You wouldn't expect a race car to be built in a clean room.
The Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team's new video series takes viewers through the process of building an F1 car. First stop? The composites department.
Without revealing any classified information, the series, called "Access All Areas," starts with technicians turning sheets of carbon fiber fabric into parts. The process shows just how high-tech modern F1 cars are.
In a process that seems more fitting for a NASA space probe, sheets of "pre-preg" carbon fiber material are arranged in specially constructed molds (also made of carbon fiber) in a clean room. It would probably be bad if some dust got trapped between the layers.
The sheets are bonded together under vacuum and then put in an autoclave for curing. When they go in, the parts are soft and pliable. When they come out, they're completely hardened.
It's all very impressive, and about as far removed as possible from anything civilians would normally identify as automotive.
Mercedes AMG Petronas will be posting more videos, showing different parts of the construction process, in the coming weeks.
Read about how Red Bull Racing builds its F1 cars here.