Formula 1 News: The impact F1 has had on automotive trends

F1 has been one of the most popular sports for many years, with millions all over the world tuning in to watch their favorite drivers battle it out for first place. Whether it’s Silverstone, Monaco or Texas, the tracks are always full to the brim with fans hoping to catch a glimpse of their favorite stars.

In recent years, F1 has rapidly grown and evolved into a now mathematical competition to see who can shave off the most weight, make the car the most aerodynamic, with only milliseconds in winning and losing.

But how has this all affected the wider automotive world and what has F1 done to change it so drastically? Whether it’s making cars faster or allowing tire and wheel discounts to get the best quality, in this article we’ll take a look into this and find out exactly how F1 has impacted the wider world of automobiles.

Style

F1 cars are some of the most wonderful vehicles to look at, with their stunning artwork and giant spoiler and long nose making the cars seem elegant yet dangerous, they’ve definitely shaped the ideas of car designers over the years.

If you look at any recent sports car, you can clearly see the inspiration F1 has had on it and it’s clear the designers took great pride and numerous ideas from F1 cars to put into their final designs.

For example, the Ferrari Enzo, one of their most famous designs, has clearly had a lot of inspiration taken when going through design stages. The long thin nose at the front and the wide back are all directly linked to F1 cars.

The Ariel Atom is probably as close as you’ll ever get to a road legal F1 car, with the shape nearly identical to a F1 car, it’s been specifically designed to mimic a F1 car in most ways but also being able to be driven on the road. For F1 fans, this is the ultimate as close as you can get to a car.

Safety

With some F1 cars going close and sometimes even over 300km/h, it may be strange to say F1 cars are some of the safest cars around. Due to how quickly the drivers are going, and with the cars being worth millions and millions of pounds, it’s no surprise there’s numerous safety measures in place.

Car manufacturers have taken this into consideration and have implemented some of these features into their new cars. From bigger brake pads to rear wings that come up when you break to create downforce, they’re constantly using new technology from F1 to improve their cars.

Due to F1 companies having some of the best engineers in the game, it’s no surprise that they’re constantly coming up with new and better technology. With their jobs being to come up with new ideas to get an edge over the other teams, these minimal small changes here and there each year can be the difference between winning and losing.

Performance

When you think of a fast car, your mind instantly goes to an F1 car. They’ve always been known for being some of the fastest cars on the planet. With F1 cars producing over 1000bhp, it’s no surprise there’s nothing that really comes close.

However, this hasn’t stopped car manufacturers from trying to get as much power out of their road legal engines as possible. Cars you can purchase now push well over 800bhp if you’re willing to spend the money, meaning people can get cars that are close to the power of an F1 car.

Whilst you’ll never be able to legally drive a car on the road as fast, agile and hard hitting as an actual F1 car, you can get quite close. Being able to purchase fast cars for relatively cheap is a real change from even twenty years ago. Gone are the days where you struggle to get your car up a steep hill as you can now get a powerful engine that helps you drive with ease and smoothness.