Yesterday, I had a group discussion for my Anatomic Pathology practical exam coming up and we established that when in doubt, just write down genetics as the cause for any malignant disease (cancers), lol. In the automotive World, we have a similar quote proposed by the one and only Colin McRae of World Rally Championship (WRC) and it goes thus, "When in doubt, go flat out". This quote has nothing to do with the topic of today but it had been running through my mind and I just had to let it out.
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| Formula One (F1) Race Cars |
I remember having a toy F1 race car as a kid and I would wonder why it looked different from the cars I normally see on the road. It was small and longer than normal with bulging tires on the side, it looked funny but you could tell that it was a very fast car. F1 cars in reality are mind bogglingly fast, an F1 driver sometimes receives about 6G's of force due to rapid acceleration or deceleration, the physics guru's in the house will appreciate this piece of information better. But how did it all begin, a group of men in racing suits, going around a track multiple times, just to achieve the fastest lap times and then spraying champagne on themselves afterward?
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| Inin the beninging |
Formula One originated from the European Motor Racing Championships of the 1920s and 1930s. This is a no brainer because at this time in history, the big dogs of the automotive world were the European car makers like Mercedes Benz, BMW, Maserati and Ferrari who wanted to prove that they were the best at automobile engineering. Unlike today when every F1 team is sponsored by some big companies, back then individuals, especially the rich simply bought expensive and fast cars to race in F1 competitions just to have fun.
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| Racing for fun and to prove engineering superiority |
The formula consists of a set of rules that all participants' cars must follow. This is still the concept F1 follows until date. When you look at F1 cars, they all look similar physically and this is almost the same for the internals of the car. The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) stipulates a set of rules and limits for which every team builds their cars accordingly, hence all the cars are almost similar in power and this creates a level playing ground for just anyone to win. The first Formula One Grand Prix was the 1946 Turin Grand Prix. Rules were laid out for a motor racing world championship before World War II, but due to the suspension of racing during the war, the World Drivers' Championship did not become formalized until 1947.
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| Old F1 cars looked stunning |
You might not find this in the books but I want to let you in on a little secret. Remember I said that F1 as an organised sport properly began after World War 2, so F1 was basically a coping mechanism for most of the combatants returning from the battle field. Let me explain myself. These soldiers and combatants were just returning from war and we all know it is very difficult to adapt to normal life especially after all they had seen and been through in the war.
These men had developed a thrill for adventure and things that put them on the edge, not returning home to their former "9-5's". Therefore a lot of the first F1 racers were World War 2 Veterans especially ex-military pilots who just returned home from the war and were willing to max out car speedometers just for the thrill of it. This story is the same for Nascar and most other racing competitions, but those are episodes for another day.
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| Juan Manuel Fangio |
The first World Championship race took place at the Silverstone Circuit in the United Kingdom on 13 May, 1950. Giuseppe Farina, competing for Alfa Romeo, won the first Drivers' World Championship, narrowly defeating his teammate Juan Manuel Fangio that year but Fangio went on to win the championship in 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956, and 1957. Fangio is considered one of the greats of F1, do not forget that at this time these men raced without a seatbelt to hold them in place at high speeds and with some leather strap for a helmet. From here on, Formula One began experiencing quite a lot of technical changes and improvements, bringing it to what we have today.
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| Humble Beginnings to being one of the most expensive sports today |
The History of F1 is one to be studied as a course because this episode barely scratches the surface but at least we get to understand how and where F1 originated from. I am very sorry for my inconsistency lately as medical school is showing me serious shege, coupled with my laptop experiencing some issues at the moment. On that note, I will not be posting next week but I promise to be back with full force after these trying times.
Thank you Turbo Nerdz' for your love and support. Always remember to Turbo that engine!!!
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I wan do big things