Quote from TAYLOR-MANIA :

Oh, and in F1, what are those things that stick up from the pit boxes?

You must mean the structures used for refueling the car? Or the structures that are used for not getting the wires powering the (how do you call them things that mount and unmount the wheels?)tangled with the car?

Quote from TAYLOR-MANIA :

Somethings i wanna know...
On many race tracks i have seen a small white board with a black 'F' on the side of the track...does anyone know what it means or its purpose?
Oh, and in F1, what are those things that stick up from the pit boxes?

F is a fire station IIRC. If you're on fire, stop by one and a marshall will extinguish you.

I believe you mean the metal grounding stripes in F1. They electrically ground the car to reduce the risk of fires.

It's electrical grounding I think.

You know how when you shuffle your feet and touch a doorknob? You get shocked, Zap!

The Strips zap the car before the crew gets to it. If the fuel rig gets zapped it can burst into flames.

I thought it was a jack that came from the bottom of the car for lifting it up to change the tires and such. They stick an air hose just above the drivers head there and the pressure pushes the jack out. No? Cause I saw it happen, or at least I thought I saw it happen!
-LoganC-

Quote from LoganC :

I thought it was a jack that came from the bottom of the car for lifting it up to change the tires and such. They stick an air hose just above the drivers head there and the pressure pushes the jack out. No? Cause I saw it happen, or at least I thought I saw it happen!
-LoganC-

nah, the jackmen on the front and the back of the car are what lifts the car up in the air. the strips of metal are purely grounding strips.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=iyUGNzPEWmY

very poor quality video, but shows how a pitstop works. they dont stick anything in the car other than the fuel hose.

Quote from LoganC :

I thought it was a jack that came from the bottom of the car for lifting it up to change the tires and such. They stick an air hose just above the drivers head there and the pressure pushes the jack out. No? Cause I saw it happen, or at least I thought I saw it happen!
-LoganC-

Some series such as FIA GT, Le Mans and DTM allow the use of pneumatic jacks like you describe. Perhaps you're thinking of one of them?

Quote from BuddhaBing :

Some series such as FIA GT, Le Mans and DTM allow the use of pneumatic jacks like you describe. Perhaps you're thinking of one of them?

Those pneumatic jacks don't use grounding strips, though They are small 'plungers' mounted in the underbody of the car which are pushed downwards via the air pressure from the hose.

What Logan saw was purely the jack strips rising with the car.

No, well maybe I worded it wrong. The jack actually came FROM the car!
A hose went in just behind where the drivers head rest is, and it made a jack come from the bottom of the car and pushed it up! Then the tires were changed..ect.
I don't really know much about racing, so i have no idea about the differences. The one that I really don't understand is between Indy and F1?

BTW, the show that I saw the jack from the car was on OCC. (American Chopper) lol They spent a day at the track and were allowed to be part of the pit crew! maybe I missed something.
-LoganC-

Quote from LoganC :

No, well maybe I worded it wrong. The jack actually came FROM the car!

In FIA GT, a lot of tintop series, the DTM and Le Mans - also in Indy (dunno about CART) there are air jacks - pop in a hose that pushes the car up through some pistons on the floor.

They are either banned or not used in F1, they are rather heavy ...

Quote from duke_toaster :

They are either banned or not used in F1, they are rather heavy ...

You'd never choose to build a single seater with air jacks, more than being heavy they're weight stuck on the outside of the car and in the airflow of the
sidepods. IRL will only be using air jacks because they are mandated to do so.