Manual transmissions have an advantage. Being able to hold the engine at high RPMs through a corner will of course make the car faster but if the car had an automatic it would downshift slowing the car down. F1 drivers have many choices for transmissions. If you watch onboards like Montoya and sometimes Rubens they both often use a semi-automatic gearbox, so they manually shift through some and let the car shift through other corners. The car can also be programed to only do up-shifts or down-shifts. Many many choices for transmisions, hope that clears things up a little.
