There
are many motorsports in this world, but the most famous and most popular motorsport
is called Formula 1. It is considered to be one of the oldest as well. This
sport is governed by the International Automobile Federation (FIA) which is
based in France. The cars that have used
in these races are made by many different big constructors, including Ferrari,
Porsche, Renault, Toyota and others. The cars used in these races use complicated
technology and are able to move at very high speeds with stable handling. The
race normally takes place in specific high standard circuits in different
cities in the world.
Teams participating in these motor races
receive huge sponsorship from large corporations all over the world due to the
high running cost of this sport. At the end of a racing year, FIA declares
drivers who have won and the construction company that emerged top in that year
as well as the highest score driver. The current champion is Lewis Hamilton
with Mercedes Benz declared the constructor of the year. The race takes place
over three days with the first two days being practice session before the main
race on the final day. Drivers and constructors earn points depending on the
position they achieve at the end of the race.
The
history of motor racing that gave birth to Formula one can be traced back to
the periods of World wars. By the end of world war one, plans to establish a
motor racing competition had started.
The start of the Second World War disrupted the plans and the idea had
to be postponed. In 1946, the plans of starting a driver’s challenge were
revisited. The process of setting up the world motor racing competition started
and by mid 1950 everything was in place for the first motor championship to
take place. The first race took place in 1950 at Silverstone and this marked
the start of formula one. In those years, many races were categorized as non
championship and didn’t count towards the overall formula one title. But supporting the non championship races
became untenable in 1983 since they were not profitable. In those early periods the sport was
dominated by companies that had established themselves during the war times
such as included Alfa Romeo and Ferrari.
Juan Manuel Fangio emerged has the most
prominent driver in the 1950s. Private drivers also participated in the
races.
The
race encountered many challenges in the early periods, including high death
toll of the participating drivers. Participants were also few and this made the
racing regulations to be reviewed. The cost of participating in these races was
too high and this forced many participants and constructor to withdraw their
participation (Teaters, 2009). As the sport began to grow, the participants
began advancing the technology of the cars to compete effectively. Initially,
all cars had their engines at the front, but the engines were taken to the rear
and this was adapted by many constructors. The idea of ranking constructors was
also introduced.
In
the 1960s, Britons dominated the motor racing competition and were the first to
put adverts on their cars. The Britons were racing in the green Lotus. Has competition intensified the modifications
of the cars also improved with Lotus inventing aerodynamics that enabled their
cars to negotiate corners with reasonable speed (Teaters, 2009). The costs of
racing continued rising and this locked out private participants out of formula
one.
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Introduction of turbochargers in 1970 greatly
increased the speed and power of the vehicles that were participating in these
competitions. The death toll was still
an issue and in 1978 one racing car, killed four spectators after losing
control. The race was stopped after the incident. In the same year, Lotus also modified their
cars to have an extra grip by the use of side skirts
Ferrari
established itself as the best car with Niki Lauda as the driver.
He
suffered a terrible clash and had burns that people thought he will not
participate in the races again. But he healed and returned to the cockpit and tried
his best at the same year. He is considered as one of the legends of this
motorsport due to his recovery and insistence of taking place to be the first.
Bernie
Ecclestone took over the management of formula one affair. He turned the sport
into a million dollar industry through the commercial rights. He also became
the president of the constructors union, Formula one constructor Association
(FOCA) encouraging them to work as unit for the benefit of all. The
establishment of Fe'de'ration Internationale du
Sport Automobile (FISA) led to the fighting for revenues and control of
the lucrative sport. The situation
became so tense that FOCA threatened to withdraw from various races. They later
reached an agreement and promised to work together in 1981.
