FORMULA 1 SPECIAL RULES OF THE RACE

FORMULA 1 SPECIAL RULES OF THE RACE
The Formula One rules are highly
complicated. Plus there are just so
many! From cars and their components
(the chassis, the engine, the
tyres, etc), to manoeuvres and behaviour
in the pit stops – the list is
endless. What’s more the rules
keep changing (check out the official
website, www.formula1.com
for latest rules).
A day before the final race, drivers
race in qualifying laps according
to which they are given their
starting point in the main race. On
the day of the race after a warm
up lap, the cars assemble on the
starting grid. The winner of the
race is the first driver to cross the
finishing line after completing the
set number of laps. Drivers are
awarded points after each race.
Penalties are awarded for various
reasons such as starting early,
causing an accident, blocking unfairly,
or ignoring a flag.
What do you
know about
Formula One?
Yep, that it’s
coming to
India. Not
much else?
Not to worry,
ya! to the
rescue! Here’s
five answers
to five
questions
you always
pretended to
know!
What on earth is Formula
One?
It is the most prestigious, topof-
the line car racing championship
in the world. Formula
racing refers to racing singleseater
cars built and driven
according to certain rules set
down by the FIA (Fédération
Internationale de
l’Automobile, if you must
know!).
How does Formula One
work?
Several teams participate in
the championship. Each team
races two cars driven by two
drivers. These teams have to
compete in a number of races
or Grand Prix (pronounced
grahn-pree). This year there
are 19 races; when the first F1
was held in 1950, there were
7 races!
Only the driver wins the
prize?
Hello! I mean of course, if you
drive at those speeds and extreme
conditions, you should
win a prize, no? So yes, the
driver wins the World
Championship for Drivers.
However, since there is a
large team of technical people
involved in the building of
the car, a World Championship
for Constructors is also given.
The Driver’s Championship is
awarded to the driver who
has the most number of
points based on his wins.
Ditto for the Constructor’s
trophy.
And of course F1 is the only
kind of Formula racing?
The best, yes, but not the
only “Formula” championships.
There are other racing
competitions where single-
seater cars built according
to certain specifications are
raced. The best known of
these are Formula Two and
Formula Three etc. These
have slightly more easy rules
and are also a little less expensive
to participate in. Most
F1 drivers start out with these
races.
THE FIRST
FORMULA
ONE
The first ever
Formula One World
Championships (the
British Grand Prix)
took place in 1950
at Silverstone,
United Kingdom.
Italian Giuseppe
Farina won the race
in his Alfa Romeo
defeating his
Argentine teammate
Juan Manuel
Fangio. Fangio is
now widely regarded
as the “grandmaster”
of Formula
One – after all he
won five championships
titles (1951
and 1954-1957)!
Fangio’s record was
unbeaten for 45
years, until Michael
Schumacher came
along and won six
championship titles.
WALL OF FAME
Won most Driver
Championships
Michael Schumacher- 7
Juan Fangio - 5
Alain Prost - 4
Most Wins
(in Grand Prix)
Michael Schumacher –
91
Alain Post – 51
Ayrton Senna – 41
Youngest Winner
Sebastian Vettel – 21
years (2008 Italian
Grand Prix)
Watch out
for these
flags
Red flag –
the race has
been cut
short.
A single
yellow flag –
danger
ahead!
A black flag
– a player
has been
disqualified.
A black and
white chequered
flag –
the end of
the race –
this one is
shown first to
the winner
and then to
the rest.
FREAKY FACTS
■ Since F1 cars go way over 300km/hr
there are lots of terrible crashes. The last
driver fatality was in 1994. Brazilian driver
Ayrton Senna was killed instantaneously
when his speeding car skid off the track
and hit a wall.
■ F1 drivers are exposed to high G forces
and temperatures for little over an hour.
Because of this, an average F1 driver loses
about 4kgs of weight after just one race.
■ The drivers have to remove the steering
wheel of the car to get in.
■ British driver Stirling
Moss competed regularly
but never won a
championship title. He
is often called the
“greatest driver never
to win a championship”.
■ Numbers are assigned to all F1 drivers.
The previous season’s champion is given
number 1, and his team-mate is
designated number 2. The number 13 is
never given to a driver.
FORMULA
Photos: Getty Images
Compiled by Lubaina Bandukwala and Moeena Halim
Formula One World Champion Sebastian Vettel
wins the Drivers’ trophy 2010 in Monaco
Giuseppe Farina
Stirling Moss
Ayrton Senna
FOLLOWING THE