how much g forces do f1 drivers experience

G-Forces In Formula 1 Vs. In Your Everyday Life

Formula 1 racing is one of the most demanding sports for a reason. The reason is the power of gravitational force or F1 G-forces, that drivers experience every time they are racing at the wheel of a car. But what exactly is it, and how does it feel? Taking it ahead, it’s more palpable than you can imagine because loads in F1 are 20 times greater than you experience in everyday life. Let’s imagine it and delve into the details!

G-forces That You’ve been experiencing 

Put plainly, gravity load causes a perception of weight, where 1G equals 9.8 meters per second. You experience it when being under acceleration or deceleration in a given direction.  

Daily you do not have a problem with it because of getting used to discomfort, whereas high speed has changed the situation. 

For example, you feel comfortable downing in the elevator, you experience 0.5G, but it may be inconvenient for you when lifting because you feel forced for 1G.

However, you will be more embarrassed flying in the plane, particularly boarding. Why is that? Well, you experience more than 2G loads on your body.

You also can feel gravity pressure in different racing cars and reach 4G when you take a sharp corner at 160km/h. 

Riding a roller coaster is another way to experience g-forces in life. Formula Rossa roller coaster has the most speed, accelerating from 0 to 240km/h in 4.9 seconds. Such an experience can give you a thrilling 4.8G in your stomach as you climb heart-racing heights of 52m!

The record higher gravity loads people can experience on another attraction: the Tower of Terror at Gold Reef City in South Africa pulls out for 6.3G.

However, there is no need to pack the baggage to Africa for brand new feelings, as the impact of Gs feels enough even on the Flip Flap Railway.

g forces in life and formula 1
Photo by Gabriel Valdez on Unsplash

How Does the 6.3G feel like?

Well, let’s take your average weight and multiply it 6.3 times. Your hands, head, and other body parts will be weighed six times harder, but the weighted impact is distributed over the entire body mass.

Except for those who like to hit nerves, such feelings aren’t as good as you can expect. Since you do not possess a fully developed vestibular system like an astronaut has, a ride like this is something you will never forget, especially your physique. 

However, drivers in Formula 1 experience g-forces ten times higher than 6.3!

f1 vs rally which is harder
Image by Maurygraf from Pixabay

G-forces in Formula 1

So what about Formula 1 and its terrifying gravity pressures that often make drivers feel uncomfortable?

Here, the loads are resistance force amounts gained at high speed. So, drivers struggle with vertical and lateral g-forces during high acceleration, hard braking, and high-speed crashes. Yes, everything circles around speeds. But, as all this sport is about fast, drivers feel the constant pressure.

Thus, they experience a permanent average of 6G, which may change depending on the racing circuit, from fast passing Imola to slow Monaco, +/ 1G

Ok, so what exactly does this 6G come from?

Typically, F1 drivers experience 5G while braking2G while accelerating0,6 – 1G due to bouncing, and 6G while cornering

However, the rule is clear – the more difference between minimal and maximal speeds, the more quantity force drivers feel.

Therefore, circuits with cutting braking zones, such as Turkish Istanbul Park, Belgian Spa-Francorchamps, and Japanese Suzuka, are considered the most dangerous. So, at some tracks, racers can feel the impact even of 9Gs.

You may say, ok, but 9G is not so much, as these are the same loads that fighter jet pilots go through, right? Not so simple. The probability of crashes in Formula 1 is too high.

Yes, the highest g-forces in Formula 1 in the crashes, when the driver may experience 30-60G or more at the time of impact. It means to feel gravity 60 times weightier on the body, but still, it is not the limit.

g-forces in f1
Räikkönen crashes” by pedrik is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Highest G-gorces In Formula 1

The g-forces F1 driver feels during a race and in a crash are different. Sometimes, such incidents can even prove to be fatal.

In the tragic 1994 accident with Ayrton Senna, he doubled the cornering force to 1.5G, while the crash load was 3.27 G. Senna was not protected by HANS or HALO safety systems.

In the 2004 US Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher’s brother, Ralf Schumacher, crashed his Williams car into the walls of the 

Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He experienced a 78G. There are only a few people who remember that Ralf had a crack in his spine, and doctors warned Schumacher that the additional impact in the future would harm him.

