P. 54 The Safest Car in the World P. 56 From Formula 1 to Road Cars
P. 58 The Cheating P. 60 The Teams
P. 62
The World’s Fastest Wheel Change
P. 64
The Safety Car
P. 66
The Points
P. 68 The Communication
P. 70
The Travel and Logistics
P. 72
The Economy
P. 74 Is Formula 1 Sustainable?
P. 76 After Formula 1
Foreword
Formula 1 is attracting new fans like never before. The sport’s fan base is becoming younger and more diverse – one out of three fans has started following Formula 1 in the last three years, and close to 40% are women.
But Formula 1 is a complex sport. While it’s easy to appreciate the speed, glamour, and even the danger, there is so much more to learn. The more you know about Formula 1, the more interesting it becomes.
That is the background to this book. We want to give new fans insight into how Formula 1 works. We hope the book will appeal to all ages, and we hope both parents, young adults, and children will find it interesting. The cars, the drivers, the rules, the safety – all the tidbits are here for “aha” experiences across generations.
And then there is Formula 1’s checkered history. 2024 will mark the 75th Formula 1 season, and every year since the world championship started in 1950 is filled with drama, crazy stories, and sometimes tragedy. We have included a lot of historical facts - to understand the present and even the future, one must learn from the past.
But the book is not just for new fans. Even seasoned followers of Formula 1 will find something new and increase their knowledge of this fascinating sport. There is always more to discover. After all, Formula 1 is the greatest racing spectacle on the planet.
Enjoy!
— Tina Coermann Nygaard & Peter Nygaard
The drivers arrive in the paddock on Thursday morning. Here, fans follow Max Verstappen as he arrives for the 2022 Mexican Grand Prix
The Grand Prix Weekend
The Formula 1 drivers arrive on the circuits on Thursday morning. Some team members – the “advance team” – have already been in the paddock for several days setting up the pits garage and the motorhome. Thursday is a “media day” with interviews and press conferences, but there are also briefings with team management and the engineers. On the Friday of a traditional race weekend, there are two free practice sessions (FP1 and FP2) of 60 minutes each.
The basic set-up for the cars is based on experience from previous years and simulations back at the factory, and drivers and engineers spend the practice sessions fine-tuning the car in both short and long runs. On Saturday, the third free practice session (FP3) is used for final set-up changes and
qualifying lap simulations. Qualifying on Saturday afternoon determines the grid positions for the race over three sessions (see below). On Sunday, the drivers arrive in the paddock four or five hours before the race and then spend their time meeting VIP guests, attending strategy meetings, and driving in the parade, where all drivers do a lap on the circuit on a truck or in classic cars a couple of hours before the start time. Forty minutes before the race, the cars go onto the grid.
After the race, the drivers must attend media interviews and a debriefing with their team management. As soon as the race has started, team members begin to pack up, and the trucks or the containers with air freight usually leave the paddock late Sunday night or early Monday morning.
Sprint weekends are different
Sprint races of approximately 100 km on Saturday afternoon were introduced in 2021. There are six Grand Prix weekends with sprint races per season. These weekends only have one free practice session on Friday, followed by qualifying. On Saturday morning, there is qualifying for the sprint race (the “sprint shootout”), followed by the sprint. The Grand Prix is held on Sunday, as with conventional Grand Prix weekends.
Qualifying
The first part (Q1) lasts for 18 minutes, with all 20 drivers taking part. The five slowest are eliminated and will start the race from grid positions 16–20. The remaining 15 drivers proceed to Q2 over 15 minutes. Again, the five slowest drivers are eliminated. In the final Q3, the top 10 grid positions are determined over 12 minutes. After qualifying, the fastest driver receives his pole position trophy in the pit lane.
Press conferences
All teams organize short media briefings with drivers and team management during the weekend. These are usually held in or outside the team’s hospitality area in the paddock. There are official press conferences organized by the FIA in the media center: Thursday with a selection of drivers, Friday with team principals, and Saturday and Sunday with the top 3 drivers from qualifying and the race.
Track walk
On Thursday, most drivers go on a “track walk” with their engineers. This is mainly to check any changes to the track, like new curbs or fresh tarmac. The driver and his engineers may also discuss how the set-up of the car will affect different lines in the corners.
