History of Formula One
Encyclopedia
The history of Formula One
has its roots in the European Grand Prix motor racing
(q.v. for pre-1947 history) of the 1920s and 1930s. However, the foundation of Formula One began in 1946 with the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
's (FIA's) standardisation of rules. A World Drivers' Championship followed in 1950. The sport's history necessarily parallels the history of its technical regulations; see Formula One regulations
for a summary of the technical rule changes. Although the world championship has always been the main focus of the category, non-championship Formula One races were held for many years. Due to the rising cost of competition, the last of these occurred in 1983. National championships existed in South Africa
and the UK
in the 1960s and 1970s.
In the beginning, the formula was largely based on pre-war
regulations defined by engine capacity. The regulation expected to bring a new balance between supercharged and normally aspirated cars. Non supercharged 4.5 litre pre-war Grand Prix cars were allowed to race against the pre-war 1.5 litre supercharged 'voiturette
s' while pre-war supercharged Grand Prix cars were banned. The first race under the new regulations was the 1946 Turin Grand Prix
held on 1 September, the race being won by Achille Varzi
in an Alfa Romeo 158 Alfetta
.
Championships for drivers or constructors were not introduced immediately. In the early years there were around 20 races held from late Spring to early Autumn (Fall) in Europe, although not all of these were considered significant. Most competitive cars came from Italy, particularly Alfa Romeo. Races saw pre-war heroes like Achille Varzi
, Jean-Pierre Wimille
and Tazio Nuvolari
end their careers, while drivers like Alberto Ascari
and Juan Manuel Fangio
rose to the front.
In 1950, as an answer to the Motorcycle World Championships
introduced in 1949, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA
) organized the first ever official World Championship for Drivers using the Formula One rules. The organization of the championship, to be held across six of the 'major' Grands Prix of Europe, plus the Indianapolis 500
, was a mere formalization of what had already been developing in Grand Prix racing during the previous years. It was the Italian
teams of Alfa Romeo, Ferrari
, and Maserati
which were best positioned to dominate the initial years of the championship. Other national manufacturers – such as the French manufacturer Talbot
or the British effort BRM
– competed, although less successfully. A number of private cars also took part in local races.
Alfa Romeo dominated all before them in the 1950 season
, winning every race in the championship with the pre-war "Alfetta" 158s. The sole exception was the Indianapolis 500, which was part of the championship, although not run to Formula One regulations and rarely contested by the European teams. The race would never be important for Formula One and was no longer part of the championship after 1960. Nino Farina won the inaugural championship, Juan Manuel Fangio
taking it in 1951 with the Alfa-Romeo 159, an evolution of the 158. The Alfetta's engines were extremely powerful for their capacity: In 1951 the 159 engine was producing around 420 bhp but this was at the price of a fuel consumption of 125 to 175 litres per 100 km (2.26 to 1.61 mpg imp/1.88 mpg to 1.34 mpg US). Enzo Ferrari
, who had raced the Alfettas before the war, was the first to understand that the 1.5 litre supercharged engine was a dead end: Any increase in power meant more fuel to carry or more time lost in the pits for refuelling, For the last races of 1950 Ferrari sent his 1.5 litre supercharged 125s to the museum, and fielded the new V12 4.5 litre normally aspirated 375s. With a fuel consumption of around 35 L/100 km the 375s offered fierce opposition to the Alfettas towards the end of the 1951 season
. Alfa Romeo, a state-owned company, decided to withdraw after a refusal of the Italian government to fund the expensive design of a new car. Surprisingly, Alfa Romeo involvement in racing was made with a very thin budget, using mostly pre-war technology and material during the two seasons. For instance the team won two championships using only nine pre-war built engine blocks.
No Alfa Romeo, a supporting cast of privateer Lago-Talbot entries and an almost undriveable, unreliable BRM
would make Ferrari effectively invincible. The FIA
was in an embarrassing position as it had already announced that current Formula One regulations would last until 1954 before switching to 2.5-litre atmospheric engines. Major manufacturers were already working to develop cars for the future regulation and it was obvious that nobody would develop a new car for only two years. The promoters of the World Championship Grands Prix, mindful of the lack of serious competition for the Alfettas, eventually all adopted Formula Two
regulations for two years. However, Ferrari's dominance went on with the light 4-cylinder powered 500s, bringing Italian legend Alberto Ascari his two championships in the 1952
and 1953 seasons
. Ferrari's Formula One cars continued to race very successfully in non-Championship Formula One and Formula Libre races through this period. Ironically, during this period the only World Championship race for which Formula One cars were eligible was the Indianapolis 500. In 1952 Ferrari entered four Formula One 375s with Alberto Ascari
as lead driver, but with little success.
Discounting the Indianapolis 500, the World Championship was entirely based in Europe until 1953 when the season opened in Argentina. Since then there has always been at least one race outside Europe.
As planned, the World Championship races returned to Formula One regulations for the 1954 season
, now based on 2.5-litre atmospheric engines. With them, Lancia and Mercedes-Benz
came to the formula, hiring the best drivers of the era: Ascari for Lancia, Fangio for Mercedes. Featuring desmodromic valve
s, fuel injection
, magnesium
and exotic alloys parts, "streamlined" bodywork and other advanced features, the brand new Mercedes began the 1954 season with Fangio taking pole position at the "Grand Prix de l'ACF" at Reims-Gueux
with the first lap over 200 kilometre per hour in Formula One before winning the race after a duel with other Mercedes driver Karl Kling
, who finished second.
