Ars Technica: >For over 60 years, Formula 1 teams have developed, tested, and built the fastest and most technologically impressive cars the world has ever seen. An almost unending list of superlatives can be ladled onto F1 cars: they can accelerate from 0 to 190mph in about 10 seconds, fling around a corner at such speeds that the driver experiences g-force close to that of an Apollo astronaut during Earth re-entry, and then decelerate by 60mph in just 0.7 seconds thanks to strong brakes and massive downforce—the same downforce that stopped the car from spinning out around that corner. > >But the bit that’s really impressive is that these machines are designed and built from scratch every year.

Each Formula 1 car is made up of around 14,500 individual components*, and every item is bespoke, with Computer Aided Design (CAD) used to develop the parts and Computer Aided Manufacture (CAM) or hand processing to build them.

From 2022, cars must run certain ‘standard’ parts and ‘prescribed’ parts such as wheel aerodynamics, wheel hubs and the front floor tea tray, which teams must build to a set design. There are also ‘transferable parts’ such as gearboxes and clutches, which can be bought and sold between teams.

The technical regulations define ‘rule boxes’ that limit the teams’ designs. That includes setting specific dimensions for wings and bargeboards, defining no-go aerodynamic areas and banning certain high-cost alloys in engines.

Unlike many racing series, cars are completely unique to each team – as opposed to F2, which has a standard car, or even Formula E, which has a standard chassis – but there has been a trend towards some parts like this Cummins Holset turbocharger in stock.

As a MotoGP motorcycle racing fan, I find Formula 1 to be sometimes boring from a racing point of view but these kinds of technical details are fascinating.