Ultra-white radiative cooling paints

[MIKEY_!]

Something I stumbled across recently (although it is not a new field of research) is passive radiative "self-cooling" cooling paints. These paints work by using particles within the paint (e.g. barium sulfate) that reflect UV, infrared and visible light, and also give off mid-infrared light when heated.

Has this technology been used in F1 previously? It seems to me these paints could have a lot of potential in F1.

• The simplest option would be to paint the hot parts of the sidepod and engine cover, although surface cooling is supposed to be banned, I think paint might be a grey area. At the very least, it would be hard to detect this kind of cheating because the surface of the paint would be cooler to the touch than the surrounding bodywork.

• Another option could be to paint the radiator cores themselves. This would radiate mid-infrared inside the sidepod, so would presumably heat the sidepod bodywork and other car internals. This might require more paint or heat shielding on some components. The regulations specify cores must be made of aluminum but don't say anything about coatings.

I assume these cooling paints are heavier than typical F1 paint (and much heavier than the bare carbon we are seeing so much of this year) so the greater weight of the paint would have to be offset by slightly smaller (lighter) radiators and reduced drag. I don't know if the trade-off would be worth it.

Some examples of this technology:
https://www.parc.com/technologies/self-cooling-paint/
https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/release ... ally..html