F1 Car

Formula One (F1) cars are the product of brilliant engineering design and cutting edge technology. They rely on a finely tuned balance of aerodynamics, electronics, tyre, and suspension. These cars are regarded as the most technologically advanced vehicles, also declared as the pinnacle of motorsports. They are designed for racing purpose only. The cars are only available as a single-seater with an open cockpit, open-wheels with the free engine positioned behind the driver. The manufacturing and specifications are regulated by the Federation Internationale de I’Automobile (FIA). 

Parts of Formula One Cars

• Chassis - This part is regarded as the heart and backbone of the formula one car. The chassis holds the significant components bound on it, such as axils, wheels, and the electrical system. It serves as the carrying unit of the vehicle, which mounts the entire load. The cars have monocoque (single shell) production and designing. The whole car body is made out of composites of carbon fibre and similar ultra-lightweight materials. The cars are lightly weighted, leading to their supersonic pace and swift. The cockpit has a reliable monocoque designing with padded cells for the driver. The modern-day car has a minimum weight of 740 kg (permissible), including the driver but not fuel. The F1 cars with dry-weather tyres are considered standard form for weighing.
• Engine - The cars use a 2.4 litres capacity aided V8 engines (a maximum of four valves per cylinder). These cars produce 900 horsepower of energy and are required to rebuild after 500 miles of the drive. The federation restricted the engine to 18,000 rpm for improving engine reliability and cost-cutting. These engines are fed with a blended fuel. The engines are located in the mid of the driver’s seat and the rear axle. 
• Gearboxes - The cars use highly mechanized semi-automatic sequential gearboxes with paddle-shifters. Before the 2014 season, there were 7 forward gears, but later they were increased to 8 with 1 reverse gear and rear-wheel-drive. The gearbox should be constructed of carbon titanium by keeping heat dissipation in mind. The driver uses paddles mounted on the back of the steering wheel to initiate gear shifts using.   
• Aerodynamics - The working of F1 cars widely depends on its intrinsic aerodynamic designing. The manufacturers aim to design the aerodynamics to create downforce and help the car's tyres get the required push on the track, improve cornering forces, and deteriorate the drag caused by turbulence. Also, it helps in slowing down the car. 
• Wings - The cars have an adjustable rear wing, commonly known as Drag Reduction System (DRS). They are used to combat the problem of turbulent air while overtaking. While driving on the straights of a track, drivers deploy DRS to open the rear wing that reduces the car's drag, allowing more rapid move. The rear wings shut on the touch of the brakes. 
• Nose box - They are the structures in the car on which the front wings are attached. The nose boxes are the Nose cones that channelise the airflow towards the diffuser from the bottom of the car. They also act as shock absorbers, and at the time of a crash, they prevent the driver from getting any injury.
• Airbox - Behind the driver's cockpit lays the Air Box. The airbox shifts the high speed of moving air to the intake manifold of the engine. This high-pressure air of the moving car, when supplied to the engine, boosts its power significantly. Also, the air box absorbs the turbulent air and prevents it from disturbing the laminar airflow. The second advantage of this box is the large size that is used for advertising.
• Steering Wheel - The inside of the cockpit is the interactive steering wheel. It provides the driver with various details about the car performance and the fine-tuned ability. It controls a number of settings and the means to communicate via radio with his team in the pits. 
  • Light sequence - A sequence of lights helps the driver time a gear change to perfection. 
  • Main display - Information about gears, temperatures, and brakes appears on a large screen. At the bottom of the screen, the FIA can show the driver the colour of a flag (such as yellow, red, or black) which trackside marshals might be waving. 
  • Right button bank - The buttons on the right side of the wheel include the pit lane speed limiter and the radio (RAD), which connects the driver with engineers on the pit wall. 
  • Left button bank - The buttons on the left side of the wheel include the neutral setting (N) for the gearbox, the calibration (CAL) of the cultch, menu display on the screen, and the ACK button, which the driver presses when he is unable to talk but wants to acknowledge a radio message he has received from the pits. 
  • Gear change / clutch - Drivers can change gear easily by flickering a paddle behind the steering wheel with their fingers. there are usually eight gears (eight forward and one reverse)
  • Traction Control - This alters the traction control settings during the race, depending on the grip level required and the changing track conditions. 
• Tyres - The front tyre's width used in Formula One should be 35.5cm (14 ¼ in) and of rear tyres be 38m (15 ¼ in). The wheel's maximum diameter with a wet tyre should be 66cm (26 ½ in) and 67cm (26 ¾ in). The middle layer of the Formula One car is an embedding in rubber. The inner layer is the high-tech mesh of polyester and nylon. Among other decisions, the most important decision of the Formula One team is choosing the tyres. At the start of a race weekend, teams have a supply of ready-to-go sets of tyres: 14 sets of dry-weather tyres, 4 sets of wet-weather tyres, and 3 sets of extreme-weather tyres. If there has been heavy rain, teams may be obliged to use extreme-weather tyres for safety. 
  • Dry-weather tyres - These tyres are "slicks", meaning that they have no tread at all. There are further two types of dry-weather tyre, namely, soft rubber and hard rubber. 
  • Wet-weather tyres - For wet conditions, teams keep tyres with a tread at the ready. They keep a proper check on the weather forecast in case rain is on its way.
  • Extreme-weather tyres - Tyres for very wet conditions have a deep tread, which improves grip by clearing water from the tyre where it meets the track. 

