A full-scale Formula 1 car unlike anything that will compete on track is set to make its debut in Monza during the 2026 Italian Grand Prix weekend. Created by Formula Aut, the 1:1 model has no engine and no carbon-fibre bodywork, but instead has been painstakingly constructed from recovered paper, posters, cardboard and glue.
The project brings together motorsport-inspired design, craftsmanship and inclusion. Ten autistic young people worked on the car alongside artists, volunteers, a design prototyper and two architects, transforming materials that would normally be discarded into a life-size representation of a modern Formula 1 machine.
The finished creation will be displayed in Piazza Duomo in Monza as the city welcomes Formula 1 for one of the biggest weekends of the year. Its official presentation is scheduled for Thursday, September 3, before the Grand Prix weekend gets under way. Interest around Monza is already particularly strong, with Sunday tickets for the 2026 Italian Grand Prix already sold out.
Formula Aut builds a full-scale papier-mâché F1 car
The Formula Aut project was developed inside the Facciavista art workshop in Seregno and required months of manual work. Rather than using the advanced composites and highly specialised manufacturing techniques associated with Formula 1, the group relied on simple materials and a gradual process of layering and shaping paper and cardboard.
Despite that unconventional construction method, the finished model recreates the familiar proportions and key visual features of an F1 car. The nose, sidepods, wings and aerodynamic elements have all been represented, producing an object that is immediately recognisable as a Formula 1 machine despite being created through traditional craft techniques.
That contrast is central to the project. Formula 1 normally represents cutting-edge engineering, advanced materials and relentless technological development. Formula Aut approaches the same shape from the opposite direction, using paper, creativity and hand-built construction to produce something intended to communicate a broader message about collaboration and inclusion.
Ten autistic young people at the centre of the project
The car itself is only part of the story. The ten autistic young people involved in the Facciavista workshop played a central role throughout its construction, with the work requiring patience, precision and cooperation as each section gradually took shape.
The process also mirrors one of Formula 1’s defining characteristics: no racing car is created by one person alone. Different specialists contribute their individual skills towards a shared objective, and Formula Aut followed a similar principle by bringing together the young participants with artists, volunteers and technical professionals.
That team element gives the display particular relevance during the 2026 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix weekend, when Monza will be filled with some of the most technically advanced racing cars in the world. Away from the circuit, Formula Aut offers a deliberately different interpretation of what an F1 car can represent.
A Formula 1 car without an engine but with a different purpose
Formula Aut will never have to produce a qualifying lap or chase thousandths of a second. Its connection with speed is instead symbolic: an ambitious idea that initially appears difficult can become a finished reality when people combine their abilities and work towards the same goal.
The absence of an engine is therefore part of the contrast rather than a limitation. The project replaces mechanical performance with art, creativity, inclusion and courage, allowing a familiar Formula 1 shape to carry a message that has little to do with outright speed.
Its arrival will also add another attraction to a Monza weekend already carrying particular significance for Ferrari supporters. The Scuderia is preparing a special red, black and gold SF-26 livery for its home Grand Prix, while Formula Aut will provide a completely different interpretation of an F1 car in the heart of the city.
When the model is formally presented on Thursday, September 3, it will stand as the result of months of collective work by people with very different skills. It may never turn a wheel in competition, but the Formula Aut project demonstrates how the imagery of Formula 1 can be used beyond racing to express teamwork, possibility and inclusion.
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