Formula 1 has recently been making waves all around the world, with its high speeds and luxury race cars, making it hard to look away. With a new season approaching, it's important to know the basics so you don’t miss anything.
The current Formula 1 grid consists of ten different teams, and a total of twenty drivers. Each team has two main drivers, and one or two backup drivers, in case a main driver is absent for a race. The top five teams consist of McLaren, Ferrari, Redbull, Mercedes, and Aston Martin, while the bottom five teams are Alpine, Haas, Racing Bulls, Williams, and Kick Sauber.
The history of Formula 1 goes far beyond what many think. It originally began with the European Championship of Grand Prix races in the early 1900s and continued until the beginning of the second World War. Following World War II, several Grand Prix organizations agreed to a new set of rules, or a formula, in 1946. The first official Formula 1 race didn't take place until 1950 at Silverstone in the United Kingdom. From then on, Formula 1 continued as the pinnacle of motorsport, going on to its 75th year this year.
The modern day race weekend differs heavily from that of the ones in the 20h century. Nowadays, the race weekends we know often take place over a span of 4 days, from Thursday to Sunday. Thursday often begins with what is known as a free practice, an hour of time for the drivers to drive around the circuit testing different strategies, while they’re teams gather critical information. Fridays consist of free practices 2 and 3, followed by a qualifying on Saturday. Qualifying is split into three different sessions, known as Q1, Q2 and Q3, where the slowest drivers of that day are slowly eliminated. Q1 is the session that all 20 drivers participate in, each attempting to make it to the top of the time sheets. The five slowest drivers are then eliminated, with their places on the time sheets from Q1 being their place for the beginning of the race the next day. Q2 follows a similar structure until only the top ten are left for Q3.
The multi-race weekends during the season help fuel both the driver and constructors championships. Each driver earns points if they make it in the top 10 of a race, with the first place winner earning 25 points, second earning 18 points, third earning 15, and so on. These points get added to two separate championships. One is the driver’s championship, which only looks at drivers' individual points. The other championship is the constructors championship, which accounts for the points of both members on the team. At the end of the season, all the points from each race are added up and the winners are announced.
In racing, there are many different formula series, such as Formula E, Formula 2 and Formula 3. Where Formula 1 differs from these is the fact that each team has its own car model and engine. These cars do, however, have to follow a certain set of rules, but each car is unique to the team that created it. Teams can change things such as front and back wings, brake ducts, cooling systems, and most popularly the colorful designs displayed on the outside of the cars.
Ahead of the 2025 seasons, teams had the opportunity to reveal their cars’ liveries, the official name for the designs displayed on the cars, at F1 75 Live. Due to the beginning of the 75th official season of Formula 1, a large celebration was held at the O2 in London, where drivers and celebrities alike celebrated the start of the season.
London has always been an important place in Formula 1 history, with Silverstone, the first circuit to host an F1 race, being located there. Other historically important circuits include Circuit De Monaco, located in Monte Carlo, Monaco, and Autodromo Nazionale di Monza located in Milan. Each circuit is important to different races for many reasons, whether it is their home race, or the place they first one, circuits have always been important in Formula 1.
But what makes Formula 1 so important to so many? Well it’s more than just the racing. Formula 1 is a community of like minded people coming together to celebrate triumphs, and comfort one another during failures. As the Formula 1 fanbase slowly becomes more diverse, as well as the sport itself, there is no doubt it is the pinnacle of motorsport.
コメント