Why do Formula 1 cars have eight gears?

Question

Virtually all racing cars of today have six or seven (forward) gears. F1 cars used to have the latter number of gears for a quite a while, until the hybrid era where they started having eight

But why would they need so many? Wouldn’t seven gears suffice?

In: 11

Answer 1

Newer cars are coming with 8, 9, 10 forward gears because it allows the engine to operate in it’s most efficient RPM range for that application. For racecars, more gears give them the ability to maximize acceleration as well as too speed compared to fewer gears. In consumer cars, it allows for higher fuel efficiency without sacrificing as much acceleration and vice versa.