An F1 car is a pinnacle of two of my favorite topics: Physics and Technology. They are the closest thing to a fighter jet without the weapons and ability to fly. Everything in them is designed and tested to maximize performance and maintain reliability as high as possible. The car parts are even X-Rayed to detect any metal flows to make sure nothing goes wrong while racing and yet due to the complexity of the designs and the numerous parts we often see cars retire due to mechanical failures. At the end of the day, they are designed to be pushed to the limit of their endurance and something will go wrong for sure.

The cars are designed according to the FIA rules that are updated annually. The aim of the design is to reduce the drag and improve the balance to generate the fastest car both on straight lines and in corners.

The teams use something called a Wind Tunnel to inspect the designs they make on small scale or sometimes the full-size package. These tests are so important for the car development that they are controlled by the FIA to a certain number of hours. Again aiming at leveling the playing field and helping make the sport a bit more competitive.

The cars are designed to generate so much downforce, it is calculated they can drive upside down without falling off at certain speeds. Such is the level of downforce generated by these cars. The design controls how much airflow goes into the engine and how to cool the brakes and channel all the air around the car at maximum efficiency to enhance (reduce) the drag as much as possible.

These cars are supposed to be around 800KG in weight only and yet have an engine that is above 1000hp. So these cars can accelerate from 0 to 100 KMs in about 1.6 seconds. That is one of the fastest racing car accelerations on the planet.

The F1 cars can reach very high speeds, a record of around 400KMs was set a few years ago. These days the cars can clock 300KMs if the track permits.

Racing these cars is not an easy task and it demands someone with unique talents and capabilities, they are some of the most difficult cars to drive and control at the same time. There are so many things that can be changed and controlled by the driver and the team at the same time.

From the car balance to the bake balance (front and back) to engine maps (controlling the engine mode) etc…

It is known that an F1 driver loses about 2KG’s of his weight during one race.

All the F1 cars are provided with so many sensors that collects and sends a ton of data to the engineers in the Pit and sometimes back to the factory even, to analyze and give feedback to the driver and the mechanics on how to change the setup to insure the fastest possible lap.

This Data collection is called Telemetry and is a vital part of setting the race strategy. Usually, the teams come to the race with information collected from the previous years but each year the tyres are different, and the car design may have changed in a way that they need to redo all the work all over again.

So what is the Pit? The pit is the teams’ Garage during the race weekend, and it holds all their mechanics, kits and basic spare parts. The drivers “Pits” into their garages during the race to change their tyres or do any minor adjustments that are allowed by the rules and can be done quickly not to compromise the driver’s opportunity to achieve the highest possible position at the race end.

“they tell the driver on the radio “BOX.BOX” which means they want them to do a Pit Stop.”

The teams also call this BOX. So they tell the driver on the radio “BOX.BOX” which means they want them to do a Pit Stop.

Just opposite to the teams Garage and right next to the racing track there is what is called the Pit Wall. This area usually holds the team principal and race engineers who actually decide among themselves on the best possible strategy to win the race and take decisions on when to ask the drivers to Pit for new tyres or speed up or slow down as the race strategy needs.

Worth noting here is that these guys on the pit wall know and can see what other teams are doing and they relay all this information to the drivers to act accordingly. While the driver is only able to see the cars right Infront or right behind him.

For a few years now, all the Radio communication between the teams and the drivers on the track is open to all teams to listen in. So, there are no confidential data shared during the race over the radio as everyone knows that everyone else is listening.

This is also sometimes used as a tool during the race were drivers actually pass false information over the radio to trick other teams into thinking they may have a problem or an issue while in fact this is not true. Lewis Hamilton does this a lot but know everyone knows and it doesn’t work anymore, nor I have seen it change any race outcome.

Additionally, the teams usually agree on several strategies ahead of the race and they give them code names like A, B…etc. So when they need to switch strategies they don’t explain more than needed over the Radio.

A lot of the times these strategies are around when to pit for new tyres and the team would say to the driver we want to do Plan A + 5 which means an extra 5 laps over whatever Plan A was.

F1 changed the engine specs back in 2014, they moved from a 2.4 liter V8 to a 1.6 liter V6 Turbo-Hybrid and it has been the one in use till date. These engines are the most advanced and the most efficient in the world today. They generate roughly 1000hp.

The F1 rule now is that these engine specs will stay the same until 2026 when a new regulation will be introduced.

Each driver is allowed to use 3 engines only through the full season, so each engine should be good enough to be used for about 6-7 races at least. The stress these engines go through is very high so they are built with the highest possible durability in mind.

Like all Hybrid Engines, these engines use fuel to power the internal combustion engine and Electricity to power the Electric part.

The Electricity comes from something called MGU-K (Motor Generator Unit-Kinetic) this device generates electricity from the heat that is generated by the Car Braking System. The electricity generated is then stored in batteries that the driver can use to help him accelerate when needed like in overtaking maneuvers or to defend and stop other cars from overtaking.

This system used to be called KERS, Kinetic Energy Recovery System when it was first introduced to F1.

The braking mechanism generates so much heat as these cars are supposed to be able to reduce their massive speeds in very short distances. The Brake Discs actually look like they are on fire from the side.

A view we will miss this year since the new 18’’ tyers and wheel design hides the Brake Discs to in an effort to improve the air flow around the car.