The Mercedes cars swept the next two seasons with Fangio winning all but three of the races. However, at the end of the 1955 season
Mercedes vanished as swiftly as they had come. They had proven the superiority of their technology, but the crash of one of their sportscars that year at Le Mans, killing 83 people, was also a significant factor. The company would not return to Formula One for forty years. After Le Mans, three of the year's remaining Grands Prix were cancelled.
The Monaco Grand Prix saw a spectacular incident when Ascari and his Lancia crashed into the harbour after missing a chicane. Ascari was pulled out of the water alive and apparently well. However, there was speculation over an undetected internal injury when four days later Ascari was killed at Monza while testing a sportscar. After Ascari's death, Lancia followed Mercedes out of the category, passing their engines, cars, information and technology to Ferrari.
The 1956 season
saw Fangio make good use of the Lancia-born Ferrari to win his fourth championship. Driving for Maserati, he took his fifth championship in the 1957 season
, a record which would not be beaten for 46 years.
Although the basic formula remained unchanged in 1958, races were shortened from around 500 km/300miles to 300 km/200 miles and cars had to use Avgas
instead of various fuel mixtures using methanol
as the primary component.
With Fangio retired, Mike Hawthorn
in a Ferrari took the driver's championship – becoming the first English driver to earn a title. The British Vanwall
team took the maiden constructors championship that season
, but ruined their driver's championship aspirations by taking points off one another. Stirling Moss
, despite having many more wins than Hawthorn, lost the title by one point. Ironically, a moment of high sportsmanship cost Moss the 1958 title. When Hawthorn was threatened with disqualification at the finish of the Portuguese Grand Prix for going in the wrong direction (to restart his car following a spin), Moss argued to stewards on Hawthorn's behalf. The points granted Hawthorn were the difference in the championship. This season also saw a woman driving in Formula One for the first time with Maria Teresa de Filippis
racing a private Maserati at the Belgian Grand Prix.Women had driven in Grands Prix prior to F1, e.g. Hellé Nice
1958 was a watershed in another crucial way for Formula One. Against a small field of Ferraris and Maseratis, Stirling Moss
won the Argentine Grand Prix
driving a mid-engined Cooper
entered by the private team of Rob Walker
, and powered by a 2 litre Coventry-Climax Straight-4. This was the first victory for a car with the engine mounted behind the driver in Formula One.The mid-engined Auto Union
s had been successful in Grand Prix in the 1930s The next Grand Prix in Monaco
was also won by the same Cooper car, this time driven by Maurice Trintignant
and facing more substantial opposition. Powered by undersized engines, the Coopers remained outsiders in 1958 but as soon as the new 2.5 litre Coventry-Climax engine was available, the little British cars went on to dominate Formula One. The 1959
season saw fierce competition between the works Cooper of Australian Jack Brabham
and Moss
in the Walker team's Cooper. The modified Citroën
Traction Avant transaxle proved to be the Achilles heel of the Coopers, so Walker switched to a transaxle of proprietary design. The special transmission turned out to be more unreliable than the standard part, and Brabham took the title with Moss second.
For 1960
while Enzo Ferrari adopted a conservative attitude, claiming "the horses pull the car rather than push it",It was probably disinformation: at the same time Ferrari was preparing for 1961 by designing a mid-engined F2. Lotus
and BRM
introduced mid-engined machines. Walker's team switched to a Lotus 18 chassis. Moss gave Lotus its first Formula One victory at Monaco but his season was ruined by a serious crash at Spa, Belgium. Brabham took a second title with his Cooper, but Moss returned in time to win the final race of the season, the U.S. Grand Prix at Riverside, California.
The mid-engined revolution rendered another potentially revolutionary car obsolete. The front-engined four-wheel drive Ferguson
P99 raced in British Formula One races in , winning the non-Championship Oulton Park International Gold Cup
under heavy rain. But the car was too heavy and complex compared to the new breed of mid-engined machines.
In , in an attempt to curb speeds, Formula One was downgraded to 1.5 litre, non-supercharged engines (essentially the then-current Formula Two rules), a formula which would remain for the next five years. Ferrari could have used its already proven V6 powered mid-engined Formula 2 cars, but preferred to go one step forward by designing a very sophisticated car powered by a 120° V6. This led to Ferrari dominance for the 1961 season as the British teams scrambled to come up with a suitable engine. American Phil Hill won the 1961 title in a works Ferrari. His teammate, Wolfgang von Trips of Germany, died along with 14 spectators in a horrific crash on the first lap of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the Formula One World Championship was merely the tip of the iceberg when it came to races run to Formula One regulations. The total number of races run to Formula One regulations remained about the same as it had been before the introduction of the World Championship. Many famous races, such as the Pau and Syracuse
Grands Prix, the BRDC International Trophy
, the Race of Champions
and the Oulton Park Gold Cup, were not part of the World Championship, but nonetheless continued to draw the top drivers and teams to compete.
In 1962, the Lotus team ran the Lotus 25
powered by the new Coventry-Climax FWMV V8 engine. The car had an aluminium sheet monocoque
chassis instead of the traditional spaceframe design. This proved to be the greatest technological breakthrough since the introduction of mid-engined cars, but the Lotus was unreliable at first. Jim Clark
finished second that year leaving the title to Graham Hill
and his new V8 powered BRM
.
