What Does Keeping the ‘Delta Positive’ Mean in F1?

The use of technical jargon in Formula 1 is quite high. For experts and long-term fans, these jargons become easier to understand and differentiate. However, for beginners, this might be a little tricky. As we’re talking about the technical jargon of F1, let’s look at the term ‘Delta Positive’. This is a term fans often come across during a race, especially when there is a Virtual Safety Car.

Whenever there are yellow flags waved due to a crash or temporary blockade on the track, the Virtual Safety Car is deployed. This is where drivers are often informed by their race engineers about their status so as to when they need to keep their Delta Positive. But what is this ‘Delta Positive’ then?

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If a race engineer says this to a driver, this means that the driver is driving faster than the pre-defined lap time and needs to slow down, and hence keep his Delta Positive.

For every circuit, there’s a pre-defined lap time. Whenever there’s a virtual safety car situation, drivers are asked to abide by that lap time. During the race, one must’ve heard Bono, Lewis Hamilton‘s race engineer, asking the Seven times world champion to “keep the Delta Positive.”

What is Delta, and what’s its use in F1?

Delta in general is a term used by scientists, engineers, and mathematicians to point out the change in quantity as compared to a reference quantity. Similarly, in F1, the Delta Time is referred to a driver’s current lap time and pre-defined lap time.

There’s also a special situation called ‘Delta Zero’. This occurs when a driver’s current lap time is exactly as that of a pre-defined one.

Moreover, the term Delta time has a variety of uses in Formula 1. This term is used by the teams to target a qualifying time during the qualifications. This term is also used to target a rival’s lap time and ask the drivers to push further if they fall behind.

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On another occasion, the term Delta is also used by teams to refer to changes in the performance between two different compounds of tires. All in all, the term Delta, being positive and negative, has numerous implications in the sport.