Tomek / DriverTalk

Yes — but not the kind you’ll find in your road car. Why they need it How it works No free rides The drivertalk take Yes, F1 cars have power steering, but it’s not there to make life easy. It’s…

It depends how you define manual. The old days Up until the early 1990s, Formula 1 cars had a traditional manual gearbox with an H-pattern shifter and a clutch pedal. Drivers had to physically move the lever, balance the clutch,…

Short answer: no — at least, not anymore. How it used to be In the old days, Formula 1 cars had a traditional three-pedal setup: accelerator, brake, and clutch. Drivers had to physically press the clutch pedal to change gears,…

Strip away the wings, the tyres, and all the flashy aero bits, and at the heart of every Formula 1 car sits the monocoque — the central survival cell. It’s the one part of the car that never compromises, because…

Look at an F1 car from above and you’ll see two big sculpted shapes flanking the driver — those are the sidepods. They’re not just bodywork: they’re some of the most important pieces of the car’s design, and the area…

That wooden-looking strip under a Formula 1 car isn’t decoration — it’s one of the most important (and most scrutinised) pieces of the car. It’s called the skid block, or more casually, the “plank.” What it is What it does…