As soon as the car and the engine became reliable, the era of the Lotus
and of Jim Clark
began. Clark won the title twice in three years, and , the latter being the only occasion to date of a driver winning both the Championship and the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race
in the same year. For 1964 Lotus introduced the new Lotus 33
and Ferrari made considerable technological and financial effort to win the title. Ferrari used no less than three different engines in the season—the existing V6, a V8 and a flat-12
, while Lotus was struggling with the teething troubles of a new car. The title went to John Surtees
and Ferrari. Surtees' title was especially notable, as he became the only driver ever to win the World Championship for both cars and motorcycles. The 1965 Mexican Grand Prix
, the last race of the 1.5 litres Formula One, saw Richie Ginther giving Honda its first victory at the end of a season that was otherwise disappointing for the Japanese newcomer. This was first victory by a Japanese car and, as of today, the only one by a car powered by a transverse engine.
saw a 'Return to Power' as Formula One changed the engine rules once again, allowing engines of 3.0 litre normally aspirated, or 1.5 litre supercharged capacity. 1966 was a transitional year for most teams, however, the year did see the first use of a technology which would later go on to revolutionise the sport: composite material
s. The McLaren M2B
, designed by Robin Herd
, used an aluminium-wood laminate known as Mallite
for much of its monocoque, although the car's design did not make best use of the new material.
Ferrari was the great favorite with a 3 litre version of his well tested powerful sports car V12 design, but the new cars were very heavy, probably in an excess of self-confidence. An enlarged V6 held some promise but Surtees left mid-season after a dispute with team manager Dragoni. Coventry-Climax, formerly supplier to much of the field, pulled out of the sport leaving teams like Lotus to struggle with enlarged versions of obsolete Climax engines. Cooper turned to a development of an otherwise obsolete Maserati V12 that was originally designed for the Maserati 250 F in the late 1950s, while BRM made the choice to design an incredibly heavy and complex H-16
. The big winner was Jack Brabham, whose eponymous racing team took victory two years with a light and compact spaceframe chassis powered by the aluminium-block stock-derived Repco
V8 unit. With SOHC heads and no more than 330 bhp,Probably 285 bhp at its beginning and 330 bhp at final stage of development the Repco was by far the least powerful of the new 3 litre engines but unlike the others it was light, reliable and available right from the start of the new rules. 1966 was Jack's year, while went to his teammate, New Zealand
er Denny Hulme
, as Jack tried new parts on his car.
In 1967 Lotus introduced the Lotus 49
, powered by the Ford-Cosworth DFV
V8 engine that was to dominate Formula One for the next decade. Like the Repco the Cosworth was light and compact but it was a real racing engine using 4-valve DOHC heads and delivering much more power - Cosworth had aimed for 400 bhp and exceeded this when the engine first ran. The DFV was designed to be fully stressed (an idea pioneered by the Lancia D50). This allowed Chapman to design a monocoque that ended just after the driver's seat while the Brabham were still using a very classic tubular frame that supported the engine, the gearbox and the rear suspension wishbones. The newborn DFV suffered from frequent failures due to excessive vibration from the flat-plane crank, forcing Keith Duckworth
to redesign several parts and allowing Hulme to win the World Driver's Crown on reliability.
1967 also saw a remarkable result by Rhodesia
n driver John Love with a 2.7 litre four-cylinder Cooper-Climax; Love, who was in his forties and although seen as one of the finest drivers in Southern Africa was not a major star, led and finished second in that year's South African Grand Prix. Love's obsolete Cooper was originally designed for the short races of the Tasman Series
; to run a full Grand Prix Love added two auxiliary fuel tanks. Unfortunately the auxiliary tanks fuel pump failure forced him to refuel after having led most of the race.
Love was the king of South Africa's flourishing domestic Formula One championship, which was run from 1960 through to 1975, winning the drivers championship six times in the 1960s. The frontrunning cars in the series were recently retired from the world championship although there was also a healthy selection of locally built or modified machines. Frontrunning drivers from the series usually contested their local World Championship Grand Prix, as well as occasional European events, although they had little success at that level.
By the late 1960s, 'overseas' races outside Europe like the South African Grand Prix formed about a third of the championship in any year. The core of the season remained the European season run over the Northern Hemisphere summer, with overseas races usually falling at the start or end of the season, a pattern which has continued to this day. There were also a number of non-championship races run outside Europe – the South African Grand Prix was occasionally one of these.
In 1968 Lotus lost its exclusive right to use the DFV. McLaren built a DFV-powered car and a new force appeared on the scene when Ken Tyrrell
entered his team using Cosworth-powered French Matra
chassis driven by ex-BRM Jackie Stewart
as lead driver. Clark took his last win at the 1968 season opening South African Grand Prix. On 7 April 1968 the double champion was killed at Hockenheim in a Formula Two event. The year saw two significant innovations. The first was the arrival of unrestricted sponsorship, which the FIA decided to permit after the withdrawal of support from automobile related firms. In May the Lotus Formula One team appeared at Jarama
in the red, gold and white colors of Imperial Tobacco
's Gold Leaf brand. The second innovation was the introduction of wings as seen previously on the Chaparral CanAm and endurance cars. Colin Chapman started the arms race with modest front wings and a spoiler on Graham Hill's Lotus 49B at Monaco. Brabham and Ferrari went one better at the Belgian Grand Prix with full width wings mounted on struts high above the driver. Lotus replied with a full width wing directly connected to the rear suspension. Brabham and Matra then produced a high mounted front wing connected to the front suspension. At the end of the season most cars were using mobile wings with various control systems. There was several case of wings, struts, or even suspension collapsing. Lotus won both titles in with Graham Hill
with Stewart second.
Unfortunately, 1968 was the year that former double World Champion Jim Clark
died in an Formula 2 race in Germany. This was a tragedy for the sport and many of its fans and within the next few years many of the drivers campaigned for more safety at races to stop more deaths happening.
