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McLaren’s driver duo in 1990 were Ayrton Senna and Allen Prost. Are you sure the engineers weren’t just petty little creatures trying to get some spotlight? I

by atmosx 6y ago

McLaren’s driver duo in 1990 were Ayrton Senna and Allen Prost. Are you sure the engineers weren’t just petty little creatures trying to get some spotlight? I can assure you that no engineer could win a race against either one. Additionally, Senna has proved that he do “well” with much inferior cars, there must be something going on there as well... As someone who races every now and then for fun, I can assure you that there is skill involved and domain knowledge. A lot of domain knowledge.

reallydontask 6y ago
> I can assure you that no engineer could win a race against either one You could turn that around and say that no F1 driver could design a car that would win in aero dominated F1 (mid 70s? onwards). The car dominates in modern F1, you need look no further than the current Mercs. Sure a good driver can outdrive the car but do you honestly think that Hamilton would've won in 2015's McLaren?
- WalterBright 6y ago
  I took one of those 3 day racing courses (lots of fun, highly recommended!). We drove Formula Fords, with classroom lectures interspersed with track practice. Early on, we were limited to 50 mph, and were sent out to practice racing lines around Watkins Glen. We thought we were hot stuff wheeling hard around the turns. Then the instructor told us to get in the van and he'd drive us around giving us pointers. He drove with his left hand on the wheel, and his body turned around facing backwards at us while he lectured us. He was sliding the van around the turns at 70 mph, and I doubt his heart rate exceeded 70 BPM. It was a very humbling experience.
WalterBright 6y ago
I've watched a couple documentaries on Senna. They'd all say Senna just drove faster than the others. Nothing said about just what Senna did to be faster, which was very frustrating. I didn't believe that Senna did anything magical.
- romanoderoma 6y ago
  He drive differently He used techniques that helped the car to use the maximum possible grip, avoiding sliding or throttle partialisation For example at Monza, in times of manual gear, he could switch from 4th to 5th in between the two turns of Lesmo, nobody else could, it meant gaining a tenth of a second every single lap and the pole position For reference, this is how Senna throttle technique sounded at Monza's parabolica https://youtu.be/LId5SKxljqs https://youtu.be/LId5SKxljqs
  - WalterBright 6y ago
    Thank you, that video and the explanations is great.
- TheGallopedHigh 6y ago
  This video might help explain specific techniques that he used to be faster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4kcLyYhThE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4kcLyYhThE
  - WalterBright 6y ago
    Very illuminating, thanks! I've also heard you can get slightly more lateral grip in a turn by rapidly moving the steering wheel back and forth - for the same reason as the throttle stamping and brake stamping.
beastieboyce 6y ago
Senna and Gerhard Berger in 1990. Alain Prost had switched to Ferrari.
- atmosx 6y ago
  Yes, that's accurate: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990_Formula_One_World_Championship https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990_Formula_One_World_Champio...

by atmosx 6y ago

reallydontask 6y ago

> I can assure you that no engineer could win a race against either one You could turn that around and say that no F1 driver could design a car that would win in aero dominated F1 (mid 70s? onwards). The car dominates in modern F1, you need look no further than the current Mercs. Sure a good driver can outdrive the car but do you honestly think that Hamilton would've won in 2015's McLaren?

WalterBright 6y ago
I took one of those 3 day racing courses (lots of fun, highly recommended!). We drove Formula Fords, with classroom lectures interspersed with track practice. Early on, we were limited to 50 mph, and were sent out to practice racing lines around Watkins Glen. We thought we were hot stuff wheeling hard around the turns. Then the instructor told us to get in the van and he'd drive us around giving us pointers. He drove with his left hand on the wheel, and his body turned around facing backwards at us while he lectured us. He was sliding the van around the turns at 70 mph, and I doubt his heart rate exceeded 70 BPM. It was a very humbling experience.

WalterBright 6y ago

I've watched a couple documentaries on Senna. They'd all say Senna just drove faster than the others. Nothing said about just what Senna did to be faster, which was very frustrating. I didn't believe that Senna did anything magical.

romanoderoma 6y ago
He drive differently He used techniques that helped the car to use the maximum possible grip, avoiding sliding or throttle partialisation For example at Monza, in times of manual gear, he could switch from 4th to 5th in between the two turns of Lesmo, nobody else could, it meant gaining a tenth of a second every single lap and the pole position For reference, this is how Senna throttle technique sounded at Monza's parabolica https://youtu.be/LId5SKxljqs https://youtu.be/LId5SKxljqs
- WalterBright 6y ago
  Thank you, that video and the explanations is great.
TheGallopedHigh 6y ago
This video might help explain specific techniques that he used to be faster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4kcLyYhThE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4kcLyYhThE
- WalterBright 6y ago
  Very illuminating, thanks! I've also heard you can get slightly more lateral grip in a turn by rapidly moving the steering wheel back and forth - for the same reason as the throttle stamping and brake stamping.

beastieboyce 6y ago

Senna and Gerhard Berger in 1990. Alain Prost had switched to Ferrari.

atmosx 6y ago
Yes, that's accurate: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990_Formula_One_World_Championship https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990_Formula_One_World_Champio...