The clutch pedal

[Ian Craft]

What does it do on the steering wheel?


I know its an stupid question. I could ask google.

best regards

 

[Michael Brown]

The clutch basically disconnects the wheels from the engine, like the car's in neutral gear. It needs to be pressed in every time one shifts in a stick shift car. In F1, it's used to stop the engine from stalling when the car is standing still. It's not needed for gear shifts, because the car shifts gears with paddles.

 

[William Levesque]

He is asking why the heck is it on the steering wheel and not in the foot-box !?

 

[Chris Preston]

He is asking why the heck is it on the steering wheel and not in the foot-box !?

The way he asked it sounds like both, my best guess to why it's on the wheel is because I doubt there is enough space in the foot box. It would also take less time to hit to make sure the car doesn't stall. Could someone explain other than stalling what it's used for in f1? How does it work on the start if the race and what do they mean when they say clutch bite points.

 

[William Levesque]

Well, the clutch is indeed really just to start... The "Bite-Point" is where it engages, like on a standard car...

 

[Kennett Ylitalo]

AFAIK, there's two clutches for the start (or two clutch programs...), first is engaged at the first red light and the second is released at green. I have no idea why but i remember hearing about it in the last years broadcast.. Oh, i have the clutch on steering wheel too and i use it only on starts and pitstops... I got neutral on stick (Momo) so i can just push my hand forward for antistall..

 

[Hampus Andersson]

Yea heard that too about two clutch paddles. I think today though they use only one but that could be driver preference.

You can´t feel the biting point in an F1 car as the paddle is not directly connected to the clutch itself.
The ECU will set the clutch at bite point for the start though.

Upshifts and downshifts are clutch-less from what i understand. Just throttle cuts and rev-matching.

As far as 3 pedals on the floor just would not work today. There´s barely enough room for two.
The drivers legs is pretty much squeezed together and they use pads between the knees.

 

[Diego Lopez]

I saw this in 2010 and foudnit helpful, Mr. DC might not be the best but he gave a good explanation about the Clutch Pedals

enjoy and BBC ftw

 

[Hampus Andersson]

Great stuff Kenneth, you were right about two paddles

 

[Ian Craft]

Thanks for all the knowledge which I now have.

As far as 3 pedals on the floor just would not work today. There´s barely enough room for two.
The drivers legs is pretty much squeezed together and they use pads between the knees.

Do you have photos? I want to build a "f1 cockpit" later this year so this could be very helpful.

best regards