The
turbos ruled the racing stage for a longer period of time. Technological
advancements in making the cars had gone too far and regulations had to be
initiated to curb this. This led to banning of turbochargers in 1989. Electronic driver aids were introduced which
led to serious arguments as to why drivers were still relevant. McLaren
dominated races in the 1990s. The FIA was grappling with the issue of death
tolls behind the wheel. This made FIA try to bring sanity by putting
regulations that could reduce speeds and ensure that those cars that were used
for racing were more secure to the participants. People felt that the races were more about the
technical abilities of the cars as compared to the driving aspect. This made
the big companies such as McLaren, Renault and Williams to make superior cars
and dominate the races.
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The costs involved in the racing also
discriminated against the smaller entrants who could not sustain themselves for
longer periods. From 1990 to 2008 many
companies had entered and exited the racing competition due to the dominance of
the bigger companies. This period shows
Michael Schumacher of Ferrari establishing himself as the best driver on the
track. Schumacher and Ferrari won five and six driver and constructors
championship respectively. Schumacher had habits that brought disrepute to the
motor racing sport. One of the controversies of Schumacher occurred in
Australian GP in 2002 where Barriello another Ferrari Driver, slowed down in
the final stretch for Schumacher to overtake him and become the world champion.
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Ferrari, Schumacher and Barrielo were fined heavily for the incident (Ripley, 2010). This led FIA to streamline the regulations to improve the sport and at least lower the costs of participation in the sport. For example the banning of team orders in 2002 following that case of Schumacher. Schumacher finally retired in 2006 and at this time the sport was gaining its competitive edge. Teams that were owned by the various manufacturers became stable and controlled many races. The grand prix manufacturers association (GMPA) acquired a larger share of the formula one revenue, which gave them a larger share of the profits. The sport has grown with the establishment of a new grand prix circuit in many countries including races in the Middle East. Many scandals have followed the establishment of formula one. Cases such as race fixing and others have portrayed the sport in a negative image. The revelations that Nelson Piquet Jr crashed intentionally to allow one of his teammates to be champions was not good for the sport either (Ripley, 2010).
Ferrari, Schumacher and Barrielo were fined heavily for the incident (Ripley, 2010). This led FIA to streamline the regulations to improve the sport and at least lower the costs of participation in the sport. For example the banning of team orders in 2002 following that case of Schumacher. Schumacher finally retired in 2006 and at this time the sport was gaining its competitive edge. Teams that were owned by the various manufacturers became stable and controlled many races. The grand prix manufacturers association (GMPA) acquired a larger share of the formula one revenue, which gave them a larger share of the profits. The sport has grown with the establishment of a new grand prix circuit in many countries including races in the Middle East. Many scandals have followed the establishment of formula one. Cases such as race fixing and others have portrayed the sport in a negative image. The revelations that Nelson Piquet Jr crashed intentionally to allow one of his teammates to be champions was not good for the sport either (Ripley, 2010).
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Formula one
sport has developed to be one of the world’s most famous sports. People believe that improve in technology in
the formula one cars translates to improved technology in the kind of vehicles
built for the normal roads. Manufacturers like Ferrari have adopted some of the
technologies to improve cars used in the normal roads. Normally, the races are
watched by millions of people worldwide who follow how well the different cars
from different constructors compete (Noble & Hughes, 2004). This tends to
shape their opinion on the cars they would like to have and what kind of
features they will want on those cars. Most of the world celebrities have identified
with the best of formula one manufacturer including Mclaren and Ferrari.
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Now and in the future, Formula one will have a big influence on the kind of cars people purchase.
Now and in the future, Formula one will have a big influence on the kind of cars people purchase.
References
Teaters, M. (2009). Formula One’s Famous Failures.Victoria,
BC: Trafford.
Noble, J., &
Hughes, M.(2004). Formula One Racing For
Dummies. Indianapolis, Ind.:Wiley Pub.
Ripley, D.(2010).
Flexi-wing row: Past Formula 1 Controversies Starring Michael Schumacher,
Jenson Button And Fernando Alonso. Http://WWW.dailymail.co.uk/sport/formulaone/article-1300039/formula-1-controversies-Michael-Schmacher-Jenson-Button-Fernando-Alonso.html.
