FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[darwin dali]

In terms of phiscally driving a car, apparently GP2 cars are much harder to drive. The main difference being that modern F1 cars have hydraulic steering or something advanced like that. So yeah, apparently they are easier to actually drive.

Is that true? I thought drivers gave up using power steering when Schumacher proved that its much more beneficial to go without it, it gives the driver a better feeling of the car's responses.

I agree that physically it would make it easier, but great car control requires feedback, and a lot of that comes through an old fashioned steering setup.

Official F1 website:

Formula One cars now run with power assisted steering, reducing the forces that must be transmitted by the steering wheel. This has enabled designers to continue with the trend of reducing the steering wheel size, with the typical item now being about half the diameter of that of a normal road car.

[McLaren Fan]

There are instances when drivers' power-steering has failed and I remember back in the 1990s that it could actually be turned on and off from the cockpit as well. When asked about power-steering, Blundell said that with the way cars are designed now it's probably better to have it, but there are times when it's beneficial not to have it.

[7UpJordan]

There are instances when drivers' power-steering has failed and I remember back in the 1990s that it could actually be turned on and off from the cockpit as well. When asked about power-steering, Blundell said that with the way cars are designed now it's probably better to have it, but there are times when it's beneficial not to have it.

If I remember rightly Heidfeld retired at Indy in 2007 because of a power steering problem. I seem to remember Brundle mentioning something about it as Heidfeld's car crawled to a halt.

[bud]

GP2 cars wouldnt experience the high G forces during braking corning etc compared to the F1's even with power steering youd get more of a work out in an F1 car!

[McLaren Fan]

There are instances when drivers' power-steering has failed and I remember back in the 1990s that it could actually be turned on and off from the cockpit as well. When asked about power-steering, Blundell said that with the way cars are designed now it's probably better to have it, but there are times when it's beneficial not to have it.

If I remember rightly Heidfeld retired at Indy in 2007 because of a power steering problem. I seem to remember Brundle mentioning something about it as Heidfeld's car crawled to a halt.

Maybe it was linked to a problem in the hydraulic system? I'm not saying that's what happened; I'm just bandying about a few ideas. The truth is I'm really not sure.

[EwanM]

Well the obvious example of Power steering was Justin Wilson in the Malaysian Grand Prix of 2002 when he had to retire due to the sheer pain of driving his Minardi around without any powersteering.

[kingpinsam]

I have a feeling breaking might be a lot harder this season, with kers changing the feeling and control through the pedal as it charges and once it's fully charged, possibly leading to a lot more lockups, will be interesting to see if it's noticeable

[stonemonkey]

I have a feeling breaking might be a lot harder this season, with kers changing the feeling and control through the pedal as it charges and once it's fully charged, possibly leading to a lot more lockups, will be interesting to see if it's noticeable

I'd think they would have dealt with any issues like that by bleeding excess energy away through the radiators or something if that really was the case. I can't see the drivers being too happy or confident with going into the same corner on successive laps with the brakes behaving significantly (any more than normal brakes would vary through wear) differently each time.