If you want to go out on a drive, all you have to do is jump in your car, turn on the ignition, and go. But if you want a drive in Formula 1, it’s not as simple as that.
These things are built with the utmost precision, designed to extract every last bit of performance within a very specific operating range. That’s why it takes a whole team to run one. Such is the case with Leyton House’s CG901 from the 1990 Formula 1 season – penned by a certain Mr. Adrian Newey.
The CG901 draws power from a Judd EV 3.8L V8 engine which had to be meticulously warmed up before its driver Ivan Capelli can put down all of its 680 hp to the ground. This video explains how so in detail.
Though this machine is now over 25 years old, we imagine that the engine start up process hasn’t changed that much today.