The 2020 Haas VF-20 F1 race car with its engine cover removed on display at the Formula One exhibition in Toronto. Viewers get a rare chance to look at the inner workings of the car, including the Ferrari Power Unit.Sammy Kogan/The Globe and Mail
A blazing yellow Formula 1 car, piloted to victory by the late Ayrton Senna, looks eager to race while standing still. Down the hall in another installation there is a nest of pipes, cables and carbon fibre that all mesh together to make an F1 engine. It seems full of pent-up power without moving a piston.
These are among items at the new F1 Exhibition, which opens Friday in Toronto for its first North American stop. Assembled in association with the Formula 1 organization, the exhibition showcases the storied history and intense competition of F1 through more than 150 artifacts and objects.
The exhibition is a tribute to the pursuit of speed. But, in combination, F1 also has had to enhance safety. Some of those improvements are unseen, such as better structures inside helmets to protect a driver’s head.
But the pursuit of safety is also on display with some of the most impressive artifacts, such as the car Romain Grosjean was in when it crashed and caught fire in 2020. One obvious change when looking at the different generations of cars is the super-strong metal ‘halo’, introduced in 2018, that arcs around the cockpit to protect a driver’s head.
Turning the complex story of F1 into an exhibition was curator and producer Tim Harvey. Starting the project in late 2017, Harvey contacted individual drivers and teams for items like helmets and race suits. Those are mixed with interactive displays and evocative footage of triumph and tragedy.
“There’s a Hunter S. Thompson quote that goes; ‘faster, faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death,’ and it really reflects the mentality of so many drivers, particularly in the early years. There was a belief that accidents were only things that happened to other drivers, that wouldn’t happen to me,” said Harvey in an interview as the finishing touches were being made at the exhibition at the Lighthouse ArtSpace.
A reconstructed 1955 Lancia D50 race car is displayed at the F1 Exhibition.Sammy Kogan/The Globe and Mail
The pursuit of speed is captured in the historic cars on show. A 1955 Lancia sits on wire wheels with narrow tires and while sleek, lacks the aerodynamic features of Senna’s yellow 1987 Lotus. A similar leap of technology is visible in the most recent car at the exhibition, a Haas driven by Romain Grosjean in 2020.
This car has a section of rear bodywork removed to reveal its Ferrari-supplied powerplant. It’s a fascinating place to stop and examine the intricate engineering that goes into every car. It’s also an important point of comparison for another of Grosjean’s cars at the exhibit.
Take a closer look at the Ferrari-supplied power unit in a 2020 race car at the Exhibition.
The French-Swiss driver had a major crash on the first lap of a 2020 race in Bahrain. He speared into a barrier at high speed. The impact ripped the car in two and triggered an intense fire. Seeing the wreck of the rear section of the car at the exhibit, it’s hard to believe Grosjean lived, let alone walked away with minor injuries. His survival is largely credited to the halo device and the mandatory fire-resistant racing suit that protected him for the half a minute he was engulfed in the flames.
“It’s a spine-tingling moment seeing that wreckage, and something that tells so many stories in itself,” said Harvey.
Gilles Villeneuve in his Ferrari at the Spanish Formula 1 Grand Prix in 1979.Crispin Thruston/Action Images
Canada’s place in Formula 1 is represented too. There’s a cockpit shell from a Ferrari driven by Gilles Villeneuve.
Born in Quebec in 1950, Villeneuve was killed in a crash during qualifying in 1982. Villeneuve may very well have survived had the halo been part of car design in the 80s. His name is among many others in a section of the exhibit honouring those who lost their lives to the sport.
“I’ve come out of this project with an admiration for what this sport is, and what it represents. It is, in many ways, a perfect reflection of who we are as a species and how we have achieved what we have achieved. It is a great story of triumph over adversity,” said Harvey.
The F1 Exhibition runs until mid-July.
The official Formula 1 Exhibition is making its North American debut in Toronto. Curator and producer Tim Harvey shares the backstories behind three displays at the exhibition, which covers the sport's pursuit of speed and enhanced safety.
The Globe and Mail