The 1968 Matras most innovative feature was the use of aviation-inspired structural fuel tanks but the FIA decided to ban the technology for 1970. For 1969 Matra made the radical decision to withdraw its works team and build a new car using structural tanks for the Tyrrell team, even though it would be eligible for only a single season. The 1969 season started with cars using larger and more sophisticated wings than the previous year. When both Lotus cars broke their wings' struts and crashed at the Spanish Grand Prix, the FIA banned wings for the next race at Monaco. They were reintroduced later in the season but were to be restricted in size and height, and attached directly to the chassis in a fixed position.
Safety became a major issue in Formula One and the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa did not take place as the drivers boycotted the circuit after safety upgrades were not installed as demanded. Stewart won the 1969 title easily with the new Matra MS80, a spectacular achievement from a constructor and a team that had only entered Formula One the previous year. It remains the only title won by a chassis built in France. 1969 also saw a brief resurgence of interest in four wheel drive
with a record of four such cars on field at the British Grand Prix. Johnny Servoz-Gavin
became the one and only driver to score a point with a 4WD, finishing sixth with the Matra MS84 at the Canadian Grand Prix, although the front wheel transmission was actually disconnected. Wide tyres and downforce
had proved to be better means of increasing grip, and the technology was largely abandoned. Jacky Ickx finished second in the championship for Brabham, competitive again after dropping its Repco engines in favour of the DFV.
For 1970 Tyrrell were asked by Matra to use their V12, but decided to retain the Cosworth instead. As Matra was now a Chrysler affiliate and Tyrrell derived much of its income from Ford and Elf (associated with Renault) the partnership ended. Ken Tyrrell bought March
701 chassis as an interim solution while developing his own car for the next season. The new wedge-shaped Lotus 72 was a very innovative car featuring variable flexibility torsion bar
suspension, hip-mounted radiators, inboard front brakes and an overhanging rear wing. The 72 originally had suspension problems, but once resolved the car quickly showed its superiority and Lotus' new leader, the Austrian Jochen Rindt
, dominated the championship until he was killed at Monza when a brake shaft broke. He took the title posthumously for Lotus. 1970 saw the introduction of slick tyres by Goodyear.
After Rindt's death the Lotus team had a desultory 1971 season with its two new and inexperienced drivers - Emerson Fittipaldi
and Reine Wisell. The team spent a lot of time experimenting with a gas turbine
powered car, and with four wheel drive again. After Jack Brabham's retirement, his old team went into a steep decline. Using their own chassis heavily inspired by the Matra MS80 but with conventional tanks, Tyrrell
and Stewart easily took success in .
Focussing again on the type 72 chassis, now fielded in John Player Special's black and gold livery, Lotus took the championship by surprise with 25-year old Brazilian driver Emerson Fittipaldi becoming the then youngest world champion. Stewart came second, his performance compromised by a stomach ulcer.
In , Lotus teammates Fittipaldi and Ronnie Peterson
raced each other while Stewart was supported by François Cevert
at Tyrrell. Stewart took the Driver's title, but then at the final race of the season, the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, Cevert crashed during Saturday practice in the notorious esses and was killed instantly. Stewart, temporary hire Chris Amon
and Tyrrell withdrew from the race effectively handing the Constructor's title to Lotus. At the end of the season Stewart made public his decision to retire, a decision that was already made before the US Grand Prix.
McLaren, having fully recovered from the death of their founder, ended the 1973 season with three wins and several poles. The new M23, an updated interpretation of the Lotus 72 concept, appeared to many as the best design on the field. Fittipaldi made the choice to leave Lotus for McLaren that offered him true lead driver status that Chapman refused to him.
The 1974 season went to pre-season favourites McLaren and Fittipaldi, but was a far closer result than expected. Ferrari bounced back from a dismal 1973 season with its first true monocoque cars, the flat-12
powered 312 B3s driven by young Austrian Niki Lauda
and the experienced Clay Regazzoni. Despite the failure of the new Lotus 76, Peterson managed to win Grands Prix with the four year old 72. Brabham driver Carlos Reutemann was also able to win with the new BT44 and young talent Jody Scheckter ended most of the races in the points, including winning the Swedish Grand Prix with the M23-lookalike Tyrrell 007. Lauda's season fizzled out after a crash on the first lap of the German Grand Prix. Only the last race of the season decided the driver's title between Fittipaldi, Regazzoni, and Scheckter.
By this time the innovations introduced by the Lotus 49 and 72 had changed car design. Fully stressed engine and variable flexibility suspension was now the norm, most cars had wedge shaped bodywork and airboxes towered over driver's heads. The main innovation of this era came in 1975, when the Ferrari 312T appeared, its transverse gearbox allowing better weight distribution.
Ferrari won the Constructors titles in , , and . Lauda took a relatively straightforward first Driver's title in 1975. The main surprise of the season came when the tiny Hesketh team won the Dutch Grand Prix with James Hunt
. Despite entering only one car and refusing sponsorship the team finished 4th in the constructors championship. That year also saw Lella Lombardi
score the first points by a woman in Formula One for 6th place at the Spanish Grand Prix.
