Beginners guide to the world of Formula 1
- fabkarssens
- Oct 7, 2021
- 6 min read
Updated: Oct 14, 2021
If you are new to the sport but are interested in seeing fast cars then I will bring you up to speed on the ins and outs of the sport with information that will get you going. Formula 1 is a magical sport that will grip you from the very off. It is a very technical sport and so it can be quite hard to understand sometimes but as soon as you read this you will instantly feel part of the community.
When did Formula 1 begin and what is it?
Formula 1 is a collective set of races that are held over a season in which 20 drivers go head to head at trying to win the world championship. It is not only a one-man sport as the teams have an extremely important role to play; a team can also win the constructor's world championship for accumulating the most points between their two drivers.
The Formula 1 of the past looks completely different to now as back then there were not many regulations on car size and engine power so, in turn, the teams with more money would be so much more successful.
The first F1 race with sets of rules was held on 13th May 1950 and this was at the home of motorsport in Britain, Silverstone. The race was won by Giuseppe Farina who raced for Alfa Romeo at the time. It was a 70 lap race in which Farina started on pole.
The first-ever official world championship was won by Farina and there have been 32 different world championship winners since. Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher currently share the same amount of world championships at 7 each, which is 2 more than any other driver in history.
The Cars
Formula 1 is all about innovative technology and constant new ideas that shape the design and the workings of the car. They are an impressive feat of modern engineering that are thrown into all sorts of conditions and can be heavily damaged bringing a big cheque for the damage.
There has been a drastic evolution of cars over the last 70 years bringing all sorts of unique designs and parts. The F1 cars are much safer nowadays and with the introduction of the halo, it is evident that small additions can save so many lives. However, they still share the original ideas of there being a cockpit with an engine behind them to power the drivers on.
Here is a video showing some of the...different...designs we have had in the sport:
The Teams and Current Drivers
There are 20 drivers each year, although in the past there has been more, and there are 10 teams. Each team has 2 drivers and both race in the same Grand Prix. The teams in the sport have constantly changed over the years that F1 has lived but some current teams have been in the sport longer than others. Here is a list of the drivers and teams currently participating in Formula 1:
Sir Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes- No.44 (British)
Valterri Bottas, Mercedes- No.77 (Finnish)
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing- No.33 (Dutch)
Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing- No.11 (Mexican)
Lando Norris, McLaren- No.4 (British)
Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren- No.3 (Australian)
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari- No.16 (Monegasques)
Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari- No.55 (Spanish)
Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin Racing- No.5 (German)
Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Racing- No.18 (Canadian)
Esteban Ocon, Alpine- No.31 (French)
Fernando Alonso, Alpine- No.14 (Spanish)
Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri- No.10 (French)
Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri- No.22 (Japanese)
Antonio Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo- No.99 (Italian)
Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo- No.7 (Finnish)
George Russell, Williams- No.63 (British)
Nicholas Latifi, Williams- No.6 (Canadian)
Mick Schumacher, Haas F1 Team- No.47 (German)
Nikita Mazepin, Haas F1 Team- No.9 (Russian)
Where and what do they race on?
In the current F1 2021 season there are 23 confirmed races however some circuits have dropped in and out. There are circuits all over the world going from places like Italy, Britain, and France to locations such as Bahrain, Brazil, and Mexico. So there is a wide variety of continents the teams race at and each track is unique in its own way.
The usual Formula 1 circuit is a loop with different amounts of left-hand and right-hand turns with slow corners and fast corners. This year there have even been some banked corners such as the ones in the Dutch GP.
The Pitstops
The pitstops are a must-have for the drivers during qualifying and the races. If a driver has got front wing damage to his car, he can come into the pits and get it replaced by a team of highly skilled mechanics. If a driver's tyres become too worn that they are now dangerous to drive with, they will come in and get them replaced with a new set of tires. The tyres are not designed to last a whole race so the speed and accuracy of the pit stop are critical.
The pits are usually located on the main straight of the circuit and run alongside where the drivers line up to start the race. Each team has two pit boxes, one for each driver and each driver will have their own set of mechanics. The Pit Wall for most teams consists of the driver's race engineers and the team principles. These people constantly communicate with the driver to check up on the race conditions and how the car is feeling.
The Weekend Format
All but one race weekend in a season, Monaco, have the practice sessions, qualifying and the race spread over Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. If it is a Grand Prix with no sprint qualifying, practice 1 and 2 will be held on Friday; practice 3 and qualifying on Saturday and the race on Sunday. When there is sprint qualifying, there is practice 1 and normal qualifying on Friday, practice 2 and the sprint qualifier on the Saturday, and the race on the Sunday. At the Monaco GP, Friday is a day where the country has a day to allow traffic to pass through Monte Carlo as the race falls on a bank holiday weekend. So this means there is no on-track action on Friday.
The practice sessions are key for the drivers and teams to collect valuable data from how the car is performing and what the track is like. The results of the 1-hour practice sessions have no significance to the championship as they do not reward any points.
Qualifying is much more complex as it is split into 3 parts. Q1, Q2, and Q3. All drivers take part in Q1 and this is an important time to set the fastest lap you can to ensure that you progress to Q2. The 15 fastest drivers will qualify and this leaves the other 5 out and they will start from the position they qualified in. Q2 is very similar to Q1 in which 5 drivers will miss out on the opportunity to be in Q3. However, the tyres the top 10 set the fastest lap on in Q2, have to be the tyres they start the race on which throws a bit of strategy into the mix. Q3 is then a shootout as to who can claim pole position and this always brings excitement. Most would agree that the last couple of minutes of Q3 are the most exciting moments of the weekend as there can always be a surprise polesitter. Being on pole is also considered as being an advantage for the race.
Sprint Qualifying is slightly different as it is more like a race where the drivers start from where they finished on Friday and then in the Sprint Qualifying they will have a 100km sprint around the track to determine the grid lineup for Sunday's race.
The race then occurs on Sunday and the drivers will fight it out to score as many points as they can. Only the top 10 score points and an extra point is awarded for the fastest lap of the race (as long as they finish in the top 10). The points system works as follows:
1st place= 25 points
2nd place= 18 points
3rd place= 15 points
4th place= 12 points
5th place= 10 points
6th place= 8 points
7th place= 6 points
8th place= 4 points
9th place= 2 points
10th= 1 point
After reading this short but insightful piece on F1 and all that comes with it, hopefully, I have given you the basic knowledge you need to take into a race weekend.
All that is left is for you to pick a team and driver and get to know them and give them your passionate support to cheer them on.
If you want to read more about F1, then have a read of some of the other articles on this website. There will be weekly updates and more and more content to come...
Comments