How AVMR Helped an F1 Team Avoid a Costly Redesign

Introduction

In high-performance engineering, it is easy for problem-solving to drift towards perfection. But in many applications, the most valuable answer is not the most complex one. It is the one that meets the real duty cycle, arrives in time, and avoids unnecessary development cost.

One AVMR project for a well-known Formula 1 racing organisation illustrates that point clearly. The customer was using a bespoke vibration absorption product based on a fairly standard bobbin-style concept, but the part was failing during races. Their initial response was to redesign the component from scratch using a very different rubber compound.

The problem

From the customer’s perspective, starting again seemed like the route to a perfect solution. But redesigning from scratch would have taken time, cost money, and introduced further development risk. In motorsport, that matters. Programmes move quickly, and an elegant solution that arrives too late can still be the wrong answer.

Rubber components are especially prone to this kind of misunderstanding. Elastomers can often look simple from the outside, but their performance depends heavily on formulation, cure system, temperature exposure, geometry, and duty cycle. That makes them highly effective when understood properly, but easy to misjudge when treated like conventional engineering materials.

AVMR’s approach

AVMR reviewed the customer’s temperature data and identified the real issue. The current compound was spending most of its time above its maximum operating temperature. That meant the problem was not necessarily the overall product concept. The problem was that the material, in its existing form, was not aligned with the thermal demands of the race environment.

Instead of recommending a complete redesign, AVMR proposed a much smaller but more intelligent change. The advice was to keep the same basic product architecture and modify the cure system within the EPDM-based rubber compound. The objective was not to make the mount perfect in every theoretical sense. The objective was to make it comfortably capable of surviving the race.

That distinction mattered. The component was going to be disposed of at the end of the race anyway. It did not need infinite life. It needed to be fit for purpose.

The relevant standard product family behind this application can be seen in AVMR’s premium cylindrical bobbins with male-male threads, although the value in this case came from AVMR’s ability to adapt and refine the solution rather than simply supply a catalogue item.

Bobbins can be highly engineered to solve some of the most complex issues.

The outcome

The customer took a week to confirm the revised direction, and AVMR then moved quickly to formulate the new rubber material and manufacture the updated parts in time for a test opportunity just two weeks later.

The result was decisive. After the initial testing, the customer reported that the highest-mileage AV mount had completed 1200 km without issue and that the new design was much improved. The product has not failed since.

Commercially, the gain was substantial. AVMR’s recommendation saved the customer roughly £50,000 in development costs and around four months of engineering time. Just as importantly, it delivered a solution in days rather than months.

What this project shows

This case study demonstrates a critical engineering principle: perfection is not always the right target. In real-world applications, especially time-sensitive ones, the best solution is often the one that is demonstrably good enough for the duty cycle and can be delivered quickly and reliably.

It also reinforces AVMR’s wider value proposition. The company does not just provide products. It adds expertise on materials, operating environments, and failure mechanisms that helps customers avoid unnecessary redesign and make better engineering decisions.

The AVMR difference

This was a project where AVMR’s real contribution was insight. The customer was prepared to restart the design process in pursuit of the ideal answer. AVMR recognised that a small, informed change would achieve the performance required at a fraction of the time and cost.

That is what solution-led engineering looks like in practice. It is not about chasing complexity. It is about understanding the application deeply enough to know when a precise adjustment is all that is needed.