Are drivers sitting too low, with an obstructed view?

[markabilly]

from the photos in the thread about the pimple, it struck me that the drivers are sitting low in the car, and even their hands on the sterring is somewhat blocking their view of the road.....

[markabilly]

from the photos in the thread about the pimple, it struck me that the drivers are sitting low in the car, and even their hands on the sterring is somewhat blocking their view of the road.....

Quite right!
The struts from the wing to the bubble are most likely for gathering wing flex data, (amoung other things)!
I'm guessing they are trying to get the max flex while staying within legal parameters
similar to what Red Bull did last season.

This is what I am referencing, note the hands and their head position compared to the front portion of the cars, even without the pimple, it stikes me that the view of the road must be affected, it is as though they must peek between the wheels, their hands and the nose to see the apex of the corner or what is directly in front of them.

I know that in many portions of a race track the driver looks far down the road....but still???????

Are the teams going to far trying to get an extra edge over the competition??

[BDunnell]

Interesting. How does this compare with previous seasons?

On a partially related subject, I have only this morning been reading an article on the Mini WRC car in which Paddy Hopkirk commented on how low the co-drivers now sit in top-line rally cars, meaning that on a passenger ride he could barely see out.

[CNR]

are they sitting or are they laying?
http://posterous.com/getfile/files.p...scaled1000.jpg

[Mark]

Brundle has said driving an F1 car is like sitting in the bath with your feet on the taps. So it's nothing new.

[Zico]

Its one thing sitting low but the panoramic view still looks very much reduced over previous F1 era's. Is it not mostly for safety reasons?.... and whilst it may offer the driver more protection in certain types of impacts, the limited view and larger blind spots can and has been the cause of accidents.

Modern cars are similar in a way with their large A pillars and high sited side windows for better protection, its only when you drive an old car you realise how fantastic the 360 vision is with far smaller blind spots... like a greenhouse in comparison.

[markabilly]

are they sitting or are they laying?
http://posterous.com/getfile/files.p...scaled1000.jpg

that makes it look worse than I thought

Brundle has said driving an F1 car is like sitting in the bath with your feet on the taps. So it's nothing new.

well, I had not thought much about it, until i saw the photos with the hands blocking the view of the driver's face

I got to thinking about Paul Tracey in his Champ car days, when they had one of those helmet cams level with his visor. I remeber someone saying he was famous for getting as low as posssible in the car....I remember him as being famous for running into the back of many a race car on tight circuits......

In one of those races, they had the visor level view of one of those accidents. It looked to me the only way he could see well enough to judge the distance was using the rear wing of the car in front as everything else was blocked from view, with only a slight view of the concrete blocks (one of those street circuit deals, Houston I think--where they used concrete barriers to form the course).

I thought well, the surprize was not the accident but that he did not crash out more often into other cars

[Mark]

Yep. Visibility out of an F1 car is poor!

[gloomyDAY]

Drivers whined about poor visibilty a few years ago, but then they were reminded that Coulthard nearly decapitated Wurz, and then the drivers decided to keep quiet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqqEmocEOI0

[Mark]

I too didn't know that their backside was actually lower than the pedals, I suppose that explains the bath comment! I guess it's strange for most of us who are all used to driving in a sitting upright position.