Beginner’s guide to F1 suspension

How have F1 suspension systems evolved over the years?

The challenge of suspension has been broadly constant for the last twenty years. Ever since aerodynamics became an essential part of F1 design, the challenge has been to produce a system that can support the aerodynamic platform of the car (i.e. allow the car to generate downforce) and yet also allow it to pass smoothly over the bumps and undulations on the ground. Those two things are pulling in almost diametrically opposite directions and so the design of F1 suspension is an extremely tricky compromise.

What material is suspension made from?

It depends what part of the suspension you are referring to because it’s a big and complicated system. However, the most visible parts, such as the wishbones that fix the wheel to the car, are made from carbon fibre. In the past they were made from steel, but around 15 or 16 years ago they started being made from carbon fibre. The inboard parts of the suspension, such as the springs and dampers, which are underneath the bodywork, are made from various materials including steel, aluminium, titanium, rubber and all sorts of stuff.

What is the lifecycle of a suspension system?

It varies from team to team, but if we think of the suspension as the whole corner of the car, such as the front tight, we would expect each corner to last for two race weekends before it came off to be serviced. When it does come off the car, it is sent back to the factory, stripped down, proof-load checked and so on. The underlying structural parts of the suspension will probably last around half a season, providing they are serviced in this way after every couple of races

What is the simplest way of thinking about suspension?

What we’re trying to do is create a suspension that supports the aerodynamic platform of the car and minimises the disturbances caused by the bumps on the road. By minimise we mean keeping the variation of force between the tyre and the ground to a minimum.

A nice analogy is to think of yourself hanging off the side of a cliff by your fingernails. In such a situation you could just about support your own bodyweight and maybe even the weight of a baby on your back. But if the baby started bouncing up and down, it would soon tear you off the cliff face. It’s a similar situation when an F1 car is cornering because the tyre is only just hanging on to the road, and if there is a variation of force (like the bouncing baby) it will tear the car off the surface of the road. That’s why the design of the suspension is aimed at keeping that force variation to a minimum to keep the car fixed to the racetrack.

From RenaultF1.com blog