For 1976, Fittipaldi made the surprising decision to drive for the Brazilian Fittipaldi Automotive
team of his brother Wilson
, sponsored by Copersucar
. James Hunt, who knew that Hesketh's future was doomed by its lack of sponsorship (Lord Hesketh had tried to obtain major backing once he realised Hunt was a likely title contender and that he could no longer afford to run the team out of his own pocket), signed for McLaren. In 1976 Lauda's second successive title seemed inevitable until he crashed in the rain on the first lap at the Nürburgring
, suffering severe burns. He was given the last rites but unbelievably was back in his Ferrari six weeks later. He lost the championship by a single point to James Hunt in heavy rain at the final round at Fuji
in Japan when he pitted his car and refused to continue, declaring that the risk was too great and that from now on he would refuse to race under extreme conditions.
The most radical innovation of 1976 was the 6-wheeled Tyrrell P34
. The P34 was a good car, often finishing third or fourth and winning the Swedish Grand Prix, but it was not superior to the best 4-wheeled cars. 1976 also saw the Lotus team fitting brushes or plastic skirts under its rather uncompetitive 77; McLaren and Brabham also experimented with air-dams and splitters in an attempt to cause low-pressure areas under the car but found no significant effect on performance, in fact nobody knew what was in Chapman's mind.
The incident at Fuji damaged Lauda's relationship with Enzo Ferrari and Lauda officially became the second driver of the Scuderia with Carlos Reutemann
as leader. Lauda signed for Brabham before the end of the 1977 championship, having taken the title easily before Enzo Ferrari refused him a car for the end of the season. His second title was mostly built on regularity and reliability. Despite his conflict with the "Commendatore" and his second driver status Lauda enjoyed immense respect from the Ferrari team, which did its best to give him a good car. There was in fact a very competitive field that year but no single challenger to the Austrian emerged and points taken away from Ferrari were shared between many teams and drivers. Surprisingly, the new Wolf
team, born from the ashes of Frank Williams Racing Cars
and Hesketh, made excellent use of its legacy with Jody Scheckter finishing second to Niki Lauda.
1977 also saw two radical technical innovations that would change the future of Formula One. The purpose of Lotus' experimentation in 1976 was revealed with the Lotus 78, which brought ground effect
to Formula One for the first time, using wing-profiled sidepods sealed to the ground by sliding lexan
skirts. Generating radically increased downforce with radically less drag,Reportedly the internal name of the project that gave birth to 78 was "Something for nothing", Lotus external consultant Peter Wright, one of the designers of the 1970 March 701, brought the idea. the Lotus 78s driven by Mario Andretti
and Gunnar Nilsson
won five Grands Prix in 1977. Renault
unveiled the second when their RS01 made its first appearance powered by a 1.5 litre turbocharged engine, derived from their sportscar
unit. Although supercharged engines were successful in the 1950s and the regulations allowing for turbocharged engines had existed for 11 years, no Formula One team had built one, feeling that the fuel consumption and turbo lag (boost lag) would negate its superior power. Motor engineer Bernard Dudot, who had observed the turbocharged Offenhauser
engines used in Indycar racing in the USA, pushed for this choice.
The entry of Renault also brought Michelin's radial tire
s to Formula One. Goodyear, who enjoyed a monopoly before the entry of Michelin, was still using the cross ply design for racing. Goodyear saw the entry of Michelin as a serious threat and made a notable effort in research and development to develop its own radial tires. Tyrrell's 1977 season was disastrous because Goodyear
was too busy to continue to develop the unique small tires required by the P34. Without continuing development, the tyres became less competitive and the six-wheeled concept had to be dropped.
For the new Lotus 79 made a more radical and mature use of the ground effect concept. Many other teams began experimenting with the technology, but Lotus had a head start
and Mario Andretti
won the Championship in the "Black Beauty", becoming the first driver to win both the American IndyCar
championship and the Formula One title. Brabham outbid Lotus in generating downforce with BT46B
"fan car", a revival of the "sucker car" concept used by Jim Hall
's Chaparral 2J in the Can-Am series in early 1970s. The car exploited a loophole in the regulations, but the team, led by Bernie Ecclestone who had recently become president of the Formula One Constructors Association, withdrew the car before it had a chance to be banned after winning its only race with Niki Lauda
at the wheel at the Swedish Grand Prix
. Late in the season Ronnie Peterson crashed into the barriers in the first lap at Monza and his Lotus burst into flames. James Hunt heroically pulled him out of the car and the medical prognosis was initially good but the Swede died the next day because of an embolism
. Hunt would retire after the following season's Monaco Grand Prix.
For 1979 Ligier, the resurrected Williams
team and surprinsigly Ferrari, despite the handicap of the Flat-12 that obstructed wind tunnels, produced wing-cars designs that were more effective than the Lotus 79. This forced Lotus to hastily introduce the new 80 that overplayed the ground effect concept (it was originally intended to run with no drag-inducing wings, merely ground-effect sidepods) and never proved competitive. Renault persisted with the turbo engine, despite frequent breakdowns that resulted in the nickname of the 'Little Yellow Teapot', and finally won for the first time at Dijon in with the RS10 that featured both ground effect and turbo engine.
The new technologies introduced by Renault and Lotus became entangled in the FISA-FOCA war
of the early 1980s. Turbo engines were complex machines whose layout limited the ground effect 'tunnels' under the car. They were an emerging technology and so they were difficult and expensive to develop and build and make reliable. It was mostly manufacturer-supported teams, such as Renault, Ferrari and Alfa Romeo which took that route. In contrast, the cheap, reliable and narrow Ford-Cosworth DFV
engine, still used by most teams more than a decade after its introduction, lent itself well to highly efficient ground effect aerodynamics. These two groups were represented by two political bodies – the sport's governing body FISA, headed by Jean-Marie Balestre, and FOCA
, headed up by Bernie Ecclestone
. The first group supported a strict limitation of ground effect to gain full advantage from their powerful turbos while the other relied on unrestricted ground effect to balance their horsepower deficit. There were also financial considerations. Faced with large constructors with unrestricted budgets, the smaller constructors wanted a larger share of Formula One's income to remain competitive.
