In case anyone is wondering, modern F1 engines use springless pneumatic valvetrains, using Nitrogen instead of springs. It was only a few years after this video that F1 started using pneumatic actuators, I think it was the mid-80s Renaults.

Desmodromic valvetrains are sometimes used in motorbikes (Ducatti uses them for instance) but they would be too heavy for F1, and I don't even remember anyone experimenting with the idea.

It seems like such a waste to be compressing those springs thousands of times a minute... or to be driving the rotation of heavy cams for that matter.
Someday this may all be electronic. Renault is playing with that aren't they?

Yes, exactly. It seems strange that they were seeing failures from springs at such low engine rpm's, but in any case I have heard that you just can't achieve more than 18,000rpm with springs no matter what.

I have found a web page with some nice diagrams and explanations of the electro hydraulic system used by Renault... they have indeed done away with the cam entirely (at least in testing, not sure if it has raced since that article was published). Since the engine management system would have to manage this, and it is a control unit supplied by McLaren, we can be fairly sure that all the engine manufacturers have a common system.

http://scarbsf1.com/valves.html

*british *80s

Adding video to channels (80s, British) - requested by ant.