The FIA selects a handful of drivers for Thursday’s official press conference
Max Verstappen received his pole position trophy from local comedian Celeste Barber before the 2023 Australian Grand Prix
Max Verstappen and his Red Bull engineers on a track walk at Silverstone
’ s 60th anniversary celebration in 2010, 18 world champions assembled for a photo shoot
At the Formula 1 World Championship
The Greatest Drivers
Almost 800 drivers have taken part in at least one Formula 1 Grand Prix since the world championship began in 1950. Around 350 of them have scored points, and by 2023, 113 have won races. A world champion has been crowned every year since 1950, and two drivers – Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton – have won the title seven times each. Juan Manuel Fangio won five titles in the 1950s, and Alain Prost and
Sebastian Vettel were both world champions four times. Jim Clark (world champion in 1963 and 1965) was destined to win more titles but lost his life in a Formula 2 race in early 1968.
Ayrton Senna (world champion in 1988, 1990, and 1991) was a favorite to take the 1994 title when he was killed in the third race of the season, the San Marino Grand Prix in Imola. A total of 34 different drivers have won at least one world championship.
Juan Manuel Fangio
Born 1911, died 1995
Formula 1: 1950–1958
Teams: Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Ferrari, Mercedes
Juan Manuel Fangio was on the grid when the Formula 1 World Championship started in 1950 and won the world championship five times before retiring in the middle of the 1958 season. He won five titles for four different teams. Fangio has the best “win rate” of all Formula 1 drivers: He entered 51 World Cup races and won 24 (47%). Fangio, who started on the front row in 48 of the 51 races, died in 1995. Fangio is a national hero in Argentina, and a museum has been created in his hometown Balcarce.
Alain Prost
Born 1955
Formula 1: 1980–1991, 1993
Teams: McLaren, Renault, Ferrari, Williams Alain Prost was extremely fast, but he was never a very spectacular driver. His greatest force was setting up the car for the races, and he was often referred to as “The Professor.” The Frenchman raced in a very competitive era, and his fights with Ayrton Senna have gone down in Formula 1 history. Prost retired from Formula 1 after the 1991 season but made a comeback in 1993, winning his fourth world championship title.
Michael Schumacher
Born 1969
Formula 1: 1991–2006, 2010–2012
Teams: Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, Mercedes Michael Schumacher, with an aggressive yet controlled driving style, won his first two world championships with Benetton. He then made history by taking five titles in a row with Ferrari from 2000–2004. Schumacher retired from Formula 1 after the 2006 season and made a comeback in 2010, but three seasons at Mercedes did not bring any victories. He has not been seen in public since suffering severe brain damage in a skiing accident in 2013.
Sebastian Vettel
Born 1987
Formula 1: 2007–2022
Teams: BMW, Toro Rosso, Red Bull, Ferrari, Aston Martin Sebastian Vettel’s junior career was supported by both BMW and Red Bull. He made his debut with BMW in 2007 but then moved to the Red Bull-owned Toro Rosso team. Little more than a year later, he graduated to the Red Bull team and dominated Formula 1 from 2010–2013 with four world championship titles in a row. A move to Ferrari bought several Grand Prix wins but no world championships. Vettel, now an environmentalist and human-rights campaigner, retired from Formula 1 in 2022.
Lewis Hamilton
Born 1985
Formula 1: 2007–Present
Teams: McLaren, Mercedes Lewis Hamilton was signed up by McLaren-Mercedes’ junior program as a teenager and made his F1 debut with the team in 2007. He almost won the world championship in his debut season and took the title the following year. In 2013, he moved from McLaren to Mercedes’ works team and won six titles between 2014 and 2021 to equal Michael Schumacher’s record.
Michael Schumacher
The Formula 1 Teams at Home
Formula 1 headquarters are big factories, in some cases with more than 1,000 employees. Many people working for F1 teams never attend races, as only around 100 team members travel to the Grands Prix.
