How hard is it to drive a Formula 1 car? To put it bluntly, for an ordinary person, not only is racing impossible—you couldn’t even get the car moving. This isn’t an exaggeration; countless professional tests have proven it. Imagine sitting in the cockpit: the steering wheel is so heavy you can barely turn it, the brake pedal feels like pushing against a wall, and your neck is twisted sideways with a force of 40 kilograms. That’s just the entry-level test into the world of Formula 1.
An F1 steering wheel has no power assist—turning it requires at least 30 kg of force, the equivalent of lifting a large water jug with one hand. Each press of the brake pedal requires 100 kg of force. For most people, even one push with all their strength wouldn’t get the pedal to the floor. Now imagine repeating that hundreds of times in a single race. Even if you somehow manage to press the brake, your body won’t withstand the torture that follows.
Cornering subjects drivers to 4–6 g of lateral G-force, meaning their body weight effectively multiplies by four to six times. Blood rushes to one side of the body, the brain is deprived of oxygen, and vision darkens. On a roller coaster, people already feel dizzy at 1.5 g, yet F1 drivers must stay sharp and make split-second decisions at 6 g.
And this is just the beginning. The cockpit of an F1 car is like a moving oven. With the engine right behind them, temperatures exceed 60°C. Drivers wear full fireproof suits, losing around 4 kg of body weight per race from dehydration—equal to running two marathons. Strangely enough, driving slowly in an F1 car is actually more dangerous: the tires must stay hot to generate grip, otherwise the car handles like it’s on ice and can crash instantly.
The acceleration and braking are almost inhuman. From 300 km/h to a full stop takes just 4 seconds. The car can decelerate from 100 km/h in only 1.4 seconds. This force is enough to rupture eye blood vessels and make breathing nearly impossible for the untrained.
Driving an F1 car is like taming a beast. At the start, drivers must precisely control engine revs at around 6,000 rpm (compared to 2,000 in road cars). A tiny slip of the throttle leads to stalling or wheelspin. Through corners, they must predict the racing line and execute the “heel-and-toe” technique—braking, accelerating, and shifting gears with timing errors no greater than 0.1 seconds. Aerodynamics add another layer of difficulty—adjust a rear wing by one millimeter too much, and the car can flip from glued to the track to spinning out of control. Even the best drivers need engineers to constantly fine-tune suspension, tire pressure, and aero balance to handle different circuits.
That’s why, out of over 7 billion people, only a few dozen hold the title of F1 driver.
