Apeksas school · Formula 1

How a Formula 1 car works

Tap any part of a 2026-regulation car to learn what it does, what it costs, and why races aren't won without it. Written for beginners — no jargon.

~768 kg
min. weight incl. driver: ~1000 AG
combined power: ~350 km/val.
top speed: €12–20 mln.
car value*

* All figures are estimates from public sources, not official manufacturer numbers.

Tap a dot on the car or keep scrollingCGI: Simon Ramampiaro · Red Bull RB22

01 of 13

Power unit (V6 hybrid)

What it is: A 1.6-litre turbo V6 joined to an electric motor — from 2026 nearly half the power is electric. The fuel is 100 % non-fossil.
Why it matters: It's the most efficient combustion unit on earth: over half the fuel's energy becomes motion, versus roughly a third in a road car. Races are won by how efficiently power is made, not just how much.
What it costs: €15–20M per season (lease); Teams lease power units from manufacturers — you can't buy one.
Remember this: Thermal efficiency exceeds 50 % — higher than any production car on the planet.

02 of 13

Hybrid: battery & MGU-K

What it is: Braking energy becomes electricity, stored in the battery and redeployed — in 2026 the electric side alone is ~350 kW (~475 hp).
Why it matters: Instead of the old DRS, overtaking now runs on Manual Override: the chasing driver gets extra electrical deployment. Whoever manages the battery smarter wins the duels.
What it costs: Multi-million development cost; Exact hybrid figures are a guarded manufacturer secret.
Remember this: Up to ~8.5 MJ can be recovered per lap — enough to take an e-bike roughly 200 km.

03 of 13

Front wing

What it is: A multi-element carbon wing — the first part of the car the air meets. From 2026 it's active: its flaps open on straights to shed drag.
Why it matters: It decides how air flows around the entire car — clip a kerb and you lose not a part, but the whole car's pace.
What it costs: €150–250k per unit
Remember this: A team builds dozens of wings a season — one kerb can destroy weeks of work.

04 of 13

Rear wing & active aero

What it is: From 2026 both wings move on the go: open on the straight (X-mode, low drag), closed for corners (Z-mode, maximum downforce).
Why it matters: F1's eternal trade-off — straight-line speed versus cornering speed — is solved by a switch for the first time, not by a compromise at the drawing board.
What it costs: €80–150k per unit
Remember this: At speed, downforce exceeds the car's weight — in theory it could drive on a tunnel ceiling.

05 of 13

Floor & ground effect

What it is: Most downforce comes not from the wings but from shaped channels under the car sucking it to the road. Underneath sits a mandatory wear plank with titanium skid blocks.
Why it matters: It's the invisible part of speed: floor performance lives in millimetres of ride height, so the whole car is set up around it.
What it costs: €100–200k per unit
Remember this: The sparks under the car aren't a fault: they're titanium blocks grinding the tarmac at 300 km/h.

06 of 13

Monocoque — the survival cell

What it is: The carbon-fibre cell the driver sits in. It must pass FIA crash tests — in an accident every other part is sacrificial, the cell is not.
Why it matters: It's why drivers walk away from crashes that would have been fatal decades ago. Safety here isn't an add-on — it's the structure itself.
What it costs: €650k–1M per unit
Remember this: In 2020 Romain Grosjean climbed out of a burning car after an impact above 60 G — the cell stayed intact.

07 of 13

The halo

What it is: A titanium hoop above the cockpit, mandatory since 2018. It weighs about 7 kg and withstands roughly 12 tonnes.
Why it matters: It has proven itself in real crashes — from flying wheels to overturned cars. Mocked for its looks at first, nobody questions it today.
What it costs: €15–20k per unit
Remember this: The halo holds ~12 tonnes — like parking a double-decker bus on it.

08 of 13

Carbon brakes

What it is: Carbon discs with hundreds of cooling holes, working up to ~1,000 °C. The rears are brake-by-wire, blended with hybrid energy recovery.
Why it matters: Braking is F1's most violent act: deceleration exceeds 5 G, and a braking point a metre off means a position lost.
What it costs: Hundreds of thousands € per season; A single disc is ~€2–3k; a team goes through well over a hundred per season.
Remember this: From 300 km/h the car stops in roughly 130 metres — the driver's body weighs five times more while it happens.

09 of 13

Tyres

What it is: Spec 18-inch Pirelli slicks — narrower and lighter from 2026. A fixed weekend allocation, compounds from softest to hardest.
Why it matters: Nearly all strategy is tyres: when to stop, which compound, how long it lives. The fastest car on dead tyres is the slowest thing on track.
What it costs: ~€2–3k per set
Remember this: All four wheels change in under 2 seconds in the pits — faster than you read this sentence.

10 of 13

Suspension

What it is: Carbon wishbones with dampers hidden inside the body. The arms' shape is aero too: they steer airflow as much as they hold the wheel.
Why it matters: Its job is holding the floor at millimetre-perfect height so ground effect never stalls. It serves aerodynamics more than comfort.
What it costs: Hundreds of thousands € per package; Exact figures are unpublished — the design is kept secret.
Remember this: Change ride height by a few millimetres and the lap time can move by half a second.

11 of 13

Gearbox

What it is: An 8-speed seamless semi-automatic — shifts with no interruption in drive. Its casing is structural: the engine and rear suspension bolt to it.
Why it matters: Every uninterrupted shift means a calmer car in the corner and hundredths per lap. Over a race distance that's whole seconds.
What it costs: €350–600k per unit
Remember this: A driver shifts several thousand times per race — without ever letting go of the wheel.

12 of 13

Steering wheel — a computer in hand

What it is: A ~1.5 kg carbon console with a display and ~25 buttons and dials: brake balance, differential, energy modes, radio.
Why it matters: The driver tunes the car while driving — adjusting, every lap, settings a road car would need a workshop for. All of it mid-corner at 5 G.
What it costs: €50–100k per unit
Remember this: It detaches in a second and doubles as key, dashboard and computer — the car won't move without it.

13 of 13

The driver as a component

What it is: The seat is moulded to the driver's body, and the rules set a minimum driver-plus-seat weight so taller drivers aren't penalised. Neck muscles train to hold 5–6 G.
Why it matters: The same car differs by tenths in different hands — and championships are decided by less. The human is still the most valuable component.
What it costs: Priceless (the driver part)
Remember this: In a hot race a driver loses 2–3 kg of fluids — a ninety-minute marathon in a ~50 °C cockpit.

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The whole: €12–20M for 768 kg

Added up, an F1 car costs like an apartment block and weighs less than a small city car. The most important part still sits in the cockpit: the same car differs by tenths in different hands — and titles are decided by less. Now go see who's leading.

* All figures are estimates from public sources, not official manufacturer numbers.

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