What is F1?

If you're totally new to the sport, you've come to the right place. I think the majority of the early entries here will be designed to bring readers up to speed with the sport of F1, including some history, rules, technology, and maybe even a little controversy. I promise it will be lighhearted and fun. The goal, of course, would be to bring you to a point where you could watch a race, understand the commentary and what's going on on-track, and hopefully have some opinions of your own. And what better way to start explaining what Formula 1 is than with the name itself...

The word "formula", here, refers to the very basic structure of the rules that govern the design of the cars. It might be easier to explain this by first talking about what a formula series is not. Many series, like Indy or Nascar, are what are called "spec series". Essentially, each driver races an identical car. Race teams are allowed to paint the car however they want and to adjust some aspects of the car, like whether the front or rear brakes do the most work stopping a car, but that's about it. Right now, Indy car is about to switch to a new car. That means contractors are bidding to design and build the cars for the next few years. That's about as quick as things evolve in a spec series...every few years. The advantage of a spec series is that it is a very true test of driver skill. Luck always plays a role in the outcome of a race, but we can say for sure that if one driver beats another, it wasn't because of major differences in the car. But to reiterate, Formula 1 is not at all run this way.

Formula 1 has a document called the technical regulations, which you can view here

http://argent.fia.com/web/fia-public.nsf/4ADA53A7369DCE8EC12576C700535E67/$FILE/1-2010%20TECHNICAL%20REGULATIONS%2023-06-2010.pdf

This document essentially outlines what you can and cannot do to the design of a car. Sure, it's 67 pages long, but F1 cars have about 3,000 parts. So clearly that is lots of room to be creative. Try taking a look at the technical regs to get a flavor for what they are all about. The wings, for example, have to be built such that they fit within certain size requirements. This means teams spend hours and hours at the computers testing how air flows over their wings and finding ways to make them better (in a later post I'll get into more detail here so you know what 'better' actually means). Contrast this with a spec series where the wings are given to the teams. Rule 5.9.1 is a fun one.

So the end result is that Formula 1 revolves around invention and evolution. Teams bring upgrades to their cars throughout the season. Sometime a team develops an exciting new idea which gives them a huge advantage for the first chunk of the season while the other teams scramble to copy it quickly enough to win races. Throughout the years, there have been cars with vacuums to hold them to the ground, cars with six wheels, and this year a system of ducts that allows the large wing at the back of the car to be effectively turned off! Don't worry, there will be plenty of entries on inventions like these to read about, along with pictures of the six-wheeled Formula 1 car of course.

What's neat about this rapid pace of development is that it also leads to trickery, spying, and controversy. This year, stickers were placed on one car to make the exhaust pipes look like they were somewhere they weren't. A few years ago one team stole technical data from their leading competitor. To win in F1 you need to be a good driver with a good car. And to have a good car you need a good team of designers and engineers. So it really takes a full team, sometimes with hundreds of personnel, to provide the goods for a winning season.

The "1" in Formula 1 is no secret. Of the formula series, it claims to be the pinnacle. This may seem a bit pretentious but F1 has the history and fame to support this. There is Formula 2* and a Formula 3, along with GP2 (Grand Prix 2) and GP3, which are a few of the series designed to be stepping stones to F1, much like the minor leagues in baseball.

So there you have it. I hope this explained a bit about what F1 is all about and given you a few hints about upcoming entries. It will become clear that F1 cars are some of the most advanced technological machines ever built. The levels of detail and precision in their design and construction are matched perhaps only by spacecraft. The amount of resources spent on producing these cars (as high as $445 million by Toyota in 2008...that's nearly half a billion!) is absolutely unmatched in sports, as is the number of behind-the-scenes workers.

Oh yea and one last fun fact for you to think about. Think about everything I've just said about these cars. Now think about this. People strap themselves into these cars and race them! F1 is not a science fair. It's a sport, and it's thrilling to watch!

Cheers

*Despite their names, F2 and F3 are actually spec series, but since these series are designed to be part of the path to F1 , they have the word "Formula" in them by association.