{"id":6646,"date":"2017-08-28T04:05:59","date_gmt":"2017-08-28T11:05:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/?p=6646"},"modified":"2017-08-17T08:10:08","modified_gmt":"2017-08-17T15:10:08","slug":"could-ayrton-sennas-throttle-technique-still-work-in-modern-f1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/could-ayrton-sennas-throttle-technique-still-work-in-modern-f1\/","title":{"rendered":"Q: Could Ayrton Senna\u2019s throttle technique still work in modern F1?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Q<\/strong>: “I want to know, could Ayrton Senna\u2019s throttle technique still work in modern F1?”<\/p>\n

A<\/strong>: Well, that\u2019s an interesting question. And unfortunately, one we\u2019ll never know the real answer to. But here are my thoughts<\/p>\n

First, my observation and knowledge of Senna leads me to believe that his belief system \u2013 what he believed deep down inside \u2013 was what made him so special. This, along with his burning desire to be the fastest. Okay, he had skills. But he believed that he could do things that so many other drivers did not believe \u2013 at least at the same level, as deeply as he did. His self-confidence in his ability to do something overcame just about everything else. He MADE things happen, even when they seemed impossible. And possibly even when they went against what was considered to be the best driving technique.<\/p>\n

So, could the way Senna used the throttle \u2013 the quick stabs or bursts of throttle (do a YouTube search for some videos where you can hear this) \u2013 work with today\u2019s F1 cars? He would make it work. Would it be the best way to drive the car? Not from what I understand about how today\u2019s F1 cars work. But he\u2019d make it work!<\/p>\n

One thing that is different with today\u2019s F1 cars from when Senna drove is the way a modern car generates aero downforce. Today\u2019s cars are much more sensitive to pitch. When the platform (think of the car like a flat board \u2013 that\u2019s the platform) changes rake (the angle the car is at when looking from the side, with the front either lower or higher than the rear), the center of pressure of where the maximum amount of aero downforce is moves forward or backwards. That means that every time a driver causes weight transfer (changing rake, or pitch), the balance of downforce, front to rear, changes. And that means that the car\u2019s handling will change from oversteer to understeer (or vice versa). When a car is changing, it\u2019s very difficult for a driver to consistently drive it at the limit. The less weight transfer, the less aero balance change, the more consistent the car\u2019s handling, the easier it is for the driver to drive it at the limit.<\/p>\n

Apparently, this is something that Sebastian Vettel is very good at \u2013 maintaining the car\u2019s aero balance. He does this by managing the weight transfer, and that results from being smooth. Quick stabs at the throttle would change the aero balance of a modern F1 car more now than ever, and I believe that would make it more difficult for that style of driving to be effective.<\/p>\n

Still, in the end, a driver\u2019s beliefs will over-power just about anything else, possibly even a changing aero balance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Q: “I want to know, could Ayrton Senna\u2019s throttle technique still work in modern F1?”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ask-ross"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6646"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6649,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6646\/revisions\/6649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}