An open-wheel car is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars , stock cars , and touring cars , which have their wheels below the body or inside fenders . Open-wheel cars are built both for road racing and oval track racing . Open-wheel cars licensed for use on public roads ( street legal ), such as the Ariel Atom , are uncommon, as they are often impractical for everyday use.
32-626: The GB4 Championship is a single seater motorsport series based in the United Kingdom. The championship is operated by MotorSport Vision with support from the BRDC , and is aimed at young drivers graduating from karting or club level motorsport such as Formula Ford . The championship was announced in September 2021 and the first season started at Snetterton in April 2022. The championship
64-440: A Formula One car must weigh at least 798 kilograms (1,759 lb); the minimum weight for NASCAR is 1,500 kilograms (3,200 lb). Open-wheeled racing is among the fastest in the world. Formula One cars can reach speeds in excess of 360 kilometres per hour (220 mph). At Autodromo Nazionale Monza , Antônio Pizzonia of BMW Williams F1 team recorded a top speed of 369.9 kilometres per hour (229.8 mph) (over 102 m/s) in
96-728: A car that was used in cities before electric trams were developed. A two-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle is a cart (see various types below, both for carrying people and for goods). Four-wheeled vehicles have many names – one for heavy loads is most commonly called a wagon . Very light carts and wagons can also be pulled by donkeys (much smaller than horses ), ponies or mules . Other smaller animals are occasionally used, such as large dogs , llamas and goats (see draught animals ). Heavy wagons, carts and agricultural implements can also be pulled by other large draught animals such as oxen , water buffalo , yaks or even camels and elephants . Vehicles pulled by one animal (or by animals in
128-457: A load. They were once common worldwide, but they have mostly been replaced by automobiles and other forms of self-propelled transport but are still in use today. Horses were domesticated circa 3500 BCE. Before that oxen were used. Historically, a wide variety of arrangements of horses and vehicles have been used, from chariot racing , which involved a small vehicle and four horses abreast, to horsecars or trollies, which used two horses to pull
160-580: A protection system to the cockpit called the "halo" , a wishbone-shaped frame aimed to deflect debris away from a driver's head. Despite initial criticism, including for the reason of obstructing the driver's vision, it gained some praise in the Formula 2 sprint race in Catalunya when Nirei Fukuzumi spun and had the back of his car land on fellow countryman Tadasuke Makino 's halo. In the 2018 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix , McLaren driver Fernando Alonso
192-426: A single file) have two shafts that attach either side of the rearmost animal (the wheel animal or wheeler ). Two animals in single file are referred to as a tandem arrangement, and three as a randem . Vehicles that are pulled by a pair (or by a team of several pairs) have a pole that attaches between the wheel pair. Other arrangements are also possible, for example, three or more abreast (a troika ),
224-443: A wheel pair with a single lead animal (a "unicorn"), or a wheel pair with three lead animals abreast (a "pickaxe"). Very heavy loads sometimes had an additional team behind to slow the vehicle down steep hills. Sometimes at a steep hill with frequent traffic, such a team would be hired to passing wagons to help them up or down the hill. Horse-drawn carriages have been in use for at least 3,500 years. Two-wheeled vehicles are balanced by
256-632: Is an Abarth -branded, turbocharged Autotecnica Motori 1.4L FTJ I4 and produces 160 hp . It features a sequential six-speed gearbox developed by Sadev and Magneti Marelli electronics. Starting in 2025 , the series will introduce the Tatuus MSV GB4-025, a modified version of the Tatuus MSV-022, used by the GB3 Championship from 2022 to 2024. The new chassis will feature a Mountune 2.0L engine. Costs of running in
288-482: The 2004 Italian Grand Prix . Since the end of the V10 era in 2006, such high speeds have not been reached, with later vehicles reaching around 360 kilometres per hour (220 mph). It is difficult to give precise figures for the absolute top speeds of Formula One cars as the data are not generally released by teams. The 'speed traps' on fast circuits such as Monza give a good indication, but are not necessarily located at
320-540: The Marmon Motor Car Company as chief engineer, charged with building a racecar intended to race at the first Indianapolis 500 , which he went on to win. He developed a revolutionary concept which would become the originator and forefather of the single-seater (i.e. monoposto) racecar design. Harroun has also been credited by some as pioneering the rear-view mirror which appeared on his 1911 Indianapolis 500 winning car, though he himself claimed he got
