This innovation, which was introduced in 1999, enables a driver involved in an accident to be removed from the car by the rescue forces while still strapped into his seat shell. In addition to this, the seat must also be equipped with a device, to which the so-called KED (Kendrick Extrication Device) can be mounted for enhanced protection of the back and neck areas. This in turn serves to ensure that injuries to the vertebral column are avoided, a risk that drivers were previously exposed to. The driver seat fastening in the monocoque has been standardised, so that the rescue forces all around the world can undergo training on how to remove it. It is a practical and foresighted measure that generates additional confidence.

Drivers are subjected to extreme stress in the tight confines of a Formula 1 car cockpit. To back up their performance with the maximum in terms of comfort, seat design is a matter of exhaustive endeavour for the teams. Engineers use a body cast of the driver to design a seat, which on the one hand takes driver comfort as far as possible into account, and which on the other hand can also be ideally integrated into the cockpit. The body-contoured seats are made of a carbon-fibre epoxy composite material with added polyester foam padding to provide the driver with the best possible seat position.

At WilliamsF1, the seats are also upholstered in an extra-soft and thus extremely comfortable Alcantara suede leather. Important factors for all the materials used are that they do not burn, that they do not heat up the seat and that the static electricity resulting from the friction generated by driver movement in the seat is kept to a minimum.

The seat in a passenger car is not only of relevance for comfort and appearance.

“Car seats are a major safety element in modern cars,” according to Dr. Hartmuth Wolff from the Allianz Center for Technology. “They support the protective effect of belts and airbags in the event of frontal and side impacts, and they are the crucial restraint system for rear-end collisions.”

Formula 1 cars differ from passenger-car seats in that they must be capable of accommodating different occupants. These adjustment options are something the driver should make use of; after all, the ideal protective effect, comfort and ergonomics will only be assured when a seat has been adjusted correctly.

In contrast to passenger-car seats, the seat shells in a Formula 1 car significantly restrict a driver’s freedom of motion. A Formula 1 driver is strapped into his seat shell in a manner similar to that of a fighter aircraft pilot with a five- or six-point harness. The individual belts can be released with a single hand movement, because the rules specify that a driver must be capable of getting out of a normally strapped-in position in the car within five seconds.

One of the most important criteria for performance of a Formula 1 race car is the ideal positioning of its centre of gravity. This is something that exerts an influence on a driver’s seat position. He contributes to optimum weight distribution by lying rather than sitting in the seat shell, which is mounted as low as possible to the floor of the car. With the introduction of cars with a raised nose, aerodynamic requirements resulted in a driver’s feet being positioned higher up than his posterior when driving. This makes it even more important that the seat is individually matched to a driver.

Every driver seat in Formula 1 is a unique item. If necessary, team colleagues can exchange cars, but never the seat. If a driver has to use the spare car, for example, he always has to take his seat with him.