The most CONTROVERSIAL car designs in Formula 1 history
Unless you look really closely the only obvious difference between the cars on the grid nowadays is the livery. However, over the years there have been some bizarre, brilliant, and sometimes questionable innovations on cars as the teams look to gain an advantage. So we thought we’d look at the most controversial Formula 1 car designs in history!
Dual Axis Steering
We’ll start with a recent design as we head over to the geniuses at Mercedes, who in 2020 caused a stir with their dual axis steering system. The DAS system allows the driver to change the toe of the front wheels by pushing and pulling on the steering wheel. Pulling the steering wheel towards the driver straightens the front wheels ('toe-in'), and pushing it away from the driver reverts back to the 'toe-out' position. It made its first appearance during the 2020 pre-season testing in Barcelona and immediately had people questioning its legality. Had Mercedes pulled another blinder or were they cheating? In the end it was somewhere in the middle. Mercedes were allowed to run the system in 2020 but it was banned for 2021. Had it not been used in such a topsy turvey season it may have been a far bigger talking point, but in the end it got crowded out by everything else
The Tyrrell P34
I am not related to Ken Tyrrell, but my namesake is responsible for arguarbly the wackiest car design in F1 history. The Tyrrell P34 was the brainchild of Tyrrell’s chief designer Derek Gardner. For those of you who don’t already know about it THE P34 it actually had six wheels, which is weird enough for normal road vehicles let alone a Formula 1 race car. Remarkably Jody Scheckter and Patrick Depailler drove the car to third in the standings in 1976, with the former even picking up a win at the Swedish Grand Prix and Depailler finishing second. However, the South African was far. Scheckter would leave replaced by Ronnie Pietersen but the 1977 version, the P34B couldn't live up to its predecessor with it being too heavy. Scheckter would go on to win the 1979 Drivers’ Championship whilst six wheel cars were never to be seen on the grid again and the Formula 1 regulations now state cars must have a maximum of four wheels.
The Fan Car
Next up we have the Brabham BT46 AKA the Fan Car. The fan car caught the attention of the Formula 1 world just a year after the P34B last appeared. The car was all about ground effect which is a series of effects, as per the name, which are aimed at increasing downforce, which we know is so important in Formula 1. Lotus already had the jump on teams with their Type 78, but despite its speed, it lacked reliability.
Brabham launched the fan car at the Swedish Grand Prix but it was met with nothing but controversy. Mario Andretti said: "It is like a bloody great vacuum cleaner. It throws muck and rubbish at you at a hell of a rate.” And Andretti’s mood didn’t get any better in the race. The fan cars of Niki Lauda and John Watson qualified second and third respectively, behind championship leader Andretti. Watson would spin out on lap 19, but when Didier Pironi dropped oil onto the track, Lauda’s Brabham was somehow unaffected by the slippy surface. Lauda went around the outside of Andretti and won the race by over half a minute.
More controversy was to follow, as the teams then threatened to withdraw their support for Bernie Ecclestone unless he withdrew the car. At the time he was the president of the Formula One Constructors Association as well as the owner of the Brabham team but the car was eventually banned and it was never seen in F1 again.
