Formula One, abbreviated to F1, is the highest class of open wheeled auto racing defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motor sport's world governing body. The "formula" in the name is a set of rules which all participants and cars must meet. The F1 world championship season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix, held usually on purpose-built circuits, and in a few cases on closed city streets. The results of each race are combined to determine two annual World Championships, one for drivers and one for constructors.

The cars race at high speeds, greater than 320 km/h (200 mph), and are capable of pulling up to 5g in some corners. The performance of the cars is highly dependent on electronics, aerodynamics, suspension and tyres. The formula has seen many evolutions and changes through the history of the sport.

Europe is Formula One's traditional centre, all of the teams are based there and around half the races take place there. However, its scope has expanded significantly in recent years and Grands Prix are now held all over the world. Events in Europe and the Americas have been dropped in favour of new ones in Bahrain, China, Malaysia and Turkey, with Singapore scheduled to hold the first night race in 2008 and India being added to the schedule starting in 2010. Of the eighteen races in 2008, nine are outside Europe.

It is a massive television event, with millions of people watching each race in two hundred countries. As the world's most expensive sport,^{[citation needed]} its economic effect is significant, and its financial and political battles are widely observed. On average about 55 million people all over the world watch Formula one races live. Its high profile and popularity makes it an obvious merchandising environment, which leads to very high investments from sponsors, translating into extremely high budgets for the constructor teams. Since the last decade, several teams have gone bankrupt or been bought out by other companies.

The sport is regulated by the FIA. Formula One's commercial rights are vested in the Formula One Group.

Contents [hide] 1 History 1.1 The return of racing (1950-1958) 1.2 The 'Garagistes' (1959-1980) 1.3 Big business (1981-2000) 1.4 The manufacturers' return (2000-2007) 1.5 Outside the World Championship 1.5.1 European non-championship racing 1.5.2 South African Formula One championship 1.5.3 British Formula One Series 2 Racing and strategy 3 Constructors 4 Drivers 4.1 Feeder series 4.2 Beyond F1 5 Grands Prix 6 Circuits 7 Cars and technology 8 Cost of Formula One 9 Future of Formula One 10 Formula One and television 11 Distinction between Formula One and World Championship races 12 See also 13 Notes 14 References 15 External links

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[edit] History

Main article: History of Formula One

See 2008 Formula One season for details of the 2008 season

The Formula One series has its roots in the European Grand Prix Motor Racing (q.v. for pre-1947 history) of the 1920s and 1930s. The "formula" is a set of rules which all participants and cars must meet. Formula One was a new formula agreed after World War II in 1946, with the first non-championship races being held that year. A number of Grand Prix racing organisations had laid out rules for a World Championship before the war, but due to the suspension of racing during the conflict, the World Drivers' Championship was not formalised until 1947. The first world championship race was held at Silverstone, United Kingdom in 1950. A championship for constructors followed in 1958. National championships existed in South Africa and the UK in the 1960s and 1970s. Non-championship Formula One races were held for many years but, due to the rising cost of competition, the last of these occurred in 1983.^[2]

The sport's title, Formula One, indicates that it is intended to be the most advanced and most competitive of the FIA's racing formulae.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] The return of racing (1950-1958)

Juan Manuel Fangio drove this Alfa Romeo 159 to the title in 1951.

The first Formula One World Championship was won by Italian Giuseppe Farina in his Alfa Romeo in 1950, barely defeating his Argentine teammate Juan Manuel Fangio. However Fangio won the title in 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956 & 1957, his streak interrupted after an injury by two-time champion Alberto Ascari of Ferrari. Although the UK's Stirling Moss was able to compete regularly, he was never able to win the World Championship, and is now widely considered to be the greatest driver never to have won the title.^[3][4] Fangio, however, is remembered for dominating Formula One's first decade and has long been considered the "grand master" of Formula One.^{[citation needed]}

