Do F1 cars have clutch ?

This forum gives you a chance to be able to communicate with your fellow F1 fans.
User avatar
Sanredrose
F1 Driver
F1 Driver
Posts: 1199
Joined: 09 Sep 2007, 23:17
Location: San Diego
Contact:

Do F1 cars have clutch ?

Post by Sanredrose » 30 May 2008, 15:42

Do F1 cars have clutch ? I mean do the drivers change gears all the time in upshifts / downshifts holding on to the clutch ?

User avatar
Zack
Co-Admin
Co-Admin
Posts: 4153
Joined: 27 Jun 2007, 15:26
Location: Bombay
Contact:

Re: Do F1 cars have clutch ?

Post by Zack » 30 May 2008, 16:00

[center]Clutch
Image[/center]

The engine is linked directly to the clutch, fixed between the engine and gearbox. Two manufacturers, AP racing and Sachs produce Carbon/Carbon F1 clutches which must be able to tolerate temperatures as high as 500 degrees. The clutch is elctro-hydraulically operated and can weigh as little as 1,5 kg.

They are multi-plate designs that are designed to give enhanced engine pick-up and the lightweight deigns mean that they have low inertia, allowing faster gear changes. The drivers do not manually use the clutch apart from moving off from standstill, and when changing up the gears, they simply press a lever behind the wheel to move to the next ratio. The on-board computer automatically cuts the engine, depresses the clutch and switches ratios in the blink of an eye. The picture shows the range of clutches produced by AP Racing. The clutches on the left are designed for road based racing or rally cars, whilst those on the right are the ones used in F1 cars, and are only 100 mm in diameter.

For info
F1T
http://www.apracing.com/info/index.asp? ... utches_980
Better than a thousand hollow words is one word that brings PEACE -Buddha
There is no point in defining a point... But there is a point in trying -Zack

ImageImage
[Videos]

Donate & support us
-ZACK- IO

User avatar
raikkonen4ever
F1 Rookie
F1 Rookie
Posts: 553
Joined: 10 Apr 2008, 14:41
Location: Jakarta
Contact:

Re: Do F1 cars have clutch ?

Post by raikkonen4ever » 30 May 2008, 16:06

No, they didn't use it all the time
They use it when they engaged the 1st gear to move the car (from standstill)

They used the clutch when:
- Start of the race
- Pit Stop
- Get out from garage
- Spins (to keep the engine running)
Last edited by raikkonen4ever on 20 Sep 2008, 17:17, edited 1 time in total.
Image
Image

User avatar
Sanredrose
F1 Driver
F1 Driver
Posts: 1199
Joined: 09 Sep 2007, 23:17
Location: San Diego
Contact:

Re: Do F1 cars have clutch ?

Post by Sanredrose » 31 May 2008, 14:05

thanks for the information !

User avatar
MansellRed5
kart driver
kart driver
Posts: 91
Joined: 08 May 2008, 18:47
Location: Scotland

Re: Do F1 cars have clutch ?

Post by MansellRed5 » 31 May 2008, 15:47

raikkonen4ever wrote:No, they didn't use it all the time
They use it when they engaged the 1st gear to move the car (from standstill) when the start of the race or get out from their garage
Isn't it a hand-operated clutch too? Rather than a pedal?

Mytola
kart driver
kart driver
Posts: 27
Joined: 21 May 2008, 09:02

Re: Do F1 cars have clutch ?

Post by Mytola » 01 Jun 2008, 09:12

MansellRed5 wrote:
raikkonen4ever wrote:No, they didn't use it all the time
They use it when they engaged the 1st gear to move the car (from standstill) when the start of the race or get out from their garage
Isn't it a hand-operated clutch too? Rather than a pedal?
Yep, it is hand-operated. When you see the camera angle on TV which shows you the driver with the camera behind the steering wheel, you can see the clutch paddles. There are two paddles on each side. The smaller ones on top are for changing gear, and the larger ones under them are the clutch. I'm not 100% sure if the lower levers on both sides operate the clutch, but at least one of them do.

As others have said, they use it when getting out of the garage, when exiting the pit stop, and when setting off on the start.

User avatar
MansellRed5
kart driver
kart driver
Posts: 91
Joined: 08 May 2008, 18:47
Location: Scotland

Re: Do F1 cars have clutch ?

Post by MansellRed5 » 01 Jun 2008, 11:43

Mytola wrote:Yep, it is hand-operated. When you see the camera angle on TV which shows you the driver with the camera behind the steering wheel, you can see the clutch paddles. There are two paddles on each side. The smaller ones on top are for changing gear, and the larger ones under them are the clutch. I'm not 100% sure if the lower levers on both sides operate the clutch, but at least one of them do.
Well, on a feature I seen on You Tube a while back which had David Coulthard showing off his MP4 12 McLaren from '97. He said that both the lower paddles operate the clutch, there's one on each side to give you the option. Perhaps it's for right/left handed drivers? Just to give them a preference?

misko jones
kart driver
kart driver
Posts: 37
Joined: 01 Jun 2008, 11:41

Re: Do F1 cars have clutch ?

