The driver has to be a good sportsman. During one race he will lose about 3 kg of his
weight.
His head is extremely stressed. In the curves a force with four times the headweight
applies.
He has a firesafe suit. So the driver could stay in a fire up to 1300 degree F (=700
degree C) for about 12 seconds. In a fire an oxygen cartridge placed on the integral
helmet gives the driver a survival chance of about some seconds.
The seat is anatomically fitted to the body shape of the driver.
There is no pad in the seat. The seat is only suéde covered. So the seat is very
uncomfortable. His only task is to give the pilot a good stability. The seat belts is used
in a emergency situation.
The steering wheel is mostly not a whole cycle to make the instruments visible for the
driver. It's removable because of the missing space in the monocoque in an emergency
situation.
The material is a special rubber reinforced of KELVAR. KELVAR is a polymer fiber with
extremely stability.
Because of the different pitt stops in the different grand prixs on both sides of the
car a petrol cap is placed.
All holes and pipes of the tank are selfclosable.
The formula 1 car fuel is made of the same substances as our normal fuel. The only
difference is the mix.
Since the 1970's, the engine is situated behind the tank.
The typical engine is an 8 or a 10 cylinder V-engine.
There was a time when turbo engines were used with a horsepower of 1200. But since the
90's only suckle engines allowed to limit the power of the engines. The modern engines
have between 500 and 700 horsepowers and 3.0 l cubic capacity in agreement with the
regulation.
The exhaust pipe can't be produced automatically. So it has to made by hand.
In 1976 it was tried to use 6 wheels for a formula 1 car but now all teams are allowed
to use only 4 wheels.
The wheels are without any cover. Therefore a formula 1 car has a higher air-resistance
than a normal car.
There are two types of tyres used. One normal without any tread called slickes and one
for rain races with a special tread. The tread repress 26 l per second.
The tyres are tubeless.
The rubber is very smoothe, but the tyres must be preheated. Therefore a special heating
blanket is used.
In the first lap of the race before the real start the formula 1 cars drive loops to
clean the tyres.
To get enough money for this expensive sport many sponsors are necessary. They all
want to show their logo on the cover of the car. So the sponspors are visible for example
on TV.