Understanding How F1 Tracks Are Painted

In a recent YouTuber video, Matt Amys reveals how strict the FIA’s guidelines are for painting the F1 tracks. Per him, the circuits need particular color schemes they have to adhere to, without fail.

Amys states that the color scheme is specific for everything; from the run-off area to the apexes to the grid boxes and the rest of the track.

After giving an initial introduction, Amys interviews one of the employees from Roadgrip, the company that is responsible for painting the F1 tracks.

One company paints all the F1 tracks around the world (and has to remove the paint after the race for street circuits) pic.twitter.com/LyKLyFfQ6O

— igiriwM@ #TeamKenya (@Mwirigi) June 4, 2024

Since the interview was taking place at the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit, the employee explained how difficult it was to paint a track that was 4.35 miles long. Some parts of the circuit could not be painted by machines. They had to be painted by hand and masking tape, which proved to be an even greater task.

“The first process of this is that the team will get out some string to ensure that the lines are actually straight,” said Amys. “This will then be marked out by some chalk. And then the masking tape will be put down.” 

Looking good in Le Castellet!

Who’s ready for some track action? #FrenchGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/JAssorGCXS

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 22, 2022

Once the workers made all the preparations, they simply used a hand roller to paint the circuit. To give a demonstration of how it was done, Amys tried painting a part of the track himself.

He then revealed that he made the video to appreciate the kind of hard work the painters put into paint each circuit on the F1 calendar.