Formula 1 (F1) is the highest level of international motorsport, known for its fast, high-performance, single-seat racing cars. It is governed by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), and features a series of races, Grands Prix, held on racing circuits worldwide. The races are known for their speed, technical precision, and intense strategy.
A study in the International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management discusses how this global racing series acts as a real-time laboratory that can test and refine motoring technologies that often take a turn into the world of the road vehicles. In other words, Laura Rehberg of the Institute of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Science at the University of Stuttgart, Germany, suggests, F1 is in the driving seat when it comes to shaping the future of the automotive industry.0
Rehberg has investigated the world of prototyping within F1 showing how car manufacturers and their suppliers collaborate with one of the most competitive sporting environments. Prototyping refers to the stage in development where experimental versions of components are created and tested. Often, new technologies are pushed to their limits in this environment before they ever go into production. Within F1, prototyping is high-pressure, with the requisite innovation being relentless and having the drive to cut seconds off lap times. Of course, innovation is constrained by the strict FIA regulations, but some important inventions have emerged from F1 innovation, and many of those, such as mild-hybrid vehicles, were actually driven by the regulations themselves.
It is the collaboration between original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), the carmakers, their suppliers, and the F1 teams that at the heart of Rehberg’s work. The research shows that the sport has pulled away from the conventional, arms-length relationships and a change of gear has led to “collaborative prototyping,” where suppliers are not merely vendors but partners, contributing to the design and testing process itself. Such integration allows for more rapid innovation and precludes many of the costly mistakes that can occur later in development when innovation moves on to the production line. Innovations in engine efficiency, vehicle aerodynamics, and materials science are all tested to the extreme in F1 and many developments that have improved times and fuel efficiency on the racing track have act as a catalyst for production cars to hit the roads.
Rehberg, L. (2024) ‘Prototyping in motorsports: exploring manufacturer-supplier collaboration in Formula One‘, Int. J. Automotive Technology and Management, Vol. 24, No. 5, pp.100-118.