They first formula one car raced with paddles shifters was the 640 FERRARI type 639 a Barnard designed in 1987 but raced in 1988 (electro/hydraulic sequential semi-automatic gearbox) engine tipo 035/5 3.5-litre V12.
They first formula one car raced with paddles shifters was the 640 FERRARI type 639 a Barnard designed in 1987 but raced in 1988 (electro/hydraulic sequential semi-automatic gearbox) engine tipo 035/5 3.5-litre V12.
You are wrong.
You are describing gear change paddles. I’m talking about a clutch paddle. In driving a car, what you use to select the gears and what you use to engage and disengage the transmission are two entirely separate things. I’m sure the early semi automatic Ferrari’s of 89-90-91-92-93-94-95 all had a clutch pedal (not paddle).
Removing the gearlinkage and putting the gear selector on the wheel and putting the entire clutch control on the steering wheel was separated by around a decade in development.
Photo of late eighties Ferrari 639 showing only gear change paddles not an extra clutch paddle. That makes sense as it’s insanity to think that development would have gone from gear lever and foot clutch to hand gear paddles and hand clutch paddle immediately in 1 season. The reality is that there was about a decade of development between those.
Last edited by gold333 on 05 May 2020, 03:01, edited 1 time in total.
F1 car width now 2.0m (same as 1993-1997). Lets go crazy and bring the 2.2m cars back (<1992).
You are describing gear change paddles. I’m talking about a clutch paddle. In driving a car, what you use to select the gears and what you use to engage and disengage the transmission are two entirely separate things. I’m sure the early semi automatic Ferrari’s of 89-90-91-92-93-94-95 all had a clutch pedal (not paddle).
Removing the gearlinkage and putting the gear selector on the wheel and putting the entire clutch control on the steering wheel was separated by around a decade in development.
Photo of late eighties Ferrari 639 showing only gear change paddles not an extra clutch paddle. That makes sense as it’s insanity to think that development would have gone from gear lever and foot clutch to hand gear paddles and hand clutch paddle immediately in 1 season. The reality is that there was about a decade of development between those.
I don't have info on the exact answer, but the stuff gold333 says makes sense. F1 urban legend says Barnard first went with the paddle shift to eliminate the cumbersome gearshift linkage and the surprisingly large package space it required down the length of the car. The improved driver control was "merely" a large side-benefit. In contrast, the clutch and clutch pedal were already connected & actuated with a hydraulic line that was relatively easy to package thru the car. So no immediate need to redo the clutch.
Since the FERRARI/Bernard development of the semi-automatic gearbox (the term ‘semi-automatic’ should not be confused with road car alternatives) in formula 1 terms, it means the normally manual gear selection is managed by electro/hydraulic gear selection initiated by the driver through paddles on the steering wheel. The clutch being foot pedal or hand paddle operated is not used for gear changing. The clutch is only used to move off from a stand-still.
the Ferrari Tipo 640 of 1989 had the clutch disengaged and re-engaged automatically (by servo-hydraulics) on gear shifting
there was also a clutch foot pedal that if/when operated had priority over the automatic clutch action
the problems that year were traced to voltage variations caused by the charging system misbehaviour
the Tipo 639 had the same type of system but room was left for equipping the car with a conventional shift arrangement
(there was no such room in the 640)
according to my understanding of 'Autocourse History of the GP car 1966-91' by Doug Nye
EDIT servo-hydraulics is my take - as DN mentions both Moog valve and proportional valve
Last edited by Tommy Cookers on 28 Apr 2020, 23:37, edited 1 time in total.
the Ferrari Tipo 640 of 1989 had the clutch disengaged and re-engaged automatically (by servo-hydraulics) on gear shifting
there was also a clutch foot pedal that if/when operated had priority over the automatic clutch action
the problems that year were traced to voltage variations caused by the charging system
the Tipo 639 had the same type of system but room was left for equipping the car with a conventional shift arrangement
(there was no such room in the 640)
according to my understanding of 'Autocourse History of the GP car 1966-9' by Doug Nye
Thank you very much.
You sound like the guy who might be able to answer this dilemma:
At that time in question (semi-automatic gearbox with gear change being effected by driver through paddles on steering wheel) the gear changing paddle did not use the clutch (open the clutch) but blip the throttle by cutting off the engine (ignition) to easy gear change. The driver kept his foot down (throttle). Before or about the time of the steering wheel gear change paddles development. The system gear change with normal gear lever had already been developed to electrically blip the throttle by movement of gear lever while the driver kept his right foot down and so doing away with the need to open the clutch for gear change and that was even in normal sedan car racing.