There are several departments in an F1 factory, including design offices, production facilities with a machine shop, autoclaves for “baking” composite parts, a subassembly workshop, an electronic department, and the race bay, where the mechanics prepare the cars for the next race. Most teams also have their own wind tunnel and simulator on-site. There
are restaurants for the employees, usually a gym, and the McLaren factory even has an indoor swimming pool. Six of the 10 teams are based in Oxfordshire and the Midlands in England. This area is the world’s biggest hub of motor racing and is known as “Motorsport Valley.” More than 4,000 companies with more than 40,000 employees work in the motor racing industry, many of them servicing the F1 teams.
Red Bull, McLaren, and Williams have small museums in their headquarters, but public access to Formula 1 factories is very restricted as the teams want to guard their secrets.
The McLaren HQ in Woking, south of London, was designed by famous British architect Norman Foster
Car and engine under one roof
Ferrari is currently the only team that builds both cars and engines in the same location – in Maranello, Italy. The Mercedes F1 team is based in Brackley, close to Silverstone, while the Mercedes F1 engines are built 50 km to the north in Brixworth. The Renault F1 engines come from Viry-Chatillon outside Paris, while the Alpine F1 HQ is in Enstone, close to Oxford.
World champion from a wooden shed
When Jackie Stewart won the 1971 and 1973 world championship titles in a Tyrrell-Ford, the team was based in a wooden shed in Ockham, Surrey. Team owner Ken Tyrrell was a timber merchant and based the team in his timber yard. The team remained in the timber yard until it was sold to British American Racing (BAR) in 1998. BAR built a new, modern H.Q. in Brackley, close to the Silverstone Circuit. The BAR facilities were later taken over by Honda and then Brawn Grand Prix before becoming the current home of the Mercedes F1 team.
First new F1 factory in almost 20 years
In the summer of 2023, Aston Martin moved into the first new F1 factory in almost 20 years. The 37,000m2 Aston Martin Technology Campus is next to the team’s old HQ, just a stone’s throw from the main gate to the British Grand Prix circuit in Silverstone.
Ken Tyrrell outside the Tyrrell team’s HQ with the car that won the 1971 world championship
Starting in 2026, Ford’s F1 engines will be built at the Red
Where are the Formula 1 headquarters?
Alpha Tauri: Faenza (ITA)
Alpine: Enstone (GBR)
Aston Martin: Silverstone (GBR)
Ferrari: Maranello (ITA)
McLaren: Woking (GBR)
Mercedes: Brackley (GBR)
Haas: Banbury (GBR)
Red Bull: Milton Keynes (GBR)
Sauber/Alfa Romeo: Hinwill (CHE)
Williams: Grove (GBR)
A collection of
their historic cars are on display in McLaren’s H.Q. in Woking
Bull Campus in Milton Keynes
60% models are used in the wind tunnel (Mercedes pictured here)
To develop the aerodynamics,
The Aerodynamics
Aerodynamics is the way objects move through air. In Formula 1, aerodynamics is used to make the car go faster. The wind around the car can create downforce, which pushes the car towards the ground and increases grip. More grip means higher cornering speed, better braking, and harder acceleration. Big, steep wings on the car improve downforce but also increase drag, slowing the car down on the straights.
The ideal setup of an F1 vehicle is the best compromise between downforce in the corners and drag on the straights. The compromise depends on the circuit. At Monza in Italy, with long straights and few corners, wings are small as cornering speed is sacrificed for higher top speed on the
straights. At circuits with many corners and few straights, like Monte Carlo, it is the other way around, and the cars are fitted with big wings. On average, downforce is around three times as powerful as drag when it comes to lap times.
To facilitate overtaking, F1 cars have been fitted with Drag Reduction Systems (DRS) since 2011. When running within a second of the car in front, the driver can open a flap in the rear wing on certain parts of the circuit (“DRS zones”). With the flap open, drag is reduced, which increases top speed and makes overtaking easier. The flap closes when the driver presses the brake pedal.
Formula 1 upside down on the ceiling
A modern Formula 1 car generates massive amounts of downforce. Downforce increases with the speed of the car, but from around 180 km/h, a Formula 1 car will produce more downforce than its weight. In theory, at that speed, a Formula 1 car could drive upside down on the ceiling of a tunnel!