The period was dominated by teams run by road car manufacturers - Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Mercedes Benz and Maserati - all of whom had competed before the war. The first seasons were run using pre-war cars like Alfa's 158. They were front engined, with narrow treaded tyres and 1.5 litre supercharged or 4.5 litre naturally aspirated engines. The 1952 and 1953 world championships were run to Formula Two regulations, for smaller, less powerful cars, due to concerns over the number of Formula One cars available.^[5] When a new Formula One, for engines limited to 2.5 litres, was reinstated to the world championship in 1954 Mercedes-Benz introduced the advanced W196, which featured innovations such as desmodromic valves and fuel injection as well as enclosed streamlined bodywork. Mercedes won the drivers championship for two years, before withdrawing from all motorsport in the wake of the 1955 Le Mans disaster.^[6]

[edit] The 'Garagistes' (1959-1980)

Stirling Moss at the Nürburgring in 1961.

The first major technological development, Cooper's re-introduction of mid-engined cars (following Ferdinand Porsche's pioneering Auto Unions of the 1930s), which evolved from the company's successful Formula 3 designs, occurred in the 1950s. Australian Jack Brabham, World Champion in 1959, 1960 and 1966, soon proved the new design's superiority. By 1961, all regular competitors had switched to mid-engined cars.^[7]

The first British World Champion was Mike Hawthorn, who drove a Ferrari to the title in 1958. However, when Colin Chapman entered F1 as a chassis designer and later founder of Team Lotus, British racing green came to dominate the field for the next decade. Between Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, John Surtees, Jack Brabham, Graham Hill, and Denny Hulme, British teams and Commonwealth drivers won twelve world championships between 1962 and 1973.^{[citation needed]}

In 1962, Lotus introduced a car with an aluminium sheet monocoque chassis instead of the traditional spaceframe design. This proved to be the greatest technological breakthrough since the introduction of mid-engined cars. In 1968, Lotus painted Imperial Tobacco livery on their cars, thus introducing sponsorship to the sport.^[8]

Aerodynamic downforce slowly gained importance in car design from the appearance of aerofoils in the late 1960s. In the late 1970s Lotus introduced ground effect aerodynamics that provided enormous downforce and greatly increased cornering speeds (though the concept had previously been used on Jim Hall's Chaparral 2J in 1970). So great were the aerodynamic forces pressing the cars to the track, up to 5 g, that extremely stiff springs were needed to maintain a constant ride height, leaving the suspension virtually solid, depending entirely on the tyres for any small amount of cushioning of the car and driver from irregularities in the road surface.^[9]

[edit] Big business (1981-2000)

Beginning in the 1970s, Bernie Ecclestone rearranged the management of Formula One's commercial rights; He is widely credited with transforming the sport into the billion dollar business it is today.^[10][11] When Ecclestone bought the Brabham team in 1971 he gained a seat on the Formula One Constructors' Association and in 1978 became its President. Previously the circuit owners controlled the income of the teams and negotiated with each individually, however Ecclestone persuaded them to "hunt as a pack" through FOCA.^[11] He offered Formula One to circuit owners as a package which they could take or leave. In return for the package almost all are required to surrender trackside advertising.^[10]

The formation of the Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA) in 1979 set off the FISA-FOCA war, during which FISA and its president Jean-Marie Balestre clashed repeatedly with FOCA over television revenues and technical regulations.^[12] The Guardian said of FOCA that Ecclestone and Max Mosley "used it to wage a guerilla war with a very long-term aim in view." FOCA threatened to set up a rival series, boycotted a Grand Prix and FISA withdrew its sanction from races.^[10] The result was the 1981 Concorde Agreement which guaranteed technical stability, as teams were to be given reasonable notice of new regulations.^[13] Although FISA asserted its right to the TV revenues, it handed the administration of those rights to FOCA.^{[citation needed]}

The FIA imposed a ban on ground effect aerodynamics in 1983.^[14] By then, however, turbocharged engines, which Renault had pioneered in 1977, were producing over 700 bhp (520 kW) and were essential to be competitive. By 1986 a BMW turbocharged engine achieved a flash reading of 5.5 bar pressure, estimated to be "over 1300 bhp" (970 kW) in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix. The following year power in race trim reached around 1,100 bhp (820 kW), with boost pressure limited to only 4.0 bar.^[15] These cars were the most powerful open-wheel circuit racing cars ever. To reduce engine power output and thus speeds, the FIA limited fuel tank capacity in 1984 and boost pressures in 1988 before banning turbocharged engines completely in 1989.^[16]

