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With a tight turn waiting behind almost every corner, F1 races offer few chances to relax. Clive Mason/Getty Images |
By Lars Anderson
The greatest driver in the history of Formula One racing was sitting across the table from me in a swanky Indianapolis hotel ballroom when the question was posed: What do you, Michael Schumacher, think of NASCAR?
Schumacher, the seven-time F1 champ, smirked wickedly, nearly let out a laugh, then said, "To me, it looks like it's much more tactic than skill of driving. It doesn't matter to go pull a gap because you're going to have a yellow flag."
Schumacher didn't mean to come off as condescending -- though, frankly, he did -- but he clearly believes that it's far more difficult to pilot an F1 vehicle, which is the most technologically advanced racecar in the world, than it is a stock car.
I completely agree.
Why? Well, beyond the fact that the F1 cars possess far more acceleration and far better grip than the Cup cars, the F1 drivers are also turning both left and right and they're dealing with more negative G-forces on nearly every turn than the Cup boys are.
And then there's this: When was the last time a former full-time NASCAR driver won a race on the F1 circuit? Um ... well, it's never happened. Conversely, just two Sundays ago, there was Juan Pablo Montoya, not even a year removed from Formula One, taking the checkered flag in the Busch Series event in Mexico City in just the seventh Busch start of his fledgling stock car career.
The implication of Montoya's victory is obvious: F1 guys can win in NASCAR; NASCAR drivers, at least according to history, can't win in F1.
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The most random of NASCAR events has almost twice as many competitors as any F1 race. Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR |
By Mark Zeske
Comparing Formula One to NASCAR is tough because about the only thing the cars have in common is having four wheels. Outside of some government-only machines, such as stealth fighters and space shuttles, Formula One cars are the most expensive and high-tech vehicles operated by man. Driving a Formula One car is like flying a jet, while driving a stock car is like operating a tank.
That difference in technology yields the starkest contrast between the two: In NASCAR, the driver wins the race, while in Formula One the car does. F1 cars are meant to be on the cutting edge of technology. The developments on the F1 circuit trickle down to production cars. NASCAR, on the other hand, is built around selling more of the cars that are already in production.
NASCAR imposes a minimum weight of 3,400 pounds on its cars. This is about the same weight of your average family sedan and not much less than some mini-vans. Try driving that Ford Windstar around Daytona at 180 mph.
Of course, NASCAR engines must produce great power to get their heavy cars to go so fast, but this creates a driver's biggest problem. With all that power, the smallest of mistakes can send a driver out of control.
And while the bulky NASCAR cars are less responsive, they have to race on a much wider variety of circuits than their F1 counterparts: road courses, bull rings, short tracks, intermediate, superspeedways and restrictor-plate tracks.
Another factor that adds to the difficulty factor in NASCAR is the depth of competition. Formula One has just 22 cars in the series and all make the field for each race. Every weekend in NASCAR, someone goes home after qualifying. A NASCAR driver makes a wrong move, goes over the razor's edge, and he finishes 43rd.
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Here's a sampling of your responses:
David Hernandez of New Brunswick, NJ: "There is only one way to settle this -- a World Cup of racing. The top 10 drivers from F1, NASCAR, Champ (or IRL), F3000, and GT get together to compete in one race for each category. Cars are randomly selected at a draft. Using the F1 point system (top 8 finishers receive points), the best true racing driver can be determined."
Andy of Las Vegas : "NASCAR is by far a more difficult of a ride. You race 500 laps in a car that changes every lap on a track that changes every lap. In F1 the cars have more power, bigger tiers and more money. The excitement is in NASCAR. To compare the two sports is like comparing racing a Harley to sport bike -- one is designed to handle turns, the other is designed for the ride. "
Bruce of California: "This was not a head-to-head case. You used both sides to illuminate F1's aspects from your perspective. You then point to Montoya's win in the Busch (training ground) series for Cup as some form of validation, and you ignore most details that go into operating a Cup car in NASCAR. I don't mind 'both sides of the coin,' because it makes great conversation, but you need to present both sides fairly. Do F1 drivers deal with 110-plus degree heat for 3-plus hours an event? Do they have to muscle the car through the race all day? Are F1 teams forced to qualify to make sure they are in the show? They are driving technologically advanced cars, and there's tons of tech to keep the car on the track. How hard can that be? (See what I mean?)
