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I don't watch F1, but I'm not buying that he was going 170 mph. Not coming out of a slight bend and into a hairpin turn. Now, 170
kph I'd buy, and usually F1 television broadcasts, even ones here in the U.S., use klicks. That's about 100-ish mph, which is still not a fun weekend, but probably not life-threatening.
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I don't remember where i heard the 170mph figure but I wouldn't be surprised if it was real close. F1 cars can stop on a dime. If you watch the Indy race today, where they come down the front straight and turn onto the infield, they are at speeds over 200mph, slow to about 60-70mph for a ~90 degree turn in the space of about 150-200 meters. They have a G force meter they show sometimes with the in camera cars and they reach upwards of 5 g's during braking.
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