The battles between FISA and FOCA during the first years of the 1980s overshadowed the events on track. Jody Scheckter
took Ferrari's last title for 21 years in , but attention there was already being focused on young Canadian Gilles Villeneuve
. Alan Jones
and Keke Rosberg
brought success to Frank Williams at last in and , while young Brazilian Nelson Piquet
won titles for Brabham team owner Ecclestone in and .
Patrick Depailler
was killed in , probably due to high lateral acceleration causing a black out in Hockenheim's fast Ostkurve. The double blow struck to Ferrari in , of the death of Gilles Villeneuve and the crippling injury to teammate Didier Pironi
only a few weeks later, helped bring this crisis into the spotlight, and helped both sides settle the dispute for the good of the sport.
The old fashioned DFV helped make the UK domestic Aurora Formula One series possible between 1978 and 1980. As in South Africa a generation before, second hand cars from manufacturers like Lotus
and Fittipaldi Automotive
were the order of the day, although some, such as the March
781, were built specifically for the series. In 1980 the series saw South African Desiré Wilson
become the only woman to win a Formula One race when she triumphed at Brands Hatch in a Williams.
After several years in darkness McLaren merged with Ron Dennis
's Formula Two Project-4 team. The McLaren MP4/1 (McLaren Project-4) introduced the first carbon fibre composite chassis in 1981, an innovation which, despite initial doubts over its likely performance in a crash, had been taken up by all the teams by the middle of the decade. The use of carbon fibre composite in place of aluminium honeycomb produced cars that were significantly lighter, yet also far stiffer which improved grip and therefore cornering speed.
The title, won by Piquet for the Brabham team of Bernie Ecclestone, champion of the non-manufacturer teams' rights, was the first-ever won by a turbocharged engine. By 1983, the dispute between FISA and FOCA had been resolved and although FOCA emerged with the stronger hand, the teams had seen the writing on the wall. By 1984, only Tyrrell
still struggled on with the old DFV engines. 1983 also saw the last non-championship Formula One race: The 1983 Race of Champions
at Brands Hatch
, won by reigning World Champion Keke Rosberg in a Williams Cosworth in a close fight with American Danny Sullivan
.
Safety issues finally helped resolve the dispute; after nearly 50 years, the power achieved by the turbocharged cars could finally match the 640 hp (477 kW) produced by the supercharged 1937 Mercedes-Benz W125
, without a huge consumption of very explosive special fuel. By , some engines were producing over 1000 bhp (750 kW) in short bursts in qualifying. BMW's 1000 bhp dynamometer
was incapable of measuring the output of their qualifying engines - Paul Rosche estimated that it might be as much as 1300 bhp.
First fuel consumption and then turbocharger boost were restricted - to 4-bar in 1987 and 1.5-bar in 1988; by 1988 the turbos were only slightly more powerful than the lighter 3.5-litre atmospheric cars that had been introduced the previous year.
The thirsty turbo engines briefly saw refuelling introduced into the sport, but this was banned for 1984.
With controversy at last left behind, the Formula One teams flourished through the remainder of the 1980s and into the 1990s. Despite the overwhelming dominance of two teams—McLaren and Williams—this period is regarded (perhaps ironically) as one of the brightest spots in F1's 50 year history.
Niki Lauda
, coming out of retirement for a hefty sum in , pipped his teammate Alain Prost
to the title in by a mere half point, the closest ever finish in Formula One history. That half point in itself was controversial in that it came at the rain-shortened Grand Prix of Monaco, which resulted in half points, too. Prost won that race, but rookie Ayrton Senna
made the stronger impression in his Toleman
car, finishing 2nd and rapidly closing on Prost (while the young German Stefan Bellof
in the inferior non-turbocharged Tyrrell raced from the back of the field to 3rd and might even have taken the win, running faster than both Prost and Senna and with Senna reputed to have terminal suspension damage after an earlier incident). It was the start of a rivalry between the two men that would continue for nearly a decade. But in the early years, Prost held the advantage, driving for the McLaren team with the Porsche
-built TAG
turbo engine which took three world titles in a row.
provided another close finish. The Honda-powered Williams cars of Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell
looked untouchable, but too often they took points from each other, allowing McLaren's Prost to stay in touch. Although Williams easily won the Constructor's Championship that year, it wasn't until the season-ending Grand Prix of Australia that the Driver's title was decided, Prost making the most of both Williams drivers tyre problems. saw the Williams grow only stronger, with Piquet driving more consistent races to take his 3rd title ahead of Mansell.
1987 also saw the return of atmospheric engines to Formula One, after the turbo-only year of 1986. Capacity was increased to 3.5 litres, and the turbo engines were restricted in boost pressure and fuel capacity to limit their effect, with a total ban to be introduced in . Nevertheless, while turbo engines lasted, they dominated, Williams winning easily in 1987, and McLaren returning to form in with the super-team of Prost and Senna winning 15 of 16 races, a record unmatched today. It was Senna who emerged the victor, claiming the first of his 3 World Titles.