Standard Formula One Car

• The width of the car should not exceed 2000mm (maximum).
• Various bodywork accessories such as the front wing endplate should be 10mm thick to prevent any tyre damage.
• The maximum height of the motor car parts should be in the range of 950 mm.
• The bodywork lying forward of 330mm and behind the front wheel centreline, should not be more than 250mm from the car's centre plane. Also, It must be not less than 75mm and not more than 300mm above the reference plane. 

Evolution of Formula One Cars

Bugatti re-introduced the first-ever key technological advancement in the form of mid-engine cars following the 1930s Ferdinand Porsche's pioneering Auto Unions. However, the development that occurred with the Type 251 turned out to be unsuccessful. Australian three-time world champion Jack Brabham proved the mid-engine car has a better future opportunity. By 1961, all competitors switched to mid-engine designed cars. The last front-engine F1 car to enter a world championship race was the Ferguson P99. It was the only front-engine car that entered the 1961 British Grand Prix.

In 1962, Lotus introduced monocoque chassis with an aluminium-sheet. Traditionally, cars had a space-frame design. This was another technological breakthrough since the mid-engine cars. By 1968, sponsorships embarked on the Formula One cars. Rhodesian duo John Love and Sam Tingle ran cigarette sponsorship on their cars in orange, brown and gold Team Gunston colours during the South African Grand Prix on January 1, 1968.

During the late 1960s, aerodynamic downforce gradually garnered importance in car design. In the late 1970s, Lotus presented ground-effect aerodynamics that provided enormous downforce and significantly increased cornering speed. In 2005, the FIA introduced a new regulation of using more powerful indigenous aerodynamicists. The design of the modified F1 cars resembles the Ferrari's narrow waist design. The model helps in reducing the drags and increases the air availability by the rear wings. Before 2006, the formula one car had V10 engines with 3 litres capacity, which was changed later to V8 engines. In recent times, the 1.6 litres V6 engines are used widely aided with the turbochargers. As compared to the earlier clutch, the new ones are composed of a multi-plate carbon design. It has a maximum diameter of 100 mm and should weigh less than 1 kg. In 2011, modified DRS (Drag Reduction System) rear wing systems were used. Modern-day motor cars have high performance with ultra-high-performance tyres and can attain higher speeds up to 200 mph. The modified cars also have a more top cornering speed than the earlier models.

The cars went through a significant change in 2017, allowing wider rear and front wings and wider tyres, consequential in greatest cornering forces near 6.5 lateral g and top speeds of approximately 360 km/h (225 mph). As of 2019, the hybrid engines perform a maximum of 15,000 rpm; the cars are now mostly dependent on electronics and aerodynamics, suspension and tyres. Between 2004 and 2008, many electronic driving aids, such as launch control, traction control, and automatic shifting.