F1 Revolutionizes Road Cars

“This is safety, not statistics. It is not that you put a device there to look better or worse, this is purely safety,” On the F1 YouTube Channel, Former F1 World Champion  Fernando Alonso, said.

The newest safety regulation for the epitome of motorsport racing, F1 has created a lot of controversy since it was announced back in July 2017. This is not the first time the motorsport has seen abrupt changes in design to favour safety. In 1955 steel disk brakes were introduced and since the date they have only proved and allowed the cars to not only be safer but to have more performance.

The Halo

The entire F1 community has an opinion on this new measure “It can have an effect on tracks that are uphill, for example, turn one in Austin or Eau Rouge at Spa, you could struggle to see the top.” Romain Grosjean, F1 driver said. On the F1 YouTube Channel, Former F1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel made his feelings on the subject crystal clear, “When you look at the car and it is ugly, F1 cars aren’t meant to be ugly. That is the reason that a Ferrari is more exciting than a Mazda. If it looks s***, it is s***…”  He added. Some pilots hate it just because of the looks and some say it was something that was needed “You can’t turn back the clock, but in knowing that something is there which helps us to save others, it would be ignorant and stupid to ignore it.” Sebastian Vettel, Former F1 World Champion.

Other teams and pilots have comments on not just the safety factor or the looks, but on how it might negatively affect the car’s performance. “We have little brakes trying to stop this heavy car and I hope they do a better job to bring the weight down so when they put this thing on it won’t make it heavier and harder to stop.” Lewis Hamilton, F1 World Champion, said.

Safety standards designed for the racing world are facing the trickle down effect where the technologies are being developed in road cars, in the other end of the spectrum when compared with the noisy, fast, and exuberant F1 cars. “Those are technologies that came from motor racing that can improve the safety of the pilots and common drivers of road cars,” Esteban Jaramillo, Mechanical Engineer, said.

The technologies developed in the race track might be controversial, some even say it kills the way a F1 car should be, but the bottomline always refers to how it is necessary in the sport. “The new halo is a necessity but it kills the raw essence of F1 which is recklessness and manliness from car racing,” Julian Gomez, 11th grade student and car enthusiast, said.

New cars meant for road or track use have at least one thing in common and is that they have to be safe to drive. Controversial technologies in car racing like seatbelts and roll bars are now present in road cars and people does not even know where or why they were developed. New materials and construction methods are also proof that the innovation from the race track sooner or later will meet the regular tarmak.

Composite Materials

Composite materials are just barely starting to make presence in the consumer market in performance cars made by brands like Ferrari, McLaren, Pagani, Lamborghini, Koenigsegg, etc. Materials like carbon fiber and carbo-titanium were materials that were developed in the early 60’s and implemented in motorsports because of its incredible properties. The same reason is why these materials are now reaching global consumers. This materials are in some cases even 20 times stronger than steel presenting advantages in the fields of safety and fuel economy for road cars and in the case of the racing world safety and performance.

ABS & ASM

“Safety can never be shadowed by performance of bare looks” Pedro Uribe, 11th grade student, said. When talking about human lives safety is always the most important factor, in racing or commuting. If something is there is because its needed it might be ugly as some call the halo or simply underrated like ABS or ASM technology they are there because they help save lives, not because they are pretty. F1 drivers as well as regular drivers constantly call out ugly or uncomfortable things about the cars that are there to protect them. They don’t really realise how important this additions are in the case of being needed. If a live can be saved it should, no matter what, just like Fernando Alonso said.