4 replies to this topic

[Jejking]

F1 clutches are way tinier and lighter than in normal street cars because they don't need to last very long. On the other hand, it needs to be strong because the amount of power on it is incredible. Sometimes the clutch on some cars doesn't seem to pick up. F.e. I recall Ralph Firman in the Jordan in 2003, all his work in Malaysia on a onestop strategy was wasted instantly because he wasn't able to pull away again. He needed a very hard push of several mechanics to get the car going.

My questions, because a driver in F1 uses a semi-automatic gearbox the clutch isn't used too much right? And then only hard from the start on during the launch, with pitstops and recovering from spins sometimes. The lighter use would be in acceleration if I recall correctly.

The next thing I am curious about, in Spain 1994 Schumacher drove only 2s off the pace when he was stuck in fifth gear. Hail hail, blabla. But he made one (or two) stops with that problem. I recently read someone stating that he had first and fifth gear. Although it seems credible, because pulling up from null to ~260 in 5th is a very hard job even for a F1 car, not even talking about the risk of burning that part up. But I have never found any confirmation of this. Anyone knows how that one went?

Edited by Jejking, 23 August 2011 - 14:51.

[Andy865]

I can say for a fact Schumacher had both 1st and 5th gears, he confirms in Christopher Hilton s biography.

And the modern day clutches are only used for pulling away/spin recovery, and the bite points on them are apparently ludicrously narrow and very very harsh. Even the FRenault 2.0 I drove once was stupidly difficult to get going.

[DrProzac]

IIRC it is possible that the clutch is/was slipped a tiny bit when shifting on some occasions. By the electronics, of course. It depends on the gearbox, but ignitions cut or/and throttle modulation will obviously be preferred.

[dav115]

IIRC it is possible that the clutch is/was slipped a tiny bit when shifting on some occasions. By the electronics, of course. It depends on the gearbox, but ignitions cut or/and throttle modulation will obviously be preferred.

There was an article on this in RacecarEngineering a while back (think it was interviewing someone from AP clutches) saying that basically clutch use on upshifts varied from team to team, with some teams not touching the clutch at all during upshifts, though possibly (I can't remember if this was in the article or elswhere) depending on performance map and whether they are trying to nurse the gearbox or go for that last bit of performance.

[jee]