Yes — but not in the way you’d drive your road car.
How it works
- Left foot → braking.
- Right foot → throttle.
- There’s no clutch pedal in modern F1 cars, so both feet are dedicated to speed and stopping.
Why left-foot braking?
- Speed: It cuts reaction time. Instead of moving the right foot from throttle to brake, drivers can instantly slam the left foot down.
- Balance: Lets drivers “overlap” throttle and brake slightly, keeping the car stable in corners.
- Consistency: F1 braking zones are so violent (5–6G deceleration) that precision matters more than anything — both feet working together makes it manageable.
The only clutch action
- Starts and pit exits use hand-operated clutch paddles on the steering wheel, not a foot pedal. After that, it’s two feet, two pedals, full commitment.
The drivertalk take
Yes, F1 drivers drive two-footed. Onboards make it look easy, but it’s a brutal dance: left foot hammering 100 kg of brake force, right foot feathering 1,000 horsepower, both at the same time. Try that in your road car and you’ll stall it in two seconds. In F1, it’s just another lap.
