Wouldn’t they all be flooring it? If the lane is straight how does one driver speed up and pass another?
Edit: straight aways
In: Engineering
F1 cars are all at max throttle on the straight, but there’s more factors than that to consider.
Fuel weight for one, the less fuel in your tank the lighter your car and the faster you can go.
Tire type and wear. The harder the compound the more durable it is, but the less grip it provides. The more worn out the tire the harder it is to accelerate, brake, and turn. Tire temperate also makes a big difference.
Downforce. The more downforce a car has, the more drag it produces and the slower it’s top speed.
Engines. The different engines have different power outputs and can be operating in different modes depending on the need to save fuel.
The engines are also hybrids so depending on where you are in the lap the battery store will have a different amount of charge you can deploy to the MGU-K for an extra 160 HP.
There’s also the DRS. If you are within 1 second of the guy in front you can open the DRS flap which is worth an extra 10-15km/h of top speed.
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