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OK motor heads: I can't resist. I've posted this question a couple of times before on other auto racing forums, partly because the true answer has always interested me, and partly--OK, mostly! LOL--because I get a kick out of all the spirited answers from the two sets of fans. So here goes:
"Which sport has the best pure drivers: NASCAR or Formula 1?
Gentlemen, start your engines.....
I'd make a distinction between "driver" and "racer". F1 has a lot of great drivers but few drivers that are great racers. Sprint Cup has a lot of great racers, but few racers that are also great drivers. Tony Stewart and Kimi Raikonnen are great racers but not great drivers. Sebastian Vettel and Kyle Busch are great drivers and great racers. Both Brawn GP drivers this year (Button and Barrichello) are great drivers but not great racers (I didn't bother to check the spelling on the F1 drivers, sue me if I made a mistake).
The two forms of racing take different skills to be successful, and I call the skill that F1 drivers need "driving" and the skill that Sprint Cup drivers need "racing". Going by that definition, F1 drivers are the better drivers, but that's just because of how I defined "driver".
I'd make a distinction between "driver" and "racer". F1 has a lot of great drivers but few drivers that are great racers. Sprint Cup has a lot of great racers, but few racers that are also great drivers. Tony Stewart and Kimi Raikonnen are great racers but not great drivers. Sebastian Vettel and Kyle Busch are great drivers and great racers. Both Brawn GP drivers this year (Button and Barrichello) are great drivers but not great racers (I didn't bother to check the spelling on the F1 drivers, sue me if I made a mistake).
The two forms of racing take different skills to be successful, and I call the skill that F1 drivers need "driving" and the skill that Sprint Cup drivers need "racing". Going by that definition, F1 drivers are the better drivers, but that's just because of how I defined "driver".
NASCAR is all about getting the most from a car that:
1) Is under-tired for its weight
2) Has little downforce
3) Is heavy, and slow to accelerate, stop, and change directions
4) Responds slowly to driver input
The drivers in NASCAR are faster than their cars, they have to wait for the car to respond after their input. This is especially true of the COT, one NASCAR reporter stated that this was why Mark Martin was especially successful this year. The COT behaves even more like an "old" car, where the driver is always waiting for the car to catch up to him.
F1 cars weigh about 35% as much as a Sprint Cup car, have about the same hp, have wider tires, and a ton more downforce. Their braking and speed of direction change are insane. Because of the aero downforce they can pull 5gs during high-speed braking. Acceleration from a stop doesn't get the benefit of aero downforce so the acceleration isn't nearly as impressive.
F1 drivers can push the car as hard as they can, they're not sitting around waiting for the car to catch up to them like NASCAR drivers. Because of this, I think F1 drivers are the better "pure" drivers, because driving race cars shouldn't be about who can best cope with the car's limited capabilities, it should be about pushing the car as hard as you can. They are two different skills though, so it isn't surprising that a top F1 driver took what, four years to make the chase, even though he won a road course race fairly early on.
I'll also add that some of the NASCAR drivers are way too fat to get behind the wheel of an F1 car - that would probably include Montoya now. Too many Big Macs.
Just to clarify, F1 cars weigh >60% less than a Cup car. 1334# compared to 3450#.
The skill it takes to get the most out of an F1 car is physically extreme.
The skill it takes to get the most out of a cup car is mostly mental, way less physical, it's more knowing what to tell your crew chief what the car needs to be the best.
As far as talented drivers, it is F1 hands down. They are working gears, brakes, tyres, and acceleration to the extreme edges of failure/lost performance.
Nascar requires a little more "racecraft" to win than F1 though.
So, as far as talented racecar drivers are concerned, they are both superior and inferior than the other in their own ways, as far as their particular motorsport is concerned.
There's a reason Montoya is spectacular on Road Courses but hasn't won on an oval in a cup car....yet. Indy 500, no problem, those are real race cars. Cup cars, not so much.
Which of the two series requires greater athleticism to be successful as a driver? John Force is a successful driver in drag racing, and drag racing may require skills that are rare, but is that overweight 60 year old an athlete?
Location: Finally escaped The People's Republic of California
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Cup cars, not so much.