The development of electronic driver aids began in the 1980s. Lotus began to develop a system of active suspension which first appeared in 1982 on the F1 Lotus 91 and Lotus Esprit road car. By 1987 this system had been perfected and was driven to victory by Ayrton Senna in the Monaco Grand Prix that year. In the early 1990s, other teams followed suit and semi-automatic gearboxes and traction control were a natural progression. The FIA, due to complaints that technology was determining the outcome of races more than driver skill, banned many such aids for 1994. However, many observers felt that the ban on driver aids was a ban in name only as they "have proved difficult to police effectively."^[17]

The teams signed a second Concorde Agreement in 1992 and a third in 1997, which expired on the last day of 2007.^[18]

On the track, the McLaren and Williams teams dominated the 1980s and 1990s. Powered by Porsche, Honda, and Mercedes-Benz, McLaren won sixteen championships (seven constructors', nine drivers') in that period, while Williams used engines from Ford, Honda, and Renault to also win sixteen titles (nine constructors', seven drivers'). The rivalry between racing legends Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost became F1's central focus in 1988, and continued until Prost retired at the end of 1993. Tragically, Senna died at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix after crashing into a wall on the exit of the notorious curve Tamburello, having taken over Prost's lead drive at Williams that year. The FIA worked to improve the sport's safety standards since that weekend, during which Roland Ratzenberger also lost his life in an accident during Saturday qualifying. No driver has died on the track at the wheel of a Formula One car since, though two track marshals have lost their lives, one at the 2000 Italian Grand Prix,^[19] and the other at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix.^[19]

Since the deaths of Senna, Ratzenberger & Gilles Villeneuve, the FIA has used safety as a reason to impose rule changes which otherwise, under the Concorde Agreement, would have had to be agreed upon by all the teams - most notably the changes introduced for 1998. This so called 'narrow track' era resulted in cars with smaller rear tyres, a narrower track overall and the introduction of 'grooved' tyres to reduce mechanical grip. There would be four grooves, on the front and rear - although initially three on the front tyres in the first year - that ran through the entire circumference of the tyre. The objective was to reduce cornering speeds and to produce racing similar to rain conditions by enforcing a smaller contact patch between tyre and track. This, according to the FIA, was to promote driver skill and provide a better spectacle.^{[citation needed]}

Results have been mixed as the lack of mechanical grip has resulted in the more ingenious designers clawing back the deficit with aerodynamic grip - pushing more force onto the tyres through wings, aerodynamic devices etc - which in turn has resulted in less overtaking as these devices tend to make the wake behind the car 'dirty' preventing other cars from following closely, due to their dependence on 'clean' air to make the car stick to the track. The grooved tyres also had the unfortunate side effect of initially being of a harder compound, to be able to hold the groove tread blocks, which resulted in spectacular accidents in times of aerodynamic grip failure e.g. rear wing failures, as the harder compound could not grip the track as well.^{[citation needed]}

The more innovative teams have found ways to maximise this dramatic change. In 1997 an F1 Racing photographer noticed that the rear brakes of the McLarens were glowing red in an acceleration zone of the track. The magazine discovered through photos of the inside of the ****pit, that McLaren had installed a second brake pedal, selectable by the driver to act on one of the rear wheels. This allowed the driver to eliminate understeer and reduce wheelspin when exiting slow corners, dubbed "brake steer". Ferrari's protestations to the FIA led to the system being banned at the 1998 Brazilian Grand Prix.^[20]

Drivers from McLaren, Williams, Renault (formerly Benetton) and Ferrari, dubbed the "Big Four", have won every World Championship from 1984 to the present day. Due to the technological advances of the 1990s, the cost of competing in Formula One rose dramatically. This increased financial burden, combined with four teams' dominance (largely funded by big car manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz), caused the poorer independent teams to struggle not only to remain competitive, but to stay in business. Financial troubles forced several teams to withdraw. Since 1990, twenty-eight teams have pulled out of Formula One. This has prompted former Jordan owner Eddie Jordan to say that the days of competitive privateers are over.^[21]

[edit] The manufacturers' return (2000-2007)

A sign displaying that the safety car (SC) is deployed. Safety is of paramount concern in contemporary F1.

