When it comes to acceleration, a tricked out Model S is admittedly hard to beat. But if you’re interested in raw speed, you might want to check out Formula 1 racing where cars can reach speeds as high as 223 MPH and routinely maintain an average speed of just under 200 MPH for the duration of any given race. Interestingly, former F1 driver Jean Lesi told Wired a few years back that “at those speeds, you feel that the car is about to lift off from the track.”
Without question, getting behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car on race day requires impeccable concentration and damn near-perfect reaction times. The margin for error when driving 200 MPH is slim and the potential for serious injury is always looming overhead. That being the case, one can only wonder what a driver experiences when charging through a straightaway at blistering speeds.
Well, wonder no more.
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Recently, Sky Sports teamed up with Tobii, the world leader in eye tracking technology, to answer this very question. To get things started, Nico Hulkenberg donned a special pair of eye tracking goggles to provide us with an informative look at what exactly he focuses on during a race.
When asked if he ever thinks about or analyzes what he’s looking at when driving, Hulkenberg said that most of the driving is instinctively.
“Just focusing here from apex to apex,” Hulkenberg said while on the track, “looking to the apex, clip the kerb, feel what the car does with your body and just react with everything you have.”
But enough talk, the full video below provides us with a fascinating and unprecedented look at what an F1 race car driver sees when on the track.
