What are Formula 1 cars made of?

Answer 1

A modern Formula One car is a single-seat, open cockpit, open wheel race car with substantial front and rear wings, and engine positioned behind the driver. The regulations governing the cars are unique to the championship. The Formula One regulations specify that cars must be constructed by the racing teams themselves. An F1 car can be no more than 180 cm wide. Though there is no maximum length or height, other rules set indirect limits on these dimensions, and nearly every aspect of the car carries size regulations; consequently the various cars tend to be very close to the same size. The car must only have four wheels mounted externally of the body work with only the front two steered and only the back two driven. There are minimum distances allowed between the wheels and the rear and front body work. The main chassis contains a "safety cell" which includes the cockpit, a structure designed to reduce impact directly in front of the cockpit, and the fuel tank directly behind the cockpit. Additionally, the car must contain roll structures behind and ahead of the driver. The driver must be able to enter and exit the cockpit without any adjustments other than removing the steering wheel. Onboard electrical and computer systems, once inspected at the start of the season, may not be changed without prior approval. Electronic starters and launch control are forbidden. The computers, which must contain a telemetric accident data reporting system, run a modified version of BSD.

Answer 2

Racing cars used to be made of the same sort of materials as road cars, that is steel, aluminum and other metals. In the early 1980s, however, Formula 1 underwent the beginnings of a revolution that has become its hallmark today: the use of carbon composite materials to build the chassis. Today, most of the racing car chassis - the monocoque, suspension, wings and engine cover - is built with carbon fiber. This material has four advantages over every other kind of material for racing car construction:

* It is super lightweight. * It is super strong. * It is super stiff. * It it can be easily molded into all kinds of different shapes. Once the material is cut out from the cloth-like roll, it is taken to a design room and placed into molds. The position of the cloth within the mold is important, as it affects the strength of the final component. Many of the carbon fiber components are built with a light aluminum honeycomb interior, around which the cloth is wrapped, to strengthen the final component. * http://formula1.about.com/od/car1/a/carbon_fiber.htm

I think its just wooden planks