Best F1 driver putting down the power?

[ISLAMATRON]

With the removal of TC we now get to appreciate the delicate touch these guys have when applying the throttle.

Who is the best F1 driver putting the power down coming out of the corner? And how can we quantify that? FIA top speed graphic?

[The FOZ]

Best: Button, Alonso, and Vettel
Worst: Hamilton, Piquet, Jr. and Sutil/Fisichella (two way tie)

[DaveKillens]

[ISLAMATRON]

Did he get squirrelly putting down the power or did he just run wide... having seen GV's driving style before I would guess it was a power slide. But none of today's drivers attempt to do this on a regular babis.

[Giblet]

Hamilton worst on the throttle!?!?

You saw Silverstone last year? He was sublime, and the class of the field.

Massa on the other hand spun 5 times, and took at least 3 races to look good without tc. Sutils drive in china also makes me question if there is any logic to your list.

Your list of best is great, but hammy worst on throttle? Cmon

[DaveKillens]

Did he get squirrelly putting down the power or did he just run wide... having seen GV's driving style before I would guess it was a power slide. But none of today's drivers attempt to do this on a regular babis.

Gilles did that on every lap, drove the same line, and power-slid consistently. A fan could go to this section of track, and watch Gilles do this each and every lap. He was wild, and crazy, and really enjoyed giving the fans a show. But be reminded he was a Canadian snowmobile champ before road racing, and on the snow, power slides were part of the package. Just like Finnish rally drivers do well on road racing, I believe in cross-training in disciplines. Here's a pic of a certain great before he dominated road racing, worldwide.



Now imagine how much throttle and body control is required for this...

Back to GP drivers... an easy test is to observe how well they exited corners without spinning. In the rain, who spun coming out of corners? I know a lot spun out entering turns, and after aquaplaning, but how many lost it exiting corners?

[Giblet]

Is that John Surtees?

[RH1300S]

Is that John Surtees?

Kenny Roberts

[ISLAMATRON]

Is that John Surtees?

Kenny Roberts

Kenny Roberts dominated road racing worldwide?

[RH1300S]

With the removal of TC we now get to appreciate the delicate touch these guys have when applying the throttle.

Who is the best F1 driver putting the power down coming out of the corner? And how can we quantify that? FIA top speed graphic?

It's nearly impossible to quantify as each car has a different ability to get the power down as well as the drivers.

Actually going to an F1 test is quite educational - unlike a race you can often hear what's going on with different drivers be sure of what you are seeing & hearing. Hard to go to testing these days

From a silverstone test a little while back - I picked up the following:

Jenson Button is very very smooth with the power - a big difference to other drivers, and this wasn't just being slow - his car was making visible forward motion where others weren't

Alonso is very agressive - BUT it seems to work for him, so I would rate him highly here

Mark Webber seemed to have an awful lot of trouble getting the power down (but was it a car issue??)

Kimi - not so great in slow corners, but quick and precise in the fast stuff

[RH1300S]

Is that John Surtees?

Kenny Roberts

Kenny Roberts dominated road racing worldwide?

On two wheels

[eddie]

I think this would be a guess...too many variables between cars and setups. Put two drives in the same car and look at telemetry, think that is the only way you will get a proper answer. Anything else would be a guess.

[ISLAMATRON]

I think this would be a guess...too many variables between cars and setups. Put two drives in the same car and look at telemetry, think that is the only way you will get a proper answer. Anything else would be a guess.

Can we detect any difference between the 2 Ferrari drivers? is there a driver who has a consistently higher trap speed? How bout the brief time Alonso was at McMerc vs Hamilton?

[Jersey Tom]

Trap speed is equally dependent on how good of a line the driver takes entering and through the center of the corner as it is putting the throttle down.

And there will be setup differences from team to team and race engineer to race engineer within a team...

[Roland Ehnström]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqZBJCFS_Ng