F1 Revcounter

[MargeB]

There is a driver's view revcounter that comes up during races, and a line which goes round and back to correspond with the revs. There is another line, which kind of moves up in concert with the rev counter, but then stays there when the rev counter moves back down, and then climbs up again. What on earth is this representing?

[JackRegan]

Hi Marge the other line shows the highest revs the engine has reached so if it shows 18500 revs then the engine revs to 19000 revs it will move and stay there to show that was the highest point the engine revved to.

[MargeB]

Is that just of interest to you the viewer or is it something the driver/pit team can make use of? Hmmm..highest rev point....can't think of what that would be, sure it's something.
Cheers JR.

[magicdice]

at a guess i'd say the paddock crew use it just as telemetry so they can see what's going on in the car, make sure it's not over-revving, and also use it as data for any future adjustments in the car

but as a viewer i think it's great, i love to know exactly what's going on

[MargeB]

I'm getting sold on the 'over-revving' argument

[landie]

I think you're looking at a speed indicator as well as a rev counter.

The speed goes up with the revs and seems to hover there when the revs drop at gearchange before climbing again in unison.

[Melliexr]

In drag racing circles (I assume it's the same in F1), it's called a tell-tale and is used in two ways. The driver can use it to get time his gear-shift right (you hit the shift button as soon as you see a bright red light, which comes on slightly before the engine reaches max power, so by the time you react to the light, the engine is at optimum revs). After the race when you've actually got time to look at the rev counter, the tell-tale will tell you if you've got the trigger for the red light set correctly.

Also when the car is towed back to the pits with a blown engine, the pit crew can instantly say to the boss "It wasn't our fault guv - look here, the driver over-revved it!".