The positional factors involved in optimising F1 driver performance

Ergonomics, the study of how design features improve people’s efficiency in their working environment, isn’t a word often associated with motorsport. It is however a fundamental part of the process of designing a vehicle. It sits alongside packaging as the starting point for what is popularly known as the architecture of the vehicle.

The modern Formula 1 car is certainly a triumph of packaging. The complex power unit and all its associated systems are contained within extremely narrow confines so as to allow the engine cover and the diffuser ‘boat tail’ to be pulled in as far as possible to enhance the aerodynamics.

The position of many elements are largely dictated by the regulations these days but this hasn’t always been the case. In the last ground-effect era the drivers were pushed forward with their feet only protected by the rather flimsy nose box. This was particularly true of the turbo-engined cars which had a much larger fuel tank than those using the Ford Cosworth engine.

These days the position of the driver in the car is much more defined and, for example, their feet must be at least 300mm behind the front bulkhead as well as being behind the front wheel centre line. Their safety is vastly improved from those early days by the numerous tests to which the monocoque and front impact structure must be subjected.

These prescriptions don’t, however, preclude some changes to driving position. I was reminded of this when Lewis Hamilton complained the position in the Mercedes W14 earlier this year was too far forward and it was affecting his feel of the car. He commented that when driving, he felt like he was sitting on the front wheels. He went on to say that this is one of the worst feelings to have when driving.

More precisely he said: “What that does is it just really changes the attitude of the car and how you perceive its movement. It makes it harder to predict compared with when you’re further back and you’re sitting closer, more centre. It’s just something I really struggle with.”

Hamilton has complained about his seating position being too far forward in the Mercedes W14

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

This is something I fully agree with and the position of the driver is remarkably important in the perception they have when driving. Driving a car is like being the controller in a control system. As a driver you get inputs from the car by means of the steering wheel and the ‘seat of your pants’ as well as some visual and aural feedback. You process this and apply controls to the engine torque, the brakes and the steering wheel to get the path following you require while pushing for maximum performance.

To get that feedback several things need to be right and if we look at the seating position we consider what vehicle designers term the ‘H point’. This is positioned at your hip joint and is the most important reference datum in the layout. For road car designers they take this for a 95th percentile human male. While that may sound sexist it actually covers 97.5% of the male and female population.

The road sports car designer will try and place the H point as low as they can and use what’s known as the accommodation curve to place the pedals such that they are around 134mm below this. Longitudinally they will try and place the H point at the centre of yaw but of course this isn’t always possible. In an F1 car the feet are actually above the H point although this seems to make little difference.

I found the total throttle pedal travel was just over 20mm. An increase to 50mm improved traction because the driver could control the system better

The longitudinal position, however, is important. The natural layout of an F1 car will always place the driver’s hips close to the yaw centre but small variations can make a difference when you’re exploring the limit. If the H point is at the yaw centre the driver
 will feel a pure rotation about a vertical axis through his body.
 If he’s displaced from the yaw centre he will feel rotation and side movement simultaneously, which is harder to process.

There are many factors involved in controlling the car and I’ve always found my analogy of regarding the driver as the controller in a control system useful. When I first joined Williams the drivers were complaining the car had poor traction. I found the total throttle pedal travel was just over 20mm. An increase to 50mm improved traction because the driver could control the system better.

I had, in control terms, done what’s known as reducing the proportional gain. To the driver, I had made the engine torque less sensitive to his exact foot position.

When a car is sliding, it can be more difficult to process what it is doing when a driver is displaced from the yaw centre

Photo by: Alfa Romeo

Steering too can be a major factor in car control. In a road car, at the limit, a typical steering torque might be 5 to 10 Newton metres (Nm). In a Formula 1 car, because it has power steering, the steering isn’t much heavier. F2 and F3, however, even though they don’t have the same cornering capability, have heavier steering which reaches as much as 20Nm in fast corners.

In itself, provided the driver has enough strength to correct the steering, this isn’t too important. What is more important is that the steering is free of friction and free play and gives repeatable feedback to the driver. The control engineer would understand how these factors would affect a control loop.

So was Lewis right? Inspection of photographs certainly show his head is further forward in the car than Max Verstappen’s head is in the Red Bull. But equally, so too is Fernando Alonso’s head forward in the Aston Martin while Lando Norris in the McLaren is positioned further back, in a similar position to Verstappen.

The answer, as always in F1 design, is never simple and rarely down to any single element.

Seating position is a commonly overlooked aspect of car design that has a significant impact on a driver's feel

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images