How to Build an F1 Gearbox (and How it Shifts) | F1 Engineering
In this video, I put together an F1 gearbox to show you how to build a Formula One gearbox and a little bit about how it works.
I used to work on race cars many years ago, but it's been a while since I worked on any part of any car, let alone a Formula One car gearbox - as you can probably see in this video.
Anyway, it was a lot of fun to take this apart and see what's inside.
Thanks to Mansell Motorsport for allowing me to take this apart (and for them to put it back together!)
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You need to cut ignition at gear changes?
Driver61 when you see it broken down, it’s easy to comprehend the process and how it works...but what totally amazes me is; how in the hell did they come up with it...Aliens I say!? I mean I know it’s not aliens and sequential trans used in modern cars today is from evolution going back to the late 1800’s and really hasn’t changed much...though it’s interesting to note a Canadian produced the first automatic trans. Like everything we have or use today, someone had to think of the idea in the first place...and I know we give credit to the engineers of today, taking for granted, those who actually got us here in the first place.
I've got a question: why is there a disengaged gear at the left of the first gear? Is there any purpose?
Can that shifter drum rotate by a stepper motor?
Great video! Very insightful.Is their a video on the steering wheel function, what they do, why they do it, difference between racing teams steering wheels and evolution of the steering wheels from the 80's onwards. Thanks
Fascinating how they manage to engineer such a complex and robust machine from minimal parts and with minimal weight. An engineering teacher once told me... _”its easy to solve todays problem with a million modern parts. But if you want to be an engineer that can design something that will really work and then last, _*_requires_*_ that _*_you_*_ work to make it simple.”_ F1 is the embodiment of that philosophy.
Straight cut gears. Noisey but strong. Dog clutches, no synchromesh, so you can slam them in hard and fast! I love the ease of ratio changes. Brilliant !!
Now explain why it costs the same as the GDP of the Sudan.
Two letters R&D. :)
I guess ... Sudan should make more gearboxes for f1 ...
Because F1 is over priced in any way, like there is no other race car's who has gearboxes like this, in fact this is a weak gearbox, if you would put this gearbox in a rallycross car it couldn't hold more then 20 short laps
@@aldish25 a rallycross gearbox weighs twice as much and doubles the size of a formula 1 gearbox. Its not overpriced, developing and building at that level cost lots of time and special materials and machinery, and that's meanings money. Lots of it.
@@aldish25 Dumbest statement ever. Its like saying my street car's gearbox can last 200000 km without an oil change, but a rallycross gearbox can't.
I am watching this attentively like I am actually going to build a formula 1 gearbox😂😂
Not the only one😂
Ikr!
It is essentially a gearbox off a dirtbike
Gear ratios are picked by the teams ahead of the season, and they have to run those ratios the entire year. So no more changing them out for each track, used to be like that tho. Think it changed in 2014 or something.
been a fan of motor racing but never really knew how gearboxes work. Now I know. Great video showing how well engineered parts are especially in Formula 1
How about working of a F1 clutch system, that should be fascinating to see
Seconded. I'd also love to see suspension/steering
Not sure how F1 transmissions work, but I think true sequential gearbox use dog clutch, which doesn't need a regular clutch.
truly amazes me the technology and precision that goes into an F1 car!! its a beautiful thing watching you show it in operation. I could watch stuff like this all day!
I'm really into how things work and this video helped me to understand how an F1 gearbox works and how simple the shifting process is. Thanks for the video
Absolutely wow, I love watching these vids, there’s something about it & I find all the components fascinating
It's fascinating, beautiful! I've been rewatching it just for the love of it
How perfect this parts sit on each other. I nearly feel the metal and the light oil film on my fingers just... from seeing.
I've not yet seen a better explained mechanical engineering video. Simply great!
OK ! Just saw this vid pop up, put it on pause, get some snacks throw on the pajamas and ready myself for engineering joy! So glad your going deeper into this, that gear change mech is just vunderlust!
Very informative, thank you! I'd love to learn more about the suspension, roll bars, 3rd suspension etc.
Beautiful piece of engineering. Your way of explaining the details was equally beautiful😀
Oh my goodness.. this is Sooo COOL!.. I've always wondered about shifting etc so I totally appreciate you taking the time to put one of these together.. Absolutely Fascinating!
Great to see these components up close.
Awesome video series, never got my head round how all this stuff works but it all just slotted into place after watching these videos. Cheers
Just the tutorial I needed. Thanks!
Fantastic! Thank you. Always wanted to know the mechanics of a sequential gearbox!
DAMN! again! That was incredible! I want to see everything! Thanks for your channel!
Thank you very much for doing this, Im in love with F1 tech thanks to you haha. As for the gearbox - it's fascinating how something so sophisticated is so simple and elegant in the way they work. Love that detailed narrative, You got a new fan and subscriber 👊
That barrel cam is awesome!
