Formula One cars, like any other car also have 8-speed gearboxes (7 forward and 1 reverse) which are put under extensive stresses during the races. In some cases, gearboxes are the cause of engine blow ups during the race because if the gearbox doesn’t put itself into the right region, it increases load on engine which can heat up and go bang during the race.
The Formula One gearshift stick is actually located beneath the steering wheel which drivers can be seen changing from onboard cameras during the race.
We all commute to our work daily and during a trip to office/college or any other place, change gears several times, maybe not more than 50 times at best. But a Formula One car in Monaco undergoes 3,600 gear changes in one race that is 300 kilometers long with 78 laps and lasts for 1hour and 40 minutes approximately.
This means one gearshift approximately every 1.6s at average. If 24 cars make it to the starting grid, that means a whopping 86,400 gearshifts every Monaco GP. And it’s all semi-automatic !
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