Innovation
10 things you didn’t know about the F1 T-Cam
by Samarth Kanal
7min read
The Formula 1 T-Cam looms over the driver’s helmet but it’s often overlooked despite being an ever-present part of the F1 car.
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Also used in Formula 2 and Formula 3, this onboard T-shaped camera housing captures a visceral and exciting view of the action from above the rollhoop of the car.
This technology has been developed in-house by F1 at its headquarters at Biggin Hill, UK, and developed through multiple changes and iterations since it was introduced in 1998 - replacing the previously-used sharkfin-like cameras.
Raceteq uncovered some surprising facts about the now-ubiquitous T-Cam and other F1 onboard camera technology.
Formula 2 (pictured), Formula 3, the safety car, and Porsche Supercup all use the same T-Cam housing
1. Around 170 onboard cameras capture the action every weekend
A whole team of technicians and engineers makes sure this piece of kit works on every F1 car - with the same housing used on the safety cars, Formula 2 and Formula 3 cars, and Porsche Supercup cars.
This group is the onboard camera team, responsible for researching and developing other cameras such as the in-helmet camera that is just eight millimetres in diameter and provides the closest possible driver’s-eye view of the track.
F1 fits up to nine cameras around an F1 car - with bandwidth potentially allowing up to 20 onboard cameras - but generally there are up to around 170 cameras broadcasting on-car views across F1, F2, F3, and the Porsche Supercup over a grand prix weekend.
The onboard camera team experiments with different materials - such as rubber bushings to counteract vibrations - plus antenna placements and housing shapes in its development of T-Cams.
The tiny ‘driver’s eye’ camera mounted inside an F1 driver’s helmet
2. The T-Cam does more than capture footage
The T-Cam is composed of two tiny cameras, one facing forwards and one rearwards covered by transparent housing that is covered in a dirt-resistant coating.It also includes two antennae, one to broadcast the footage to the trackside F1 broadcasting centre and back to its headquarters in the UK; and another antenna to send telemetry from the car to teams.
The cameras are the smallest part of the housing itself, and the T-Cam unit itself weighs around 1.5kg in total.
The front of an F1 T-Cam with the front camera lens visible and the two fin-like antennae on the roof
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3. The T-Cam costs thousands of pounds
As always, these estimates can change depending on the cost of the bespoke components and their materials but the F1 T-Cam can cost around £40,000.Many units have been disposed of, but a few have been recovered and sit proudly on a shelf in the onboard camera team’s office - documenting the work that has been done on these units since 1998, after the sharkfin-style camera was replaced.
The (in)famous T-Cam that was damaged in Zhou Guanyu’s rollover crash at the 2022 British Grand Prix is one of those units that has been salvaged.
The T-Cam from Zhou Guanyu’s Alfa Romeo, which rolled over in a heavy impact at the start of the 2022 British GP
4. The T-Cam is not made out of carbon fibre
Carbon fibre is the most abundant material on an F1 car’s body but the T-Cam does not utilise this material. Instead, the housing is made of fibreglass and the casing for the camera is made from aircraft-grade aluminium alloy.
Dino Leone, senior manager of the onboard camera team, tells Raceteq that carbon fibre is “pretty clever, pretty [versatile] - but it’s very limited”.
He continues: “It's very good at what it does. But what it doesn't do is it doesn't last very long. So [carbon fibre housing units] actually cost an absolute fortune. And they're only about three grams lighter [than a fibreglass/aluminium unit]; They're heavier than a plastic unit.”
Leone adds that aircraft-grade aluminium alloy is a lot more rigid and easier to machine to smaller tolerances than carbon fibre, which is why it’s used for the casing.
A look at the innards of a previous T-Cam iteration with the RFID antennae visible and the rear camera lens exposed
5. Teams have tried to use the T-Cam to their advantage
F1 teams spend incalculable amounts of time trying to shave milliseconds off their laptimes so it’s no surprise that one championship-winning team attempted to change the T-Cam housing to be fully contained inside its rollhoop.
The team concerned was swiftly told to ditch that innovative design and revert to the standard T-shaped housing used by the others.
