F1 thoughts

[B2Bomber]

Napag-isip-isip ko lang... note na di ako avid follower ng F1 ha...
1. are these cars supposed to be the fastest? if so does this mean na yung merc na lead car (yun ba tawag dun) pag may aksidente (for example) e mas mabilis kaysa sa kanila? O talaga lang na nagmemenor sila pag-um-appear na yung merc?
2. modified din kaya yung merc na yun? atleast tirewise, para sa tracks?
3. iisa lang kaya ang driver nun for all the circuits? ba't kaya di sya mag-apply na race driver din, atleast kabisado na nya yung mga circuits. hehehe.
4. san kaya makakabili sa pinas nung mga camera na pang kotse (maganda sana yun as evidence sa mga collisions, etc.) at large-capacity recording para dito.

[niky]

1-2. Yes, around a track. But their top speed is severely limited by the wings and open bodywork, which help produce downforce to enable them to hug the road. A Le Mans Prototype (endurance racers like the Audi R8 and R10 and the Porsche Spyder) has a higher top speed, but they can't accelerate as fast or turn as fast as an F1.

They introduce new rules every season or so to slow F1 cars down, but despite this, lap times are still getting shorter... even with the new "weaker" engines.

The Mercedes Pace cars are usually AMG models, and yes, they're very fast. But while the pace car driver's job is to slow down the F1s... he has to drive very very quickly so as not to be going too slow for the F1 cars.

Yes, they have to slow way way down for him. And it's not fun. At low speeds, an F1 car is very slippery because there's little downforce at these speeds (note how they slide around as they warm up their tires behind the pace car) and it's easy for an inexperienced driver to make a mistake and stall, overheat, or slide the car.

3. I wouldn't know. They usually use a pro-driver anyway.

4. Handycam lang ang kailangan mo. I've seen lots of... ahem... fast drivers with handycams mounted on the dashboard.

[OTEP]

Pace cars are also modified with safety equipment (e.g. rollcage and harnesses) as well as the necessary electronics (lights, communications, etc.). Most of them are stock 'go-fast' models.

[slip-slick]

just a rough comparo: F1 cars have about 1000 hp, Safety car has less than 500 hp and weight 3x more than an F1 car. What we see on tv is deceiving.. it looks like they are going slow, but actually, the safety car is running at top speed just to prevent damage (overheating) to the F1 cars.

[wrcastro_ph]

Yunga mga safety cars driver ay may mga practice din sila on every circuits at talagang well prepared sila.

[B2Bomber]

Handycam lang ang kailangan mo. I've seen lots of... ahem... fast drivers with handycams mounted on the dashboard.

hehe. mukhang di feasible as "blackbox" yun. hehehe.
thanks sa mga inputs sa F1 thoughts ko. hehehe. sa uulitin.

[Kanut]

todays F1 car produces around 700hp from a 2.4liter V8

[mazdamazda]

1-2. Yes, around a track. But their top speed is severely limited by the wings and open bodywork, which help produce downforce to enable them to hug the road. A Le Mans Prototype (endurance racers like the Audi R8 and R10 and the Porsche Spyder) has a higher top speed, but they can't accelerate as fast or turn as fast as an F1.

They introduce new rules every season or so to slow F1 cars down, but despite this, lap times are still getting shorter... even with the new "weaker" engines.

To add...

Yes, topspeed is usually sacrified for downforce to be used when cornering.

Though you can adjust the aero to reduce the downforce if you want just straight line acceleration. BAR-Honda was able to run their F1 car to more than 410kph in one event.

3. iisa lang kaya ang driver nun for all the circuits? ba't kaya di sya mag-apply na race driver din, atleast kabisado na nya yung mga circuits. hehehe.

Yup, there is only one race car driver for all circuits.

An MB AMG CLK63 is the current pace car... it was an MB AMG SLK55 a year ago.

As for him being an F1 driver... I don't think that it'll happen since almost all new F1 drivers are recruited young.

[Eismann]

I've been watching F1 for some time now pero bakit nga kaya Merc ang ginagamit, pwede din naman Porsche, Audi or BMW di ba? Is this tied up on sponsorships?
Anybody here have an idea how F1 drivers are recruited? Napag-isip isip ko rin lang lately.

[B2Bomber]

teka... kaya pala nauuna yung pace car parati kasi alphabetically nauuna ang p(ace) kaysa sa r(ace). hahaha. biro lang. peace!

[mazdamazda]

s'mazda, yung pace car driver po, di yung race car driver ... teka... kaya pala nauuna yung pace car parati kasi alphabetically nauuna ang p(ace) kaysa sa r(ace). hahaha. biro lang. peace!

er... sorry.

isa lang ang safety / pace car driver for all circuits.

[GlennSter]

ot...yung *safety car driver nga pala ang isa sa mga dream jobs ko since i became a fan of f1..herhehrehr

*edit

[mazdamazda]

technically speaking... hindi sya pace car for F1... safety car ang tawag sa kanya (kasi deployed lang sya kapag may accidents / hazardous conditions / etc.

kapag pace car ang tawag... kapag rolling start ang motorsports (like Nascar).

[B2Bomber]

ayos, may natutunan na naman ako... ty

[mazdamazda]

may bayad na ang susunod na tanong!

[scarab]

....correct me if im wrong, but i believe they used an SLR as their safety car on just 1 grand prix right (2005)? tapos pinalitan na ng SLK sa next race (conflict of interest ata since there is a mclaren team).

[B2Bomber]

may bayad na ang susunod na tanong!

naman. hehehe.