Post by misko jones » 01 Jun 2008, 11:46

On the back of the driving wheel there are 2 kind of levers, the gearshift levers and the clutch ones...
But i think they use the hand clutch too when putting the rear gear.. isnt it?

David Smith
kart driver
kart driver
Posts: 64
Joined: 27 Apr 2008, 22:56

Re: Do F1 cars have clutch ?

Post by David Smith » 02 Jun 2008, 00:26

They only ever use the clutch as said before for starts, or some very slow corners like monaco. They need to do this or if the revs go too low the anti-stall kicks in.

Mytola
kart driver
kart driver
Posts: 27
Joined: 21 May 2008, 09:02

Re: Do F1 cars have clutch ?

Post by Mytola » 02 Jun 2008, 09:05

MansellRed5 wrote:
Mytola wrote:Yep, it is hand-operated. When you see the camera angle on TV which shows you the driver with the camera behind the steering wheel, you can see the clutch paddles. There are two paddles on each side. The smaller ones on top are for changing gear, and the larger ones under them are the clutch. I'm not 100% sure if the lower levers on both sides operate the clutch, but at least one of them do.
Well, on a feature I seen on You Tube a while back which had David Coulthard showing off his MP4 12 McLaren from '97. He said that both the lower paddles operate the clutch, there's one on each side to give you the option. Perhaps it's for right/left handed drivers? Just to give them a preference?
Yeah, you're probably right there. Good to have the option of using either one, I suppose.

sweet16
kart driver
kart driver
Posts: 27
Joined: 31 May 2008, 11:56
Location: Kent

Re: Do F1 cars have clutch ?

Post by sweet16 » 03 Jun 2008, 20:44

I think F1 cars have 2 or 3 clutches. One has the engaged gear whilst the other 2 pre select the next gear and keep it spinning so once the driver pulls that paddle, it changes clutch rather than gear.

I heard in some races i.e. drag racing, that if you attach 3 bungie straps to a gear leaver and put it in 1st gear, hold the leaver until you hit the rev limiter and let go, the strings pull the gear leaver back so fast you don't need the clutch pedal to get into 2nd. But an alcoholic told me this so I don't know if it's true. Apparently you can change gear without a clutch though
"Faster than a bullet from a gun"

User avatar
MansellRed5
kart driver
kart driver
Posts: 91
Joined: 08 May 2008, 18:47
Location: Scotland

Re: Do F1 cars have clutch ?

Post by MansellRed5 » 05 Jun 2008, 18:42

sweet16 wrote:Apparently you can change gear without a clutch though
Yes you can, even on a road car you can, but I wouldn't recommend it lol

User avatar
raikkonen4ever
F1 Rookie
F1 Rookie
Posts: 553
Joined: 10 Apr 2008, 14:41
Location: Jakarta
Contact:

Re: Do F1 cars have clutch ?

Post by raikkonen4ever » 06 Jun 2008, 09:15

MansellRed5 wrote:
Mytola wrote:Yep, it is hand-operated. When you see the camera angle on TV which shows you the driver with the camera behind the steering wheel, you can see the clutch paddles. There are two paddles on each side. The smaller ones on top are for changing gear, and the larger ones under them are the clutch. I'm not 100% sure if the lower levers on both sides operate the clutch, but at least one of them do.
Well, on a feature I seen on You Tube a while back which had David Coulthard showing off his MP4 12 McLaren from '97. He said that both the lower paddles operate the clutch, there's one on each side to give you the option. Perhaps it's for right/left handed drivers? Just to give them a preference?
The left clutch used when the driver is about turn the car to the right because the drivers' hand can't reach the right one
And when they turn the car to left, they use the right clutch
That's why there are 2 clutch paddles in an F1 car :D
Last edited by raikkonen4ever on 20 Sep 2008, 17:12, edited 6 times in total.
Image
Image

User avatar
syncmaster
F1 Driver
F1 Driver
Posts: 1506
Joined: 05 Apr 2008, 09:57

Re: Do F1 cars have clutch ?

Post by syncmaster » 06 Jun 2008, 14:03

thanks for the information
Desire has no limits
Image
Image

User avatar
blizzard
F1 Driver
F1 Driver
Posts: 1169
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 15:07
Location: Duisburg, Germany

Re: Do F1 cars have clutch ?

Post by blizzard » 01 Jul 2008, 10:54

Do you guys know why we don´t see stalled cars anymore?
A couple of years ago we saw it regularly at starts or after pit stops that drivers stalled their engines. I also reckognized that the engines don´t stall after spins anymore.

Would be nice if someone could answer this
thanks
Image

Post Reply