F1 engineers to launch innovative new carbon technology

Here at JA on F1 we always like a good innovation story and today sees the launch of a new technology which has been evolved by a group of F1 engineers.

They have patented a method of producing a coloured carbon fibre, previously considered to be impossible.

It is called Hypetex, which is set to be used for all kinds of things from car interiors to furniture to bicycles. It will be displayed during the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

The company behind it has been given a licence by F1 Management to produce merchandise and to use F1 as a platform to engage with automotive and other firms.

Carbon fibre is naturally black and it is impossible to colour it. The best that you can do is to weave it with another coloured fibre to create a mixed black and colour material that can then be processed in the usual way. The result is a muddy, blurred coloured version of traditional carbon fibre. Or it can be painted, as it is currently on F1 cars.

After seven years of R&D the group behind Hypetex have solved the problem.

Hypetex will launch at the Driving Technological Change exhibition at the Silverstone today before moving on to a display in the F1 Paddock Club during the British Grand Prix weekend.

According to the engineering team behind this new product, "The carbon fibre industry is still growing at an incredibly fast rate, with annual production of the material up to 44,000 tonnes a year. This is set to treble over the next six years as carbon fibre becomes easier to manufacture and distribute.

"With the introduction to the market of Hypetex, which is produced by UK-based GPF One, a new world of possibilities for carbon fibre has opened up."