Are F1 cars today too quick?

[entropy]

This came up for discussion during last night's Midweek Motorsport. 1000bhp, corners on rails yet they weigh more than the 80s turbo cars with braking distances seemingly unaffected.

Thoughts?

[ninja-lewis]

The Mercedes certainly are!

[kambites]

As long as the drivers aren't dying or getting seriously injured, they're not too fast.

I might support slowing them down if it would improve another element of the sport, but I can see no real reason to slow them down just for the sake of making them slower.

[Eric Mc]

What do you mean by "too quick"?

Too quick for what?

[Jasandjules]

Nope. If they can go faster, let them. That is to me the idea of F1.

[TheDeuce]

They're just about on the limit, but not over it so I voted 'no'.

Clearly they could be made much, much faster if regulations allowed - the trouble is the drivers are just about at their (safe) limit.

When we get FA (Formula Automated) I suppose we can have cars lapping Silverstone in under a second

[entropy]

Eric Mc said:

What do you mean by "too quick"?

Too quick for what?

Silverstone was used as the perfect example. A couple of braking zones, a bit of lift here and there and tyre scrub having greater effect on cornering speed. Saying that, its been like that for a decade and a half.

[DOCG]

No, the biggest problem with F1 cars is that they are too big and heavy.

[MB140]

Probably for that 1 qualifying lap. But the rest of the time there going round what 5 seconds a lap slower than they could managing tyres.

No wonder they very really make mistakes these days unless there in cold tyres. Driving around multiple seconds slower than they could means the car is nowhere near the limit.

[TheDeuce]

MB140 said:

Probably for that 1 qualifying lap. But the rest of the time there going round what 5 seconds a lap slower than they could managing tyres.

No wonder they very really make mistakes these days unless there in cold tyres. Driving around multiple seconds slower than they could means the car is nowhere near the limit.

But they were on the limit - the limit of the tyres. If they had pushed faster they would have needed the extra pit stop, and overall would have gone slower as a result.


In both race and quali they went as fast as they could - other than the leading car of course, but as leader going as fast as possible would be pretty silly.

[Eric Mc]

DOCG said:

No, the biggest problem with F1 cars is that they are too big and heavy.

Agreed.

[StevieBee]

In 2006, Honda ran an aero-neutral F1 car at Bonneville, recording an average speed of 260mph though maxed at something like 280mph. That was a v10 and from memory, ran at something around 800bhp.

Would be interesting to see what the current hybrid cars would achieve; lighter and more powerful.

[LukeBrown66]

And that car was running on salt on the wrong tyres, if they had streamlined it properly, run on proper salt tyres it could easily have done over 300mph I would imagine.

it was basically an F1 with the wing removed!

[cholo]

Surely an F1 car can never be 'too quick'?

[24lemons]

entropy said:

Silverstone was used as the perfect example. A couple of braking zones, a bit of lift here and there and tyre scrub having greater effect on cornering speed. Saying that, its been like that for a decade and a half.

Yeah the actual question posed was ‘is F1 too quick for Silverstone?’ I remember this question being asked in the mid 2000’s after Montoya had a huge shunt in testing. Not long before that, Zonta cleared the catch fence in his BAR, and the F1 cars are even quicker now...

[kambites]

As ever I think the problem is more their reliance on smooth air than actual performance. If they could follow half a car's length back, a far smaller braking zone would become a viable out-braking opportunity.

[StevieBee]

cholo said:

Surely an F1 car can never be 'too quick'?

Sliding skirts were removed as drivers were close to requiring g-suits to avoid blacking out. Well, one of the reasons.

[HustleRussell]

They definitely are.

My view was cemented last weekend when I learned that there are no braking events from Luffield to Club.

How are we going to achieve racing without DRS on the kind of circuits which the sport uses currently when the straights are over in a blink and there are no braking zones.

Edited by HustleRussell on Friday 7th August 15:49

[trackdemon]

F1 cars can never be too fast imho. The problem is that they cannot follow each other, so even a much faster car can't get close enough to make a pass unless it has a 2-3 second lap delta, which is silly. Midfield cars which might have a 1 second delta have no chance of passing each other without tyres falling off a cliff or a crazy lunge in a braking zone which usually doesn't work. Speed in and of itself isn't the problem, it's how the speed is achieved (and the affect that has on following cars)....

Thankfully Ross Brawn & co seem to realize this and are devising a rule change to make cars less wing dependant, sadly now delayed by a season. I really hope they are ok with sacrificing wing born aero for mechanical grip (or underfloor aero) so the cars can follow closely but still be miles faster than GP2....

[Eric Mc]

uptheraidillon said:

Not too quick, but perhaps overtyred and overwinged.

The FIA are apparently planning to lower downforce for 2021. Seems to be heading in the right direction, IMHO.

https://us.motorsport.com/f1/news/downforce-cuts-2...

Edited by uptheraidillon on Tuesday 18th August 07:54

2022 now. The changes originally intended for 2021 have been deferred. People have been screaming for reductions in downforce - and more importantly - reduction in wake turbulence, for over 20 years. The 2022 changes MAY achieve this, but I'm not holding my breath.