# Formula 1 cars **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 21, 2009, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-1-cars/500507 "2009-06-21T21:13:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-1-cars/500507/21 "2009-06-23T13:23:28Z")
Most people hated the look of the [Brabham BT44](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brabham_BT44), but I always liked it. It was my first Scalextric car. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-1-cars/500507/22 "2009-06-24T06:47:58Z")
By default, the current Ferrari is alway the _best F1 car ever!_ ---
**Author:** ![History\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b19c9b/32.png) [@History\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/History_Geek)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-1-cars/500507/23 "2009-06-25T00:51:33Z")
On the subject of F1 cars: What is it about the Brawn car that causes it to lose pace in cooler temperatures? Is it Button’s driving style? I’ve noticed he’s lighter on tires, which would translate to the problem he had getting heat into the rubber. Barichello seemed to be off a bit, but no where near as bad as Button. ---
**Author:** ![Notassmartasithought](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c0e974/32.png) [@Notassmartasithought](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Notassmartasithought)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-1-cars/500507/24 "2009-06-25T02:32:41Z")
**Pork Rind** , I think you’re right that that era had the best looking cars, followed by the early 90’s. Remember the wonderfully intricate curves of the headers on the Lutuses before they flared back? And **Elvis** , I too thought immediately of the John Player Special, but upon further review, I must confess I think it’s one of the handsomest paint jobs ever, but that era created the most ungainly front ends ever. Though when pressed I will still mourn that we’ve lost British Racing Green, French Racing Blue, Japanese Racing White, and German Racing Silver. At least Ferrari is able to keep Italian Red on the grid. Lastly, for the high nose/low wing cars, outside of the lessons of aerodynamics, the most interesting thing to me is that the driver’s feet must be above (higher than) their hips, a very unusual driving position. It must be relatively easy to get used to, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-1-cars/500507/25 "2009-06-25T02:35:12Z")
> [@Notassmartasithought](#): > > And **Elvis** , I too thought immediately of the John Player Special, but upon further review, I must confess I think it’s one of the handsomest paint jobs ever, but that era created the most ungainly front ends ever. Though when pressed I will still mourn that we’ve lost British Racing Green, French Racing Blue, Japanese Racing White, and German Racing Silver. At least Ferrari is able to keep Italian Red on the grid. The now-defunct Jaguar F1 team painted its cars British Racing Green, which I thought was nice. Also, Aston Martin’s endurance racers are usually painted BRG. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-1-cars/500507/26 "2009-06-25T02:37:29Z")
> [@Notassmartasithought](#): > > **Pork Rind** > > Lastly, for the high nose/low wing cars, outside of the lessons of aerodynamics, the most interesting thing to me is that the driver’s feet must be above (higher than) their hips, a very unusual driving position. It must be relatively easy to get used to, I suppose. I wondered about. Is the driver somewhat reclining, you think? ---
**Author:** ![Notassmartasithought](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c0e974/32.png) [@Notassmartasithought](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Notassmartasithought)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-1-cars/500507/27 "2009-06-25T03:31:14Z")
**ReallyNotAllThatBright** , I’d repressed the Rahal managed Jag teams. Thanks for the not (if you were a fan) so pleasant memories! **mangeorge** , _somewhat reclined?_ Look at the silhouettes that the OP provided. The drivers eyes are only a couple of inches above the cowling, so their hips are low and their knees and feet must be higher. Now that’s how it looks. There could some sort of F1 magic I don’t understand, of course. Max, Bernie, can you help me out? You haven’t been busy recently. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-1-cars/500507/28 "2009-06-25T04:17:59Z")
F1 drivers are generally quite small. Damon Hill was almost a giant at 5’11", and he wore UK size 12 shoes which caused the Williams team no end of problems. ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-1-cars/500507/29 "2009-06-25T12:22:47Z")
> [@History\_Geek](#): > > On the subject of F1 cars: > > What is it about the Brawn car that causes it to lose pace in cooler temperatures? Is it Button’s driving style? I’ve noticed he’s lighter on tires, which would translate to the problem he had getting heat into the rubber. Barichello seemed to be off a bit, but no where near as bad as Button. It seems to be part tyre temp and part braking performance. After Silverstone Button predicted they’d be much better in the next 2 races since there is more heavy braking (he said “we’re better under braking”) and the temperatures should be higher. Silverstone is a very fast track where they manage with just engine braking for most of the lap. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-1-cars/500507/30 "2009-06-25T12:31:20Z")
[Here’s a silhouette](http://www.f1technical.net/articles/40) of an generic F1 car and how the driver sits within it…the driver’s feet are higher than his butt. One of Adrian Newey’s first notable cars, the March Leyton House 881, was notably uncomfortable for the drivers. Here’s [Jackie Stewart frank opinion](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnAfDIWydFQ) after driving it. I saw an interview with Newey in which he put the fault on Ivan Capelli who didn’t complain while they were designing the cockpit layout. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-1-cars/500507/31 "2009-06-25T12:57:37Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > [Here’s a silhouette](http://www.f1technical.net/articles/40) of an generic F1 car and how the driver sits within it…the driver’s feet are higher than his butt. > > One of Adrian Newey’s first notable cars, the March Leyton House 881, was notably uncomfortable for the drivers. Here’s [Jackie Stewart frank opinion](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnAfDIWydFQ) after driving it. I saw an interview with Newey in which he put the fault on Ivan Capelli who didn’t complain while they were designing the cockpit layout. Thanks for a couple of very interesting links. ---
**Author:** ![History\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b19c9b/32.png) [@History\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/History_Geek)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-1-cars/500507/32 "2009-06-27T00:17:09Z")
> [@kferr](#): > > It seems to be part tyre temp and part braking performance. After Silverstone Button predicted they’d be much better in the next 2 races since there is more heavy braking (he said “we’re better under braking”) and the temperatures should be higher. Silverstone is a very fast track where they manage with just engine braking for most of the lap. Thanks, that makes sense. I hadn’t thought about the friction generated during braking. I was looking at the early weather forecast for Germany… cool temperature and cloud cover. But there are much tighter corners on the Nürburgring, so perhaps that will compensate. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formula-1-cars/500507.md?page=1)