Analysis – Things teams need to manufacture on their own

While teams are constructors and build their cars on their own, the complex nature of Formula One cars and business models mean that they can source parts from third parties. F1Technical’s senior writer Balázs Szabó analyses the rules revolving around the design processes.

With the alliance between Red Bull and its sister team, the freshly-renamed Visa Cash App RB set to intensify from 2024, the scale of cooperation between teams has become a hot topic once again.

Haas and Ferrari introduced a new model in 2016 when the Kannapolis-based outfit joined the F1 grid eight years ago. The American squad established a very unique model which saw the team build on different locations. The team is headquartered in Kannapolis, the U.S., but its has a factory in Banbury, England while the chassis is built in Italy by Dallara. However, three years ago, Haas F1 Team established a new Design Office in Ferrari’s Maranello-based factory, bringing the cooperation of the two teams a step higher.

Elsewhere, Red Bull have never established a cooperation between their two teams – Red Bull and Toro Rosso / AlphaTauri / Visa Cash App RB – in such an extent that Ferrari and Haas have built up over the years. However, things appear to change for the foreseeable future.

Following the tragic death of Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz, the existence of the energy drink company’s teams has become uncertain. It has been rumoured that Red Bull might sell its sister team, but ultimately they opted to keep the Faenza-based outfit for now, albeit in a new identity. The former Toro Rosso team has been renamed as Visa Cash App RB, its 2024 F1 car, the VCARB 01 sports a colour scheme that is reminiscent of the Toro Rosso liveries between 2017 and 2019.

Expanding on the close alliance between Red Bull and Visa Cash App RB, new Team Principal Laurent Mekies said: “We’ve had two headquarters for a long time – Faenza and Bicester. The departments in Bicester (where aerodynamics is based, along with some design functions) will move to new facilities in Milton Keynes.

“Historically, it’s always been a disadvantage to have two headquarters. But we are in 2024, the world has changed massively. The way people interact is also changing. We want to make it work. We want to make our company a location-free company.

With four of the current ten F1 teams involved in close association, F1Technical’s Balázs Szabó takes a look at how F1 restricts the exchange of intellectual property between outfits.

FIA’s Technical Regulation for the 2024 F1 Championship includes strict rules governing what teams can build themselves and what they can buy or share with others. The regulation book differentiates four categories: listed team components, transferrable components, standard supply components and open source components.

Listed Team Components are components whose design, manufacture and Intellectual Property is owned and/or controlled by a single Competitor or its agents on an exclusive basis. It means that teams have to build these parts on their own, and have to be able to present every phase of the design process, showing that the part has been designed in-house.

• Survival cell and primary roll structure
• Front impact structure
• Aerodynamic components (unless otherwise specified)
• Plank assembly
• Wheel drum and drum deflector
• Fuel bladder
• SECU team applications
• Primary heat exchangers
• Fuel tank sensor

Transferable Components are components whose design, manufacture and Intellectual Property resides within a single Supplying Competitor, or third party, but can be supplied to another Customer Competitor. This group includes all the parts that teams can share with those rival teams that they aim to work with. It can refer to such alliances that Haas and Ferrari or Red Bull and Visa Cash App RB have established, but it can also lead to transfer of parts between engine supplier and customer teams.

• Rear impact structure
• Gearbox carrier
• Gearbox cassette
• Clutch
• Clutch actuation system
• Clutch shaft
• Gearbox internals
• Gearbox auxiliary components (oil system, reverse gear, etc.)
• Inboard front suspension
• Front suspension members
• Front upright assembly (excluding axles, bearings, nuts & retention system)
• Front axles (inboard of the contact surface with the wheel spacer) and bearings
• Inboard rear suspension
• Rear suspension members
• Rear upright assembly (excluding axles, bearings, nuts & retention system)
• Rear axles (inboard of the contact surface with the wheel spacer) and bearings
• Power-assisted steering
• Fuel system components not listed as OSC or SSC or LTC
• Hydraulic pump and accumulator
• Hydraulic manifold sensors and control valves
• Pipes between hydraulic pump, hydraulic manifold & gearbox or engine actuators
• Secondary heat exchanger (in oil and coolant system)
• Power unit mountings to gearbox and survival cell
• Exhaust system beyond turbine and wastegate exits (covered by PU rules)
• Electrical looms

Standard Supply Components are components whose design and manufacture will be carried out by a supplier appointed by the FIA, to be supplied on an identical technical and commercial basis to each competitor. While many racing series, including Formula E or Indycar, use many standard supply components, the DNA of Formula One dictates that teams should remain constructors and build the majority of their cars on their own.

• Wheel covers
• Clutch shaft torque
• Wheel rims
• Tyre pressure sensor (TPMS)
• Tyres
• Fuel system primer pumps, and flexible pipes and hoses
• Power unit energy store current/voltage sensor
• Fuel flow meter
• Power unit pressure and temperature sensors
• High-pressure fuel pump
• Car to team telemetry
• Driver radio
• Accident data recorder (ADR)
• High-speed camera
• In-ear accelerometer
• Biometric gloves
• Marshalling system
• Timing transponders
• TV cameras
• Wheel display panel
• Standard ECU
• Standard ECU FIA applications
• Rear lights

Open Source Components are components whose Design Specification and Intellectual Property is made available to all competitors. For all OSC in use by all competitors, the Design Specification must reside on a designated server specified by the FIA, and be accessible by all teams.

• Front floor structure
• Pedals
• Rear wing adjuster (DRS)
• Driveshaft
• Front axles (outboard of the contact surface with the wheel spacer), nuts & retention system
• Rear axles (outboard of the contact surface with the wheel spacer), nuts and retention system
• Steering column
• Steering wheel and quick release
• Brake disc, disc bell, and pad assembly
• Brake calipers
• Rear brake control system (brake by wire)
• Brake master cylinder
• Fuel system
• Fuel collector
• Fuel system hydraulic layout
• Fire extinguishers
• Water drink system