Wet set up & pushing cars?

[Gobber]

Two probably obvious questions, but....

At Rockingham yesterday whilst the scramble to change to wet tyres was underway the commentator said that it can take up to an hour to change the set up of the car to race in the wet. But apart from the tyres, what else is there to change that takes an hour?

Why do all the teams push the cars from the garages to the pitlane (and back) - why don't they just drive?

[Iain]

Gear ratios would be one of the changes I guess.

The cars don't have the best turning circle and they would fry their clutches trying to get from the garage to the other side of the wall.

[Mark]

Could be safety too, a pushed car is going to be slower and less likely to hit people than a car moving, racing cars don't do so well at very slow speeds.

[ready2rock]

Some teams were having to do 3 point turns out of the garages, also it saves fuel i would guess.

[Winchester]

Speccy, anal point I know, but last year the cars did drive out through the small gaps in the pit wall.
This year they pushed them out onto the pan before firing them up which made a lot more sense.

[wedge]

Changes to the suspension settings. Higher ride height, softer springs and damper settings.

[jackmarsh]

camber settings would take the longest I would reckon, and the springs. Anything else you can do in about 20 minutes.

[tyreman2]

Two probably obvious questions, but....

At Rockingham yesterday whilst the scramble to change to wet tyres was underway the commentator said that it can take up to an hour to change the set up of the car to race in the wet. But apart from the tyres, what else is there to change that takes an hour?

Why do all the teams push the cars from the garages to the pitlane (and back) - why don't they just drive?

There are many things to be done for a perfect wet set up,all related to getting the best out of completely different tyres,also it depends how wet it is.
The regulations forbid the car to be driven in the space between the garages and the pit lane proper also any long term mechanical work must be done in this area you may have noticed one of the Jordans was about to drive from his garage in race 3,but an alert mechanic signalled him to cut the engine and they pushed it !(well done that man)

[acorn]

Two probably obvious questions, but....



Why do all the teams push the cars from the garages to the pitlane (and back) - why don't they just drive?

being built to host american style racing, rockingham not only has a wall between the pit road and the racing surface but also a wall between the hot pitlane(the area including the pit boxes and pitlane) and the cold pitlane(the area between the garages and the hot/cold pitlane wall). no race car is allowed to be driven under power in the cold pitlane for safety reasons.

[Eurotech]

I think those regulations are also to stop them scratching the paintwork!...................