Introduction of sequential gearbox in Formula One

[axelthorpe]

Hi

I did a search and looked through the forum a bit without finding the information I was after. So please point me in the right direction if this has been answered before.

When, and which team, started using a sequential gearbox, instead of the H-shifter that I think was in use in the 60's?

What was the reason for this change? New rules, new technology? etc.


Just curious
Thanks
/Axl

[Tom]

Sequentials require no thought, whereas usually the driver may take a tenth of a second to work out what gear he is in and the direction in which to move the stick to the next one with a sequential you just wait till the revs rise then push forward (or pull back depending on the car)

[RH1300S]

I am relying on a shaky memory - but here goes:

The first "effective" sequential was John Barnard with the Ferrari 640. He introduce paddle changes - BUT AFIK the gearbox mechanism at that time was traditional with selector forks, but there were complex hydraulics moving the whole lot around.

NOW - can anyone verify this...........I think that Jordan was the first to use a truly sequential gearbox (i.e. like a motorcycle box with a drum and pawl activating the gears).

[Scuderia_Russ]

Don't quote me on this but I don't think that Barnards had paddles, it might very well have been electronic with buttons.

[axelthorpe]

Thanks!

As Scudera_Russ says, I think that the Ferrari 640 was the first to use a "semi-automatic" clutchless gearbox, operated with buttons.

But afaik some teams used what I think is a stick operated "sequential" gearbox (moving the gear lever back-forward), and not using an H-gated gear selector as early as the 60's or 70's.

RH1300S:
NOW - can anyone verify this...........I think that Jordan was the first to use a truly sequential gearbox (i.e. like a motorcycle box with a drum and pawl activating the gears).

This sequential transmission I'm referring to is fully manual, just like in a motorcycle, so it could be it. But Jordan started driving Formula One in 1991, and that sounds a little late for the introduction.

The thing is that in WTCC the car gets a weight penalty when using a sequential gearbox, and that's why BMW uses an ordinary manual gearbox as they get the same weight penalty for the RWD.

So I figured that the change from gated shifter to sequential would have to do with either changed rules in formula one, or with new technology (alloys or tools etc) that made it possible to manufacture them.

Does anyone know anything about this? I'm starting to think I just imagined this, can't find anything on the net.


Thanks again all!
/Axl

[zac510]

Yes they went out of fashion, but came back into fashion when Ferrari/Barnard introduced the excellent semi-automatic gearbox with steering wheel mounted paddle shifts. F1 hasn't looked back.

[axelthorpe]

Hi again

So, not really getting an answer here, but if I understand it correctly, there were no use of sequental gearboxes in Formula One before 1990.

Is this correct?


/Axl

[P1]

I have a related question:

I know F1 Features shifting completely from the wheel, with paddle shifters and a hand clutch, but do the cars that use a sequential gearbox with a stick shifter (like Daytona Prototypes) use a hand clutch or a foot clutch?

[T4win]

Hi
Ferrari 639/340 of John Barnard made victorious beginnings in Brazil 26 of march 1989 with Nigel Mansell by using a gear box semi-automatic used with a foot clutch only for the first gear !

[joseff]

IIRC one of the early 90's Williams (FW12 or 14) require the driver to operate the clutch pedal on downshifts.

I read it in a Car mag article with Tiff Needell driving. I remember him mentioning that the upshifts are full-throttle but the downshifts are manual, ie. driver must use clutch and apply throttle to match revs.

[RH1300S]

Hi again

So, not really getting an answer here, but if I understand it correctly, there were no use of sequental gearboxes in Formula One before 1990.

Is this correct?


/Axl

try this............

By the late 1950's (IIRC) Lotus was using it's "queerbox" which had positive stop sequential change and allowed for clutchless shifts. The brillian Colin Chapman had realised that a two-pedal car was faster.............

[rjsa]

Hi,

I have been following the forum for a while, but this is my first post.

May be my memory is betraing me, but I think Prost driven a McLaren-Porsche featuring it in the early 80's. I have been googling around and found no reference, but I'm almost sure about it.

Ricardo

[wiley]

Sequential gearboxes are not new technology, motorcyles have had them forever. Semi-automatic sequentionals on the other hand are a recent (last 15 years) innovation. Before the paddleshifter became standard it was a matter of choice between sequentials and H-patterns.

[RH1300S]

Hi,

I have been following the forum for a while, but this is my first post.

May be my memory is betraing me, but I think Prost driven a McLaren-Porsche featuring it in the early 80's. I have been googling around and found no reference, but I'm almost sure about it.

Ricardo

Too lazy to google (sorry ) - perhaps it was a PDK gearbox as they had an association with Porsche back then. IIRC it is a double clutch arrangement which allows the next gear to be pre-selected - then one clutch drops out and the other cuts in virtually instantly.

[axelthorpe]

Thanks again for all the answers!

Sequential gearboxes are not new technology, motorcyles have had them forever. Semi-automatic sequentionals on the other hand are a recent (last 15 years) innovation. Before the paddleshifter became standard it was a matter of choice between sequentials and H-patterns.

Exactly what I figured with the gearbox.
But that means that there were no regulations agains sequental gearboxes in Formula One in say the 70's, so it is possible that some teams used them back then.
But as far as I know, often conservative Ferrari used an H-shifter in the 312T in 1975, but it doesn't mean that the other teams didn't.