“Even jumping out of an aeroplane doesn’t give me the adrenaline rush as driving a Formula 1 car”- Niki Lauda (3 time F1 Champion)
There is nothing more technically advanced and complicated machine than an F1 car. The sport which still isn’t considered a sport in most parts of the globe. A sport termed as ‘Artificial’. But in their defence I would say, it takes a steel heart to be driving at 300kms/hour and trying to change a setting on the steering wheel.
Formula 1 is considered to be the pinnacle of motorsports, the ultimate glory. Sorry to break your bubble but driving an F1 car is one of the most physically and also mentally challenging things you would ever come across and it’s not your cup of tea. Just to clear the air about the myths of the sport, Formula 1 isn’t just about driving in circles there’s a hell a lot more to that.
Formula 1 consists of Strategies for their race, the spontaneous decision on track and off track and of course wheel to wheel racing that can change the fate of the race and in the bigger picture the fate of the championship. A team of engineers, oil scientists, and mechanics work all around the clock just to gain a tenth of second on track which is the fine margin that differentiates a good team and a champion team.
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A Formula 1 driver is superhuman. Fitness is one of the most crucial things as a driver; mastery of mental skills such as focus, determination and hand to eye coordination are absolutely crucial. Just to put things into perspective, Formula 1 Drivers loses about 3-4 Kg of body fluid in a race(the ultimate weight loss program), and experience of about 4-5G of force while driving, which in layman’s terms means crashing into a wall at 300km/hour.
The engineering in Formula 1 is unparallel. It doesn’t take anyone to be Einstein to understand that the technological advancement which are often made in Formula 1 are mostly emulated by road car manufacturers(use of carbon fiber in the chassis) and that is what makes brands like Ferrari, Mercedes, and McLaren to keep rolling their dice in the sport. The current spec V6 Turbo-hybrid engine is the most efficient engine on the planet. With the sport claiming to be net-zero Carbon footprint by 2030 we can expect a technological revolution but not at the price of losing the DNA of the sport.
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