Formula 1 Racing

This is a type of racing that is slowly but surely gaining popularity in the US. It still seems to be bigger overseas but is gaining a following here in the US. Unlike sports car racing, IMSA racing, Indy Cars, Formula 1 races can only take place at certain tracks because of the size of the cars. The races can't be done at the Mid Ohio Sports Car Track in Lexington, Ohio because the track is too small. For Formula 1 races, they can be done either overseas or if in the US, around the Miami Dolphins stadium, using the actual streets as their track or Circuit of the Americas, in Austin, Texas. Or they can be done at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway because that is a big track, perfect for F1 cars; in fact, they did have an F1 race there. My parents went there and Michael Schumacher won

Here is also a glossary for the terms used.

History

-Formula 1 racing got its start from the European Grand Prix racing of the 1920s and 1930s. The foundation of what we know of as the modern Formula One racing started in 1946 with the creation of the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile's (FIA) series of rules. In 1950 came the World Championship of Drivers

The Early Years

-Prior to being known as Formula One, it was called Formula A racing. The first world championship race took place at Silverstone, an old decommissioned Royal Air Force base in England while the first actual F1 race took place a month prior at Pau

Grand Prix at Pau, France

-The first proper road race was from Paris to Bordeaux in 1895. The winner was a French driver named Emile Levassor in 48 hours. One of the most successful drivers, however, was Fernand Charron, who won the next road race in 1899. Both drivers had driven a type of car called a Panhard

Panhard

Emile Levassor

Fernand Charron

-The first race to use the term "Grand Prix" came in 1901 at the French Grand Prix at Le Mans. The winner was Ferencz Szisz with a Renault. 1908 saw the creation of "pits", areas where mechanics could make repairs, change tires and more. This was at the Targa Florio race in Sicily. The early years were often brutal on tires; they went out too quickly. Driver Christian Lauteschalnger and his Mercedes went through ten tires at the 1908 Grand Prix at Dieppe

-When WWI broke out, many of the drivers doing these grand prix races went to the US to participate in the Indianapolis 500. Enzo Ferrari, who rose to fame with the creation of Scuderia Ferrari in 1929, was the winner of the 1920 Voiturette race at Le Mans, France. The first victory by an American-built car was at the 1921 French Grand Prix at Le Mans. It was Jimmy Murphy driving a Duesenberg. The best car makers of the era were considered to be Bugatti, who won the French and Spanish GPs in 1929 and Monaco, French, Belgian GPS in 1930, Fiat, who introduced the supercharger engine. They won in 1923. The International Grand Prix was born in 1931. It was also known as the European Automobile Championship because the races took place in Europe. One of the original rules was that for the 10-hour race, two drivers for each car to change out in case of exhaustion or other reasons

Jimmy Murphy

-Grand Prix racing was put on the backburner because of the Great Depression. No one had money to sink into this in addition to interest going down. During this time, Tazio Nuvolari would emerge as a successful driver, winning the Monaco and Italian GP. 1933 saw the introduction of starting grid positions, which determined where and what place a driver would start, based on qualifying performance. He even participated in the 1933 Donington Grand Prix. It would be fifty five years later when the next Donington GP was held. Nuvolari was 5'3'', a very short man and didn't have the muscle strength to force the car around turns with the steering wheel. He compensated for that by going into a four wheel drift and controlling the slide with the throttle. His last wish was to be buried in his uniform. He was indeed buried in his uniform after he died, just a few years after the modern F1 series was created

Tazio Nuvolari

-1934 saw the power balance in cars shifting over from Italy to Germany with the creation of Auto Union aka Audi and Mercedes-Benz. These car companies, unfortunately, had financial backing from the Third Reich, on direct orders from Adolf Hitler himself. With the invention of these cars, aerodynamics was introduced to GP racing.

The British Years

-The 1950s saw the British making their entry into Formula 1 racing, starting in 1958. Driver Stirling Moss won the 1958 Argentinian GP in a Cooper T45, a "funny little car" which didn't look at all like a proper racing vehicle. It had an underpowered rear engine and was privately owned by Rob Walker. The rules had changed since WWII. Now there was no ban on aviation fuel and Cooper now knew that shorter races and reduced fuel use gave advantage to lighter cars.

Stirling Moss

Cooper T-45

-During the 1959 F1 season, British driver Mike Hawthorn won the World Championship driving a Ferrari 246. This was shortly after the death of fellow British driver Peter Collins at the French GP in Reims. Stirling Moss competed again and finished in second place. Hawthorn was disgusted by the politics of Ferrari and he retired at the end of the season. He met a tragic end when he ended up in a fatal collision on the road in his Jaguar that January. The Vanwall racing team, who Stirling Moss drove for, backed out of F1 racing, but it inspired a slew of British racing teams. It even inspired the famed forest green color that has come to be known as "British Racing Green". From 1962-1973, Formula 1 race teams from Britain won 12 World Championships. The drivers included Scottish driver Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart, Australian Jack Brabham, Englishman Graham Hill, New Zealander Denny Hulme.

Jack Brabham

Denny Hulme

Graham Hill

Jackie Stewart

Jim Clark

Mike Hawthorn

A Jaguar in the famed "British Racing Green"

-1959-1960 saw the Cooper team using a 2500-cc Coventry-Climax engine and using the newly created rear engine layout in addition to front-mounted radiators. This helped win back-to-back F1 championships for Jack Brabham, all thanks to combination of successful weight distribution and good handling. It was also during this time that Team Lotus was created, by Colin Chapman. He had a habit of throwing his blue cap into the air trackside if and when Lotus won a race. It's been said that he changed more rules in the world of racing than anyone else. He knew that cars were going to go fast and that for reliability, that also meant increased weight and lost speed. He knew that there was an advantage to making cars so light they nearly met mechanical failure. This caused Lotus to collapse a few times, but the cars that didn't collapse showed what Lotus was made of.

Colin Chapman

-Jim Clark was the driver who made the most of Lotus' technical skills for F1. One of the most important inventions was the monocoque (one piece) chassis. This was introduced in 1962 with the Lotus 25. With the drivers being in a slightly reclined position, this reduced aerodynamic drag. Chapman went further with his technical skills and attached the Coventry-Climax and Ford Cosworth engines to the chassis itself. These features are an iconic feature of F1 car designs to this day. 1965 was the year that Jack Brabham had won the Indianapolis 500. This marks the year that the first British driver had won that race.

-1965 also seen Jackie Stewart scoring his first win for F1 at Monaco. Japanese auto maker Honda was dipping their toes into F1 and successfully won the last race of the year with Richie Ginther driving. This secured success for Honda in F1 racing. Jim Clark was considered to be the most talented driver out there, because he led every lap of every race he finished. His impressive stats are matched only by the 1988 stats of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost of McLaren racing. Sadly, Jim Clark died in 1968 at Hockenheim, Germany when his car veered off the road, due to wet conditions and hit a series of trees. There is a small marker, behind the Armco guardrail, at the spot of his sad demise.

Hockenheim track