Nope. Formula 1 cars do not have traction control — and they haven’t for over 20 years.
The history
- Early 2000s: Traction control systems (TCS) were used, electronically cutting power to stop wheelspin. Cars rocketed out of corners like slot machines.
- 2008: The FIA banned traction control, along with launch control, to put more emphasis back on driver skill. Since then, it’s been down to the driver’s right foot to manage 1,000 horsepower without frying the tyres.
What this means today
- On corner exits, drivers must carefully balance throttle input to avoid spinning up the rears.
- In the wet, it’s even trickier — no electronic nanny to save you when grip disappears.
- The only “help” is the driver’s own engine mode choices and insanely fine throttle mapping, but the car never takes over.
The drivertalk take
No traction control is exactly what makes modern F1 so visceral. Those little wobbles, twitches, and moments of oversteer you see on TV? That’s a human being wrestling with raw power, not a computer smoothing it out. It’s one of the last pure links between driver skill and the stopwatch.