I just Nerded out Bro! Great video! I love boxes and power units!
again a very informative video, thankyou!
Beautiful piece of machining and engineering
I finally understand how a gearbox works. Great vid.
Finally, I've been wanting to build one for ages.
Really thanks. I was looking up for this quite some time. Especially to check how the changer works.
thank you! i'm loving your channel, it's awesome!
Thanks for the video! It's rare to find such a perfect representation of something I've been interested into for a long time. As far as the gearbox shifting mechanism goes you've left no questions unanswered. As a next video I'd like to see the F1 pneumatic valve operation, if that's possible.
4 years late. But this is awesome. The gearbox's components alone are beautiful and fantastic.
Very interesting explanation of this gearbox. Thanks
This video I will never forget it has revealed the deeper secretes hidden behind an F1 frame. Thank you very much I really learnt a lot.
Great tutorial, finally I can get My F1 gearbox assemblied again 🇩🇰
Best video about gear box in all KZhead Thanks
That's exactly what I wanted to see... Bravo!
Great video and this is the first video on KZhead that gave exact view and info about sequential f1 gear box. I want to see the working of the cooling system in f1 car Thank you for giving us this technical information
Nice job man! Thank you for the video!
Another great video! Seeing how similar the Jordan and the Benetton gearboxes were, I understand why there's the idea of making them a spec part to reduce costs.
Very clear explanation and good efforts. Congrats! keep it up the good work.
Thanks for the video, really curious about how it work. Hope u can do another video like this one!! 😁🤗
Major props for making this based on our comments.
Another really interesting video! Cheers, much appreciated. 👍👍
Excellent explanation, thanks.
Great video! Awesome work man! 👊
That barrel is a work of art.
Amazing Video, thanks for this informations
This is so fascinating. Thank u
I thought I had it all figured out till the selector forks started shifting. Great vid. Thanks.
You are great !!Super.. can you please explain how it works from the paddle shifter to the pneumatic piston whitch moves the selector cilinder..??? Electric and pneumatic impiant. That should be Amazing!! Thanks
Congratulations....Excellent explanation...!
Wow, thank you very much for your videos. I m doing final exams and i want to make a sequentional gearbox to the car that i m working on. :)
Tks very much , to share this video! I really enjoy it
Cunning! Cheers Scott I now understand some more of the "beautiful engineering"
Beautiful!!! Thank you!!!
Just like motorcycle gearbox, pretty much identical! Great videos by the way.
Tommi Dahlberg Yes Tommi reminded me of my old Suzuki super 6, I was inside that box every month without fail!
Amazing video, men, awesome!!!!
That's like a Motorcycle Gearbox! 😯 I did not know that the F1 cars use the same kind.🤔 In modern Bikes with Qichshifter and Autobliper, to do clutchless shifting, changing gears ar a hell of a lot of fun! 😁
Inspiring engineering. Especially the grooved channels perfectly aligning to make six decisions in one dimension. I thought it was a planetary gear system like in automatics. How dumb was I?
Hi and thanks for the video. Since you are covering some retro F1 cars, could you please explain and maybe demonstrate how the active suspension from the 90's works?
Same thought here!...
Yes, same concept except that motorcycles don't have gear hubs and dog rings to do the changing but instead have the dogs directly on one side of the gear and move the whole gear on the shaft to change gears. When the dogs wear out with a dog ring you just replace it instead of the whole gear and the same goes for changing ratios as you only change the gear. The motorcycle system works very well but when you get into race transmissions for cars (G-Force, Liberty, Hewland, etc.), gear hubs and shift rings are a must.
@@phillipmcintosh6489 can you explain why shift rings are necessary for racing applications?
whos the genius that came up with this gearbox system, especially that part that moves the selector forks, that is bloody brilliant
Thank you so much mate
Amazing video for an engineering student aspiring to get into F1, very insightful ! What about reverse? Does it engage through a different mechanism ?
i thought f1 cars don't have a reverse gear at all.
Reverse is the 'skinny' gear to the left of first gear, the selector barrel will be in neutral position, and there will another 'cog' to enable to car drive in reverse, actuated by a different mechanism yes, usually why it always seems to take a long time for a driver to engage reverse gear in a sequential 'box car.
@@GTiR23 thanks !
Just stumbled across this guy. His channels pretty good.
Such an AMAZING video!!!!!!
Great video bro
Dat straight cut.
Absolutely brilliant thanks for a in depth f1 box,l would really like to see inside an f1 engine......
Great vid.
So Beautiful!
TY good job, nice video !
That is actually easier engineered than a normal car gearbox, impressive!