352-546: The Mercedes-Benz W196 racer of 1954–55, which covered the wheels with bodywork for aerodynamic reasons. Modern Formula One regulations mandate the open-wheel configuration. A typical open-wheeler has a minimal cockpit, sufficient only to enclose the driver's body, with the head exposed to the air. In the Whelen Modified Tour and other short track modified series, the driver's head is contained in
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#1732791005857384-719: The Monza Circuit the fastest lap in the 2021 Grand Prix ( Daniel Ricciardo 1:24.812) is more than six seconds per lap faster than the fastest closed-wheel racing car, an LMP1 sports car , and more than 20 seconds per lap faster than the DTM touring car lap record. Driving an open-wheel car is substantially different from driving a car with fenders. Virtually all Formula One and IndyCar drivers spend some time in various open-wheel categories before joining either top series. Open-wheel vehicles, due to their light weight, aerodynamic capabilities, and powerful engines, are often considered
416-503: The 21 competitors were women. Alisha Palmowski finished second in the 2024 championship, and received a £ 30,000 prize to be used to help fund entry into the F1 Academy series in 2025. Points are awarded to the top 20 classified finishers in races one and two, with the third race awarding points to only the top 15. Race three, which has its grid formed by reversing the qualifying order, awards extra points for positions gained from
448-712: The United States and Canada, such as Wyoming County International Speedway in New York. The best-attended oval race in the world is the annual Indianapolis 500 (Indy 500) in Speedway, Indiana , sanctioned by IndyCar; in the United States it is quite common to refer to open-wheel cars as IndyCars, because of their recognizable appearance and widespread popularity across America at the Indy 500. Compared to covered-wheel race cars, open-wheeled cars allow more precise placement of
480-452: The United States, some top-level open-wheel events are held on ovals, of both short track and superspeedway variety, with emphasis more on speed and endurance than the maneuverability required for road and street course events. The Whelen Modified Tour is the only opened wheeled race car series endorsed by NASCAR . This series races on most of NASCAR's most famous tracks in the United States. Other asphalt modified series race on short tracks in
512-483: The car onto the road. While many other categories of racing cars produce downforce, the top categories of open-wheel racing cars (particularly Formula One and IndyCar ) produce far more downforce relative to their mass than any other racing category, allowing much higher corner speeds on comparable tracks. However, this is not always the case; some open-wheel categories raced primarily as development or amateur categories, such as Formula Ford or Formula Vee , do not permit
544-523: The car. In modern cars, the engine is often located directly behind the driver and drives the rear wheels; except in asphalt modified cars, such as the Whelen Modified Tour, where the engine is in front of the driver. Depending on the rules of the class, many types of open-wheelers have wings at the front and rear of the vehicle, as well as a very low and virtually flat undertray that helps achieve additional aerodynamic downforce pushing
576-515: The championship for approximately £ 60,000, and fully professional teams for around £ 150,000 A prize to the value of £ 50,000 was offered to the 2024 champion if the champion subsequently chooses to compete in either the British F4 championship, or GB3, in 2025. One distinctive feature of the GB4 championship is the relatively high number, and competitiveness, of female drivers. In 2024, four of
608-417: The distribution of weight of the load (driver, passengers, and goods) over the axle, and then held level by the animal – this means that the shafts (or sometimes a pole for two animals) must be fixed rigidly to the vehicle's body. Four-wheeled vehicles remain level on their own, and so the shafts or pole are hinged vertically, allowing them to rise and fall with the movement of the animals. A four-wheeled vehicle
640-483: The drivers' respective starting positions. Single seater American racecar driver and constructor Ray Harroun was an early pioneer of the concept of a lightweight single-seater, open-wheel "monoposto" racecar. After working as a mechanic in the automotive industry, Harroun began competitive professional racing in 1906, winning the AAA National Championship in 1910. He was then hired by
672-399: The era, by the end of the 1950s the majority of new road-registerable vehicles had wheels that were under the main body of the car, and thus the open-wheel design became almost exclusively associated with racing vehicles. Formula One cars have almost exclusively used the open-wheel design throughout the history of the championship. The only notable exception was the "Monza body" variation of
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#1732791005857704-492: The fastest racing vehicles available and among the most challenging to master. Wheel-to-wheel contact is dangerous, particularly when the forward edge of one tire contacts the rear of another tire: since the treads are moving in opposite directions (one upward, one downward) at the point of contact, both wheels rapidly decelerate, torquing the chassis of both cars and often causing one or both vehicles to be suddenly and powerfully flung upwards (the rear car tends to pitch forward, and