Much to the surprise of fans and the rest of the paddock, that team did end up winning that year’s championship…
6. The T-Cam was once 3D-ready
3D sports broadcasts were all the rage in 2010 with the Premier League allowing viewers to watch their product in a new dimension, and F1 began to experiment with the idea - but adoption floundered and by 2016 3D televisions went the way of the Minidisc.
The T-Cam was one device geared up to broadcast in 3D with an extra front and rear camera to offer that extra dimension, but the idea was quashed quickly in favour of the standard two-dimensional broadcast.
Prototype 3D-ready T-Cams on display with two front and rear lenses
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7. Onboard camera technology evolves just like F1 cars
“Next year is a completely new ballgame,” says Leone.
The T-Cam might look identical but new antenna arrays and new frequencies will be implemented in the camera to ensure a more robust product.
As F1 cars might become around 30kg lighter in 2026 than they were in 2025, F1 is playing its role as the T-Cam and its power supply and storage is also reducing in weight.
Magnesium cable connectors are also being used to shave off even more weight.
“That saves like 0.2 grams and it costs a fortune - you’re talking an extra $100 per connector to make it out of magnesium rather than aluminium,” says Leone. That amounts to an extra $2000/£1500 per car.
The unit that stores footage from the T-Cam
The power supply will also change to offer higher voltages and allow for more powerful onboard cameras.
The team is also working on onboard 360-degree cameras and trying to emulate the footage of old - think Ayrton Senna taking pole position at Monaco in 1990 - where the vibrations of the car’s engine and the track were visible, for a visceral piece of footage.
Locke says that the onboard camera team is already considering what might be on the car in 2028.
8. Why driver initials were briefly added to T-Cams in 2025
F1 drivers have Three-Letter Acronyms (TLAs) that allow them to be quickly identified on timing sheets and scoreboards. For example, Lewis Hamilton is HAM, and Max Verstappen is VER.
At the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix TLAs were added to the T-Cam - which had a “heavy impact” on the onboard camera team as it had to attach the yellow TLA stickers to the T-Cams at short notice.
Leone shines a light on why F1 has been experimenting with initials on the T-Cams - and it’s to do with photo-finishes.
“Next year, the [regulations] are changing, and the teams don't have to run a driver number or name on the side of the car. Our start-finish-line systems need something to identify who's driving which car as a backup for a backup for a backup,” he says.
“And also from a production perspective, you know, it's been intimated that it's quite nice to have the name on top of the camera so you can easily identify who's driving what.”
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Charles Leclerc’s T-Cam with his TLA stickers on the side at the 2025 Belgian GP
9. F1 tests new cameras during race weekends
It’s impossible to notice but F1 attaches onboard cameras to cars throughout the season for testing purposes. For example, rear-facing cameras near the rear rainlight were tested in 2024 and implemented in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
“It's easy to get something on a car for a Friday, but they [F1 teams] don't want it on the car on Sunday,” says Locke. “Getting anything [fitted] on the car is a pretty lengthy process.”
It’s an easier job to develop onboard cameras for F2 and F3 because their hardware is made to specification by Dallara; each F1 team has a different design.
F1 works closely with teams to account for their cars’ various designs.
Leone adds: “Of course, [camera technology] works really well [in testing] then we start this year and their rear ends are all different.”
In 2026, the rear light camera will be incorporated into the rear light itself but new lens coatings need to be used to account for oil and heat from the exhaust, and increased vibrations at the rear of the car.
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F1 has worked on housing the rear-light camera within the rear light itself from 2026 - a challenge given the heat and vibrations from the exhaust above
10. Onboard cameras can - but don’t always - broadcast in 4K
All of the onboard cameras will be 4K “capable” in 2026, according to Leone, but they generally broadcast in 1080p - full HD.
“Again, we're not going to be broadcasting 4K anytime soon because even with the extra bandwidth that we've got, 4K would take up an awful lot,” he says.
“And there's limitations as well with the compression that happens; it might say 4K on the TV screen. But actually, you're not getting the full benefits of it.
“It comes out in very high quality. So there's not a lot of reason to change that. But we are 4K ready.”
