Why are F1 cars open wheel?

I wonder if there is any circuit (non-oval) where an F1 car and an Indy car might have close lap times?
 
Says a lot when they name their car lola.

It does? So Pastor Maldonado must be slow cos his name in spanish means Shepherd?

I wonder if there is any circuit (non-oval) where an F1 car and an Indy car might have close lap times?

They do a lot of circuit racing but no, the F1 would destroy the Indy so thoroughly... those cars are not built with aerodynamics excellence cos they're a spec formula, so nobody is competing to have the better aero, they all have the same car basically. Just about the setup, driver and strategy.
 
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That honestly looks like crap... I'd stop watching it if it went that idiotic.

While it was made for GT5 and hence fucking around, it was what the Red Bull engineers deemed would be the fastest car they could muster. For the purpose of this topic, note the enclosed wheel arches.
I don't understand why you'd stop watching F1 if they made the cars faster...

Also, I'm sure some brilliant engineers could come up with some lightweight, strong composite that could be used for the canopy that comes off as easily as those little things that drivers have to take out now before they get out of the car.
They could probably also rig up some system that blows the top off in a crash or something.
 
Also, I'm sure some brilliant engineers could come up with some lightweight, strong composite that could be used for the canopy that comes off as easily as those little things that drivers have to take out now before they get out of the car.
They could probably also rig up some system that blows the top off in a crash or something.

If you're talking about that large styrofoam piece around the cockpit, they don't remove it in an emergency.

Blowing the top off the car might work; the SLS has explosives to blow the doors off if it ever flips.
 
it's a racingcar, don't think they come with that many warranties...
 
and there goes their budget for this year :lol:
 
The more you complicate a system, the higher the probability of it failing.
Option A: An open cockpit a pilot can just crawl off from
Option B: A complicated system where a covered cockpit's bubble gets ejected with explosives by action of non-fool-proof sensors

Occam's razor applies here.
 
I think it is fairly difficult to choose which type of cockpit you'd rather sit in while your car is flipping. The closed cockpit provides far more protection to the driver than an open cockpit ever will (see Richard Hammond for that one), but at the same time makes getting out difficult when you need to get out in a jiffy.
 
And if a closed cockpit was so dangerous, why would it be acceptable for LeMans, ALMS and other similar series?
 
They should bring ejection seats into LeMans.
 
They should bring ejection seats into LeMans.
How would that help if the car is on the roof? Plus if a driver is injured (maybe a broken bone), the last thing he wants is to do is to be ejected from his seat since the any kind of excessive force can further injure the driver.

Also an ejector seats system would add weight to the car, which will slow the cars down and consume more fuel.
 
How would that help if the car is on the roof? Plus if a driver is injured (maybe a broken bone), the last thing he wants is to do is to be ejected from his seat since the any kind of excessive force can further injure the driver.

Also an ejector seats system would add weight to the car, which will slow the cars down and consume more fuel.

lol, I was entirely kidding.
 
Also an ejector seats system would add weight to the car, which will slow the cars down and consume more fuel.

Although cellos is clearly joking, please get this idea of added weight out of your head. The engineers are easily under the current requirements so what makes you think that something like a seat would make cars too heavy?
 
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