Dormant Neurons
I think that the sophistication of F1 catches a lot of good drivers out. You need to be good, and you need to have spare capacity to deal with all the complex systems found in a contemporary F1 car, and deal with them at speed.
Someone like Bourdais (4 times Champ Car Champ) can win at champ car because it more about car control and the art of driving than it is about systems management and the more technical aspects.
Just looking at an F1 stearing wheel gives me a headache. It is no wonder the likes of Lewis Hamilton spend anything up to three weeks in the off season training themselves with their new steerting wheel and their hands in a black bag so they can navigate the 30 or so switches by feel.
I can't imagine how hard it would be to deal with, brake bias, wing angle, rev limit, fuel mix, KERS setup, diff settings, telemetry readouts, pit speed limiter, pit radio, clutch settings, and so on. All at once and several times a lap when pulling anything up to 5Gs and moving at 300+ kph inches from the car next to you.
I can handle myself behind a steering wheel better than most, and I find dealing with 2 switches, 1 multifunction display, 2 temp sensors, and a mixture control, a bit of a handful when dicing with someone flat stick at 100+ kph around a corner pulling 3g's in my cart.
2006 BMW F1 wheel.
Controls of my kart's steering wheel.
As I said before, the difference between a good 'driver' and a good 'F1 driver' is down to skills other than the actual driving. And as with almost any professional sport these days, having an arrogant and obsessive personality helps immensely. It's not a popularity contest its a team sport, a test of skill, intellect, business acumen, physical stamina, people management, political awareness, and of course technical prowess.
L8r
