Tech specs?

[Captain Chaos]

Do all F1 cars have the exact same technical specifications? Or is that not mandatory?

[SGWilko]

They are given a set of technical regulations, which the designers have to conform to. More grey areas than a black and white TV set though.......

[Captain Chaos]

They are given a set of technical regulations, which the designers have to conform to. More grey areas than a black and white TV set though.......

But are they all the same in terms of performance? Do they have their own individual engines?

[Mark]

No they are most certainly not the same. There are several different engine manufacturers.

[Nem14]

F1 is a spec series. But, each team builds it's own cars o conform with those specs.

Each engine brand is the same size and has to conform to the same set of specifications.

Here you go, the Technical Regulations:
Formula 1® - The Official F1® Website

And here are the Sporting Regulations:
Formula 1® - The Official F1® Website

[steveaki13]

Have I heard someone put it "They have a box to design a car in and as long as the car stays in the box its fine

That I suppose only refers to aero but it gives you an idea

[Jag_Warrior]

To make a rough comparison to other series, F1 mandates that each team *must* build its own chassis. And as has been stated, each chassis must conform to the current regulations and specifications. In NASCAR, teams can build their own chassis or they buy a chassis. In fact, they can buy/lease an entire car/engine package for a race weekend or season if they want to. In the IRL/Indy Car, teams may not buy a chassis from anyone other than Dallara. They can buy a used Dallara from another team, but it still must be a "stock"/spec Dallara - much like in GP2. And if they start out with a Brand X engine, they must stick with that maker for some defined period of time... a season, I'm thinking. In racing circles, when people speak of a "spec series", that's usually what they are referring to. All series have specs. But some have almost complete control over where almost all the parts come from - like with F1 and Pirelli tires. There are no major "formula libre" series running these days, that I'm aware of.

As far as engines, I assume that if a team had the resources and wanted to build its own engines, it could. Just as Ferrari and Mercedes do. I have no idea if F1 has minimum supply limits, in case other teams would like to lease engines though. You used to see various steps or versions of engines being leased... customer engines vs. factory engines. I believe that practice has now been banned.

[Mark]

Have I heard someone put it "They have a box to design a car in and as long as the car stays in the box its fine

That I suppose only refers to aero but it gives you an idea

Not really, that's a suggestion that people who want to see no regulations except dimensions of a box. In reality F1 is pretty tightly regulated.

[markabilly]

Not really, that's a suggestion that people who want to see no regulations except dimensions of a box. In reality F1 is pretty tightly regulated.

when he said "box" ,I think he meant the design parameters of the rules--like the rear diffusers being limited, the size and position of the rear wing, amount of fuel, the DRS, the other components, et, al. Hence the designer is "boxed" in by the regulations as to what he can do. However, ever so often, someone "thinks outside the box", and tries to gain an advantage while claiming it is inside the box--ie not banned by the regulations

[Mark]

when he said "box" ,I think he meant the design parameters of the rules--like the rear diffusers being limited, the size and position of the rear wing, amount of fuel, the DRS, the other components, et, al. Hence the designer is "boxed" in by the regulations as to what he can do. However, ever so often, someone "thinks outside the box", and tries to gain an advantage while claiming it is inside the box--ie not banned by the regulations

Yes, but there are also areas of the design which are indeed governed by boxes. e.g No aero features outside this boxed area defined by x y z.