Here's Why Modern F1 Cars Spark So Much - Road & Track

If you've watched a modern Formula 1 race, odds are you've seen sparks shoot out from underneath of a car as it goes down a straight or travels through a high-speed turn. Turns out, there's a whole history behind sparks in F1, and it's incredibly interesting.

WTF1 put together a fun, informative video walking through the evolution of sparks in the sport. Sparks started to become a normal thing in F1 starting in the late Eighties, when teams would try to get their cars as low to the ground as possible to create the most downforce. With a full tank of fuel, the cars would routinely scrape against the ground, causing a light show for anyone watching.

More Explanations from WTF1

• F1 Teams Have the Strangest History
• Here's How F1 Teams Actually Make Their Money
• This Is Why F1 Cars Have a Hard Time Passing

As WTF1 points out, former race car driver Nigel Mansell would go as far as to seek out bumps in the track to create sparks from his car to distract drivers close behind.

In 1994, the FIA mandated a 10-millimeter skid block be mounted on the bottom of every F1 car to curb the sparks caused by low ride heights. If the block wore by more than one millimeter by the end of each race, the team would be disqualified. That's what happened to Schumacher at Spa in 1994.

Teams quickly figured out a workaround. By strategically mounting pieces of metal at the bottom of each block, cars would bottom out on them instead, allowing them to run lower ride heights without fear of being disqualified. The metal would fragment in large chunks when rubbed against the track, however, causing dangerous track situations and punctures. In 2015 the FIA mandated the metal be replaced with titanium, which wears quicker, but in a safer manner. Best of all, it causes some spectacular sparks when run against asphalt, which causes the light shows you see today.

Brian SilvestroFormer Lead Deputy Editor, Rankings Content

Brian Silvestro was Hearst Autos' former lead deputy editor for rankings content. He spent over seven years as a staff writer for Road & Track Magazine where he contributed car reviews, industry interviews, and more. He has a taste for high-mileage, rusted-out projects and amateur endurance racing.