George Shiber of White Plains, N.Y.: "I am a huge fan of NASCAR, and Jeff Gordon in particular. However, F1 demands a lot more driving skills, athletic ability and strategic knowledge. F1 is like piloting an F16 in a dog fight, while NASCAR is just like driving from New York to California with the help of the FBI. After all, there is a reason F1 is globally more highly regarded and respected as the most difficult of all driving experiences. The most difficult thing facing a NASCAR driver on most days is not dozing off during the race. Love and respect to both."
Jeffrey Einsel of Virginia Beach, Va.: "From a fan standpoint, NASCAR is far better. F1 is the most boring motor sport in the world. The leader of the first lap will win the race 99.99 percent of the time. Track passes, especially in the top 10, are rarer than a dodo bird sighting. Rarely will you see a late race pass for the victory in F1. If you want to see technological marvels run single file around a track for hours, F1 is for you. If you want to see racing, watch NASCAR."
Bill Taylor of Baltimore
: "Formula One is definitely harder than NASCAR, and this is coming from a NASCAR fan. This is because it requires so much more mental concentration and physical stamina to pilot the car. The significant difference I see is how the races pan out in both series. In NASCAR the drama seems to heat up as the race progresses with usually 3-5 cars fighting for the win most weeks. In Formula One, the highlights seem to all be in the very beginning of the race where 22 of the most advanced race cars take off from a standstill, where one mistake will end your day before you reach the first turn. However as the race progresses the cars get strung out by not only seconds, but minutes. Your lucky if you have two Formula One cars fighting for the win at any event. "
Adam Eckert of Iowa City, Iowa: "Formula One is a much bigger challenge for drivers than NASCAR. Regardless of the fact that NASCAR holds its races on several different types of tracks, the vast majority are still ovals, and therefore require only one basic component: turning left and holding down the gas. Even the road courses that NASCAR races on are nowhere near as challenging as those of F1; the turns are rarely very sharp, and the cars are still at very high speeds for most of the race. Formula One courses, on the other hand, are chosen because they are the most challenging in the world. I highly doubt that any of NASCAR's drivers, with the exceptions of Juan Pablo Montoya, Scott Pruett and the very small number of drivers who came to NASCAR from road racing would be able to even finish a lap on a course such as Monaco or Spa-Francorchamps.
Secondly, the argument that the driver wins the race in NASCAR while the car determines everything in F1 is completely misguided, and quite frankly, untrue. The top racers in NASCAR continually cite car/setup problems as the reason why they do not win. Take Michael Waltrip, for example. He has been near or at the top for several years prior to 2007; however, his switch to Toyota has left him desperate to qualify and has required him to use freebie race seats, most likely denying faster drivers a chance to race. Even the most diehard NASCAR supporter would have a hard time arguing that the car has nothing to do with his poor performance. On the other hand, the top drivers are almost always from the best-funded, best-developed teams with the best crew chiefs and personnel. While the same is often true in Formula One, the best car does not necessarily take the best driver.
Take, for example, Ayrton Senna's stunning performances in underpowered cars during the 1980s and '90s, and Michael Schumacher's consistently winning performances in different cars throughout his career; even though Ferrari did win the most throughout the last!
Some NASCAR pundits also cite the large number of passes in each race as a reason why NASCAR is better. While it is true that there is a lot of passing in NASCAR races, making a pass in a stock car is much easier than in an F1 racer; in NASCAR, drivers have the draft to help them along and give them more speed, they do not have to worry as much about braking points, and there are no sharp turns to impede passing. Making a pass in a Formula One car takes a great deal of planning, reflexes, timing, and pure skill, not to mention dealing with the lack of grip induced by closely following another car.
Finally , there's also the sheer skill involved in keeping a 1,300-pound car with almost 800 horsepower planted enough to even turn a lap."
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