Michael Schumacher and Ferrari won an unprecedented five consecutive drivers' championships and six consecutive constructors' championships between 1999 and 2004. Schumacher set many new records, including those for Grand Prix wins (91), wins in a season (13 of 18), and most drivers' championships (7).^[22] Schumacher's championship streak ended on September 25, 2005 when Renault driver Fernando Alonso became Formula One's youngest champion. In 2006, Renault and Alonso won both titles again. Schumacher retired at the end of 2006 after sixteen years in Formula One.

During this period the championship rules were frequently changed by the FIA with the intention of improving the on-track action and cutting costs.^[23] Team orders, legal since the championship started in 1950, were banned in 2002 after several incidents in which teams openly manipulated race results, generating negative publicity, most famously by Ferrari at the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix. Other changes included the qualifying format, the points scoring system, the technical regulations and rules specifying how long engines and tyres must last. A 'tyre war' between suppliers Michelin and Bridgestone saw lap times fall, although at the 2005 United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis seven out of ten teams did not race when their Michelin tyres were deemed unsafe for use. During 2006, Max Mosley outlined a ‘green' future for Formula One, in which efficient use of energy would become an important factor.^[24] And the tyre war ended, as Bridgestone became the sole tyre supplier to Formula One for the 2007 season.^{[citation needed]}

Since 1983, Formula One had been dominated by specialist race teams like Williams, McLaren and Benetton, using engines supplied by large car manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Renault and Ford. Starting in 2000 with Ford's creation of the largely unsuccessful Jaguar team, new manufacturer-owned teams entered Formula One for the first time since the departure of Alfa Romeo and Renault at the end of 1985. By 2006, the manufacturer teams - Renault, BMW, Toyota, Honda and Ferrari - dominated the championship, taking five of the first six places in the constructors' championship. The sole exception was McLaren, which is part-owned by Mercedes Benz. Through the Grand Prix Manufacturers Association (GPMA) they negotiated a larger share of Formula One's commercial profit and a greater say in the running of the sport.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Outside the World Championship

Currently, the terms "Formula One race" and "World Championship race" are effectively synonymous; since 1984, every Formula One race has counted towards the World Championship, and every World Championship race has been to Formula One regulations. This has not always been the case, and in the earlier history of Formula One many races took place outside the world championship.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] European non-championship racing

In the early years of Formula One, before the world championship was established, there were around twenty races held from late Spring to early Autumn (Fall) in Europe, although not all of these were considered significant. Most competitive cars came from Italy, particularly Alfa Romeo. After the start of the world championship these non-championship races continued. In the 1950s and 1960s, there were many Formula One races which did not count for the World Championship (e.g., in 1950, a total of twenty-two Formula One races were held, of which only six counted towards the World Championship). In 1952 and 1953, when the world championship was run for Formula Two cars, a full season of non-championship Formula One racing took place. Some races, particularly in the UK, including the Race of Champions, Oulton Park International Gold Cup and International Trophy, were attended by the majority of the world championship contenders. These became less common through the 1970s and 1983 saw the last non-championship Formula One race: The 1983 Race of Champions at Brands Hatch, won by reigning World Champion Keke Rosberg in a Williams Cosworth in a close fight with American Danny Sullivan.^[2]

[edit] South African Formula One championship

Main article: South African Formula One Championship

South Africa's flourishing domestic Formula One championship ran from 1960 through to 1975. The frontrunning cars in the series were recently retired from the world championship although there was also a healthy selection of locally built or modified machines. Frontrunning drivers from the series usually contested their local World Championship Grand Prix, as well as occasional European events, although they had little success at that level.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] British Formula One Series

