When Leclerc had his inchident he pulled this out of somewhere, what is it and why have I never seen anyone else remove it after a shunt?

I can’t think of the last time a driver has struggled with a stuck throttle (thankfully) and even longer since the last time it caused a full blown accident. Compared to a number of the American series like Indy and NASCAR it seems like it never happens.

What would be the reason? I know things like brake by wire have helped with brake failures but what would the reason be for stuck throttles being rarer.

Or is the correct question why are they so common in the other series?

Not even just Colapinto but also other drivers. I'm no expert in physics or a doctor but that seems like a lot of force on your body and I don't see how anyone could be healthy enough to do a race the day after. I'm just wondering how come drivers are able to be okay after a big crash like that?

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/68491352

The 2023 increase in floor height was the minimum height of the contoured portion of the floor, relative to a "reference plane," not the height of the plank; even without porpoising, cars bottom out on track, hurting the drivers.

So far as I know, the only way the FIA hasn't tried any kind of quantified minimum ride height since the ban on skirts, before which the FIA and teams played cat-and-mouse (e.g., cockpit-adjustable hydraulics raising and lowering the car), with the mid-1994 introduction of the plank simultaneously raising the cars and being a means of policing on-track ride heights (by way of measuring plank wear). But suspension is now extremely regulated and, even if it wasn't, the cars have ride height sensors - can the FIA now effectively police a gap to the lowest point on the car, not just physical wear from contact with the track?

If so, should minimum ride heights be used to control speeds? In 1998, car widths were reduced, both decreasing surface area for aerodynamics and increasing weight transfer. Increased ride heights would reduce downforce from the floor, decrease ride height sensitivity (the difference between maximum and minimum ride height would be proportionally smaller), and increase weight transfer (by raising the center of mass).

At COTA when Russell crashed in the end of Q3 the commentators mentioned that the G-Force Light was on, ive googled everywhere and i cant find where these are located on a modern F1 car. If anyone here has the answer it'd be greatly appreciated!

Considering GR said his incident with MV was due to max being in his blind spot and anecdotally we've seen a few incidents recently put down to not seeing the driver behind or beside, would mirror cameras not be a better solution.

Appreciating they may be heavier and more complex they are becoming more commonplace on standard road vehicles, especially lorries and coaches as they can offer a better field of view.

My argument is that the cars are already rigged with several FIA/TV cameras so weight and technology is proven but a single rear facing and 2 side or side rear cameras could easily provide significantly better visibility than the current mirrors, obstructed by bodywork and whose placement is partly determined by aero requirements.

The screens could be mounted on the inside rim of the cockpit or halo in theory providing a spatial reference for "out of the corner of the eye" moments.

Is there a good technical reason not to explore it for e.g. the 2026 regs?

Im writing an essay about technology that saved drivers lives and need some help with specific crashes where it saved lives. It can be from any series. So far I have Watson at Monza '81, Bordeais at Indianapolis '16 but I'd like some older ones from around the time Carbon Fibre was introduced

here's the link to his engine failure radio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3QOJWVMdtY&t=135s

I assume it has something to do with the PU but at the same time it sounds like some sort of safety procedure. Could anyone weigh in on what happened here?

When watching todays race I noticed the rain lights look like they blink faster the faster the car goes. Ive never heard of this before. Does anyone know anything about it? For some reason i find it very interesting!

I tried googling it, didnt find any answers :(

If I’m not mistaken, I believe you can layer carbon fiber in a way that can control how it bends and flexes under load. An example of this would be how the 2021 Mercedes’ rear wing “leaned” backwards at high speed and McLaren’s DRS flap in Baku. Is there resistance curve that increases as you get deeper into the crash structures?

Also, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is made mostly of composite materials. A carbon reinforced plastic fuselage is created by a machine that automatically lays down the material instead of a trained engineer doing it by hand. Do F1 teams use this technology or are their parts too intricate/small to benefit from an automated system?

Since he is basically going flat out in the safety car, how much practice does Maylander get before each race?

Everyone gets one try Quali round to put up their best time on an empty track. Just take turns. Would be a fair, safe way to complete Quali no? Better than using practice 1 as determining track order

During Q2 of Hungarian GP 2009,a debris from Rubens Barrichelo car hit the Helmet of Felipe Massa knocked him unconscious after that accident he never be the same so I want to ask can Halo prevented him not have serious injured?

With so many technical developments over the last 30+ years in F1 being focused on driver safety, why do Forumla 1 cars not have airbags like road cars do? Some of the reasons I was thinking of could be: weight, although airbags don’t seem that heavy; deployment time, perhaps the speeds F1 cars move at make airbags not useful; and concerns about airbag failures, either their being deployed when a crash has not occurred or the electronics and ignition of airbags failing and damaging the car/driver.

Are any of these the case? Has there even ever been discussions among regulators regarding the use of airbags?

Thanks so much for your answers!

Obviously this is all speculation and there is no way to tell for sure. In Silverstone last year, Max hit the wall with the side of his car, but what could have happened if he were to hit the wall with the nose first?

Could Max have been critically injured or would he have been similar?

I ask this because he hit the wall sideways, his head hit the side of the cockpit, potentially dampening the hit, whereas hitting the wall straight on would mean it wouldn't be as dampened?

I am by no means qualified to ask any sort of question like this, but it got me thinking. Any input would be great!

Thanks.

I've noticed that sometimes (but not always) when drivers exit the car, they remove a small black round thing roughly the size and shape of a hockey puck or a can of cat food, and place it on the nose before they remove the steering wheel. They don't always do it, but I've seen it a few times when drivers shunt and need to jump out so the car can be towed away. Other times I only see the drivers pop the steering wheel and hop out, no hockey puck.

So what is that hockey puck thing, and how come they remove it sometimes but not other times?

I was recently watching some “older” f1 races (2007 and 2008) and I find it kinda weird to see the cars without the halo. I remember all the discourse when the halo was introduced, I started watching in 2017, and it’s unbelievable to me to think that anyone could have been against it. The technology to manufacture a safety structure similar to that had to have been around since at least the 80s when the monocoque was introduced. Just seems a little wild to me that it wasn’t added sooner or that people were ever against it especially for the drivers who were opposed.

Supposedly, the high nose initially presented an advantage in the mid-late 90s but then everybody went back to "low noses" in 2014.

Why?

Seeing as there are a fair number of circuits that have enough elevation change for the car to roll with no driver present does there need to be the option added to the car to have some kind of break hold/force gear/dead man's switch option? E.g. The inverse to the neutral button on the chassis.

This was coming from watching Lance have to delay getting out of the car just now due to it rolling back without him applying brake pressure. Not a major issue in that scenario but if he were incapacitated then the car would roll from there all the way down Raidillon backwards.

Also it's not the first time that comes to mind recently with Carlos at Austria when he had the engine fire unable to get out due to slope on the run off. If he had jumped clear an on fire car would have rolled back onto the racetrack.

Question.

Specifically referring to the rear tyres here. If the driver hits the throttle causing when the wheelgun is engaged, this could seriously injure the wheelgun operator.

Is there something like a cut off system during the tyre change, or just it rely on the driver to not hit the pedals accidentally?