Seventy-five years in the past this week, when Giuseppe Farina roared throughout the ending line to win the primary world championship grand prix at Silverstone, he did so in an Alfa Romeo 158 weighing – relying on fluids and which sources you employ – between 650 and 700kg. When Components 1 adopted a minimal weight for the primary time in 1961, the determine was set at 450kg.
Underneath the newest ruleset, groups have been struggling – be aware the quantity of unpainted carbon fibre on show – to hit the present minimal of 800kg. On the face of it, not a improbable advert for three-quarters of a century of scientific progress.
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Clearly the determine of 800kg now consists of the driving force however even when considered by a extra rigorous prism, which entails going again to 1995 when the automotive and driver weight was first mixed, the ensuing determine makes for an unsightly comparability: 595kg.
The distinction is 205kg. Prior to now three many years solely the worth of Oasis gig tickets has inflated extra egregiously.
“We would all just like the automobiles to be loads lighter,” FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis informed Motorsport.com. “Among the options being mooted [in terms of future powertrains] would result in considerably lighter automobiles, which is what everybody would love.
“It is a trade-off between financials, technological freedom and the way cutting-edge Components 1 is, environmental issues, and pleasure.”
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Round 100kg of the burden achieve got here on account of adopting hybrid powertrains. The present minimal weight for a hybrid energy unit is 151kg – examine that with, say, a late Nineteen Nineties 3-litre V10 which weighed between 90kg and 100kg.
Nikolas Tombazis, FIA Single Seater Director
Nikolas Tombazis, FIA Single Seater DirectorAndy Hone / Motorsport Pictures
Andy Hone / Motorsport Pictures
Whereas the PU minimal weight of 151kg consists of the hybrid system, it doesn’t embrace the turbocharging mechanism or, extra considerably, the cooling system, which is vastly extra complicated than the plumbing required by a Nineteen Nineties engine. The times of getting two easy radiators dealing with nearly all of warmth administration are lengthy gone.
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Round 50kg of further weight might be accounted for by security options equivalent to stronger side-impact constructions and the halo. Intelligent engineering and design can mitigate the consequences of getting to withstand a stricter crash-testing regime however, to an extent, with further energy comes weight.
Given the rising checklist of seemingly accidents averted by fashionable security options, this isn’t a component anybody wise in F1 would want to row again on.
The remaining 55kg or so of bloat is accounted for by a mixture of parts, a few of which it may very well be potential to reset. When former F1 ‘ringmaster’ Bernie Ecclestone rolled out of the improper aspect of mattress early in 2015 and declared the automobiles must be wider and extra aggressive-looking, he did this sporting class an ideal disservice as a result of the inevitable outcome was further weight and made better problem in overtaking.
Wider, bigger-diameter wheels have additionally had an impact – one being mitigated barely for subsequent yr because the entrance wheels can be 25mm narrower, the rears 30mm. Not an enormous quantity however, once more, there are efficiency issues.
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One change which might be politically troublesome to execute, however may cut back automotive weight, is to cut back aerodynamic and mechanical complexity.
“We are able to go in direction of negating a number of the dimensional elements of automobiles, however it must be potential to return again to a automotive that’s less complicated than it’s now,” stated Tombazis.
Race begin
Race startFadel Senna – AFP – Getty Pictures
Fadel Senna – AFP – Getty Pictures
“And that’s an fascinating philosophical challenge: why automobiles these days are much more sophisticated. The explanation folks design extra sophisticated automobiles is as a result of they’ve ‘near-perfect’ simulation functionality.
“Take the cooling system, for instance: automobiles previously used to have an entry duct and a radiator. After which the air after the radiator would discover its means out by the bodywork and ultimately exit of the again. These days, there’s an entry duct, a radiator, and an exit duct, all totally profiled with little winglets and turning vanes.
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“As one other instance, the entrance flooring now has a damper and a full system to function at precisely the regulatory limits of deflection.
“So, there are a lot of performance-increasing options on automobiles, all incremental, that make the automotive way more sophisticated – and heavier.”
It’s famously troublesome to return a genie to the bottle. No F1 workforce would quit an space of efficiency achieve with out a combat.
And that is the place the battle traces are forming forward of the 2026 season, as senior engineers have been brazenly questioning whether or not the comparatively modest 30kg weight reduce deliberate for the brand new ruleset is even potential. It’d – or ought to – be. And extra could be higher.
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But when the development in direction of weight achieve is to be meaningfully reversed, groups are going to have to surrender some long-cherished efficiency options.
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