F1 Drivers Answer The Most Googled Formula 1 Questions

Why is F1 better than NASCAR?

I mean, no offense.

I like NASCAR a lot.

We didn't say that.

That's what you put in our mouths.

Hey Wired, we are Formula 1 drivers.

Let's answer the most Googled questions about F1.

[upbeat music]

Okay guys, we're ready? We're ready.

First question.

When did F1 first start?

1950, at Silverstone. 1950.

It was called the Grand Prix de Europe,

because, I don't know, the FIA was French

I think at the time.

Ah, yeah, true.

There were the FIA back then?

Okay.

Why do F1 drivers train their neck?

Because we are strapped down

with our whole body except the neck.

So our head is the only thing that can really move.

Honestly, nothing beats just driving.

I don't train the neck.

You don't do it at all, do you?

What, off season?

Never.

Then how do you do the first test?

I arrive to a first test.

I die one day and.

Then you're fine.

Really?

It's the endurance which is hard to reproduce, basically.

So, we can get the strength in the gym,

but you can't hold, you know, your neck for an hour.

Do some F1 tracks have more physical impact

on you than others?

Yes. Yes.

Yes.

Well, the most one, Singapore,

I think we agree, Singapore is.

Yeah. Qatar.

Qatar 23.

There's two tracks.

Qatar and Singapore.

I think the sun board is underrated.

How much time is an F1 race?

That's such an easy question.

It's one hour 40.

But depends on which race.

Exactly.

Okay, Monaco is 1 50.

Four days long, the race.

Why do I find drivers drive zig-zag?

To heat. To warm up the tires.

The tires up.

Drive zig-zig.

[driver laughs]

Putting energy on your tires, turning right.

You can imagine in a straight line

you don't got any energy on the sides of the tires.

So when you do zig-zags, you're loading,

you're, you're, you're,

you're stretching the sides of the tires.

Why does a tire have more grip, Alex?

When it's warm.

And they're round and they're smooth.

'Cause they are not smooth.

Are F1 cars manual?

Kind of.

You respond to this.

For sure they're not automatic in terms of,

we need to drive them.

We don't clutch or anything to shift.

It's like your tiptronic car

that you can put in sport mode.

We are drivers.

We are Formula 1 drivers.

There's no H pattern there.

Clutch for first gear and then all up full throttle.

Can F1 cars reverse?

Yes they can.

It's a bit more difficult than my Alfa Romeo road car.

Yes.

You can't see, that's the problem.

There's no reversing camera.

The mirrors are very hard to see as well.

See the problem is when you need to use reverse,

you're in panic mode because that means you've.

Done something wrong. Done something wrong.

So you always are like trying to find reverse.

And it's a simple way of finding reverse,

but it takes five, five seconds to find it more or less.

But it's precious time.

Why do F1 cars have the halo?

To protect our heads. The head.

Looks like a flip flop.

Yeah. Yes.

It protects from car going,

it can happen, a car.

It can happen.

It has happened.

Yeah, it has happened.

A car going into your head like on your side

and it's very, very resistant.

I don't like this question.

No, you go read it, what is it?

Why is F1 better than NASCAR?

I mean, no offense.

I like NASCAR a lot. Me too.

Me too.

We didn't say that.

That's, that's what you put in our mouths.

Yeah, I, I think it's just different.

We can't take as many curbs as NASCAR.

I would love to take like the last chicane in Canada.

Imagine if we're in NASCAR.

Well you make it a straight line.

Yeah.

My only reason why I would say F1 is better than NASCAR

is because it's way faster.

And faster, for me, the better.

But I respect NASCAR drivers and what they do

and I think it's a great motor sport to watch also.

Can F1 drivers see behind them?

Yes, we can.

We have two very small mirrors.

That vibrate a lot.

That vibrates a lot

And it's vibrates so much that you see sometimes

five cars in the same spot.

But it's the same car.

It's the same car just doing this.

Who is the Formula 1 movie about?

Retired Formula 1 driver, Sonny Hayes,

comes back to an American team.

But he was never in F1.

Yeah, he was in F1. He was, he was, he was.

In the beginning.

Had a big crash, yeah.

He had a massive shunt.

Okay, spoiler.

So he comes back to Formula 1

to help American team Apex GP

to get to be successful in Formula 1.

