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Formula 1 for Motor Racing Ignoramuses, in 10 Easy Lessons (But No Tests)

By Brad Spurgeon, About.com

7 of 10

Formula 1 IS the Pinnacle of Motor Racing Technology

F1 carbon fiber cooking oven

Carbon fiber is baked in ovens like this at F1 team factories.

Photo (c) 2007 Brad Spurgeon licensed to About.com, Inc.

There is no dispute amongst anyone in the world who knows anything about racing - that is, especially amongst all the world's racing car drivers and engineers - that Formula 1 is the absolute pinnacle of motor racing in the area of the technology of the cars. The teams spend often nearly half a billion dollars per year building the car for 18 races. That car is then junked from year to year and a new one is built. Always according to the regulations of the International Automobile Federation.

What is this technology? The cars are built out of carbon fiber and all sort of exotic materials, all of which is handcrafted at the team factories. The engines are the most powerful in the world within the formula laid out. The electronics are the most complicated, and teams know through computer sensors how every part of the car is reacting during a race or test, any time it is on the track.

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