Sorry for interrupting, but I can think of a few reasons more.
First, you get a thumbs up, Sid (or perhaps thumbs down in Australia?) for a nice thread.
Some other reasons:
A) Size
F1 clutch are under 10 cm of diameter, so the engine is as low as possible for a lower center of gravity.
Actually, clutch size is limited only by crankshaft diameter, which rules state must be 56 mm.
This was before the iPhone 6
Meanwhile TF clutches are huge things. They are so big that they probably race in a separate lane, ha, ha.
They are big because the entire Top Fuel car is monstrous, having 8000 HP... estimated.
Actually, the horsepower of a Top Fuel engine is a mystery. There is no dynamometer in this world that can handle the power output, so any figures you hear are estimates.
This means that the two dragsters in a race
deliver as much power as the entire Formula One grid, specially if you take in account Ferrari engines, which according to Alonso deliver 25 watts tops, give or take.
The supercharger so ridiculously massive that it needs 700 f*cking HP to turn: a Mercedes Formula One engine can barely push this thing
On a side note, there is so much work between races that
the guy in the previous picture, working on the supercharger drive assembly, believe it or not, is Troy Buff, the driver of the car.
As Felix (hi, Felix!) explains, the clutch plate fuses and has to be reconstructed after every run. There is a guy devoted only to that, sometimes more than one.
Simple, yes. Reliable? Well, if you take in account that you need a slave for it to work, yes. Your Top Fuel mechanic deserves a Sierra Nevada beer six pack! ...after each race
B) Operation
In F1, the clutch
rate of release, by rules (yeah, George Orwell was inspired by FIA) must be operated solely by the driver.
If I stand right, some persons are saying that a Formula One clutch is electronically controlled to assist in launching.
Excuse my french, but
que est-ce n'est-ce pas non.
The electronic thingamajig is only to prevent the engine from blowing.
We love regulations!
9.2.5 The amount by which the clutch is engaged must be controlled solely and directly by the driver with the exception of blah, blah, blah...
On the other hand, I have the impression that some persons believe that a Top Fuel clutch is controlled by the driver.
The driver controls the
timing of the release, but the amount of engagement is the result of a very complicated mechanism (or, as the Americans say, "a simple mechanism").
No, ma'm, it's simpler than a knife fight in a phone booth, bless your pea-pickin' lil' heart!
A TF clutch is automatic and precalibrated. In a pure American style, it cannot be controlled by a computer. It's controlled (cross my heart) by a timer.
Which leads me to the third difference...
C) Timing
A Top Fuel clutch engages fully after 2 seconds.
A F1 clutch engages in nothing. Let's play the 10 differences.
F1 slave cylinder (the thing that moves the clutch) closed.
(courtesy of Scarbs great article on F1 clutchs
Slave cylinder open
Yeah, I know. Total movement? Four millimeters.
A Top Fuel clutch closes the third plate (of the five it has) after 1.5 seconds.
After 2.5 seconds, when the engine uses
400 kilos of fuel per minute (killing several penguins and pandas in the process, rest assured) there are several plates welded, while the car rockets at 400 kph.
One second more and most of the spark plugs have fused, thus the engine is dieseling and the bearings are flat...
Now, if you think that the clutch that delivers that kind of power can be used in F1, well, if you can do it, with mechanic timer and all, it would be like puttin' some pepper in the gumbo.