In 2014, during the Japanese Grand Prix, Jules Bianchi lost control. He collided with the rear of a tractor crane carrying Adrian Sutil’s car. This collision caused him to suffer 254G, the highest g-force in Formula 1 ever. In 2015, he entered a medically induced coma before his injuries took his life.

how much g-forces do f1 drivers experience
Max Verstappen crashing in Qualifying (27869053691)” by 35mmMan is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Recently

So, back to the current time and the gravity pressure that drivers often get under. So, there have been three huge crashes with high g-forces over the last five years.

In 2019, FIA F2 driver Anthoine Hubert hit the barrier at Turn Four at Spa Francorchamps at 216km/h. He faced the force of 33.7G, but the analysis of the black boxes of Hubert’s cars showed that another hit from the followed Juan Manuel Correa made a second impact of 81.8G!

During the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, Romain Grosjean got a 67G impact when he clipped the wing of Daniil Kvyat’s AlphaTauri and slammed into a barrier at close to 200km/h! The car pressed into the barrier and separated, causing a massive fireball. Romain Grosjean escaped with only second-degree burns to his hands.

In 2021, at the British Grand Prix, Max Verstappen collided with Lewis Hamilton. When he struck the barrier sideways, the impact was 51G. After slight disorientation, Verstappen left the medical center without injuries.

In 2022, Mick Schumacher had a horror accident with a 33G at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix when he crashed into a concrete wall at over 258km/h! The medical examination showed no injuries.

f1 vs rally comparison
Image by Sandor Foszto from Pixabay

How Much Is Too Much?

As gravity forces increase your weight, the body feels several times heavier. Therefore, an upward acceleration of 5G is enough to overwhelm the ability of the heart to pump blood to the brain. 

Sure, someone with well vestibular and overall physical preparation can survive a maximum force of 10Gbut still, 5G is enough to negatively impact human health, while 6G is the maximum that the average person can withstand.

There is one crucial thing in both cases: the loads amount must be fleeting, no more than a few seconds. However, even though it will be temporary, you will feel dizzy and disorientated and need time to recover.

As for the professional Formula 1 drivers, they will be good after 9G impact and even after experiencing 6G for two hours of racing, but why?

What Helps Drivers to Withstand Loads in Formula 1?

The secret hides in two crucial things: racing equipment and specific preparation. 

Thus, the HANS device protects the weakest part of the body against the gravity loads – the neck. So, this collar solves the problem of strengthening. It is attached to the helmet, while the additional HALO device guarantees the racer’s head to be saved.

Another key lies in their preparation. You wonder, but most F1 drivers’ workouts aimed to train athletes’ endurance against gravity pressure. They train muscles to make them strong, not big, where the neck’s strength is the focal point of preparation.

Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen pull and hold weights on the neck, hands, and spine, similar to resisting g-forces at the racing track. 

Put it plainly, the stronger legs you have, the higher you will jump, resisting against gravity. So, no wonder that with their necks, Pierre Gasly may lift a dumbbell weighing tens of kilograms, while Fernando Alonso can chop walnuts. 

formula 1 vs wrc what is harder
Image by Tomáš Kašpar from Pixabay

Takeaways

You feel the impact of g-forces every day. It happens when we lift in an elevator, drive fast in a car, or fly in a plane; even your bus’s hard braking to stop is about you feeling the gravity pressure. 

So, you feel well with these small loads, but Formula 1 is about another level of g-forces. And if an average person with good physical shape can resist 6G as a maximum, while even 5G’s impact will be enough to damage the health, the drivers from Formula 1 will be good after struggling 6G and even 9G.

Simply, they got used to it, as they have felt 5G while braking, 2G while accelerating, and additional loads then their the cars bouncing. 

But, what they don’t get used to – the g-force during the crash, as it is the main problem in the sport. High speed with rough braking is the pattern that made loads in F1 so dangerous. The more difference between these speeds – the more serious the gravity impact.

And sometimes, these impacts may reach 30, 50, and nearly 70G! However, professional drivers are ready to endure even these loads.

Specific equipment, including HANS and HALO, helps to avoid harmful consequences of incidents on the track. 

Moreover, outside the circuit, each driver constantly trains the neck, spine, legs, and hand muscles because strength in sinew is the key to resisting the g-loads.

What is more? Next time when someone argues that F1 drivers physically are the same people that you and I, tell about the power of forces gravity in Formula 1.