In 1989, turbos were banned, but the dominance of McLaren continued for the next 3 seasons, Prost winning the title in 1989, Senna in and . The championship was marred however by the fierce rivalry between the two men, culminating in a pair of clashes at the Japanese Grands Prix of 1989 and 1990. They both dominated Formula One from 1988–1990, each scoring almost twice as many points as the third-place driver in those championships. In 1989 Prost 'closed the door' on his overtaking team mate while Senna later freely admitted to deliberately driving into Prost in the 1990 race, drawing stiff condemnation from all quarters of Formula One. Senna, however, was more concerned with the threat (and opportunity) afforded by the resurgent Williams, now powered by Renault, which were to dominate Formula One for the next 7 years.
It was more than Renault engines, however, which allowed Williams and later Benetton
to dominate Formula One from to . Refuelling at pit stops was reintroduced turning each race into a series of sprints – as a result the race strategy became as important as the driver's ability. In the early 1990s, teams started introducing electronic driver aids, whose use spread rapidly. Active suspension, (pioneered by Lotus in 1987), semi-automatic gearboxes (Ferrari in 1989), and traction control
(Williams in 1991) became essential to compete. Some of these technologies were borrowed from contemporary road cars. Others were primarily developed for the track and later made their way to the showroom. All enabled cars to reach higher and higher speeds, provided the teams were willing to spend the money. The FIA
, due to complaints that technology was determining the outcome of races more than driver skill, banned many such aids in 1994. However, many observers felt that the ban on driver aids was a ban in name only as the FIA did not have the technology or the methods to eliminate these features from competition. Even this controversy didn't diminish the pleasure British fans of the sport felt in 1992, when Nigel Mansell finally won the title, after a decade of trying, nor French fans in when Alain Prost took his 4th Championship, both drivers piloting Williams cars.
Lightweight television cameras attached to the cars became common in the early 1990s (following an American network TV practise actually pioneered in Australia). As well as boosting audience figures this also made the sport more attractive to sponsors beyond the traditional cigarette companies. Safety improvements also meant that the major car manufacturers were more inclined to attach themselves to teams on a rolling basis.
, then, seemed ripe to produce a stunning season. Ayrton Senna had moved to Williams to replace Prost, who retired from the sport. Young German driver Michael Schumacher
had Ford power for his Benetton. McLaren had high hopes for its new Peugeot
engine, and Ferrari were looking to erase the dismal memories of the last 3 years with Gerhard Berger
and Jean Alesi
. The season was stunning, but for all the wrong reasons.
By , the last death in Formula One was nearly a decade past, that of Elio de Angelis
during testing in 1986. There had been several horrifying accidents (for example Nelson Piquet and Gerhard Berger at Imola
, or Martin Donnelly at Jerez
), but no fatalities. The speed of Formula One cars had continuously risen over 8 years, despite turbocharged engines being made illegal and reducing the width of tyres and eventually removing driver aids. There was an "air of invincibility" in Formula One, a belief the cars were inherently safe and drivers wouldn't die any more.
At the San Marino Grand Prix
this belief was crushed completely with the serious injuries sustained by Rubens Barrichello
and the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger
during qualifying and Ayrton Senna
in the race on 1 May 1994. Furthermore, Karl Wendlinger
was left comatose after a crash two weeks later at Monaco Grand Prix
.
The shock from the sudden injuries and deaths was stunning. Not only had two drivers been killed, but one of them was a triple world champion. The FIA
reacted swiftly and harshly with major changes to be enforced from that year onwards, and it was the beginning of the FIA's push to increase safety in Formula One.
While significant changes could not be made to cars in 1994, the FIA required all Formula One cars' airboxes to be perforated to reduce their "ram-air" effect, to reduce power. For the same reason special racing fuels, previously an exotic mixture of benzenes and toluenes, were banned; only those with similar characteristics to everyday unleaded petrol would be permitted. To reduce downforce, and therefore the cornering speed of the cars, a wooden "plank" was to be fitted beneath the central portion of the chassis, forcing a large section of the floor further away from the track. If the plank was worn over a certain tolerance (approximately 10 mm), the car would be deemed illegal.
Further, from 1995, designs were required to be drawn from a reference plane (template), and strict limitations were enforced as to the minimum and maximum tolerances for aspects of the vehicle (such as the size of the cockpit opening, an idea well known in Champ Car
for a decade, and of aerodynamic devices, commonly called wings). Further, maximum engine displacement was reduced from 3.5 litres to 3 litres. Further changes were mandated as the FIA continued to try to curb the increase in speeds of Formula One cars as the years progressed. These changes included the increase in size of the cockpit opening (to ensure driver egress was easy and to minimise possible side head impacts), introducing grooved tyres (to reduce cornering speeds by reducing grip) and narrower bodywork (this would complicate cooling and also reduce cornering speed), raising and reducing wing sizes and elements (cutting aerodynamic downforce, thus reducing cornering speed), and introducing comprehensive checks on stiffness tolerances and measurements to ensure cars conformed completely with the regulations (for example, weight tests on wings and bodywork to ensure that they maintained integrity and did not flex to give an aerodynamic advantage in a straight line).
The rapid introduction of all of these new rules and regulations—particularly those introduced in —made the atmosphere even more chaotic for Formula One. Michael Schumacher had to fight desperately for his first World Driver's Championship, as his Benetton team found itself in frequent violations of FIA regulations, and Schumacher was suspended for several races as a result. Even his championship-clinching race in Australia was controversial, as he collided with rival Damon Hill
, son of Graham, and ensured himself of the title.
By , however, things had settled down somewhat – Schumacher took his second Driver's title, and Benetton, their first Constructor's title with relative ease, defeating the Williams team of Hill and David Coulthard
. The Renault engine which powered both teams was virtually unbeatable, with only Ferrari claiming a single win at the Canadian Grand Prix
for Alesi, his only career win.
