What type of transmission is used in most Formula 1 cars?

Most Formula 1 cars use a sequential manual transmission, operated through steering-wheel paddles rather than a traditional H-pattern gear lever.

The gearbox is sequential because the driver selects the next higher or lower gear in order; the driver cannot jump directly from, for example, seventh to third with a normal H-pattern movement. “Manual” refers to the driver requesting the gear change, while electro-hydraulic systems carry out the shift extremely quickly. Formula 1 commonly describes these gearboxes as semi-automatic.

This system combines racing control with rapid, repeatable shifts. The driver keeps both hands on the steering wheel, and the paddles allow upshifts and downshifts without moving a separate lever. A clutch is still used, especially for starts and low-speed operation, but gear changes themselves are not performed with a conventional foot-operated clutch pedal.

F1’s transmission history includes older H-pattern manual gearboxes. Ferrari introduced a true sequential-style paddle-shift gearbox in Formula 1 in 1989, helping establish the layout that became standard. CVTs were tested in F1 but never raced, while dual-clutch gearboxes are not the normal F1 solution.