The threat of competition and a need to overcome physical or legislative limitations drive the advances, while the championship’s largely meritocratic nature ensures exceptional people are backed by immense financial resource to achieve exceptional advances.
Given F1 boasts a proud 70-plus-year history, not all innovations devised in that time have been deemed to be in the best interests of the championship. Many have been outlawed on the grounds of cost or safety, while some ideas were swiftly scrapped due to their potency that left the rest of the field chasing shadows.
Meanwhile, other ground-breaking designs have come to set a new standard and forced all teams to adopt their likeness to stand any chance of remaining in contention. These are some of the biggest innovations in F1 history…
Rear-engined layout – 1959
Auto Union had found success with the concept in the 1930s, but it was the Cooper T51 machine of 1959 that made the idea of putting the horse behind the cart really stick.
The benefits of the reconfigured engine layout were threefold. It reduced weight, by cutting how far elements of the drivetrain needed to stretch past the driver to reach the back axle as required in front-engined, rear-wheel-drive machines.
The cars were also more agile as the bulk of the weight was kept within the wheelbase. Plus, rear- (or, rather, mid-) engine cars were more efficient at cutting through the air thanks to their smaller frontal area.
Those design principles allowed Cooper to develop its race-winning T43 creation into the T51, with which works driver Jack Brabham and Rob Walker’s privateer pilot Stirling Moss proved competitive at every type of track.
Five wins from nine rounds in 1959 wrapped up the constructors’ crown for Cooper, before the enhanced T53 returned a title double the following year. After 1960, no front-engined F1 car would win a championship race or title again as the entire grid swapped to rear-mounted propulsion.
PLUS: How Brabham's history-making F1 odyssey began
The layout is a staple across motorsport, with all serious modern sportscar prototypes and single-seaters employing the same set-up. It has also trickled into the automotive industry, where high-end sportscar makers favour the better handling balance, and even in some commercial applications and MPVs, the packaging benefits of mid-engine layouts get the nod.
Monocoque chassis – 1962
The monocoque chassis was one of those rare occasions when the process was flipped. Technology that already existed in a road car application found its way into F1 courtesy of Lotus founder Colin Chapman and his pioneering Type 25 design.
When it came to Chapman penning a challenger for the 1962 grand prix season, inspiration came from the Lotus Elite sportscar. Rather than rely on a segmented steel spaceframe, off which components such as the suspension mounting points and fuel tanks could later be hung, he instead created a bathtub-like chassis that incorporated their installation from the off.
Chapman also recognised that the Climax V8 engine could be exploited in that it was capable of handling chassis loads. This allowed a more unified fuselage-style design.
The advantages were many. The aluminium monocoque tipped the scales at just 30kg and yet marked a significant gain in rigidity. That allowed some of the stiffness to be taken out of the suspension set-up, paving the way for the Lotus 25 to be kinder to its tyres. It also reduced the frontal area on the car to slash drag levels.
PLUS: F1’s great Lotus landmarks – the 25
Lotus leading light Jim Clark made the most of the game-changing machine at his disposal to land six poles and three wins from the nine-round 1962 campaign. The year after, Clark upped those numbers to seven apiece from 10 attempts.
The new standard was set as aluminium monocoques were adopted across the board for the next two decades.
Front and rear wings – 1968
The F1 paddock took its inspiration from the United States when it came to the initially modest introduction of front and rear wings. Texan racing driver and car designer Jim Hall pioneered their use on his Chaparral 2E and 2F sportscar creations, effectively taking the principle of a lift-generating aeroplane wing and turning it upside down to instead press the car into the road.
Lotus creator Chapman is credited with importing the idea into F1. The brilliant 49B sprouted a ducktail rear deck for the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix, with driver Graham Hill chalking pole position and the race win.
PLUS: F1’s great Lotus landmarks – the 49
But the true step change arrived in Belgium later that year when Brabham and Ferrari got in on the act. Both mounted full-width wings on struts before Chapman returned fire with a rear spoiler sitting atop delicate 4ft poles that bolted directly to the rear suspension.
However, the extra axis of movement stressed the material beyond its capabilities and the wings collapsed to leave Lotus drivers Hill and Jochen Rindt fortunate to survive two major shunts in the 1969 Spanish GP.
The legislators stepped in to reduce the risk by creating the lower-lying wings that have become common place in F1 and across motorsport ever since. Over the intervening half-century, the complexity grew enormously to pave the way for multi-element front wings, the addition of the DRS overtaking aid to the rear and so on.
The aerodynamic obsession has led to fleeting oddball creations – the likes of the X-wings some teams deployed during 1998, BMW Sauber’s ‘twin-tower’ concept of 2006, and the extra wings that adorned the Ferrari in 1982 (rear), Jordan in 1996 (engine cover) and Arrows in 2001 (nosecone). All, however, were swiftly outlawed.
Ground-effects – 1977
The lasting impact of ground-effects-generated downforce is quite apparent at present given the paradigm shift F1 has undertaken for the 2022 season. As part of the most radical technical overhaul in the championship’s history, the regulations have been rewritten around a philosophy that had supposedly enjoyed its heyday four decades ago.
