Brabham BT46, among the most radical Formula One designs ever, made headlines in 1978.
Designed by Gordon Murray for the Brabham team owned by Bernie Ecclestone, the vehicle featured innovative technological design that was on the other side of the engineering limit in racing. And while the car was a pioneering design for Formula 1, it was suddenly banned, shocking the motorsport world. Here is a closer look at why this revolutionary machine shocked the racing community and what happened thereafter.
1. The Innovative “Fan Car”
The Brabham BT46B, or ‘fan car,’ made its debut at the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix. This was done as an answer to the ever-dominant Lotus 79 that was using ground effect aerodynamics to create downforce. The BT46B featured a large rear-mounted fan, which wasn’t just for cooling, as initially claimed. The fan extracted air from underneath the car, creating vast downforce and holding the car to the track in such a way that no other car could at the time. This vast performance advantage went to Brabham, with Niki Lauda winning the Swedish Grand Prix with this configuration.
A One-Race Wonder
The BT46B won only one race, Lauda’s victory at the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix, and was never used again. The car was put to rest immediately after the race, even with an FIA ruling that it could continue for the rest of the season. Ecclestone decided to withdraw the car due to the enormous controversy it created in the minds of other teams and in the larger motorsport community.
Ecclestone’s Concerns
The fan car was legal according to the FIA regulations, but Bernie Ecclestone, now more prominent as the chief executive of the Formula One Constructors’ Association (FOCA), was concerned about the backlash it caused. Ecclestone was worried that allowing the fan car to race longer could upset the balance of power within F1 and jeopardize his own position within FOCA. Also, the car’s success could overshadow the traditional methods of downforce generation and that could create more friction between teams.
2. The Technology Behind The Fan Car
The Brabham BT46 featured an Alfa Romeo flat-12 engine with around 520 hp, something of a high horse for its time but quite troublesome to deal with. This engine was heavier than others, consumed more fuel and oil, and generated more weight. However, despite all these imperfections, the innovative design of the car, with its use of flat panel heat exchangers and an aluminum alloy monocoque chassis, went a long way in making it competitive.
Not the least interesting was the fan. Taking a cue from Chaparral 2J “sucker car,” which had been banned from racing in the Can-Am series because of its use of fans to generate downforce, the BT46B was the proof of the statement that innovation could change the way cars interacted with the track. The enormous downforce created by the fan conferred unchallenged levels of grip, but that advantage soon became too great, leading to its banning.
3. The Aftermath: The Banning of the Fan Car
The fan car, despite its performance, was soon withdrawn, with the FIA advising that it would not be allowed to continue racing after the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix. The controversy surrounding the BT46B raised further questions about the limits of technology in F1 and what constitutes a fair advantage.
However, Gordon Murray’s design was not overlooked. Ground effect aerodynamics, made famous by the Lotus 79 and then the Brabham fan car, would continue to affect F1 design for many decades still. But the fan-based downforce BT46B would remain one of Formula One’s most controversial and soon-to-be-gone designs.
Legacy of the BT46: An F1 Historical Footnote
Although the Brabham BT46B was banned after just a single race, its effects on the sport were massive. It asserted the possibility of alternative technologies amid motorsport and had the FIA and others reassessing regulations regarding aerodynamics and vehicle design. Effectively, a race and withdrawal became an inspiring legacy for engineers and designers for many more years.
Despite its short time spent competing on the circuit, the radical Brabham BT46B left an unforgettable impression within Formula One.
Pushing the technological envelope far beyond its competitors, the fan car’s innovative design forced a reexamination of the regulating rules while demonstrating the lengths those in F1 will go to in search of superior performance.
Though allowed to race in just a single grand prix, the controversies spawned by the BT46B’s leading role at the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix ensure its place in motorsports history as one of the boldest and most rule-testing designs ever fielded.
The fan car epitomizes the cutthroat nature of F1, where the most groundbreaking innovations often emerge from intentionally blurring the lines of what is legally permissible in pursuit of hundredths of a second on the track.
While short-lived, the regulatory and competitive reverberations of the BT46B confirm that in Formula One, even designs participating in a solitary race can leave an impression that transcends their limited participation.
