After 365 days of life and 22 Grand Prix events, we can say that the life of Formula 1 single-seaters that took part in the 2021 championship has finally run out. With the start of the new year, the time has come to put to sleep the four-wheeled jewels that have battled on circuits around the world in the past season. But what happens to the Formula 1 single-seaters when the championship ends?
They do not have the fate of Japanese amulets sold as charms and are not disassembled, piece by piece, and recycled in who knows which foundry. But there are some more interesting options.
TO THE MUSEUM
Once the season has ended, except for Alpine, Ferrari and Mercedes, the other teams must return the engines, gearbox and other “rented” parts of the car to their suppliers. These cars, reduced to just the chassis, will find a new life in museums for example. Although some of the most prestigious McLarens, for example, can be seen on display in the boulevard of the McLaren Technology Center, most of the cars that came out of the Woking factory end up in Unit 2 Top Secret, a huge warehouse, containing about fifty to seventy-five cars that took part in the Formula 1 championship, including those driven by Alain Prost and Lewis Hamilton.
In 2012, Sauber devised an innovative way to show enthusiasts exactly how their cars work. How? They divided the BMW-Sauber F1.08 in half thus allowing fans to see with their own eyes, and better understand, what happens inside a Formula 1 car and how compact all the mechanical parts that give life to the car are.
DEMO AROUND THE WORLD
There is nothing like a Formula 1 car that grabs attention. Whether it is that of an enthusiast but also of a much humbler observer. There are several teams that use their cars from past years to perform demos for the public. Despite the updated liveries in recent seasons, these cars are generally powered by V8 engines, which are louder and more impactful than the current ones.
On the occasion of the first Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Red Bull took the 2012 RB8 to the streets of Jeddah while in 2016, Max Verstappen had driven the RB7 along a specially designed ski slope in Kitzbuhel, Austria, complete of studded Pirelli tires and snow chains.
UNFAIR COMPETITION TEST
The trend of the last ten years is to use “outdated” Formula 1 single-seaters also in tests for young drivers or for Pirelli tire tests. To avoid any type of advantage, also taking into account the prohibitions of the regulation, cars that have not been used for at least two years are generally used.
SPARE PARTS
There are about eighty thousand components that make up a Formula 1 car and there is no shortage of spare parts. Obviously, depending on the regulation in place, once disassembled, some parts of the car are kept either to be reused on the car of the following year or in the event that extra parts are needed in future demos. Another way to recycle the different parts that make up a Formula 1 car is to put them up for sale. From time to time, F1 fans have the opportunity to take home a component of their favorite car.
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GIFT TO YOUR DRIVERS
Although not all, but some teams have decided to give their drivers the cars with which they have won the world championships, or have come close.
Benetton gave Michael Schumacher the cars of 1994 and 1995, which are now on display in an exhibition a few kilometers from his hometown; Renault did the same thing with Fernando Alonso, giving the cars of 2005 and 2006 to the Iberian driver who decided to exhibit them in his karting and museum complex in Oviedo.
Despite the fact that Scuderia Ferrari decided to give Charles Leclerc the SF90 as a gift, the Monegasque preferred to donate the car to a museum. A completely different choice from Nelson Piquet’s. The three-time Formula 1 World Champion prefers to be immortalized in the Williams FW 11 hanging on the wall of his villa.
PRIVATE COLLECTORS
Anyone who has a few million euros and does not know how to spend them can have the opportunity to buy a Formula 1 single-seater. Obviously the teams do not sell the cars used until a few years before, this because in any case they contain valuable information. In 2013 Mercedes put on sale the 1954 car used by Juan Manuel Fangio to win his second of five titles. The car sold for £ 19.3 million, making it the most expensive Formula 1 car ever to be auctioned. And these cars have a second life on the track.
Thus their wealthy owners take part in events such as the Goodwood Revival, the Historic Grand Prix of Monaco or the Ferrari events reserved for F1 Clienti, which allow individuals to give their cars a second chance on the track. The Prancing Horse, for example, has organized a very respectable system for the owners of their single-seaters, who can take to the track at the Ferrari Racing Days, putting themselves in the shoes of a professional driver, supported by a team of mechanics from Maranello.
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