Excuses for being late
Bill Shoe. 1989 FERRARI 640 steering wheel photo/picture. Paddle on left in photo which will be on right side when wheel is installed, same side of the back than standard position of stick-shift lever, is the gear change paddle. Pull for upshifts/push for downshifts. Paddle on right in photo which will be on left side when wheel is installed is clutch paddle. Pull to open clutch dump to close clutch.
Gol 333. First car to use a hand operated clutch paddle was the 1989 FERRARI 640. it was long in the coming namely because of drivers opposition, long in the coming much before Bernard finally refined and executed it. Refer to 'gearbox - formula 1 dictionary' for full history details.
Excuses for being late
Bill Shoe. 1989 FERRARI 640 steering wheel photo/picture. Paddle on left in photo which will be on right side when wheel is installed, same side of the back than standard position of stick-shift lever, is the gear change paddle. Pull for upshifts/push for downshifts. Paddle on right in photo which will be on left side when wheel is installed is clutch paddle. Pull to open clutch dump to close clutch.
Gol 333. First car to use a hand operated clutch paddle was the 1989 FERRARI 640. it was long in the coming namely because of drivers opposition, long in the coming much before Bernard finally refined and executed it. Refer to 'gearbox - formula 1 dictionary' for full history details.
Saviour Stivala, you are wrong again.
The website you advise "Gearbox Formula 1 dictionary" states:
"John Bernard, in this time Ferrari technical director, completed something that had been in the works for many years, and this innovation was accepted and adopted for first time in 1989. Idea was to speed up gear change to maximum, and get rid of clutch pedal. First idea in time of development was to have one lever on right hand side of the driver, on the place of "old" "H" gear shift lever. Driver will move this lever only backward and forward to go trough gears (sound familiar:sequential). During development period Bernard got BETTER IDEA. He put two buttons on each side of the steering wheel to prevent driver to move hands from the steering wheel.
Later, they change this idea to two paddles behind a wheel. They added third, clutch paddle little bit offset and SMALLER then first two. Left side paddle was used for downshift, and right paddle for upshift. Clutch paddle was smaller because this one is in use only during the start, stop and in some emergency situations."
The image of the Ferrari 640 steering wheel shows 2 gear change paddles, not a clutch paddle.
This is in line with what you see here:
Right paddle Gear up, Left paddle gear down:
You can see Berger does not use his right hand at the start:
You can see this driver does not use his left hand at the start:
Because the car has no hand operated clutch but a clutch pedal. The paddles behind the steering wheel are only to change gears up and down:
As described here on the following season's car (1:36s):
Also 1:55s " frizione fino in fondo" clutch all the way,... keep revs to 4000 and becareful it has a very short bite point and will go immediately" e stacca subito".
If you are interested in the first Ferrari Formula One car which had a hand operated clutch paddle and no foot clutch pedal, it is the 1996 Ferrari 310.
1994 Ferrari 412 T1: No hand clutch
1995 Ferrari 412 T2: No hand clutch
1996 Ferrari 310: Hand clutch
But first F1 car to race with hand clutch was 1994 Mclaren MP 4/9:
F1 car width now 2.0m (same as 1993-1997). Lets go crazy and bring the 2.2m cars back (<1992).
Why was the clutch pedal/paddle used with the semi automatic gearbox?
Is it an FIA regulation? Shouldn't the clutch engage automatically if the car comes to rest or starting from rest?
Launch control rules came in later but what was it in the 80s and 90s?
F1 cars use a clutch to this day. The semi automatic gearboxes used from 1989-2005 and the seamless gearboxes used from 2006 until today all need manual clutch control for the start of the race and for pitstops. You can’t start a race from idle rpm. It was also in the regulations that it was compulsory I believe.
The old F1 cars 89-late 90’s didn’t even have anti stall. So if you spun and the bumps and jolts were violent the engine could stall if you let go of the throttle. The driver had to press the clutch (and if he was lucky press the neutral button (a separate button somewhere in the cockpit)) because you never knew if the puny clutch would actually fully disengage the transmission if the wheels are now suddenly turning in the opposite direction, brake hard to lock the tires and make the circles smaller and depress the throttle to keep the engine running until he stopped spinning.
So stomp on all 3 pedals with 2 feet basically.
F1 car width now 2.0m (same as 1993-1997). Lets go crazy and bring the 2.2m cars back (<1992).
