartet as the Option tyre. At some circuits this is the next softest compound, at others it's the next but one. For simplicity and because we all understand what it means, I haven't used the Prime and Option monikers anywhere, instead calling them just the Harder and Softer tyres.

Given that the Harder tyre is the 'ideal' tyre for the race, what use is the Softer compound? Well, the most obvious use is in the final stages of qualifying when its higher wear rate isn't detrimental. However, it's other purpose is to comply with the FIA Sporting Regulations that state both compounds elected by Pirelli must be used by each competitor during a race. And occasionally, track conditions do mean the Softer tyre become the 'ideal' compounds to race on. The differing grip and wear rates of these two tyre compounds is simulated in the GPL by the Round-by-Round Penalty.

The final part of the parallel is the so-called GPL Track Payback. In previous seasons, a pattern emerged as to when the teams would use the different tyre compounds. Generally, the teams would use the Harder tyre at the start of the race, and the Softer tyre at the end. This was prompted by the kinkily named 'rubbering-in' of the track during the race. At the start of the race, the track is usually 'green', that is freshly swept and open textured asphalt. As twenty-four Formula 1 cars on their rapidly wearing tyres circulate perhaps sixty times, a thin layer of rubber is laid down on the racing line, the so-called 'rubbering-in' of the circuit. The chemical composition of the Softer tyres mean they benefit more than the Harder tyres from this patina, while conversely they are more readily damaged by a 'green' track. If you imagine pushing a lump of Blu-Tack onto tarmac then imagine pushing the same lump onto another lump of Blu-Tack. So ideally start on the Harder tyres and finish on the Softer tyres, right?

Well, yes and no. The situation is confused by the FIA's insistence that the top ten qualifiers use the tyres they qualified on to start the race. So while the theory is widely followed by those outside the top ten, the front-runners have little choice but to start on the Softer tyres preferred for Q3. However, with the new for 2011 Pirelli tyres reportedly being very friable, we might just see all teams opting to qualify on the Harder tyres...