So a part of my original blog plan for the year was to release a blog post per weekend in anticipation of the start of the 2011 season but that hasn't been going as planned. Anyways there are those who do not know how F1 works and probably is planning on keeping track this season, so to help them here is a summarized understanding of how it works broken down into chapters depending on what interests you.
Important names of people that aren't drivers:
First off an introduction to the people working behind the scenes.
Bernie Ecclestone- head of the Formula 1 group of companies [if you want to call it that] basically he sets the rules in the sport. Super rich, think of him as the British Donald Trump except with a Beatles hair cut. Quite possibly the only person that can be robbed and still make money.
Jean Todt- head of the FIA, the organisation that is in charge of F1. Former head of the Ferrari team back when they dominated almost every race
Max Mosley- immediate past head of the FIA, made famous for his Nazi themed sex tape.
Flavio Briatore- former head of the Renault F1 team, currently in exile due to the great crashgate scandal on 2008. Not really interested in F1 at all, just in it to make money. Milestones: giving Schumacher and Alonso 2 driver's championships each, impregnating Heidi Klum and marrying her
Sir Jackie Stewart- the typical annoying Scotsman mandatory in all sporting disciplines. His role is to ensure that driver's don't die. F1 has been death free since 1994, apparently he is doing job quite well. Also 3 time driver's champ.
Before the season starts......
A Formula 1 season, like most sporting seasons, take place annually with a break between the end and beginning to help rest the athletes [in most cases its time for them to get drunk]. Like other racing disciplines, F1 usually takes it's break in the winter season [usually 3-4 months] and a short 3 week one in the summer. In the winter break teams reshuffle: dropping drivers that sucked, buying drivers that suck even more, developing cars to new rules that change yearly and preparing themselves to better their performance over last year [Williams doesn't believe in this last one]. 3 weekends are reserved for cars to be tested, to ensure an equal amount of research among teams. All other tests are done via use of computers or scale models. Despite this, the really smart teams take their cars for "publicity runs" to add on practice hours [remember that time Red Bull Racing came to Jamaica, yeahish].
The race......
Each F1 race takes place on a different track on an average of an every other week basis. Races usually take around 90 minutes to complete but in the case of rain or accidents, if a race passes the 2 hour mark, one more lap is allowed to be completed and then the race ends. If a certain percentage of the race isn't complete, half points are alloted. There are 19 races this season, the list of which can be seen here. My personal favorites have to be the Monaco GP and the Singapore GP.
The drivers.....
Each driver needs to have an S class racing licence, only the best of the best racers can get one. F1 is so strict in fact that even the driver of the pace car needs an S licence as well. Drivers collect points through the season, the driver with the most points wins the season, if there is the case of a tie, it is decided by who has the most 1st place finishes, if that is a tie as well it's decided by who has the most 2nd place finishes etc etc. The are 24 drivers on the field and points are only alloted to those that finish in the top 10. The points are given as 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1 from 1st to tenth. The drivers are listed here.
The teams......
Each team wishing to participate in F1 must meet stringent requirements before they are even allowed into the sport. At present, 12 teams participate in the sport and even though there is space for 1 more team on the grid, Bernie hasn't seen anyone else as being fit for racing. In addition to the 12 teams there are 4 engine manufacturers and teams are required to either bring their own engine [way too expensive] or use one that's already available. Teams are allowed 2 drivers as well as a set of test drivers that can be used for back up as well as in pre race practice sessions. The team listing can be seen here. Teams receive points based on the sum of the amount of points their drivers get, for example if a team has their driver finish 1st and 2nd the teams gets 25+18 = 43 points.
The cars.....
Each team is allowed to race 2 cars at a time, the teams must construct these cars themselves. F1 cars are specialized machines, the only thing they share in common with traditional cars is that they have 4 wheels. In the 2011 season it is mandatory for all cars to run KERS, a sorta racing/hybrid system that uses an electric motor [or a flywheel] to give an extra boost of power. To put things in perspective here is a random 2011 F1 car vs a fellow hybrid.
Name: Toyota Prius/Red Bull-Renault Racing RB7
Engine: 1.8L 4 cylinder with electric motor assist / 2.4L V-8 with a KERS flywheel
Horsepower: 134hp [inclusive of electric motor] /730hp engine alone, 160hp KERS alone
Weight: 1379kg /640kg
Gears: 1 planetary gear /7 speed sequential
0-60: 9.8s /0-100-0: 5s
MPG: 50 / 3
Most of the things mentioned are figures similar to all F1 cars as they are very constrained in design but yet very different in speed.
The Race Weekend......
Race weekends start on a Wednesday where all teams have to reach the stated venue. On Friday, 2 practice sessions are held to give a preview of who is doing well on the track [Monaco is the only track that has its practice sessions on Thursday] On Saturday, another practice session is held followed by qualifying. Qualifying determines the order in which the cars start [and on a typical boring race weekend, will determine the winner] Qualifying is split into 3 stages, at the first 2 stages the slowest 7 are knocked out giving the rest another chance to qualify. The first two stages are 20 minutes long while the final stage is 10 minutes. The driver's position is dependent on the fastest time they post in the final session they partake in. For example if a driver gets the 10th fastest time in Q1 but only manages to get the 12th fastest time in Q2, they are placed 12th. On Sunday the race begins,the drivers go around the track at top speed, they can't refuel and they have to change their tyres, here is Red Bull doing some pitstop practice.
The end result is the person who completes the given amount of laps in the shortest amount of time wins, there are other rules some are higlighted in this post on racing flags just in case.
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