F1: The race to fame

H. Kishie Singh

The new Formula One season is here! Well, almost. The first race, to be held in Melbourne tomorrow, has been cancelled, courtesy coronavirus scare. Some others are under a cloud too. But for fans, the first big question still is: what will Lewis Hamilton do this year? He finished last year in style; was one of only two drivers to have won six F1 titles. One more this year and he’ll be ahead of Ayrton Senna and Juan Manual Fangio.

Is he under pressure? I don’t know. His fans are! Seven wins put him in Michael Schumacher’s league and beyond. Schumacher’s had 91 career wins. Hamilton has 83. And he has a few more years ahead of him. Which is why I said ‘and beyond’!

There’s more excitement on the cards: Engine restrictions for 2020 have been relaxed, 18-inch tyres upped from 13. They will be low-profile tyres. The front wing design has been simplified. The old design generated turbulence, ‘dirty air’ it was called. There will be ‘wheel wake control boards’ above the tyres to reduce the ‘wake’ generated by the wheels as they rotate.

The rear wing has also been redesigned. The airflow will be diverted higher than the following car. With the wings redesigned, the down force will be reduced. The floor is an extreme aerodynamic design to produce a ‘ground effect’. It helps to glue the car to the road. To an extent that an F1 car can drive upside down on the roof of a tunnel!

These are some of the technologies that make Formula 1 what it is — the absolute peak of auto racing! It is the fastest, most expensive and most exclusive; there are only about 24 drivers of F1 capability. To eradicate the difference in big names like Mercedes and Ferrari and the smaller names, the financial outlay has been limited to US $175 million (about Rs1,300 crores!) for 21 races. Each race over that adds US$ 1 million. This is money spent on the cars. Salaries of drivers, top three team managers and marketing are excluded!

The first F1 World Championship was held in Silverstone, England in 1950. The cars were built only for speed. Giuseppe Farina of Alfa Romeo was the winner; Juan Manuel Fangio, his teammate, was second.

How did ‘Formula’ emerge and evolve? When auto racing began, there were no rules or regulations. There were no restrictions on the engine size, weight and shape of cars. Speeds were in the three figures and they raced on public roads! The danger of such madness struck the governing body. They formulated rules for power, weight and size of the cars and Formula One was born. Since Day One, it has stayed at the top of the motorsports pyramid. And no sport has endured the trials and tribulations, economic depressions, two World Wars and maintained its position as the number one entertainer plus providing engineering inputs for the daily driven cars.

For the first time, Vietnam would host an F1 Race. The Zandvoort circuit in Holland returns. Most important, no Chequered Flag for the winner! It will be digital. The logo has also changed.

Happy Motoring!