736-598: The front car tends to pitch backward.) An example of this is the 2005 Chicagoland crash of Ryan Briscoe and Alex Barron . The lower weight of an open-wheel racecar enables better performance. While the exposure of the wheels to the airstream causes a very high aerodynamic drag at high speeds, it allows improved cooling of the brakes, which is important on road courses with their frequent changes of pace. In 2018, several single seater series such as Formula One, Formula 2 (with their new Dallara F2 2018 chassis), and Formula E (with their new Spark SRT05e chassis) introduced
768-714: The front wheels on the race course, as the tires are clearly visible to the driver. This allows the maximum potential of the cars to be achieved during cornering and passing. Furthermore, open-wheeled cars are less tolerant of vehicle-to-vehicle contact, which usually results in vehicle damage and retiring, whereas some level of contact is expected in covered-wheel racing, as for example in NASCAR. Open-wheeled drivers must be extremely precise to avoid contact. Regulations tend to permit much lower open-wheel car weights than in categories that more closely resemble street-legal vehicles, such as sports , touring , and stock cars . For instance,
800-488: The idea from seeing a mirror used for a similar purpose on a horse-drawn vehicle in 1904. Prior to World War II , street automobiles generally had wheels that protruded beyond the vehicle's main body, though they were typically covered with mudguards to protect the car body and following traffic from water and mud spray. With the advent of unibody vehicle construction, the desire to maximise interior space, to improve aerodynamics, and aircraft-inspired styling trends of
832-513: The initial years of the championship were significantly lower than Formula 4 due to the use of the older Tatuus F4-T014, which could be purchased second hand (as in many cases it was no longer eligible for use in Formula 4). As the GB3 Championship usually runs at the same event weekends and uses a modified version of the same car, many spare parts can be shared if a team runs in both categories. The organiser states that privateer teams can run in
864-529: The one-lap qualifying record of 241.428 miles per hour (388.541 km/h) at California Speedway . Even on tight non-oval street circuits such as the Grand Prix of Toronto , open-wheel Indy Cars attain speeds of 190 miles per hour (310 km/h). Regardless of top speeds, Formula One open-wheel race cars hold the outright lap record at the circuits where they race due to their combination of top speed, acceleration, and cornering abilities. For example, at
896-505: The point on the track where the car is travelling at its fastest. BAR Honda team recorded an average top speed of 400 kilometres per hour (250 mph) in 2006 at Bonneville Salt Flats , with unofficial top speed reaching 413 kilometres per hour (257 mph) using their modified BAR 007 Formula One car. Speeds on ovals can range in constant excess of 210–220 miles per hour (340–350 km/h), and at Indianapolis in excess of 230 miles per hour (370 km/h). In 2000, Gil de Ferran set
928-591: The start of the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix , Romain Grosjean collided with Daniil Kvyat in which his car broke in two and burst into flames as it split the barrier. The halo helped protect Grosjean from possible decapitation while it allowed him to escape from the fire. Horse-drawn vehicle A horse-drawn vehicle is a piece of equipment pulled by one or more horses. These vehicles typically have two or four wheels and were used to carry passengers or
960-807: The use of wings or ground effect aerodynamics. Some major races, such as the Singapore Grand Prix , Monaco Grand Prix (sanctioned by Formula One) and the Long Beach Grand Prix (sanctioned by IndyCar), are held on temporary street circuits . However, most open-wheel races are on dedicated road courses , such as Watkins Glen in the US, Nürburgring in Germany, Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium and Silverstone in Great Britain. In
992-645: Was launched in September 2021, and was designed to be a low-cost alternative to Formula 4 championships. . The first round of the inaugural season took place at Snetterton Circuit on 2 April 2022, with the first winner being Nikolas Taylor driving for Fortec Motorsports . From 2022 to 2024, the GB4 Championship used the Tatuus F4-T014 car previously used by the Italian , ADAC , Spanish and other F4 championships across Europe. The engine
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1024-654: Was sent airborne after being hit from behind by the Renault of Nico Hülkenberg and struck the halo of Sauber driver Charles Leclerc , thereby saving the Monegasque driver from a visor strike. In 2019 , the newly-formed FIA Formula 3 Championship introduced a halo to their new chassis which was unveiled at the 2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix . In 2020 , the IndyCar Series adopted a halo combined with an aeroscreen, built by Red Bull Advanced Technologies. At
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