Thin air means less downforce
Mexico City is 2200 meters above sea level, and at this altitude, the air has about a quarter fewer air molecules than air at sea level. The “thin air” generates a quarter less downforce, and this makes the aerodynamic setup for the race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez difficult: The circuit has one of the longest straights in the Formula 1 calendar, but to have a reasonable amount of downforce, the teams usually run their biggest wings.
Wind tunnels
Aerodynamics for Formula 1 cars are developed in wind tunnels. All teams (or their partners) have their own wind tunnels. The price of a modern Formula 1 wind tunnel is close to 100m euros, and the annual running costs amount to between 5 to 10m euros. The biggest teams used to run their wind tunnels 24/7, and some even had two wind tunnels. On top of the high cost, they require a lot of electricity, so the use of wind tunnels is now restricted for environmental reasons. In order to create a more level playing field, a team’s number of allowed wind tunnel runs per week is defined by their position in the world championship: The top teams are allowed significantly fewer runs than the teams at the bottom of the field.
The floor sucks the car to the ground
The sophisticated aerodynamics of a Formula 1 car creates a lot of turbulence. This “dirty air” reduces downforce for the following cars, and with less downforce/grip than your opponent, it is difficult to overtake. For 2022, the Formula 1 rulebook was changed to improve overtaking. Instead of the wings pressing the vehicle into the ground, the new regulations mean the underbody “sucks” it to tracks. With most of the downforce now generated by the floor instead of the wings, the car is less sensitive to the “dirty air” from the car in front, and overtaking is easier.
Despite the circuit having a long straight, the teams run their biggest wings in the thin air in Mexico City
The car’s underbody, which creates most of the downforce for the car, is a closely guarded secret, but here is a look at Mercedes’ 2023 car
The Ferrari wind tunnel in Maranello
The Brakes
The sophisticated brake caliper and disc with more than 1,000 holes on the 2022 Aston Martin Formula 1 car
Formula 1 is not just about being fast – stopping quickly is equally important. When new drivers return to the pits after their first laps in a F1 car, the first thing they usually mention is the brakes: The stopping power is even more impressive than the acceleration and cornering speed. F1 cars use carbon brake discs and pads, which are much lighter than the steel discs and pads used in road cars. Carbon is also superior to steel when it comes to cooling. This is important, as the redhot brake discs can reach temperatures over 1,000°C during
heavy braking. Brake cooling takes place on straights when the car is traveling at high speeds, allowing for a lot of air to pass through the brake ducts. There are over 1,000 small holes drilled into the sides of the brake disc to help the brakes cool down.
From 100 km/h, Formula 1 car can come to a standstill within 15 meters. For an average road vehicle, the distance is around 60 meter
Formula 1 car v. sports car (for road use)
Brake disc
Weight 1 kg v. 15 kg
Lifetime 1,200 km v. 100,000 km
Brake pads Weight 200 g v. 800 g
Brake caliper
800 km v. 50,000 km
1.5 kg v. 5 kg
10,000 km v. 500,000 km
The hardest circuits for braking
The Canadian Grand Prix is the hardest race for brakes. A lap on Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal features seven braking zones, and six of them are very demanding. The cars must brake from close to 300 km/h four times per lap. Brembo, which supplies brakes to many teams, has revealed that in the braking zone before Turn 10, the drivers will go from 290 km/h to 75 km/h in 2.4 seconds while applying 146 kg of force to the brake pedal.
Downforce helps braking
The drag from a Formula 1 car helps braking. Just taking their foot off the throttle subjects the driver to deceleration forces of 1G – even without touching the brake pedal, it feels like an emergency braking in a road car!
ABS is not allowed in Formula 1
Today, most road cars are equipped with anti-lock braking systems (ABS), but they are not allowed in Formula 1. In the early 1990s, some teams developed ABS for their F1 cars, but in 1993, the FIA feared that the cars were getting more important than the drivers. To put more emphasis on driving talent, electronic aid systems were banned, including ABS, active suspension and launch control.
The braking power of a Formula 1 car
100 km/h to 0 km/h: approx. 1.5 seconds
200 km/h to 0 km/h: approx. 2.9 seconds
300 km/h to 0 km/h: approx. 3.5 seconds
The drag/downforce increases the deceleration
The Williams-Renault cars that dominated the 1993 season had ABS brakes
The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is the most stressful circuit for the brakes
Ferrari uses a lot of F1 technology in their road cars
From Formula 1 to Road Cars
The first motor race was held at the end of the 19th century. Car manufacturers were automotive pioneers, and the grueling races – often going on for several days – were the perfect place to test the cars. For many years, motor racing was a “laboratory” for the car manufacturers, and many innovations that are found in road cars today originated from racing.