Try and hit the screen. Whoa.

Nearly killed someone.

What g-force do F1 drivers experience?

Depends if you crash or not.

It can be like 50 if you have a big shunt.

A normal race, I guess like five,

maybe six in breaking.

Sustained. Peak.

Yeah. Peak.

Because peak is six in breaking and the sustained five in.

Corners.

Turn three in Barcelona, maybe.

Maybe six for McLaren.

But biggest crash I've had is 46 G.

Any big crashes?

Never had one. The Miami one.

That hurt.

I had it the year before.

In the concrete, no?

I peed red the following day.

Oh. That's a nice.

Wow. That's disgusting.

Yeah, sorry guys.

I was like, is that what he said or, wow.

Yeah, yeah. Why?

It was a high impact, yeah I don't know.

Do F1 drivers ever think about anything other

than the race during the race?

Yes, we definitely do.

If it's a very boring race.

The party afterwards.

How slow can I go?

I did a challenge in Monaco to try and do a full lap

without doing full throttle.

Oh my god.

And I managed it.

I didn't lose any time actually.

Lots of focus.

[drivers laugh]

Reaction time.

F1 drivers don't fight.

Do F1 drivers drive with both feet?

It's right foot break.

Yes.

No you don't actually, right foot break.

No.

I break right foot.

No, he's kidding.

You almost believe me.

No, we, we, we drive with both feet.

So right foot is the throttle, left the break,

and the clutch is on the hands.

So it's just for first gear, when we pull out the garage

or we do the race start,

otherwise we don't need to use the clutch.

Thanks.

When does the F1 season start?

Late February, start of March.

What fuel do F1 cars use?

I have no idea.

Petrol?

No, it's 10% ethanol and the rest is the race fuel

that's our providers basically.

But it's like super 98, no equivalent.

Super 98. No it's a hundred.

It's gotta be more than 98. It's 110 octane.

Yeah. Really?

So the ethanol is 114 and then we have a bit less.

I had no idea.

What's are F1 drivers' favorite circuits?

Can we all agree it's Suzuka?

Yes. Yes.

Yeah, agree.

Suzuka's pretty cool, yeah.

Can we all agree the next one might be?

Monaco.

Monaco is up there.

Monaco?

On the quarter lap?

No quarter lap, Alex.

I like Austin.

I love Austin.

Suzuka narrow, I would say.

You feel like there's a chance to crash

which gives you the adrenaline.

No the risk and reward, I would say.

Yeah, when you finish a lap

and your heart rates like this,

that's a good track.

Are F1 cars all the same?

Yes.

Completely the same.

They're close enough so we can compete,

but then they're all completely.

Yes. Yes.

Every team makes their own car.

And we are currently in the year

of the closest ever year in F1.

I think all cars are within eight tenths of each other.

Eight tenths is that after a lap,

I could do a lap in a Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull,

and then I jump in another car and I go eight tenths slower.

Between first and last is.

Between first and last.

Yeah, is eight tenths

Quite impressive.

But what people need to know is that

between F1 drivers there's no more than two or three tenths.

So those eight tens are, is still quite a lot.

Which F1 car is the fastest?

McLaren is the fastest.

Everyone agrees, right?

Yes.

It's quite close.

This year's McLaren to the 2020 Mercedes actually.

Why is Formula 1 called Formula 1?

Because it's about formula two and three and four.

No, I think the way a car is built is a formula.

It's number one formula.

You know what I mean?

It's a good point, yeah.

So it's a formula of things.

And it's the first one.

It's the top one.

It's the number one.

Number one. Yeah.

Why are F1 tires smooth?

I think they mean why are they sleek?

I'm thinking of it literally like why they're not square.

[drivers laugh]

To offer the highest level of grip available for the tire.

Yes, yes.

If you put your hand like that,

it's not gonna grip much.

If you put it like this, it grips more.

[driver laughs]

What F1 drivers are in the F1 movie?

You. All of us.

I'm not in the movie.

Yes, you are in the title at the end.

At the title, in the credits?

I've seen you in the credits.

Carlos is clearly the one featured the most.

He has, he has a whole sentence.

Yeah, he does. Yeah.

Dude. It's a great scene.

Spoiler alert.

Those are all the questions.

Thanks for watching.

[upbeat music]