I'm not sure how the clutch paddles are used in F1. Are they mostly used to start the car moving when not using launch control? I know they do sometimes use it in turns. I assume the clutch works automatically when up shifting and down shifting. Maybe not? Is it a pressure sensitive paddle or is the clutch just in or out?

Does the up and down shift paddles have 2 controls? Holding the paddle a little to let the gearbox know the next gear will be up or down then a full pull to engage it. I know the McLaren MP4-12C has this.

The clutch is only used when they start from standstill, it's not used in turns or during gearchanging. There is a separate clutch paddle, clutch movement follow the paddle even though the control of the clutch is electro-hydraulic.

Gearchanging is handled by the gearbox, the clutch remains engaged the whole time. To reduce the stress on the gearbox it's common that the ignition is cut during shifting.

As F1 cars don't use dual clutch tranmissions there is no preselection of gears like with the McLaren MP4-12C.

Further to this, for standing start use, the clutch 'bite' point can be adjusted as per driver's preference. The clutch is still not the progressive type like in a road car where you can slip it. It's more 'on-off' so you have to control your revs to avoid wheelspin. Interestingly single seaters rev their engine very high before dumping the clutch.

Low inertia engines will drop a lot of revs when the clutch is dumped.