One example is disc brakes, now used in all road cars, which were developed in motor racing in the 1950s. Modern Formula 1 cars are very different from your everyday car, but there is still an important transfer of technology from the racetrack to everyday roads.
Carbon fiber chassis/monocoque
In 1981, McLaren introduced the first carbon fiber chassis in Formula 1. Carbon fiber is an expensive material, but it is light and strong, and today it is used in many high-end road cars from manufacturers like Mercedes, Porsche, and Aston Martin.
Paddle shift
Gear change via paddles on the steering wheel was used for the first time in the early part of the 20th century, but the breakthrough came thanks to Formula 1. In 1989, Ferrari was the first team to use two paddles behind the steering wheel to shift up and down with the semi-automatic transmission. With the paddles, the shifts were faster, caused less wear on the gearbox, and allowed the driver to keep both hands on the steering wheel at all times. Today many road cars are fitted with paddle shifters.
Turbo-hybrid engines
While the current 1.6-liter turbo-hybrid engines develop close to 1,000 brake horsepower and gulp 1 liter of fuel for every 3 km, the basic technology still offers valuable know-how for road cars. Markus Schäfer, a member of the Mercedes board of management, said in 2021, “Formula 1 offers rich potential for technology transfer. It is the arena where we constantly test our technology in the most intense competition the automotive world has to offer.”
Buttons on the steering wheel
Formula 1 cars became highly complex in the 1980s and ‘90s, and the drivers could adjust more and more things from the cockpit. Searching for the right buttons while racing at 300 km/h was not a great idea, and many buttons were therefore located on the steering wheel. Today, many road cars have buttons on the steering wheel to control various functions, such as handling phone calls, tuning the radio, and setting the cruise control.
Ferrari introduced the paddle shift in Formula 1 in 1989
Buttons on the steering wheel
Alpine’s 2023 wheel pictured here –was introduced in the late 1980s
The first carbon fiber chassis in Formula 1 was made by McLaren in 1981
Mercedes use Formula 1 to test their technology under extreme pressure
The Travel and Logistics
Formula 1 cars waiting to be loaded onto a cargo plane bound for a Grand Prix outside Europe
A Formula 1 season, with up to 24 races on five continents, requires meticulous planning. All teams have their own logistics department that handles traveling and freighting equipment to and from the races. The bigger teams bring around 100 people and 50 tons of cars and equipment to each race. For the European Grands Prix, the team members usually fly commercial airlines, and the team’s trucks transport the F1 cars and all other equipment. Each of the 10 teams has 10-12 large trucks with them for the European races. For
the races outside Europe, the cars and the most important equipment are sent by air. The F1 organization charters five Boeing 777 cargo jets for the 10 teams, which pack the cars and all other hardware on pallets and in containers specially designed for the plane’s cargo hold. A number of drivers and team managers have private planes that they fly to and from the races. Many drivers live in Monaco and often share a small charter plane.
The Formula 1 teams busy packing up after the 2023
Hungarian Grand Prix
Six sets of garages go by sea
In order to save money and reduce CO2 emissions, some equipment not directly related to the cars is sent to the races outside Europe by sea. Most teams have five or six sets of identical sea freight – things like garage paneling, grid trolleys, and much of their hospitality equipment. The first set is sent to the first race, and from there, it may go to the sixth or seventh race and then onto one of the races at the end of the season. The second set goes to the second race, on to round eight or nine, and then the final race. It takes a lot of planning to get the different sets to the right locations, but it is worth it, as sea freight is much cheaper than sending the equipment by air.
F1 team wiped out in plane crash
Graham Hill, the 1962 and 1968 world champion, set up his own Formula 1 team in 1973. After a test at the Paul Ricard circuit in France at the end of 1975, the Hill team returned to England by private plane with Hill himself as the pilot. The plane crashed on landing, and all aboard – Hill, driver Tony Brise, the technical director, and two mechanics – were killed. The team closed down after the tragedy.
