- 09 Sep 08, 16:24#64035It's hard to imagine what it's like behind the wheel of an F1 car. What's the best way to describe it?
Probably to imagine trying to read a book while riding on a rollercoaster continuously for two hours would give a fair idea of the way that the physical forces involved affect your concentration.
I want to know how different and difficult an F1 car is to drive. Out of 100 average people given basic guidance, how many could get the racecar off the grid?
One. Maybe.Put it this way - there are over 6 Billion people on earth, of which considerably less than 100,000 would ever be capable of driving an F1 car.
Do F1 drivers make the best computer game players?
Not necessarily, although they have the basic understanding of the dynamics of driving a car and the hand-eye-foot co-ordination required. Ask the question the other way round (could the best computer game players make good F1 drivers) and it's easier to understand. An F1 car is such a physical environment, with high forces and temperatures that simply can't be recreated on a PC. Also on a computer game your only inputs are visual through the screen, audio through headphones, and possibly sensory through a force-feedback wheel, but that's it. F1 drivers use sight, sound, touch, balance, and even smell on occasion. Balance is crucial, and a top F1 driver responds to sensations within the parts of his inner ear devoted to balance as his primary source of information as to what the car is doing. Again, on a computer that simply isn't possible. Then there's the bravery factor, and there's no case I know of a computer game racer being crippled by hitting a wall at 200mph... It's easy to do when you know no harm can come of you, but in the real thing most average people wouldn't be able to push the limits at all because they'd be far too scared.
What parts of the Shanghai track are going to be best to attack and overtake on?
The last third of the lap is probably the most crucial from the point of view of overtaking, as you'll need to get a good run out of turns 12 and 13 to get close up behind someone down the long straight to the braking area for turn 13. The start finish straight is another good opportunity to overtake, although you will probably need to be ahead by turn 1 because it's not as easy to pass on the brakes there. The other major spot for overtaking is turn 6.
How would you describe the Shanghai track?
In terms of layout it's one of a number of fairly similar F1 tracks these days, all built from scratch and designed to be safe, clean and shiny with excellent facilities but perhaps lacking the character of some of the older tracks. One thing that does stand it apart from anywhere else, though, is the sheer scale of the main grandstand. It has a couple of exciting fast sweeps, and some long straights leading into tight corners which makes overtaking more likely.
What's the worst mistake you can make in the Pits?
David Coulthard crashed into the pit entry wall in Australia in 1995, and that's pretty much as embarrassing as it gets. Hamilton's mistake in China last year was similar, although he was in much more difficult conditions.
F1 is constantly evolving – new safety measures, design restrictions to give more passing opportunities, even talk of using biofuels. What changes would you like to see to the sport?
Personally I think the engine regulations are too restrictive. Everyone has to have a petrol-powered, 2.4 litre V8 engine acting only on the rear wheels. I'd like to see some scope for other types of powerplant to be used, including diesel, electric and other types, with a formula that makes each solution equally competitive in theory. It's not as if the days when V8s competed against V12s, H16s and Straight 4s were that bad, were they?
Apparently F1 cars generate enough downforce to drive upside down. Do you think its time we had race courses that tested upside down driving?!
I think that's one of those facts that demonstrates in a clearly understandable way one particular aspect of something rather than being a practical suggestion. It's like if someone found out how many cans of baked beans it would take to make a bridge to the Moon - it doesn't make it a good idea. However the fact that the wings on an F1 car create at times more than twice the force of the weight of the car is a very impressive fact.
The physical fitness required to be an F1 driver is considerable. What are the first things that start to hurt during a race?
That depends on so many factors, including the individual driver's fitness, conditioning and age, but also the design of the cockpit and seat, what type of track they are on and how hot the ambient temperature is. Twenty or thirty years ago drivers were much less prepared physically and would almost always be physically spent at the end of a race but F1 drivers nowadays are so well-prepared for what they do and have such a back-up of personal trainers, masseurs, dieticians and so on that if anything does start to cause them trouble it usually means someone somewhere hasn't worked hard enough. We saw in Valencia, for example, that Hamilton had the flu but was still reasonably capable of performing close to his maximum, at a time when most ordinary people would have been tucked up in bed with some chicken soup...
Jim Clark, Monza, one lap down...
