A Look Inside the F1 Exhibition

The F1 Exhibition, that has travelled across Europe and over to the Americas, arrived in Melbourne in late November.  The immersive showcase presents the history and technology of Formula 1 through four large rooms, filled with unique parts and memorabilia, and of course some of the machines to compete in the pinnacle of motorsport.

The first room held a bunch or interesting memorabilia, including Mario Andretti's helmet and racesuit, and three F1 cars; the 2013 Lotus E21, which Kimi Raikkonen took to that year's Australian GP victory, the 1993 Williams FW15C, which took Alain Prost to his fourth and final championship, and the 1980 Williams FW07/04.

The Williams FW07/04 is an example of the F1 Exhibition being tailored​​ to each country it visits, as this car was piloted to three of aussie Alan Jones' Grand Prix victories in 1979 (Germany, Austria & Canada).  This was Williams' first car with ground effect, an aerodynamic concept pioneered by Lotus, regarding the floor of the car being shaped in such a way as to create a zone of low pressure, thus sucking the car to the track and creating extra downforce.  A breakthrough for the Cosworth DFV powered car came before that year's British GP, when fairings were constructed around the engine, keeping the airflow attached. 

It was also used in the 1980 season opener in Argentina, after the new FW07B suffered porpoising down the front straight, thanks to there being more weight at the rear of the car.  Alan Jones took the pole, set the fastest lap and won the race, in the spare car and the FW07B would be used to compete for the rest of the season, en-route to Jones' World Championship that year, and Williams' first Constructors Title.

The displayed car was then used for testing Goodyear tyres until it was retired after a crash at Donnington, and found itself in Western Australia as part of the Peter Briggs collection in 1981.  It was purchased by current owner Paul Faulkner in 2010.

Speaking of the Ford Cosworth DFV, one was on display in the next room (minus some important bits).  What you're seeing is the most successful engine design in Formula 1 history.  In 1965, the rules were changed allowing engines up to 3.0 litres.  With funding from Ford and support from Colin Chapman, Keith Duckworth and Mike Costin developed the 2.9 litre V8 dual over cam engine that ending up becoming a winning machine, scoring 155 wins, and being the grunt behind twelve drivers' championship and ten constructors' championship titles.  It succeeded outside of Formula 1 too, with wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and championships in Formula 3000.

In the centre of this second room, was the Honda powered BAR 005, driven by Jenson Button, Jacques Villeneuve and Takuma Sato in 2003 who in total scored 26 points, resulting in the team finishing fifth in the constructors.  Around the room showed the evolution of steering wheels to aerodynamics.  This see-through T-Cam is what I found most interesting and sits on top of each car to capture and broadcast video footage using two cameras and antennas inside the housing.

Next up was my favourite room of the exhibition, the helmet room.  As someone who has obsessed over the helmet designs of drivers in each year's Aus GP Program (annoyingly minus the years of 2018-2020, and 2026 when helmet designs weren't included), there were quite a few I recognised.  Those including Michael Andretti's from his short stint in Formula 1, and Heikki Kovalainen's lovely design, which became green, when he joined Team Lotus in 2010.  Being a fan of Mark Webber, I loathed Vettel's success at the time but, his Red Bull helmets were always favourites of mine.

In the final large room sat the Red Bull RB7, which took the team and Sebastian Vettel to the 2011 constructors and drivers' titles respectively, with Vettel dominating, taking eleven wins on the season, and teammate Mark Webber scoring his only win that year at the season finale.  Although I prefer its predecessor, it is still quite a beautiful car.  Around the room, were modern Formula 1 components, including a power unit, suspension system and wind tunnel models from the Marussia MR03, the back-marker team's 2014 car.

Around a dark corner, there was a big screen showing a short documentary about a specific F1 related topic (there were a handful of screens in each room showing different subjects).  I can't for the life of me remember what was showing on the screen, because I was interested in the ruins before me.  In 2020, Romain Grosjean suffered a huge accident at the Bahrain GP where his car penetrated the barriers, split in half and erupted in flames.  Thanks to the halo device around the cockpit and many other safety measures implemented over the sports history, Grosjean was able to walk away with only second-degree burns.

Finally, to end the showcase, we were led to a room with lots of screens on each wall and the ceiling, which played an intense F1 montage to end the exhibition.  If you're interested in expanding your Formula 1 knowledge, I can definitely recommend attending the F1 Exhibition, but you've only got until the 19th of April to see it.

Bonus Gallery