Question: If an F1 car was to be driven on the moon, what modifications would be needed?

Matthew Hudson answered on 17 Jun 2013:

Hmmm, interesting question. We work closely with Ferrari and so we see a lot of the cars and team! In fact, I was at the Canadian grand prix last weekend!

The engine needs oxygen to run, which the moon is lacking in, so you’d need to provide some oxygen to the driver and also the engine. It would be a bit like giving a scuba tank to the car!

Next, the F1 cars rely on the down force of the air flowing over the nose and tail fins to keep the car down on the ground. As there is no air on the moon it would be very tough to drive the car at such high speeds! You would need to attach some rocket boosts to the top of the car to push it onto the ground so that the tires would grip.

One good thing about being on the moon is that you wouldn’t have to worry about rain and lifting up the car for a pit stop would be easy!