Quote: Original post by Promethium
As for F1 cars being computerized go-carts, try watching Richard Hammond from Top Gear take one for a spin: clicky [smile] For the impatient I can reveal that it takes him a couple of tries to get out of the pit and onto the track(!) and a couple of further tries to complete two laps. And he's not exatly a motering beginner.

Yeah, the way these things are designed is that you have to keep the tires warm. If you're not going fast enough, the car is virtually impossible to drive. Especially now with the smaller-displacement, power-restricted motors there's a ton of effort just trying to keep the turbos on the boil.

Someone found some documents on Honda's F1 design; interesting stuff there if you're mechanically talented. I particularly liked that the car is timed to not run out of fuel if you keep it in the right RPM range; any slower or any faster and you're going to waste too much fuel and not finish the race.