Main article: British Formula One Series

The old fashioned DFV helped make the UK domestic Formula One series possible between 1978 and 1980. As in South Africa a generation before, second hand cars from manufacturers like Lotus and Fittipaldi Automotive were the order of the day, although some, such as the March 781, were built specifically for the series. In 1980 the series saw South African Desiré Wilson become the only woman to win a Formula One race when she triumphed at Brands Hatch in a Wolf WR3.^[25]

[edit] Racing and strategy

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Main articles: Formula One racing and Formula One regulations

A Formula One Grand Prix event spans an entire weekend, beginning with two free practice sessions on Friday (except in Monaco, where Friday practices are moved to Thursday), and one free practice on Saturday. Third drivers are allowed to run on Fridays, but only two cars may be used per team, requiring a race driver to give up their seat. After these practice sessions, a qualifying session is held.

The format of this qualifying session has been through several iterations since 2003. Attempts were made to reinvigorate interest in the qualifying session by using a "one-shot" system in which each driver would take turns on an empty track to set their one and only time.

For the 2006 season a knockout qualifying system was introduced, which has continued unchanged for the 2007 season. The FIA revised the 2006 procedures starting with Round 11, the 2006 French Grand Prix.^[26] In the first phase, all twenty-two cars are permitted on the track for a fifteen minute qualification session. Only their fastest time will count and drivers may complete as many laps as they wish. In the original format, the clocks were stopped immediately at the end of the session, which meant that drivers on a timed lap did not have their time registered once the fifteen minutes were up. From Round 11, any car running a timed lap at the time of the chequered flag is entitled to complete the lap. The slowest six cars can take no further part in qualifying, these cars will make up the last six grid positions in the order of their times.

The times for the sixteen remaining cars are reset for the next fifteen minute session. In the original format, the clocks were stopped immediately at the end of the session. From Round 11, cars running timed laps at the chequered flag are allowed to complete the lap. The slowest six cars will make up the grid in positions 11 to 16 in the order of their times.

The times for the ten remaining cars will be reset for the next session. The shoot-out session lasted twenty minutes under the original regulations, changed to fifteen minutes from Round 11. For the final period, the cars will be arranged on the grid in positions one to ten in the order of their times. In the first two fifteen minute sessions, cars may run any fuel load and drivers knocked out after those sessions may refuel ahead of the race. However, the top-ten drivers must begin the final fifteen minute session with the fuel load on which they plan to start the race. They will be weighed before they leave the pits. Whatever fuel they use in the fifteen minutes may be replaced at the end of the session provided that the laps they complete are all within 110% of their best session time; outlaps (a lap that started in the pitlane) and inlaps (a lap that ended in the pitlane) are permitted to be no more than 120% of the driver's best session time. Any fuel for a lap outside of the 110% time will not be replaced. As with the first two fifteen minute sessions, if a driver starts a timed lap before the chequered flag falls for the fifteen minute session, their time will count even if they cross the finish line after the session has ended.^[27]

The race begins with a warm-up formation lap, after which the cars assemble on the starting grid in the order they qualified. If a driver stalls before the parade lap, and the rest of the field p**** him, then he must start from the back of the grid. As long as he moves off and at least one car is behind him, he can retake his original position. A racer may also elect to start from pit-lane if he has any last minute problems with the car. If they choose to do this, they must wait for all cars to pass pit-lane before they may begin the race.^{[citation needed]}

A light system above the track then signals the start of the race. Races are a little over 305 kilometres (190 miles) long and are limited to two hours, though in practice they usually last about ninety minutes. Throughout the race, drivers may make one or more pit stops in order to refuel and change tyres. For 2007 with Michelin leaving the sport, teams are supplied with tyres solely from Bridgestone. Bridgestone have developed four tyre compounds of which they then select two for the teams to use at a given race event. Drivers must use both tyre compounds during a race which is hoped will bring more excitement to the sport. The softer of the available compounds for the weekend's tyres can be seen with a white ring around one of the grooves on the tyre itself.^{[citation needed]}

When a driver comes round to lap another, the backmarker must move out of the way within a certain number of blue flags waved by the trackside marshals, or face a penalty.

