You may have seen ‘F1’ or Formula 1’ racing EVERYWHERE over the last couple of years, and for those making their humble beginnings in this area, it can get very confusing. I personally love watching (and crazily cheering). So here’s everything you need to know to get in on the action:
Firstly, let’s break a common myth here. It looks like the sport of daredevils: a car race at over 300 kilometres per hour, in cities all over the world, for millions of dollars, with insanely famous drivers. But it’s actually the sport of nerds. Every team racing has to design and race their own cars, and they get to ALTER their cars between races. So it’s not just about how you race the car but also how you build it!
Each event, or ‘Grand Prix, is squished into three events: Practise, qualifying, and race day.
The person who does the fastest lap on qualifying day gets to be first in the lineup on race day. Overtaking others is not as easy as it is on city roads, so where the car starts is a BIG DEAL! Depending on where drivers finish, they get points (only until 10th position, after which no more points are awarded). Teams are usually huge companies like Mercedes, Red Bull, and Ferrari trying to advertise to huge audiences. Each team races two cars, so two drivers. Drivers usually have competition amongst themselves to get the most points for the Drivers’ championships, but teams need to get the most points in total to win the Constructors’ championship.
So, drivers, race your fastest!
Teams, build the best car!
It’s important to realise that there’s a lot of engineering work and energy being spent on making 20 fossil fuel-reliant cars. But why?
F1 is more than just entertainment; it’s a huge science experiment too! The technology built into F1 cars eventually trickles down to our road cars too. Let’s take thermal efficiency as an example. It’s the percentage of energy from combustion that actually makes the car move. For most road cars, it’s only 20% to 30%. F1 cars can’t refuel in between races, so they NEED to be as efficient as possible. It’s at 50% now, thanks to hybrid engines that have been made for F1 cars. Now, the entire car industry is being propelled forward into limits that have never been reached before.
That’s the promise of F1. Teams of scientists and engineers are all racing against each other with cutting-edge technology, pushing the automobile industry forward while providing show-stopping entertainment to us all.
