The 2009 season limited engines to 18,000 rpm in order to improve engine reliability and cut costs. Further technical restrictions, such as a ban on variable intake trumpets, have also been introduced with the new 2.4 L V8 formula to prevent the teams from achieving higher RPM and horsepower too quickly. The 2006 Formula One season saw the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) introduce a then-new engine formula, which mandated cars to be powered by 2.4 L naturally aspirated engines in the V8 engine configuration, with no more than four valves per cylinder. The engine produced over 865 hp 18,300 rpm, and was used in the highly-successful Ferrari F2004, in 2004. This can help lower the car's centre of gravity to improve stability and also allows the team to fine-tune the weight distribution of the car to suit individual circuits. The advantage of using ballast is that it can be placed anywhere in the car to provide ideal weight distribution. Prior to the 2014 F1 season, cars often weighed in under this limit so teams added ballast in order to add weight to the car. Cars are weighed with dry-weather tyres fitted.

The minimum weight permissible is 740 kg (1,631 lb) including the driver but not fuel. Modern-day Formula One cars are constructed from composites of carbon fibre and similar ultra-lightweight materials.

Due to the amount of braking force and the total cornering envelope of a Formula One car (by the friction component of the tyre, the mass of the machine and the downforce generated), Formula One drivers experience frequent lateral g-loadings in excess of five g and peak cornering forces of up to seven lateral g. Formula One cars are the fastest cars in the world around a race track, owing to very high cornering speeds achieved through the generation of large amounts of aerodynamic downforce. The regulations governing the cars are unique to the championship and specify that cars must be constructed by the racing teams themselves, though the design and manufacture can be outsourced.

A Formula One car or F1 car is a single-seat, open-cockpit, open-wheel formula racing car with substantial front and rear wings, and an engine positioned behind the driver, intended to be used in competition at Formula One racing events.

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