Anytime we hear the “to drive a modern F1 car is easy” we should remember the accelerations the drivers have to cope with, each braking with peaks of 5 g’s, 3 or maybe 4 times per lap, for 60-70 if not more laps in about 1 hour and half… Furthermore, according to actual data, the heart’s BPM of a F1 driver is constantly around 180-190, with peaks above 200 at the start and in particular moments, for example while pushing hard before the pitstop. Definitively you need to be very fit to drive these cars for a full race distance.
RacingManiac wrote:
What I find interesting is that braking on cars such as F1 cars where downforce plays a big role [...]
Little “historical” note. For the last two races of 1993 Giorgio Ascanelli, Senna’s race engineer at the time (currently he’s the designer of the Maserati MC12) designed for the McLaren Mp4/8 a servo brake system operating only in the first few moments of the deceleration; it allowed to increase the pressure in the circuit lot more rapidly than the driver was able to do hence exploiting in a more effective way the maximum available grip (and also requiring bigger brake ducts). Then, thanks to a simple electronic control based on the calculation of downforce from speed the servo was deactivated leaving in drivers’ foot the feeling at low speed to avoid wheel locking.
That system, although very simple, was also very effective and helped Senna to achieve the last two wins of his career, life sigh... one of them in Suzuka, in spite of the evident lack of power of his Ford compared with the Renault V10.
BTW, the system was banned at the end of the year.