Since 2003, the FIA awards points to the top eight drivers and their respective teams o****rand prix on a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis (the race winner receives ten points, the first runner-up eight, and so on). Other points systems have been in operation over the years; before 2003 the points system was 10-6-4-3-2-1. The winner of the two annual championships are the driver and the team who have accumulated the most points at the end of the season. In the case of a tie in points, the championship is awarded to the driver or team having the higher number of wins; if these are equal, second place finishes are considered, and so on.

[edit] Constructors

See also: List of Formula One constructors, List of Formula One drivers, List of Formula One people, List of Formula One World Drivers' Champions, and List of Formula One World Constructors' Champions

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The Formula One Drivers' Trophy.

Since 1984 Formula One teams have been required to build the chassis in which they compete, and consequently the terms "team" and "constructor" are more or less interchangeable. This requirement distinguishes the sport from series such as IndyCar Series and Champ Car World Series which allow teams to purchase chassis, and "spec series" such as GP2, which require all cars be kept to an identical specification.

In the 2007 season, for the first time since the 1984 rule, two teams used chassis built by other teams. Super Aguri started the season using a modified Honda Racing's RA106 chassis (used by Honda in the 2006 season), while Toro Rosso used a modified Red Bull Racing RB3 chassis (same as the one used by Red Bull in the 2007 season). Such a decision did not come as a surprise because of spiraling costs and the fact that Super Aguri is partially owned by Honda and Toro Rosso is (fully) owned by Red Bull. Formula One team Spyker has raised a complaint against this decision, and other teams such as McLaren and Ferrari have officially confirmed that they support the campaign. The 2006 season could have been the last one in which the terms "team" and "constructor" were truly interchangeable, and that attracted the Prodrive team to F-1 to the 2008 season, where it intended to run a customer car. After not being able to secure a package from McLaren, Prodrive's intention to enter the 2008 season was dropped after Williams threatened legal action against them. Now, it seems that the customer cars concept will be banned in the near future.^{[citation needed]}

Early manufacturer involvement came in the form of a "factory team" or "works team" (that is, one owned and staffed by a major car company), such as those of Alfa Romeo, Ferrari (Fiat) or Renault. After having virtually disappeared by the early 1980s, factory teams made a comeback in the 1990s and 2000s and now form half the grid with Ferrari (Fiat), BMW, Renault,Toyota and Honda either setting up their own teams or buying out existing ones. Since 1995 Mercedes-Benz owns 40% of the McLaren team and manufactures the team's engines. Factory teams currently make up the top competitive teams; the "Big Four" are considered to be Ferrari, McLaren, Williams and Renault (formerly Benetton). These have won every constructors' championship since 1979, and produced title-winning drivers from 1984 to the present. Ferrari, McLaren and Williams make up the "Big Three", each having over 100 race victories to their credit. Williams remains the only major team that is still independently owned.

Companies such as Climax, Repco, Cosworth, Hart, Judd and Supertec, which had no direct team affiliation, often sold engines to teams that could not afford to manufacture them. In the early years independently owned Formula One teams sometimes also built their engines, though this became less common with the increased involvement of major car manufacturers such as BMW, Ferrari, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Renault and Toyota, whose large budgets rendered privately built engines less competitive (and redundant). Cosworth was the last independent engine supplier. In 2006 Cosworth sold the Williams team 2.4 litre V-8s and the Scuderia Toro Rosso team detuned V10 engines based on the 2005 units. Beginning in 2007 the manufacturers' deep pockets and engineering ability took over, eliminating the last of the independent engine manufacturers. It is estimated that the big teams spend €100 to €200 million ($125-$250 million) per year per manufacturer on engines alone.^[28] [3]

The sport's 1950 debut season saw eighteen teams compete, but due to high costs many dropped out quickly. In fact, such was the scarcity of competitive cars for much of the first decade of Formula One that Formula Two cars were admitted to fill the grids. Ferrari is the only still-active team which competed in 1950, and as of 2006 eleven teams are on the grid, each fielding two cars. Although teams rarely disclose information about their budgets, it is estimat