Key elements in formula one car design

Following are some of the elements and characteristics that make up a Formula One car and give it a completely different appearance to other types of racing cars

• Open wheels: Unlike the road car sitting in your garage, one of the most obvious elements of a Formula One car is that its wheels aren’t covered. In this way, Formula One cars are similar to the US—based Champ Cars and the cars in the Indy Racing League.
• Central cockpit: Formula One design teams don’t worry about the comfort of passengers – because they don’t have to. Formula One cars have room for only one driver. The cockpit is mounted in the dead centre of the car, which is vital for a car’s centre of gravity.
• Agile and lightweight: Believe it or not, a Formula One car weighs a fraction of what a road car weighs. The use of high-tech materials, including carbon fibre, has made modern Formula One cars superlightweight and, therefore, very fast.
• Lack of bumpers: Formula One is a no-contact sport, which is why you won’t find any safety bumpers at the front or rear of the car to fend off the attention of other cars. Instead of bumpers, you find aerodynamic wings.
• Aerodynamic wings: The front and rear wings of the Formula One car, which are designed to push the car down onto the ground, are very exposed – which they have to be if the car is going to be quick. (They also provide perfect billboards for sponsors.) These wings are the result of months of research in high-tech wind tunnels.

In general terms, a Formula One car is the ultimate single-seater, open-wheel, racing car. You can find similar looking machinery in Champ Cars, the Indy Racing League, Formula 3000, and Formula Three. But while these other cars look the same as Formula One cars, none of them is as fast over a single lap as a Formula One car is – even though some cars, like top-level dragsters, can accelerate faster and reach higher top speeds for a short period of time.