Does NASCAR or Formula One demand the highest level of driver skill to compete at the professional level?

Question

Does NASCAR or Formula One demand the highest level of driver skill to compete at the professional level?

Answer 1

believe it or not nascar does race at least 1 road coarse twice a year, and their can be arguments for both sides



i personally feel f1 takes more skill but not for the simple answer "well our guys turn left too" no, but i believe nascar only sees 5gs in a crash

where as an f1 driver can see 5gs lateral and negative just taking a turn on every lap, mashing the breaks into 5 negative Gs going through what pilots call "red out" (passing out because all the blood in your brain has shifted to your face) waking up in enough time to grab a gear and mash the throttle through a corner for 71 laps is impressive in anyones book



however the case for nascar is still strong, nascar races in the knifes edge of grip for every turn of every lap, they weigh more than an f1 car have less aero and mechanical grip than an F11 car, have far less sophisticated tires than an f1 car yet maintain a higher average and top speed than an f1 car, all the cars a pretty close to equal, there is no ferrari like team in nascar, you are never going to have a season where one driver wins half the season, in nascar a win is based on driver skill and a whole heap of luck,



but that said i don't think most of the nascar drivers would cut the mustard in F1 but i know of at least 5 that i think can

Answer 2

F1 drivers have to turn left and right, in the same race, must be tricky, so I'd say F1 is more skillful, for that reason alone!

Edit. eyesinthedrk. the point's you make are interesting and I have to be honest and admit, I know very little about NASCAR, and as such apologies for my flippant answer, it's interesting to hear your views, the only point you make that I can come back at is top speed, if a F1 car was geared to drive on an oval, its top speed, I'm sure would be higher than that of a NASCAR, and equally if a NASCAR had to drive on a GP circuit it would be way slower than a F1 car. I would think most F1 drivers would do well in NASCAR, due to their conditioning, competitiveness and their car control, but you've given me somthing to think about and I'll take a closer look at NASCAR in the future, thanks.

Answer 3

Formula 1 only because there are fewer cars and it is more popular and thus a greater amount of people are striving to be there. The shape of the track and type of car has nothing to do with it. If an oval IS easier, then it's easier for everybody. If an F1 car is harder to drive, then so what, it's harder for everybody to drive. It's about how you stack up against the other drivers, not the cars and tracks.

Answer 4

Racing a 410 sprint.

Answer 5

F1 easily.

It is much harder to overtake, and they have to take tight and long corners, meaning that they can mess up much easier than NASCAR drivers.

Answer 6

i would say formula one. there is way, way more shifting and the tracks aren't oval.