The Incredible Evolution of Formula 1 Engines | Track Evolution

Welcome to a new series, Track Evolution, where we show the incredible innovation from F1 over the years. Showing how F1 engineering, cars and tracks have evolved.

We’re going to walk you through the engines from each decade of F1, as well as pick out the key innovations that have got us to today - where F1 has some of the most efficient engines on the planet.

So, how have F1 engines changed over the years? Which of them was the most powerful? And what breakthroughs have made it into today’s engines?

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The 1950s F1 cars used all sorts of engines, from custom-built inline 4s, to pre-war v8s. The only regulations were a limit on engine displacement, 4.5L if it were Naturally Aspirated and 1.5L if you fitted a supercharger.

They produced around 425 horsepower, meaning they produced 94 horsepower per litre. Oh, and keep an eye on that number throughout this video.

In 1954, they tightened restrictions and only allowed 2.5 litres, naturally aspirated engines - cutting power to 290 horsepower. However, the teams got creative with engine layouts - keeping efficiency comparatively high. [116HP/L]

These were some of the best years for variety in F1, if you looked through the grid, they were running inline 4s and 8s, V12s and 16s and even a huge V-twin!

However, all of them were incredibly heavy, meaning the cars produced huge understeer - forcing the drivers to neutralise this by mostly drifting around corners.

This was also the decade when F1 first used mid-mounted engines with the Cooper T43. This got rid of the massive understeer the front-mounted engines produced, as they placed the centre of gravity further back in the car - naturally creating a more oversteery balance.


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[Driver]

What do you think to the new series? I was blown away by that H16 engine!

[erikgranqvist]

The 1989 shift to natural aspirated engines made a huge discussion at school in my teens. Naturally, we kids were experts on F1 - and the teams knew nothing about cars. Oh - we were also experts at driving. That one went out the window the second anyone of us started to train for a driving license. Apparently a Volvo 740 or something like that are way harder to drive then we thought.

[CYMotorsport]

The iPad is the coolest thing I've seen in a while mate great integration

[BuilditUK]

The V10 engines of the 2000's were the best ever, the sound they made when they revved to 20k rpm was just stunning

[therickman]

1:47 pretty insane when you realize this is Eau-Rouge at Spa and 1:54 is Kemmel Straight

[crackedcookies]

This is turning into the channel that i hoped WTF1 would be

[PiPArtemis]

That clip of the Renault engine playing songs is what got me interested in cars as a kid. It was awe inspiring at the time and always brings a smile when I'm reminded of it. Thank you

[phoneuser]

I like the more technical format. I would like to see even more detail though.

[mohamedyasinarakkal]

1:36 First era to use Mid engine F1 cars
1:39 First mid engine F1 car
2:36 First Era that started using the engine as a stress member
2:44 First car to use engine as a stress member
3:39 Era where engine started to become flat
4:15 First Turbo F1 car and rye starting if the First Turbo era
4:43 Started to use water injection to cool the engine more evenly
4:51 Started to use toluene
5:03 Ramp up boost and replace the engine for the race
5:25 F1 becoming turbo free
5:46 First era to be slower than the last era
6:47 When F1 started using regulations to slow the cars down
6:52 Starting of the V10 era
7:12 Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) was introduced
7:29 Starting of the Modern F1 era

[MrHaha]

2:09 didn’t know they provide on-track shower for the driver lol

[MrInsanityflea]

Really miss the sound of the roaring v10's - So nostalgic

[raftermanhoward]

I have a huge amount of respect for the century of engineering that culminated in the 1000+ HP from a miniature engine we have today. Still, the more emotional part of my brain misses the larger displacement, amount of cylinders, and higher revs of times gone by.

[valtarg]

How many new series related to F1 do you want ?
Driver61 : yes

[liamcalpine]

I feel like the old times were more like marathons, where you could stop and have water splashed on you, crack a joke, and then carry on.

[zakvilanilam]

Nice video, but you glossed over the 2.4L non-KERS V8s from 2006-2008

[cololguythe]

This looks like the start to an amazing series!!! Awesome job!!!!

[andyelliott]

2009 KERS systems didn't take energy from the actual brakes to charge the batteries but from the crankshaft. When the car brakes a proportion of the rotational force is captured by a electric motor / generator (MGU) mounted at one end of the engines crankshaft. This MGU converts the kinetic energy into electrical energy which is then stored in batteries

[xs-b]

This channel keeps getting better and better! Hats off to you and the production staff.

[zachsteiner]

Yesss I have been dying for a video like this. I’ve wanted to learn more about all the different engines.

[serhiy]

AMAZING JOB! Very interesting.

Those interactions between MGUK, battery and engine during the lap and whole race is really interesting to dig deeper.