Another concept overseen by Lotus' Colin Chapman, in the design of the Type 78 racer he placed inverted wings inside the sidepods to create two venturi tunnels. These exploited Bernoulli’s Principle to create areas of low pressure that sucked the car into the ground.
That radically increased downforce over conventional front and rear wings. These tunnels were then mated to sliding skirts, which effectively sealed the floor of the car to the asphalt to maximise the effect.
This philosophy evolved for the later Lotus 79, which refined the design. Aboard the 79, Mario Andretti led the team to a constructors’ and drivers’ title double in 1978.
PLUS: F1’s great Lotus landmarks - the 79
Lotus might have remained the pre-eminent ground-effects exponents, but Williams crafted the FW07, which essentially dialled out the main weakness of the 79 – the inherent flex in its chassis. As such, Williams became the dominant force as the 1980s rolled into town.
However, ground-effects had a relatively short time in the limelight. In 1981, to combat rising corner speeds, governing body the FIA stepped in and banned side skirts and imposed a mandatory 60mm ground clearance, which was often flouted. For 1983, flat bottoms were mandated and ground-effects in F1 ended.
But now the legislators have returned to ground-effects. The intention of the new rules is to massively cut back on the ‘dirty air’, which is created by the hole that complex front and rear wings plus bargeboards punch in the air. It is hoped ground-effect will lead to be better racing, as cars will be better equipped to follow one another more closely.
Turbochargers – 1977
The naturally aspirated Cosworth DFV is regarded by many as the greatest F1 engine of all time on account of its longevity, the sustained success it achieved and for how popular it was among teams.
PLUS: The greatest engine in F1 history
But Renault looked to challenge the status quo from 1977 with the introduction of its RS01 and the turbocharged 1.5-litre V6 that nestled within.
Overweight, laggy and unreliable, the debut campaign for the RS01 failed to set the world alight despite its potential. However, the following year, a similar forced induction powerplant propelled the Renault Alpine A442B to victory in the Le Mans 24 Hours, proving the technology could be quick and durable. And this coming after two turbo-powered Porsche Le Mans successes.
Still, atmospheric engines reigned supreme before Renault’s Jean-Pierre Jabouille nabbed the first win for a turbocar on home soil in the 1979 French Grand Prix.
The DFV continued as the weapon of choice into the new decade before the tide began to turn and Ferrari, Brabham (with BMW) and Hart started to come around to turbocharging.
Ferrari took the first constructors’ crown using a turbocharged engine in 1982, while Brabham’s Nelson Piquet beat Renault’s Alain Prost to become the first turbo-powered F1 drivers’ champion the following year. Remarkably, Renault would never take a title with a turbo despite being the F1 pioneer.
PLUS: Revealing F1’s fastest failure
As the technology became more widespread, qualifying power levels famously shot up to 1400bhp with the BMW unit housed in the back of the Benetton B186 as McLaren and its TAG-branded Porsche, then Honda turbo engines largely dominated the scene.
Turbos, which had become restricted by the use of popoff valves as well as limits on fuel allowance, were banned at the end of 1988, partly due to the costs needed to sustain the development curve.
But over the next quarter of a century, the perception of turbos began to change. They were no longer just a way to extracting masses more power but could also increase efficiency and reduce emissions. As such, F1 brought them back in their current hybrid-assisted 1.6-litre turbo V6 guise for 2014, and they have remained the standard ever since.
The ‘fan car’ – 1978
Compared to the other entries on this list, the Brabham BT46B – better known simply as the ‘fan car’ – has much less of a tangible legacy. It had such a short shelf-life, just one world championship race, and created such controversy that its design was never widely adopted.
Revered designer Gordon Murray, backed up by a legal professional’s reading of the 1978 F1 rulebook, determined that a fan could be equipped to the back of his Alfa Rome-engined creation and still pass scrutineering so long as its primary function was to cool the car and not create downforce. That it did, but the extra grip generated through the corners still left the competition utterly stunned as Niki Lauda romped to victory by more than half a minute in the Swedish Grand Prix at Anderstorp.
However, with Brabham team boss Bernie Ecclestone on his journey to eventually running F1 and ostensibly operating in the best interest of the championship, the BT46B was withdrawn (contrary to the popular belief that the car was banned) amid mounting political fallout.
PLUS: How Brabham’s infamous ‘fan’ car was boxed into a corner
Further adoptions of a fan have been fleeting in the mainstream, although Gordon Murray’s eponymous Automotive company has paid homage to the design with its imminent T.50 and T.50S supercars.
Despite the brief time in the limelight, the ‘fan car’ remains one of the most distinguished machines F1 has ever produced thanks to one of most innovative readings of the regulations.
Carbonfibre monocoque – 1981
Motorsport and the aerospace industry came together ahead of the 1981 F1 season with the creation of the McLaren MP4/1 – famed for being the first grand prix machine to have its monocoque constructed entirely from carbonfibre.