What a team typically brings to a Grand
2 complete race cars
1 spare monocoque
4-5 sets of bodywork
5 front wings
5 rear wings
5 floors
4 gearboxes
(if the team builds them themselves)
80 front wheels
80 rear wheels
6 pallets with equipment, tools, and spare parts
12 rolling cabinets with equipment, tools, and spare parts
1 set of pit stop equipment
1 set of pit wall equipment
1 set of pit garage equipment
Engines come from another department or an external supplier.
Tires are supplied at the track
Two-time world champion Graham Hill and the Hill F1 team were wiped out in a plane crash in 1975
Ferrari containers ready for sea freight after the Bahrain Grand Prix
Teams take a spare monocoque to each race, which can quickly be built into a complete car
Packing list
Prix:
from Pirelli.
1964 world champion John Surtees founded his own team, which raced in Formula 1 from 1970–1978
After Formula 1
There are many job opportunities for retired F1 drivers. With experience from motor racing’s highest echelon, they are still sought after in all other classes, and many ex-F1 drivers continue their careers in long-distance racing (such as the 24-hour race in Le Mans) or US racing (the IndyCar series). Many retired F1 drivers put their experience and connections in the sport to good use by working as a TV commentator or
pundit. Management or advisory roles for young drivers or teams are also an obvious career move. World champions Jack Brabham, John Surtees, Graham Hill, Emerson Fittipaldi, Jackie Stewart, and Alain Prost all moved on to run their own Formula 1 teams. Some F1 drivers make a new career in a totally different field.
When do Formula 1 drivers retire?
Ages of world champions when they retired from Formula 1 (year they retired)
The youngest:
Jody Scheckter: 30 years old (1980)
Nico Rosberg: 31 years old (2016)
James Hunt: 31 years old (1979)
Emerson Fittipaldi: 33 years old (1980)
Mika Hakkinen: 33 years old (2001)
The oldest:
Giuseppe Farina: 49 years old (1956)
Juan Manuel Fangio: 47 years old (1958)
Graham Hill: 46 years old (1975)
Jack Brabham: 44 years old (1970)
Michael Schumacher: 43 years old (2012)
From Formula 1 to painting
Sweden’s Stefan Johansson raced for teams like Ferrari and McLaren in the 1980s. In 1986, he saw his friend and colleague Elio de Angelis perish in a burning Brabham BMW after an accident during a test at the Paul Ricard circuit in France. To process the terrible experience, he started painting, and today, Johansson is a recognized artist.
From Formula 1 to muesli
Tom Belsø became Denmark’s first Formula 1 driver in 1974 but only managed two races before losing his seat. After racing, he established a very successful business career as a muesli producer. Headquartered in England, breakfast products from Belso Cereals are sold all over Europe.
From Formula 1 to biodynamic farming
When 1979 world champion Jody Scheckter retired from Formula 1, he founded a successful company that built firearm simulators for police and military use. Later, Scheckter moved into biodynamic farming, and his Lavestoke Park Farm in Hampshire, England, supplies meat and dairy products to British supermarkets.
From Formula 1 to politics
With a total of 12 Grand Prix wins, Carlos Reutemann was one of the most successful Formula 1 drivers of the 1970s. He quit in 1982 and entered politics in his native Argentina. He was Governor of the Santa Fe Province from 1999–2003 and a member of the Argentine Parliament for 22 years. Reutemann, who died in 2021, was considered by many as a worthy candidate for president of Argentina but declined to run for office.
From Formula 1 to airplanes
Thierry Boutsen drove Formula 1 from 1983–1993 and won three Grands Prix. While racing, he bought his own private jet, and when he retired, he set up Boutsen Aviation. The company deals in private aircraft of all sizes and has sold more than 400 aircraft in 74 different countries since 1997.
Club for the Old Boys
The F1 Grand Prix Drivers Club is one of the most exclusive clubs in the world. It was founded in 1962 by some of the greatest drivers of Formula 1’s early years, including the first two world champions, Giuseppe Farina and Juan Manuel Fangio. Membership is reserved for retired Formula 1 drivers, and the club meets annually for fun and good times.
