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Clever. Perhaps unappreciated is the athleticism of the drivers: > It was more work for the drivers, but Coulthard says he adapted quickly: “It was a switch to
by js2 8y ago
Clever. Perhaps unappreciated is the athleticism of the drivers:
> It was more work for the drivers, but Coulthard says he adapted quickly: “It was a switch to choose left and right, and an additional pedal,” DC recalls. “Racing drivers, if they have to sing the Russian national anthem backwards while juggling grenades, and it gives them a tenth, they would do it! The competitive animal that you are, nobody would say something is too difficult if it gave you performance.”
I’m a decent stick shift driver and I can’t imagine dealing with four pedals. I’m sorta surprised they didn’t do it with a pair of handbrakes, like in the XC trial cars mentioned but maybe taking your hand off the wheel is too much of a disadvantage in F1?
- ska 8y agoI suspect you are right, they need two hands on the wheel but also if you look at a cockpit cam there really isn't much room.
- pedrocr 8y ago>I’m a decent stick shift driver and I can’t imagine dealing with four pedals. Seems easy actually. These cars don't really have four pedals. Coulthard's had a clutch pedal but by this point (and to this day) F1 cars only use the clutch to start. So you're only using the extra brake pedal under acceleration and they are already using the left-foot for braking anyway. All you have to do is just change the left foot from one brake to the other after braking into the corner, it's not like heel-and-toe where you are actually pressing three pedals at once.
- ClarkMarx 8y agoThe current crop of cars use a paddle on the steering wheel, typically above the shift paddles, to actuate the clutch. So you could use your left foot to operate both brake pedals, either individually or together, and your right foot to operate the throttle.
- js2 8y agoThat’s discussed in the article. One of McLaren’s drivers wasn’t comfortable using the hand clutch, while the other was. So three pedals in one car, four in the other.
- ajuc 8y agoIn RC planes with many engines differential thrust is relatively common (when you have 2 engines you mix the input signal from the yaw stick with the input signal from the throttle so that the the engine on the outside of the turn gives more thrust and the engine on the inside of the turn slows down - and the plane turns better). It's pretty intuitive when set up with good coefficients. Just feels as if the plane has bigger steering surface. Maybe they could have done the same with breaking - just use the steering wheel position to choose the breaking power split between the wheels.
- Nition 8y agoArticle says it would have been breaking regulations to make it automatic.
- paganel 8y agoThere was a time when F1 drivers were taking their hand off the wheel in order to change gears, as this famous on-board video of Ayrton Senna at Suzuka [1] in 1989 clearly shows. Having only one hand on the wheel while you’re taking a turn at 270 kph is peak vintage Formula 1, it’s pure racing. Nowadays most of that raw feel is gone. [1] https://youtu.be/Vj6ovrKExJE https://youtu.be/Vj6ovrKExJE
- jskopek 8y agoModern F1 drivers are now navigating complex multi-level menu systems on their steering wheels with one hand while turning with the other, so I would argue that this talent is still present and visible in a modern race. Not to take away the incredible talent of earlier drivers, however; it’s remarkable what they had to do back then.