Speed, Strength, and Safety: The Importance of Plastics in Formula One

With the 2024 season in full swing, many of us are preparing to spend a good deal of Sunday afternoons watching – but did you know that a modern Formula One car is largely made from plastics?

What Are Formula One Cars Made Of?

Aside from the engine and gearbox, a modern Formula One (F1) car is made almost exclusively from carbon fibre (or fibre-reinforced-composites). Carbon fibres are essentially just carbon atoms bonded together in long chains – but when combined with other materials, they have incredible rigidity and strength, coupled with very low weight, making them the perfect material for Formula One cars. In fact, carbon fibre provides a similar level of strength to steel, while being around five times lighter (1).

Though carbon fibre is not itself a plastic, in order to have its strength and durability, carbon fibre has to be combined with another material to ‘provide the properties needed for a race car’ (2). And when we talk about carbon fibre in car-making, it's mostly carbon-fibre-reinforced-polymer (a composite made up of carbon fibres and some kind/combination of plastics) that is being referred to (3,2).

The discovery of using fibre-reinforced-composites was a huge breakthrough in the history of developing F1 racing cars. First appearing with the McLaren F1 Team in the 1980s, their lightweight and incredibly strong properties, combined with the ability the material brought to build newly shaped components, became key to a successful car (and thus a race win). Carbon fibre has now become so widespread in Formula 1 that it typically makes up 85% of a standard F1 car (4, 5).

What Other Materials Make Up Formula One Cars?

Aside from carbon fibre, most other materials in motorsport are made up of polymers (6) – most notably Zylon, aramids, and polyethylene filaments.

Zylon is one of the world’s strongest man-made fibres – in F1 Zylon applique armour is commonly used to connect the wheel to the chassis and keep the drivers safe by protecting the cockpit in the event of a crash (2,4). Even the infamous soft, hard, and medium tyres themselves are made up of 10% natural rubber, and 90% synthetic – including polybutadiene rubber – though the exact chemical composition is unknown as manufacturers safeguard their tyre formulas (7).

Anyone who watched Grosjean’s fiery crash during the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix will know just how important it is that racing suits are lightweight and heat-resistant, and that’s where aromatic polymers come in. Aramids are mainly useful due to their heat-resistance, and are used for aerodynamic fittings like front wing end plates, and also in the construction of the drivers suits. Nomex, for instance, is meta-aramid material often used in the suits that can resist exposure to a direct flame for 15 seconds (8).

Much like the overalls, drivers helmets are typically made with several different types of plastics. The hard outer shell usually contains plastic fibres typically known as Kevlar®, with a shock-absorbing layer of polystyrene or polypropylene underneath to cushion the driver’s head, and the flame-resistant Nomex on the inside (9).

Polyethylene filaments, more often known as 'Dyneema' or 'Spectra', are high strength and low density, and so are weaved with carbon fibres to make highly resistant materials for use in impact structures, and are often seen in the drivers safety-belts (2,4).

So, whether you’re a Hamilton or Verstappen fan, it is fascinating to know that from tyres, to front wing end plates, seatbelts, and helmets… plastics have a vital role to play in the speed and safety of Formula One.

References

1 https://www.asminternational.org/documents/10192/1887281/amp16611bmw.pdf/bc6d692a-4f40-427c-831c-201664195066#:~:text=With%20the%20exception%20of%20the,is%20around%20five%20times%20lighter.

2 https://www.plasticsmakeitpossible.com/whats-new-cool/automotive/auto-bodies-parts/professor-plastics-carbon-fiber-car-components-whats-that-got-to-do-with-plastics/#:~:text=It's%20true%20that%20carbon%20fiber,made%20mostly%20of%20carbon%20atoms

3 https://www.bmw.com/en/performance/carbon-fiber-in-a-car.html#:~:text=When%20we%20talk%20about%20carbon,components%20that%20make%20it%20up.

4 https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=8194

5 https://au.motorsport.com/f1/news/materials-in-formula-one/2238278/

6 https://blog.v-hr.com/blog/materials-that-make-motorsport-safer

7 https://www.formulabharat.com/blog/tyre-models-used-by-f1-teams/#:~:text=Butyl%20rubber%20and%20halogenated%20butyl,of%20the%20composition%20is%20synthetic

8 https://www.mclaren.com/racing/f1-playbook/driver-overalls/#:~:text=The%20race%20suits%20are%20made,fireproof%20underwear%20for%20extra%20protection.

9 https://www.plasticsmakeitpossible.com/whats-new-cool/automotive/auto-bodies-parts/nascar-plastics-and-your-daily-commute/

Author

Rebecca Shortland