Intro

Formula One is a type of motorsport where race cars drive around uniquely shaped tracks all around the world to win a championship. People come from everywhere and anywhere to see these races, buy their favorite team's merchandise, and cheer on their favorite driver. In Motorsport, the word ‘Formula’ means a set of rules that competitors must follow, such as engine sizes, car covers, and auto parts, and the word ‘One’ just means the leading formula. Formula One has been around since 1950 and has flourished as a year-round event. It is governed by the International Automobile Federation (FIA), which oversees all the cars and drivers to make sure they are in line with the sport’s strict guidelines.

Each race in the sport is called a Grand Prix. For each season there are ten teams with two drivers each making it a 20-driver grid. Since the late 1800s, Motorsport has been an eventful part of history. Races used to be separate events, and winning a Grand Prix came with high praise and significance. The Formula One Driver’s Championship first took place in 1950, but the Constructor’s Championship, which is the competition of the best Formula One team, did not begin until 1958 with the winner Vanwall Formula One team over Ferrari. Over the years there have been many Formula One World Champions and many challenges that come along with racing in high-speed cars, but overall, the thrill and adventure that the sport brings to not only the drivers, but the fans is something that will last a lifetime.

Drivers

There are ten teams in Formula One, each with two drivers making a 20-driver grid. Drivers come from all over the world. Spanning from Africa, to the America’s, and to Europe. Some of the more popular teams are Ferrari, Redbull, McLaren, and Mercedes. As a remarkably successful team, Ferrari has won 16 Formula One Constructor’s World Championships since 1950 and has the most victories out of all the teams in Motorsport with 243 to date, followed by McLaren with 183 and Mercedes with 125. The less well-known teams are Aston Martin, Alpine, Willams, Haas, Visa Cashapp RB, and Kick Sauber. I like McLaren the best because they have improved significantly from last season, but I’m always a Ferrari fan because of my dad.

Personally, my favorite driver is Charles Leclerc, who is from Monaco and drives for Ferrari. Another favorite is Lando Norris from Great Britian who drives for McLaren. The other drivers are Carlos Sainz; who is the second driver for Ferrari, Oscar Piastri; the second driver for McLaren, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez; the Red Bull drivers, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell; the Mercedes drivers, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll; the Aston Martin drivers, Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon; thee Alpine drivers, Alexander Albon and Franco Colapinto; the Williams drivers, Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen; the Haas drivers, Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson; the RB drivers, and Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu; the RB drivers.

Calendar

The formula one calendar is filled with many classic tracks from the first race, such as Silverstone in Great Britian, Spa in Belgium and the Circuit de Monaco in Monte Carlo, Monaco. The newest tracks to the schedule are the Las Vegas Circuit in Nevada and the Miami track in Florida, which is built around the Hard Rock Stadium temporarily on the race weekend in May. In the past, race weekends were scheduled every other weekend to give the drivers more training time, but since there are so many races to pack into one year some weekends are double-headers, where there are two race weekends consecutively, or sometimes triple-headers, where there are three race weekends in a one after another.

In the first few race seasons, the calendar was made up of only seven races scheduled from May to September, six of which were held in Europe. This is different from modern Formula One where there are about twenty-four races scheduled from February to December and taking place all over the world. This season, the first two races are held in Sakhir, Bahrain and Jaddah, Saudi Arbia on March 2 and 9. Because of Ramadan, these two circuits are the only races that will take place for the first time on a Saturday. On December 8, the 2024 Formula One season will end at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.

Grand Prix

A race weekend consists of three practice sessions, a qualifying session, and the race itself all happening over Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. FP1 on Friday lets the teams assess the car to make sure it runs as it should and performs properly. FP2 is also on Friday and is reserved for longer runs in the car to prepare the drivers and pit-stop teams for the race. FP3 runs on Saturday and makes the drivers concentrate on shorter laps to get ready for the qualifying session. Saturday hosts Qualifying, which is a three-stage race session to set the lineup for Sunday’s race. Each section of qualifying is called Q1, Q2, and Q3 as each number stands for the progressiveness of the qualifying session. Q1 is the first section of Qualifying that lasts 18 minutes and knocks out the five slowest drivers first, then Q2 is 15 minutes and eliminates five more drivers. The final 12-minute Q3 makes the top ten grid slots. The race on Sunday can last about an hour-and-a-half to two hours, depending on if there are red flags stopping the race, or a safety car which slows the drivers to get crashed cars or rubble off the track.

In every race, points are awarded to the top ten drivers across the finish line; 25 points to first place, then escalating down to 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1 point for the driver that comes in 10th place. If one of the top ten drivers had the fastest lap at the end of the race, then they get one extra point for the weekend. The driver who has accumulated the most points after the season is over is crowned World Champion of the FIA Formula One Driver’s World Championship and takes home the trophy. In the case of a tie, after a recounting of points, the winner would be whoever had the most wins. If even then there is a tie, the driver who had placed second the most, and so on, would win the trophy. Three of the past world champions are on the grid this year. Max Verstappen has three world titles, Fernando Alonso with two titles, and Lewis Hamilton with seven world titles, tying with retired driver Michael Schumacher who also won seven titles.

Contact

Use this form or email me at gracemtrombley@gmail.com

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