FORMULA 1

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.

 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.

 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.

 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).

The FIA is the body that’s tasked with coming up with various regulations that govern motor racing in the world today. From the time the sport was developed in 1950s, sport rules have been continually reviewed with the aim of eliminating deaths during the races.  The regulations involved introductions of measures to curb technological advancements in the way the vehicles were assembled. In the first years, they were no regulations to prevent the deaths that occurred during the racings. In 1954, formula one regulated engine capacities of 2.4 liters.  The use of alcohol in vehicles that were racing was banned and petrol allowed to be used. In 1976, a regulation to remove overhead air boxes was enacted. In 1978, to reduce speed limits turbos was banned from the racing circuits.  In 1989, turbochargers were completely banned.  Regulation to have a medical facility in each circuit was put in place. These facilities were supposed to be well equipped with qualified medical personnel. This could help in case there was an accident on the track. When FOCA and FISA reached an agreement, they enacted rules that allowed races to be done in official times. In the 1990s, several regulations concerning the modifications of the cars were adopted. In 1994, electronic driver aids were banned. In 2002, the FIA banned team orders to avoid defaming the sport after the case involving Schumacher and Barrielo. The regulations also revised the ways the teams were awarded points after the race.  Only 14 sets of tires will be allowed during the three day race as per the regulations created in 2006.   The regulations of 2010 were meant to regulate the costs and changed the way cars were awarded points at the end of the race.  The first ten cars were to receive points as shown: 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, and 1. Year 2014 show another form of turbochargers reintroduced with hybrid technology. To provide a combined power from electric motors and small block combustion engines. A technology that was first seen from production cars to reduce the rely on fuel.

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.  

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.