Written by: Prasoon Man Shrestha - 2022015, Grade X
Posted on: 13 August, 2020
Formula One (also known as F1 or Formula 1) is the most prestigious racing series in the world. It has the most advanced racing cars which are driven by the most skilled racers. The world’s top car manufacturers compete in the most glamorous circuits to prove who can build the best and the fastest race car.
It all started in the early 1900s when rich people would race their fancy around Europe in a contest called Grand Prix. But in the period of World War 2, no one could race. But after World War 2 ended an organization named Federation Internationale del’Automobile (FiA) started organizing races that were centered around Grand Prix style races which gradually turned into Formula One.
New car companies like Mercedes and Lancia were coming into the scene. New companies hired the best racers of the time. The cars were gradually developing. Jalopies were slowly developing into modern-day race cars. But after a horrific race accident involving a Mercedes car which killed 83 spectators, Mercedes decided to abandon motorsport. Lancia also had simultaneous accidents which led the company to abandon motorsport and sell all their Formula One equipment to Ferrari.
In 1959 Cooper Car Corporation made an innovation that would change racing and cars forever. They moved the engine from the front of the driver to the back. It made the cars faster and better and by 1961 every team was using a mid-engine layout. And Ford made a 3 liters V8 engine which was so good that it almost powered all the Formula One cars for the next decade. Then came the turbochargers. The powerful turbochargers were dominating the circuit and it boosted cars from 500 HP to 750 HP. Because of the power that turbochargers gave race cars FiA outright banned it from the circuits.
After the ban of turbochargers, new NA motors were designed which made the cars faster than a turbocharged car. Around 1991 the cars were safer and F1 had gone more than an entire decade without any deaths. But the streak was broken in the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix where three drivers were involved in a serious accident. Two of the drivers were fatally injured and 3 times world champion Ayrton Senna died because of the accident which led to rule changes which mostly aimed to slow down the cars.
Then new names appeared including Michael Schumacher. He won many races. For instance, in 2004 Schumacher took the checkered flag in 13 out of 18 races and got 2nd twice. This won him his 7th world championship breaking Fangio’s record which lasted 47 years.
It was being too expensive for the smaller teams to compete so in 2006 the FIA mandated to switch to V8 engines which were smaller and cheaper. Then came the global market rescission. In this time many small teams managed to weather the storm whereas many major companies like BMW and Jaguar had to leave the series. In 2014 another rule changed where it made that all cars should run a 1.6 liters V6 engine which is used to date.
The 2020 F1 series has been postponed to 2021 because of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. F1 2021 will see the biggest change in auto sports history where F1 cars will have a new look and wider tires. The cars for F1 2021 will be designed to be able to race closely with other cars without losing downforce. It will also have a new aerodynamics. The engines for F1 2021 will remain unchanged. The biggest change that will affect F1 is that there will be a budget set to only $175 million per team per year for cars. This will lead to fairer races. If the teams are unable to follow the new rules it could lead to potential financial or sporting penalties.
