how come there are no midget f1 drivers?

[Brainhulk]

They would represent a significant weight reduction over current drivers right?

 

[Sam48]

They've tried it before, now may someone close this thread?

 

[Wardez]

lmao, perfect response.

But to answer your question Brainhulk, midget's weight advantage would be offset by ballast that's required to bring all cars up to the same exact weight in F1. Different drivers need different amounts of ballast obviously, and a little person would need a lot more.

 

[hawkeye122]

lmao, perfect response.

But to answer your question Brainhulk, midget's weight advantage would be offset by ballast that's required to bring all cars up to the same exact weight in F1. Different drivers need different amounts of ballast obviously, and a little person would need a lot more.

With more ballast you could adjust the weight balance a bit more precisely I'd think

 

[Peasantslayer]

I think the ideal driver is someone like Grosjean, quite light but tall enough to have a clear view of everything around them. Another point, could a midget be physically fit enough to cope with the length of a race?

 

[dhandeh]

I think the ideal driver is someone like Grosjean, quite light but tall enough to have a clear view of everything around them. Another point, could a midget be physically fit enough to cope with the length of a race?

My sarcasm detector just went mental.

 

[Furinkazen]

How would they see over the steering wheel? Need a booster seat bigger than Schumacher's chin!

 

[SilverArrow]

At Spa 2010, Massa overshot his grid markers because he wasn't tall enough to see them out of the car.

 

[Peasantslayer]

My sarcasm detector just went mental.

He will have a clear view though in all seriousness, you wouldn't suspect it mind.

 

[Dan]

They've tried it before, now may someone close this thread?

👍 Let's add that to the greatest posts on GTP. (If there is a list like that)

 

[Roo]

They've tried it before

Yep, already been done.

 

[lbsf1]

Simple answer is that there is little advantage to lighter drivers because all the cars have to be a minimum weight, so if a driver is lighter the only advantage you get is to chose where that few kilo's of ballast goes on this car, which is only a very small advantage. However this is far outweighed by the fact that only a very small percentage of people have dwarfism and thus the chance that a person with dwarfism will have the required skill to be as fast as the fastest drivers without dwarfism is small.

 

[Dotini]

There was a time when normal and large sized men raced at the top levels of motorsports. One such man was Anthony Joseph Foyt, a.k.a. "AJ Foyt". AJ, a true tough guy, routinely abused the other drivers with his fists before the race - and routinely dominated them on the track. There came a day when a diminutive Italian immigrant, one Mario Andretti, came onto AJ's circuit. Mario was so very small that AJ felt it beneath his considerable dignity to strike such a tiny little man. Mario, fearless of the helpless giant, managed to defeat the great AJ Foyt on the track, and the world of racing has never been the same since.

 

[Grand Prix]

Big they may have been, but lots of stamina, and they needed it for those 3+ hour long races.

 

[Mac K]

Are any current F1 drivers even that big? With the exception of Mark Webber, they're all fairly short and probably at most go 150 lbs...

 

[Grand Prix]

Are any current F1 drivers even that big? With the exception of Mark Webber, they're all fairly short and probably at most go 150 lbs...

Hulkenberg is pretty tall.