rnr

ANYONE KNOW HOW MANY GEARCHANGES AN F1 DRIVER MAKES DURING A RACE?

Scooby Doc

1 on the start grid and 1 for each pitstop

The gearbox shifts up and down automatically

I think

Martin

Ian Cook

gear shift is all push button ! not automatic ! no idea how many times they push the buttons though !!!

Sam Elassar

I thought they moved to auto boxes with the traction control.

sasim

Yeah, as far as I know must, if not all, teams are running fully automatic gearboxes now.

Stuart

Gerg2

Semi automatic.
They only need to push a button to shift up/down.

GaryC

Still got the paddles to shift up and down - BUT they can auto select a gear for each corner, so majority of downshifting CAN BE done for them - though AFAIK not many drivers use it. I was once told they shift 2-4000 times per GP depending on circuit.

Take Hockenheim - five long straights 2nd to 6th gear each time? thats 20 up-shifts per lap (40 if you include the down-shifts) plus the stadium complex - three 'mini' straights - assume 2 up-shifts (and 2 down) per mini-straight would give 52 shifts per lap. c50 laps would give 2600 shifts per race - and Hockenheim is a long circuit, so fewer laps. For most GP circuits race distance is 65-75 laps.

I have too much time on my hands

sasim

Benneton definately have a fully automatic box, I saw a thing on telly the other day about them testing the launch control. Although the up/down paddles were still on the wheel hub, the mechanic/manager guy said they only use them to select 1st gear (drive) or neutral (park/neutral).

Stuart

GaryC

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by Gerg2:
<B>
Traction control, launch control, auto gearboxes....**** give me a go in an F1 car now...I reckon I could do it [/quote]


I remember seeing a program where Micheal Schumacher and Tommi Makinnen swapped cars (through Malboro sponsors).

Within 5 laps, Schuie was getting within 5% of Makinnens times. Tommi did 15 laps in the Ferrari F1 - on a dry track (Silverstone I think). Span at every corner on the first lap and then proceeded to spin at least three times on every lap He then conceded that F1 drivers were indeed the pinnacle of motorsport

robski

Gary, was it track based?

Anyway, Makkinnen was probably trying to take all the corners sideways in the F1 car!

I saw a similar programme where drivers from all types of motorsports competed in each others disciplines, by the end 3 of the 4 drivers were rally drivers.

robski

Fat Boy Slim

The williams now has fully automatic Gearbox, they do not have to change gear whilst on the race track... The only time they need to do this is either in the pits, or initially selecting first gear. The boxes are programmed with the course layout, as the car knows exactly where it is on the course at all times.....So with some whizz bang electronics, it knows which gear and when.....

Gerg2

Fully automatic gearboxes!!!!

How fr1cken lame!!!!

These guys are supposed to be the pinnacle of motorsport, but the cars practically drive themselves.

Traction control, launch control, auto gearboxes....**** give me a go in an F1 car now...I reckon I could do it

GaryC

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by robski:
<B>Gary, was it track based?


[/quote]


F1 car was on track (Silverstone I think) the Evo was a rally stage part tarmac part gravel. Great show, Makinnen was so humbled after constantly spinning the Ferrari.

The 'top drivers' contests you mentioned are quite often won by rally drivers - but then I have never seen one with a top/current F1 driver in them whereas the Rally boys are more than happy to thrash about in a selection of cars.

I do remember once seeing a cart race with F1 and WRC stars in it at a time where a WRC venue coincided with an F1 race/testing session - that was awesome, but the F1 drivers creamed it - but to be expected with a cart race I guess Looked such good fun though

robski

I would guess that one of the main differences is that basically all an F1 driver needs to learn is 17x 1 lap circuits, so probably 50 miles (ish) in total. That sort of distance they can proabably virtually learn every cm of track.

A rally driver isnt going to be able to do that.

So, the F1 car can be tuned much closer to the exact optimum for the circuit, which would make it easier to loose? Well IMHO anyway.

F1 drivers all basically take the same line, rally drivers dont, its not such a technical mm perfect sport at least IMVHO.

They are all still 99% better drivers than me tho!

robski

DavidRB

Rally drivers drive cars that behave more like normal road cars, whereas single-seater cars with wings behave very differently, especially the sudden drop in aerodynamic downforce when they go sideways! I imagine that in "normal" cars, the rally drivers would have the advantage, whereas the F1 drivers would easily win in winged cars.

One other difference is that rally drivers don't have to contend with their competitors breathing down their neck when they're trying to line up the next bend.

rnr

Well thankyou kindly guys.Auto-boxes,TC,LC,they'll be doing it in the Arcade next!!!! Rich

Gerg2

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Posted by DavidRB:
One other difference is that rally drivers don't have to contend with their competitors breathing down their neck when they're trying to line up the next bend.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thats true...they only have to contend with the wildlife/locals jumping onto the track unexpectedly.

johnfelstead

F1 boxes are not automatics.

They use 6 or 7 speed conventional dog ring engaged gears and not some variable torque converter.

The only thing that changed when electronics were freed up was the gearchange can now be controlled by the software and not the driver only as previously.

Automatic/variable ratio gearboxes are banned in F1.