I think we are missing one point here - the wear and tear, stresses and strains of an F1 car put these new technologies through real testing which could not be replicated in any lab. I agree with some of your points but the testing benefits can be huge.

 

That is right but the new technologies are used for a very different purpose in other applications. For example the refrigeration in the super market, the testing done in the F1 car is not needed when they use it in the refrigerator.

I mean when the application changes, there are a lot of variables changing, and they probably need to be tested again considering the new environment.

 

Fair point but more for compounds used in F1 and transferred elsewhere the real time testing in F1 must be priceless. I would love to see a figure of the value of all technology which started out life in F1 and the went mass market.

 

Yeah, I like those kinds of analyses.

I saw one (sort of related) where a guy tried to make a (bread) toaster from scratch.
Eg. He wanted to make every single part himself, with no off-the-shelf materials - melt his own iron ore etc.
I think he found that a modern toaster has over 100 different materials in it, and he found it really difficult but he did make it in the end!

It's like story about the making of a pencil -

 

Interesting conversation

The KERS (The system that transforms part of the kinetic energy into electrical energy at the time of braking) is a fantastic advance to improve the consumption of vehicles that is also finding applications outside the automotive sector as Spanish researchers have demonstrated with trams that thanks to this system they have reduced their consumption considerably.

Rubber also evolves. There is also a lot of investment in tires since these suffer a very high wear and are responsible for the adhesion of the car to the road. Both in slick and scratched we found substantial improvements in the compounds and designs but it is undoubtedly in the water tires where the greatest improvement was noticeable when modifying its drawing and composition getting to release more water and get more grip by its radial drawings instead of diagonals. Currently this type of rubber is used as soles for footwear for use in wet areas (example: fishing).

Improvements in the materials to increase efficiency by reducing weight have led to innovations for example in incubators for newborns reducing their weight by 90% without losing their integrity and that can be transported by helicopter (not like the old ones that by its weight and size transport was not viable).

There is an incubator made of carbon fiber that allows the transport of sick newborns to the hospital in a warm and safe way.

Thanks to the use of this material, the carrycot in which the newborn goes is even stronger and lighter. Previously the doctors used a metal incubator, which was much heavier and needed several people to carry it. In general, an ambulance was needed to transport the incubator.

Babypod II (http://www.babypod.com/product/babypod-ii/) is inspired by an F1 cockpit, which is both solid and powerful. Being light, the new generation incubator can be carried by a single person. In addition, you need less oxygen to fill it than a regular incubator.

Carbon fiber is also behind McLaren's most famous product (beyond its road cars): the ultralight racing bike Venge (http://venge.specialized.com/html/content/en/index.html)

Developed with the American cycling company Specialized, it is said to be the fastest road racing bike in the world.

Not all innovations transferred from circuits to real life have to do with tangible technologies.

For example, doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London contacted Ferrari and McLaren teams hoping to learn from the tight organization of their pit lane teams.

In a video analysis of the transfer from the operating room to the intensive care unit, the teams worked with the doctors to make the process more efficient and less prone to errors.

The doctors believed that they were doing their best, but seeing it with the Formula 1 teams, the experts in these rapid changes realized that their routines could be improved, to prevent small mistakes from becoming bigger problems.

Working with the F1 teams, they managed to reduce technical errors and information communication errors by 40%, which is why hospital experts have completely changed their process, which is now much more simplified.

 

It is an interesting way to focus. And I think that developers community are going in that direction. As hacksterio, for example.