Driving an F1 car - how hard is it really?

[RS]

After seeing James Rossiter jump into the Force India today, 5 years after last driving an F1 car, and within 19 laps and one hour of driving set a time around 2seconds slower than Paul di Resta, I thought I'd ask the question..

I'm not saying myself or any of us forumers could jump in and being any good, but if you're a half decent professional racing driver is it really that difficult to be capable of being on the F1 grid? Sure the extra few tenths to be a race winner or title contender might take something super-human, but for the rest of them?

Discuss!

[Koz]

I also always wondered this.

It would have been very nice to see Loeb in F1 - he was less than 2 seconds off the pace.
Formula 1® - The Official F1® Website (http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2008/11/8718.html)

Shame he couldn't get a Super License.

And of course, simulators would no doubt be very helpful.

[Zico]

I've often wondered that myself.. its a very difficult question to answer.

If you were heavily into motorsport/F1, and were a half decent driver ie; above 95% of the population, I think once you had re-calibrated your brain, written off a few cars and driven one all day, every day for 2-3 months you could probably get within 2 secs of the top guys?

Although that might sound very unrealistic, it's actually still a huge margin in F1 laptime terms.

[TheFamousEccles]

I am sure I could jump into an F1 and be instantly competitive :s pinhead:

[keysersoze]

Somewhat OT, but Mario Andretti once claimed that, in the days that pole position was 225, in less than an hour he could get an Indy newbie around the track at 185 mph (48 seconds), that it would take the rest of the day to get to 200 mph (45 seconds). After that, progress was slow and incremental. 225 mph takes a 40 second lap.

[Warriwa]

I am outright positive that I would be intatntly competitive. They are sitting! How hard can it be!!!!!!

[henners88]

I'm pretty fast on my Playstation so I'm confident.

[Mark]

Most people couldn't of course, or get anywhere near. Whenever we've been non-F1 drivers e.g. Richard Hammond, try out an F1 car, they've struggled, and Hammond is a good 'normal' driver.

However if you've competed anywhere near the top level that's a different story, you could pick it up quite quickly.

[Tazio]

I'm pretty fast on my Playstation so I'm confident.

How many negative G's do you experience when decelerating on your Playstation? ;)

[henners88]

How many negative G's do you experience when deceleration on your Playstation? ;)
It depends how annoyed I get and whether my body follows where I decide to throw the controller. ;)

[TheFamousEccles]

It depends how annoyed I get and whether my body follows where I decide to throw the controller. ;)

Aaaarrrgghhhh! At last, someone who shares my pain!!!!! Curse you Playstation! :vader:

[henners88]

Punching myself in the thigh and biting hard on my knuckles is also something I really shouldn't do when I lose. Still its cheaper than a controller, to which I have stamped on 3! I lost one at the bottom of the garden once when I threw it from my patio window. I did find it but some days later and it was rather wet. I'd probably head-butt the cockpit sides if I was really driving an F1 car. Anger management is often needed :p

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Punching myself in the thigh and biting hard on my knuckles is also something I really shouldn't do when I lose. Still its cheaper than a controller, to which I have stamped on 3! I lost one at the bottom of the garden once when I threw it from my patio window. I did find it but some days later and it was rather wet. I'd probably head-butt the cockpit sides if I was really driving an F1 car. Anger management is often needed :p

If you were as good as me then you wouldn't need to throw your controller out of the window because you'd be too busy winning. :p

I remember always thinking I could be a racing driver and then I went go-karting with my friend who used kart competitively against the likes of Oliver Turvey and Frank Wrathall. I was over a second slower than him on a 30second lap! :( But then I followed his lines and after about 30 minutes I was within a 0.1 of him.

Obviously jumping straight into an F1 car would be impossible. But if you had plenty of practice in a superkart, then Formula Ford, then F3, then GP2, you would be able to set a reasonable time in an F1 car. It's just the final 0.1s of a second that makes the difference between a racing driver and an F1 driver.

[In The Pits]

In my first career I won the Monaco GP. I was in a Williams. Then I crashed in the next race at the end of the Hangar straight and went the wrong way round the circuit and that was it, gave over.

In my second career I won a championship. I have the trophy.

[Big Ben]

It would be really hard for some of us... we wouldn't even fit in a F1 car to begin with...

[dj_bytedisaster]

For me the experiment would stop before it begins. Against my slender frame, Mansell '95 was an anorexic. Not even a shoehorn would help...

[TheFamousEccles]

I'm ready to give it a red hot go. I've been training and earnestly "carbo loading" - read "drinking beer and eating chips" - and all I need is a slight rule change to favour me, a multi-million dollar sponsorship deal, a supermodel girlfriend (if my wife will let me) and I can see no stopping me.

