I am not saying that setups doesn't mean anything, but at the same time I cannot help to think that on some occations it can be easy to believe that an improved lap time comes from the setup and not from the extra 20 laps of practice.
To illustrate my example, let's say that you start out with a time that is "optimal + 10 sec". You practice for 60 minutes and have acheived "optimal + 6 sec". Then you change setup to something that is recommended and shave of an additional 2 seconds. Question now is, was the two additional seconds due to the 20 minutes you spent testing the new setup, or did the 2 seconds come directly from the setup itself?
I tend to stick with the same setup when I practice for a race due to little time to prepare. What I experience often is that I have an ok laptime that I am able to duplicate, but not to improve too much. Half an hour later I suddenly post a time that is 0,5 sec better than my old PB. Sometimes it feels that it comes from nowehere, but since I am on the same setup it is obvious that it comes from my driving. I simply know the track even better, have more conficence etc.
If I had changed setup before my 0,5sec improvement, it would have been VERY easy to think that it was due to the setup, and in this case it would be the wrong conclusion.
My point here is not that it is all in the driving and nothing in the setup, but rather than one should be aware of the complexity in differing between the two.
To illustrate my example, let's say that you start out with a time that is "optimal + 10 sec". You practice for 60 minutes and have acheived "optimal + 6 sec". Then you change setup to something that is recommended and shave of an additional 2 seconds. Question now is, was the two additional seconds due to the 20 minutes you spent testing the new setup, or did the 2 seconds come directly from the setup itself?
I tend to stick with the same setup when I practice for a race due to little time to prepare. What I experience often is that I have an ok laptime that I am able to duplicate, but not to improve too much. Half an hour later I suddenly post a time that is 0,5 sec better than my old PB. Sometimes it feels that it comes from nowehere, but since I am on the same setup it is obvious that it comes from my driving. I simply know the track even better, have more conficence etc.
If I had changed setup before my 0,5sec improvement, it would have been VERY easy to think that it was due to the setup, and in this case it would be the wrong conclusion.
My point here is not that it is all in the driving and nothing in the setup, but rather than one should be aware of the complexity in differing between the two.
