INTRODUCTION

Changing gears in a Formula One car is very much a fingertip exercise - drivers simply flick a paddle behind the steering wheel to change sequentially up or down.

Formula One cars use highly sophisticated semi-automatic, seamless shift gearboxes. Aside from when pulling away, the driver is not required to manually operate the clutch, nor is he required to lift off the accelerator when changing up through the gears. Instead, when another gear is selected the shift is completed ‘seamlessly’ (via a clever a system which uses two shift barrels), meaning the driver suffers from no loss of drive. As such, gear changes are not only significantly faster than they were with the traditional gear lever and clutch pedal approach (taking a matter of milliseconds), but the driver can also keep both hands on the steering wheel at all times.