Composites

Carbon fibre is the most widely used material in a Formula 1 car accounting for around 75% of its
construction. Composites are defined as "materials in which two or more constituents have been brought
together to produce a new material consisting of at least two chemically distinct components, with resultant
properties significantly different to those of the individual constituents".
This diagram shows the main component materials of the Audi R10 Le Mans car, it uses very similar construction
methods to a Formula 1 car. As you can see the largest proportion of the car is made up of composites (grey) and
how critical the material is.
Carbon fibre was first used to make a major structural part of a car in 1980, when the then McLaren Technical
Director John Barnard designed and built the first carbon composite chassis. Barnard was attracted to carbon
fibre, which at the time was used almost exclusively by the aerospace industry, because of its incredibly high
stiffness. He correctly suggested that carbon fibres could offer a huge step both in chassis stiffness and weight
reduction. His composite McLaren MP4-1 revolutionised the world of racing car design when it hit the track in
1981, despite his detractors initially dismissing the idea of using such brittle materials in race car construction.
When hit in the wrong way carbon fibre shatters and that worried some people about it safety.
By 1984 however, the whole of Formula 1 had jumped on the carbon fibre bandwagon. Barnard's concept has
today been accepted as the industry standard in all types of formula racing car design. In fact, so established is
the practice that the FIA's current Formula 1 technical regulations are written in such a way that it would be very
difficult to make a chassis out of anything else.
The material on its own though is like cotton in its raw state, just a thin strand but immensely strong. These
strands are woven into sheets, which feel like taffeta to the touch. On their own they offer little strength but after
they go through a special production sequence they become incredibly strong.