The composite plastic is far stronger and lighter than the aluminium of Colin Chapman’s original design that it superseded. However, there were fears from those outside of McLaren as to how the car would behave in a crash, with some predicting the carbonfibre would simply shatter.
That myth was busted in the Italian GP at Monza when John Watson emerged unscathed from a sizeable crash at the second Lesmo corner.
Top 10: Ranking the best McLaren F1 cars
The MP4/1 was the first creation masterminded by John Barnard at the new-look McLaren, the team operating under the fresh leadership of Ron Dennis. The car led the resurrection of the fallen giant, as Watson won the British GP in a year when McLaren climbed three places in the constructors’ championship and almost tripled its points score.
The MP4/2 successor of 1982 kickstarted a run of cars that won 22 races and five titles, as the carbonfibre construction proved its worth to such an extent that it became, and remains, the standard practice across motorsport and in high-end road-going sportscars.
PLUS: The McLaren that improved on its revolutionary forebear
Semi-automatic gearbox – 1989
As engine power increased and the boundaries of material technology were pushed, transmissions became one of the major sources of unreliability in top-level motorsport in the 1970s and 80s. Human error, leading to missed shifts, only exacerbated matters.
Then chief designer at Ferrari, John Barnard worked to eradicate both issues with the advent of the semi-automatic change in 1989. What started as buttons on the steering wheel before morphing into paddles, the idea was to cut down on the strain the gearbox faced by reducing the likelihood of over-revving and ensuring the load from one change to the next was more consistent.
Barnard had his proof of concept on the design’s debut as it made an instant impact. The V12-powered Ferrari 640 bagged the spoils in the 1989 season-opening Brazilian GP in the hands of driver Nigel Mansell.
Incidentally given the inspiration, a patchy reliability record rather killed the rest of the campaign. But the potential within the innovation – including reducing the workload of the driver – was already apparent, and soon forced the conventional H-pattern gearbox and manual shift into retirement.
For the better part of three decades, all F1 machines have now used paddleshift sequential gearboxes and their application has also permeated all segments of the road car industry as they allow manufacturers to achieve faster gear changes with the added boon of greater fuel efficiency.
Active suspension and driver aids – 1990s
Active suspension had drifted in and out of F1 prior to its 1990s heyday. Notably, Lotus' Colin Chapman experimented with an anti-dive and anti-squat configuration that ran longitudinally to prevent a car from pitching and diving under acceleration and braking.
The first victory for an active car then arrived courtesy of Ayrton Senna, driving for Lotus in the 1987 Monaco Grand Prix. But active suspension is best remembered for when it and driver aids were at the height of their powers in the early 1990s.
This updated guise allowed cars to automatically adjust the rideheight at all four corners to maintain a flat and stable position through the bends and counteract the natural lean, thus providing a more stable aero platform.
That and the likes of anti-lock brakes and traction control, which eradicated wheelspin under power, massively increased average speeds but also complexity and costs. And those were the grounds under which the ‘gizmos’ were banned for 1994. Lap times increased by roughly four seconds immediately after the toys were outlawed.
PLUS: The truth about F1 rule changes
The policing of traction control proved difficult and it was allowed back in during 2001, but was finally banished by the arrival of a standard ECU in 2008.
As of the start of the 2022 season, the return to ground-effects car design led for renewed calls for active suspension to make a comeback. This was to counteract the porpoising phenomenon many teams struggled with in testing whereby cars were bouncing up and down at high speed when the downforce stalled around the floors.
PLUS: The mechanics behind porpoising
Active suspension was seen as a remedy for the oscillating by effectively locking the cars in place to maintain a steady rideheight. But with the budget cap already imposing tight spending limits, this idea struggled to gain momentum.
The halo – 2018
There has certainly been no shortage of watershed safety developments in F1 since the push for enhanced driver protection gathered steam in the 1970s and then went into overdrive following Ayrton Senna’s death at Imola in 1994. But it was in response to the passing of Jules Bianchi in 2014 that the halo took form.
The flip flop strap-shaped device offers a shield to drivers in the event of a direct hit and offers some protection from debris. It makes this list of overall great innovations for how it was implemented against considerable backlash and has observably saved lives since its 2018 introduction.
Many criticised the halo for being against the ‘DNA of F1’. But that concept is something of a fallacy given grand prix racing has on occasion housed closed-wheel cars, been an arena for four-wheel-drive and the engine has moved from in front to behind the driver.
Also, the Formula 2 Protos Ford was experimenting with a partially closed cockpit way back in 1967.
In F1 alone, the halo has proved its immense value on many occasions. Notably when Fernando Alonso careered over the top of Charles Leclerc at Spa in 2018, in Romain Grosjean’s massive and fiery Bahrain shunt in 2020 and when Max Verstappen came to blows with Lewis Hamilton at Monza in 2021.
The halo head protection device has filtered all the way down the single-seater ladder to be incorporated into the design of the spec cars used in national-level series. Meanwhile, IndyCar adopted the aeroscreen concept for the 2020 season.