ACommonFerrariFan Gotta Be quick, strong, and *just* reliable enough to do 300 km. Ease of use? Nah. Although, I wouldn’t exactly complain if my daily driver had one of these 😏
though doing 300 Km with racing levels of abuse would likely translate to more like 300,000 Km for a responsible daily. I too, would not complain to have a sequential gearbox in a daily. Though I think I still prefer my H shifting manual.
Well it is simpler, but it also whines like mad with straight cut gears, the dogs will chatter like mad when coasting and you're forced to go up and down every gear individually.
@@reaganharder1480 There are H-shifting dog-boxes aswell, but no sequential synchro boxes afaik. Great for clutchless shifting, but you can't ever go easy on them if you want any sort of durability... Every shift has to be hard and precise, too slow or sloppy and you likely will damage the dog teeth and need a rebuild very soon.
great video
Fascinating
Thank you!
Super video 💥💥💥💥💥salute your hard work Sir 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏😎
Cool that F1 gearboxes (At least of that era) work so similarly to motorcycle ones. The gearbox on my old motocross bike looked extremely similar.
Were mx bike gears in order 1-6 on the shaft? It's been twenty five years ago.. I vaguely remember some street bikes were not in order. I could be wrong.
Nice Video! I'm curious on how the new F1 gearbox design compares to the designs of what you have shown in this video. I'm pretty sure they are much more complicated in design and function of the 6 speed gearbox of yesteryear.
They're actually pretty much identical, they haven't changed for years. Atleast not Red bull and a few of the other big teams.
Carbon fiber housings, if legal.
a perfect video
Thank you
So they achieve a remarkable level of simplicity by removing the ability to shift from say 1st to 3rd directly. That's pretty cool. Clutch only used for getting the vehicle moving. I helped my mechanic friend a tiny bit rebuilding my 5-speed Steptronic transmission. 200 little parts with rings and gears and more rings and clutch packs and this shaft and that shaft... I can pop sport mode on, (I've been driving old used cars for so long that many things that have been standard for years are still kinda' new to me), sport mode, switch gears myself and the computer won't let me fuck up, I think it's truly a testament to auto engineers everywhere that a transmission that handles nearly ten times the horsepower and almost four times the RPM's as my car, and it's significantly simpler to understand. Love the cam that drives the forks thru each gear in turn, simply fascinating what you can do with some levers and the proper fulcrums...
Now I want to see how that reverse works.
An excellent series on this type of gearbox. Question: How is reverse engaged? If you have not already done so, could you do a video on a synchromesh gearbox. Thanks.
Thank you so much bud I enjoyed this video and now I think I know a lot of kinds of stuff about F1 gearbox, could you make a video about why the engine would be damaged if the driver was stuck in a certain gear?
Echo this. I would be interested in common failure modes of F1 gearboxes.
I'm wondering about it too. I heard the race engineer mostly ask F1 driver to not to shift/change gear when engine failure happen.
the next that at least i would like to see is the engine. specificly cylinder head and pistons :) thanks for your video:)
Good channel! Subscribed👌
Hey man, amazing! Now I'm curious to understand how reverse works... It doesn't seem to have a selectr for it an I don't understand how it actually reverses the shaft rotation... how does it work?
Thanks, I was building a Formula 1 car in my backyard and was wondering how to build the gearbox.
Good video
Awesome video! Really interesting to see it working. I wonder how bad the wear is on the selectors. How do the selector disks connect to the driveshaft? How can the selector disk always be in the right place without being damaged badly? I mean, drivers shift a lot and don’t want to repair the gearbox every other race. If the disks just use small metal studs, won’t they just be damaged really fast?
Brilliantly simple gear box! What material are the gears made from? M400?
Great vid ,thanks . How about a 7 speed dual clutch trans. thanks agin
The timing of that barrel is incredibly important. It is timed such that the dog ring on one gear is just barely out of one gear before it moves the other dog ring. In some transmissions, it has 2 gears selected at once for a very small amount of time.
Like a motorbycle gearbox 😍
Great video and explanation. Are you able to show same with a “dual cluttch” g-box ?
I had watched the other video, interesting. But I really appreciate the up close look at the parts. what is the most common failure mode on one of these?
Pretty much the same as a constant mesh motorcycle gear box.
In concept, near identical, gains reverse and and a bevel gear on the output shaft because not chain driven. In terms of detail design its full of optimisations.
But this has a slight problem while down shifting. To counter this, the drivers has to execute a REV MATCHING technique. It's also called Double De-clutching.
@@venkatpuneeth I never had that problem on a motorcycle and with practice could make clutchless changes in both directions.
@@bulwinkle Well that's what the early F1 drivers used to do in the paddle-shift-less era, Rev Matching. Sorry, I don't know about motorcycles, i too never rev matched in my motorcycle, what you said is also a good point, have to look into that, thanks.
@@venkatpuneeth Racers even use an electronic mechanical system called a quick changer to effect clutchless changing.