How do you take a corner properly inFormula One?
Driving is an art form. The ability of aFormula one driver is the difference between Pastor Maldonado and Sebastian Vettel not the car. Both can drive but how they take corners and maintain speed pushing the car to its limits is what makes one a four times world champion and the other dropped by his team and out of Formula one with the nickname Crashtor. Each Formula one track is different with different challenges and skill sets needed. For example the brilliant course of the Hungaroring home of the Hungarian Grand Prix is full of tight technical turns leading into others as series culminating in a very long start finish straight. Cornering is vital and you can get a perfect view of the pulsating skill when you join the Hungary F1 Paddock Club after having a browse at the edgeglobalevents.com/f1-paddock-club/f1-paddock-club-hungary/ to see what is available. What is the best way to enter and exit a corner when driving competitively and on a track, not we add on the regular road.
The ability to plan ahead and know the track implicitly means that a driver will have a route in his head planned out to perfection to take the racing line through each turn effectively. They will also have checked out the braking points for tolerance that the car will handle to maximise speed and grip without running the tyres after only a few laps and having to come in for new ones. Corners fall into three different types and it is what comes after the corner that is the most important factor when entering it as the driver must know the best exit strategy to maximise speed rather than the corner itself.
- Before a short straight. This is the link track that precedes another corner and can be very short in length before the bend is on you. There is no fast acceleration and overtaking is nearly impossible. The way to maximise the speed is to turn into the first bend early staying on the power as long as possible. Once we are past the first apex you then brake for the second position the car to clip the apex of the second bend and then foot hard down and accelerate out.
- Before a long straight. A Formula one car is always faster in a straight lie so you need to get round the bend and straighten up the wheels as soon as you can to get the car ready for the straight. The driver hangs out to the far side of the apex for as long as possible then whips the car into the bend as soon as the apex is reached the driver straightens the car up then plants the foot to the floor.
- Corners in a series. The last bend is the most important and the drivers focus on the exit bend more than the first. The driver comes into the first apex early and then tries to keep as straight as possible clipping but not going over the apexes on the way through.