Terms like traction control and launch control are bandied about Formula One with almost the same frequency you hear the phrases like strike out and bases loaded in baseball. F1 is the most technically advanced form of racing in the world, but not everyone involved has a degree in engineering.

Just what are traction control and launch control? How do they work? How do they compare to the systems used in many road cars? To get an explanation of the basics, ESPN.com went to see one of F1's technical gurus: Dr. Mario Theissen.

	Juan Pablo Montoya drives a Williams F1 car.

Theissen is BMW's motor sport technical director and one of the geniuses behind the creation of the BMW V10 that is said to now produce nearly 900 horsepower.

So what is traction control?

"Traction control is a means to limit engine power or engine torque to the amount that can be transferred by the tire onto the road," Theissen said. "In road cars traction control is done in quite a different way than in a Formula One car. In a road car you apply the brakes. But since the rules do not allow any chassis electronics in Formula One, we can only use the engine to produce power output.

"Reducing engine power can be done by three methods: Stop or reduce air, reduce fuel or you cut out ignition. What you see in F1 is a combination of these three. You can use only one method or combine the three."

Traction control is used primarily as the car exits a corner and the driver accelerates onto the next straightaway. The days of a driver having to feather the throttle to find that fine balance between grip and the tires spinning are gone. Now the driver just mashes on the throttle to the floor and the computers do the difficult work.

The misfiring or engine stuttering you hear as an F1 car accelerates out of a corner is the sounds of traction control at work. No finesse is required from the driver.

Unlike races in the United States that use a rolling start to get the race underway, F1 uses a standing start. This is where launch control is used. The drivers used to have to balance the actions of letting out the clutch and applying the throttle in order to make the quickest getaway with the minimum of wheel spin. If the rear tires are spinning it means the engine power is not being transferred to the track surface.

As with traction control, the computers in the launch control systems do the work for the driver.

"Launch control is the same thing as traction control plus clutch management," Theissen said. "So it is an interaction of engine and clutch. As the clutch comes in, the engine torque is limited to the amount that can be transferred to the tires in order to avoid wheel spin that would decrease acceleration."

Earlier this season three-time world champion Niki Lauda had a chance to test one of the modern Jaguar Cosworth F1 cars fitted with all the electronic gizmos. It was a far different animal to the Ferraris and McLarens he drove in the 1970s and early '80s. Those cars had no traction control, launch control or automatic gearboxes. The driver had to do it all.

"I spun a couple of times," Lauda said, "so I found out that the new cars are more difficult to drive. In my time they had slicks (versus the grooved tires used today) and a lot more grip. These new cars are different to drive, but the only real big improvement is to operate the car with the automatic gearbox and the traction control. They are easier compared to my time because you don't have to worry about revs and gear changes and all these sort of things."

The amount of computers on the car, in the garages and back at the team's factories has increased dramatically since Lauda's day.

"Computers control the whole thing," Theissen said of the traction and launch control systems on the Williams-BMW. "It doesn't matter if you have several boxes or one on the car. The real issue is to have an integrated control strategy, which coordinates all these interactions in a way the produces the best result."

Do traction control and launch control make the driver's job easier?

"That is certainly right," Theissen said. "And it makes it more interesting for the engineer; it is a challenge for the engineers. All this technology is important for us because BMW has always been a pioneer in terms of automotive electronics, and so this is an area where we want to prove our competence in F1 as well."

All driver aids and related electronics were banned at the end of the 1993 season. In the following years, there was constant rumors, finger-pointing and outright accusations that some teams were cheating and using traction control. It became more and more difficult for F1's governing body -- the FIA -- to police the cars' technical systems. It got to the point where it was decided the best solution was to make some driver aids legal again because at least it would stop the suspicion that some teams were cheating.

Thus, as of the fifth Grand Prix in 2001, the rules limiting electronics and computers on the engine and gearbox were lifted. Traction control, launch control and fully automatic gearboxes are now legal again. However, other driver aids -- such as anti-lock brakes, electronic power steering and active suspension (a computerized suspension system) -- that were legal prior to 1994 remain banned.

Basically, no "chassis" electronics are permitted in F1, and thus this is one area where road cars are far more sophisticated than F1 cars.

As for the traction and launch control systems on the Williams-BMW, the systems are sophisticated and complex, but Theissen says more progress can be made.

"When it was introduced early last year I said it would take the whole season to really get on top of it and to exploit the potential," Theissen said. "I know now that it takes more than one season, so we learned a lot this year again. There is still some room for improvement."

Dan Knutson covers Formula One for National Speed Sport News.