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Williams's Secret Weapon

If you thought Formula One is the pinnacle of technology, think again. QinetiQ, one of the world's leading defence technology companies, is, in conjuction with the Williams team, coming up with new developments that could revolutionise the sport in the not so distant future. Jonathan Noble visited QinetiQ's headquarters and found out what the future of F1 could look like

Jonathan Noble Dec 7, 2005, 12:48 PM

Can you imagine a Formula One car so advanced that it was made of materials that repaired themselves after collisions? Or one whose aerodynamics were sculpted by the same computer programmes used to design Stealth aircraft? Or one whose traction control settings were tweaked automatically via satellite GPS systems?

If that sounds like the stuff of far away fantasies - especially in this day and age when the sport is trying to cut back on technology - well, think again. Because, if a behind-the-scenes project between Williams and leading military experts come off, then these technologies could well be finding their way into F1 sooner than many think.

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Author Jonathan Noble

Jonathan Noble is Motorsport.com’s Formula 1 editor. Having graduated from University of Sussex Jonathan worked for sports news agency Collings Sports reporting on F1, F3, touring cars and other sports, with articles appearing in The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Reuters, Autosport and other publications. In 1999 he moved to Haymarket Publishing to become a senior editor at Autosport Special Projects, and one year later he became Autosport’s grand prix editor. In 2015 he moved to Motorsport Network, becoming the F1 editor for Motorsport.com. He is also a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers, and sits on the FIA Media Council.