:burn:

[Knock-on]

Simulators help you learn circuits but don't teach you how to drive. I was 2 tenths faster than Lewis at Monza last year but don't expect the call from Ron any time soon ;)

Physical size is another issue. I can fit in a F1 car but am contorted and can't move plus my arms won't fit in the cockpit :D

Finally, it's the sheer physicality of operating one. It's like trying to do a dot-the-dot while sitting inside the fast spin cycle in the washing drum. :p

[rjbetty]

Simulators help you learn circuits but don't teach you how to drive. I was 2 tenths faster than Lewis at Monza last year but don't expect the call from Ron any time soon ;)

Physical size is another issue. I can fit in a F1 car but am contorted and can't move plus my arms won't fit in the cockpit :D

Finally, it's the sheer physicality of operating one. It's like trying to do a dot-the-dot while sitting inside the fast spin cycle in the washing drum. :p

Hey so have you sat in one?! I wouldn't have a chance. My width is fine, but I suffer from the same problem as Justin Wilson. I was at Builth Wells fair in 2000 on a school trip and they had Vincent Radermeckers' BTCC car on display, and everyone could have a go sitting in it!! I couldn't fit, even though it was a Vectra - too lanky... :(

[steveaki13]

Well look a Deletraz and he was an OK Formula 3000 driver and later had some success in Sports Cars, so by normal standards a very good driver and yet he was 10 laps off the leader in his first GP just 60 laps into and 81 lap race, before having to retire from what I remember due to tiredness.

So it cant be very easy if a lower level racing driver is completely out of his depth.

Of course though I would be brilliant if I got into an F1 car.

[henners88]

I've technically driven an F1 car. Well I sat in Damon Hill's 1997 Arrows whilst a few mechanics pushed it into a bay at their Leafield factory. I steered it so I drove it. ;)

[dj_bytedisaster]

I've technically driven an F1 car. Well I sat in Damon Hill's 1997 Arrows whilst a few mechanics pushed it into a bay at their Leafield factory. I steered it so I drove it. ;)

I did that with Paul Tracy's champcar at Lausitzring in 2001 :D Only single seater I'll ever fit into *lol*

[Tazio]

I've technically driven an F1 car. Well I sat in Damon Hill's 1997 Arrows whilst a few mechanics pushed it into a bay at their Leafield factory. I steered it so I drove it. ;) Prove it ;)

[henners88]

I did that with Paul Tracy's champcar at Lausitzring in 2001 :D Only single seater I'll ever fit into *lol*
Cool. The proper seat wasn't in Damon's and I could barely see over the steering wheel lol. :)

[henners88]

Prove it ;)
Unfortunately I don't have a full album of pictures like yours from Austin Doc. :)
I have my letter somewhere and a teamshirt and hat though lol.

[Tazio]

I believe you. Just having a little sport my man!! ;)

[dj_bytedisaster]

Cool. The proper seat wasn't in Damon's and I could barely see over the steering wheel lol. :)

Lausitzring 2001 was absolutely amazing. Considering that less than a week before the twin towers had been felled in NY, it was amazing how bravely the folks went on with the show. They let me sit in Pauls car while pushing it into the garage, I played poker with Alex Zanardi's mechanics. Fantastic.
BUT As a huge Alex fan I'll never forget just how heartbroken I left the track after witnessing Alex's horrific shunt :(

I even wrote a series of articles for Autoracing1 that year - can't believe how bad my English was back then :S But I plead for leniency - that was almost 12 years ago :)
part 1 (http://www.autoracing1.com/MarkC/2001/0912FirstTimer.htm)
part 2 (http://www.autoracing1.com/MarkC/2001/0914FirstTimer2nd%20Day.htm)

Part 3 is sadly no longer to be found :(

[henners88]

I thought that race rang a bell in my mind, awful events. Thanks for sharing though. :)

My experience was work experience after visiting Arrows through a technology/racing project I did with school. Work experience was compulsory and I had the foresight to write a letter before our visit to see if I would get it. Had a day going around the factory and then I passed my letter on to the lady showing us around. Managed to get work experience and loved every minute of it. I was there the week Hill crashed at Monaco and saw his car in bits in what they called the 'crash investigation room'. So cool to see after I had watched the race the previous weekend. Spent time in many departments and had a great laugh. Met Tom Walkinshaw briefly too. Hard to believe that was 16 years ago!

Anyway not really driving an F1 car, but close :p :)

[wedge]

I've technically driven an F1 car. Well I sat in Damon Hill's 1997 Arrows whilst a few mechanics pushed it into a bay at their Leafield factory. I steered it so I drove it. ;)

Nice.

Biggest kick I got from work experience was boxing up a small batch of new Merc turbos/engine block (can't remember which) to be Fed Ex'ed to the US.

[raybak]

After a ride in the 2 seater F1 car at Melbourne, I wreckon you would need heaps of training. My neck hurt for a couple of weeks after the ride. Everything happens so quickly, you would need lots of practice to get up to speed.

Ray