T-Car (motorsport)

T-Car (from English Training Car ) refers to a replacement vehicle in Formula 1 . According to the Formula 1 rules that were valid until a few years ago , each team was allowed to use a maximum of one replacement car per weekend in addition to the two vehicles for the race. Every replacement car had to bear the start number of the respective driver. In the event that the race was abandoned, it was permitted to change cars if the leader had not completed more than two laps. This rule was mainly a protection for midfield drivers who were often involved in start-up accidents. At times, the team's test driver was allowed to take part in free practice with the T-Car. Most of the teams made good use of this, so that the regular drivers often only drove a few laps.

The current regulations no longer allow a T-Car, since, in addition to other cost-saving measures, each driver only has five engines per season and a replacement vehicle would circumvent this regulation. Nevertheless, many teams have a third car on the track, as an engine change is not penalized with exclusion, but only with a downgrade by ten places on the starting grid. In addition, in certain cases the engine block can be rebuilt in less time than repairing the complex body would take.