We know that F1 had awesome tracks and great technology that plays behind the scenes. I'm going to talk about the one thing that makes all these things work together and take incredible risks to produce a spectacular race and it's in the cockpit. The F1 drivers.
Driving an F1 car might look easy especially with power steering and paddle shifters being used in the current F1 cars but muscling an F1 car around a track and losing up to 3kgs of water weight while maintaining focus and spotting the apex is no walk in the park.
F1 drivers are truly athletes on a different level. Think of someone who is capable of running a complete 42km marathon while still needing to lift and press heavy weights in between, that pretty much sums up what an F1 driver fitness level needs to be at.
They need an Iron Neck -
The amount of force an F1 driver goes through while he turns his machine around a corner can be massive. With the high down force F1 cars are the fastest in the corners and can apply a force of 5-6Gs on the neck muscles of the driver. That supremely light weight F1 helmet can turn from a 1.2Kg helmet to a whopping 7Kg when the G force kicks in. Imagine keeping your head straight while you try to push that weight using your neck while still steering your car onto the apex so that you don't drop your lap times and speed.
F1 drivers are Endurance machines, they are trained to keep doing tough things over and over. This training also makes them pretty tough against the forces involved in racing and at unfortunate times crashes.
Lets also take a look at some of the incredible forces the drivers experience when they crash,
2016 Alonso crashed onto Esteban Gutierrez at the Australian Grand Prix. He experienced forces at 46G and walked away with just sprained ribs, in fact his fiber seat broke from the crash.
2007 was a more massive crash for Robert Kubica, he walked away from a 75G crash at the 2007 Montreal Grand Prix with just a slight concussion and a sprained ankle.
Another very interesting and unbelievable crash is of Mark Webber's in 2010 ,
He was driving a Red Bull and crashed into the back of Heikki Kovalainen’s Lotus. His Red Bull literally found wings, flew into the air and then crashed back onto the ground bouncing on its tires before going into the barriers.
Webber's car telemetry showed he had exerted somewhere between 250 and 300 kg of braking force before the crash, his brake peddle snapped, let's think about that for a moment. Even an above average body builder in the gym would go 230Kgs as his 1 rep max, he might have nightmares about tearing his leg muscles or tendons if he tries anything above that. It was amazing that Webber was able to apply this force, sure the G force from the initial braking might have helped him, but we need to remember that this force was being transferred through the flesh and bones in his legs. After the crash Webber was seen throwing away his steering wheel and proceeding to remove his neck support system. He just had minor injuries.
Apart from the high technology and safety in F1, nothing amazes me more than watching these athletes walk away from these brutal crashes. Their training and hard work pays off in the end.
PS: For moderators I am reposting this from an article I wrote in Quora months ago, please note that I am the same author. Thank you.
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https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-amazing-facts-about-formula-1-racing
Yes that is because that article is also mine haha :)
I am active on Quora too