Safety features on the car
An F1 car is built to protect its driver in crashes at very high speed. The driver sits inside a carbon-fibre survival cell, with a titanium halo over their head, and the parts around them are designed to crumple and absorb energy so the cell doesn't have to. Before a new car can race, it has to pass a set of crash tests run by the FIA.
The survival cell
The survival cell (or monocoque) is the tub the driver sits in. It's made from layers of carbon fibre and has to be extremely stiff and strong. Panels made of Zylon, a fibre used in bulletproof vests, are built into its sides to stop sharp debris or another car's nose from breaking through.
The fuel tank sits inside the cell, directly behind the driver. It's a flexible bag made of puncture-resistant material, so it deforms in a crash rather than splitting.
The halo
The halo is the curved titanium bar that surrounds the cockpit opening. It became compulsory in 2018 to protect drivers' heads from flying wheels, debris and other cars. It can carry loads equal to the weight of a double-decker bus.
Plenty of people disliked how it looked at first. Opinion changed quickly once it started saving drivers. The best-known example is Romain Grosjean's crash in Bahrain in 2020, when his car went through a metal barrier and caught fire. The halo pushed the barrier apart and kept it away from his head, and he climbed out of the flames with burns to his hands.
Crash structures and tests
The nose, the sides and the back of the car have crash structures designed to absorb energy in a controlled way. Every new chassis must pass FIA tests, which include:
- front, side and rear impact tests, where the structure is crashed into a barrier
- static load tests, where force is applied to the cell and roll structures to check they don't break or bend too far
- a test of the halo
The roll hoop above the driver's head protects them if the car turns over.
What changed in 2026
The 2026 rules made several of these tougher:
- The roll hoop must withstand a load of 20g in testing, up from 16g. This followed Zhou Guanyu's crash at Silverstone in 2022, when the roll hoop on his car failed as it slid upside down.
- The nose now has a two-stage design. In a big impact the first part breaks away, and a second section stays on the car to absorb energy if there's another impact straight after.
- Side protection around the driver and fuel tank was strengthened.
Keeping the wheels on
Each wheel is attached to the car by high-strength tethers as well as the suspension. If the suspension breaks in a crash, the tethers stop the wheel flying off into the crowd, a marshal or another driver.
Lights and electrical warnings
Every car has a bright rear light on the back of the car. It flashes in wet conditions so following drivers can see the car through the spray, and it also flashes when a car is harvesting energy and slowing down unexpectedly.
The 2026 cars added lights on the sides, mounted on the mirrors, which come on when a car is moving very slowly or has stopped. They make a stationary car easier to see from the side and front.
Because of the high-voltage battery, every car also has warning lights that show whether its electrical system is safe. Marshals are trained not to touch a car unless those lights say it's safe, or unless they're wearing protective gloves.
Recording what happens
Each car carries an accident data recorder, a bit like an aircraft's black box, and a high-speed camera pointed at the driver. After any big crash, the FIA uses the data to understand what happened to the car and the driver's body, and that research feeds into future safety rules.
The driver's own safety gear, including the helmet, HANS device and fireproof overalls, is covered on driver safety gear.