For , the FIA mandated a much larger minimum size cockpit area, along with driver's head protection, to ensure the driver's head was less exposed (ironically, this limited driver visibility
and contributed to accidents). As part of his plan to rebuild Ferrari, Jean Todt
brought Michael Schumacher to the team from Benetton that year, essentially in exchange for his 1995 drivers Alesi and Berger. There was an immediate effect, in his first year with the Scuderia Schumacher won three races, more than the team had managed in the previous five years. Ferrari were not championship contenders though and Damon Hill made a strong run to the title, finally claiming the crown after 3 years of almost but not quite.
In , another son of an F1 racing legend took the titles for Williams once again, as Jacques Villeneuve
became the 4th driver to take both the Formula One and CART
championship (the others being Mario Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi, and Nigel Mansell). This season was much closer than 1996, and Villeneuve only clinched the Drivers' Championship at the final race. Once again, Michael Schumacher collided with his championship rival at the final race, but unlike 1994 events turned against him. Schumacher not only found himself knocked out of the race, but was found to have deliberately tried to run Villeneuve off of the road. Schumacher was stripped of second place in the Championship and was disgraced.
At the end of 1997 Renault withdrew from Formula One. McLaren-Mercedes
took the Driver's Crown for the next two years, both being claimed by Mika Häkkinen
. The Finn was nearly untouchable as he took his first title while Schumacher and Villeneuve could only watch (Schumacher putting up an admirable but futile fight). provided a stiffer contest for the title. Villeneuve was out of the picture at the brand-new BAR
but Schumacher was in contention when he crashed and broke his leg at Silverstone
. His team mate Eddie Irvine
eventually lost by only two points to Mika Häkkinen
, but his efforts contributed to Ferrari's first constructors championship since 1983.
Behind the title races, however, there were signs of trouble brewing in Formula One. Long-established, highly respected names like Brabham and Lotus vanished from the starting grids. French powerhouse Ligier found themselves in desperate straits, and were sold to Alain Prost. Ken Tyrrell
's team foundered on, despite dismal results, until 1998, when BAR
bought the team. And the colourful era of the small, private teams finally came to an end. Names like Larrousse
, Dallara
, Simtek
, Pacific
, and Forti
would no longer be seen on the starting grids, with only Jordan
, Sauber
, Arrows
and of course Minardi
managing to survive somehow. The flourishing of Jordan in 1998 and 1999, under the leadership of Damon Hill, Heinz-Harald Frentzen
, and Ralf Schumacher
(Michael's younger brother) proved to be a last hurrah of the privateer, not a sign of health in the sport. Even once mighty Benetton, champions only a few years before, were barely surviving. Jackie Stewart
fronted his own team from 1997 to 1999 with backing from Ford but even then sold out as the team transformed into Jaguar
.
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saw the grids of Formula One start to revert to normal, as Jordan rapidly faded out of sight, and Williams, looking forward to a new partnership with BMW
started to reassert itself. The fight at the front, however, was very much between Häkkinen and Schumacher, each two-time champion, driving cars closely matched in performance. Ferrari had been steadily improving since their low point in the early 1990s and in 2000 Schumacher prevailed, becoming the first 3 time Champion since Senna, and bringing the World Driver's title to Ferrari for the first time since Jody Scheckter in 1979. The season saw Ferrari start to leave the rest of the grid behind, and Schumacher won the championship by the Hungarian
Grand Prix, which tied him as second quickest championship winner with Nigel Mansell
. For , the season was a red-wash. Ferrari finished every race, and won 15 of 17. Michael Schumacher scored more points than the second and third placed drivers combined, after gaining a podium in all of the races (Schumacher had only one third place - in Malaysia
). In this season, he wrapped up the championship at the French Grand Prix
(Round 11 of 17), becoming the earliest ever championship winner.
While Ferrari celebrated their dominance, the sport itself was seen by many to be in trouble. Two more privateers, Prost and Arrows, had closed their doors for good. Benetton was also no more, the team having been completely bought out by Renault. Even more troubling was the one team in seemingly no danger of disappearing: Ferrari. While Formula One was no stranger to teams monopolizing the winner's stand, Ferrari's actions throughout the 2002 season annoyed many; in particular the staged finishes of the Austrian Grand Prix
and the US Grand Prix
. It seemed to many that it was possible to take the dictum of 'win at all costs' too far. Ratings and attendance noticeably declined in the later half of 2002, a serious problem for a sport which was by far the most expensive (and, more importantly, most lucrative) in the world by this time.
In 2003, despite heavy rule changes (such as a new points system) in order to prevent another year of Ferrari dominance, Schumacher won the championship once more. He was run close by both Kimi Räikkönen
and Juan Pablo Montoya
, but Schumacher prevailed, taking the championship by two points at Suzuka
. It seemed that 2003 was the perfect balm to ease the memories of the previous season, with 8 different race winners (including first-time victories for Fernando Alonso
, Kimi Räikkönen and Giancarlo Fisichella
) and 5 different teams, including both Renault (for the first time in twenty years) and Jordan, who grabbed a lucky win in a wild Brazilian Grand Prix
.
In 2004 Ferrari and Schumacher returned to almost total dominance of the championships, winning both with ease - in the first thirteen races of the season, Schumacher managed to win twelve. A new race in Bahrain
made its debut in April and another new race in China
debuted in September. It was initially thought that in introducing these new races, older Grands Prix in Europe, like the British Grand Prix
, might be removed from the championship, but instead the number of races was increased to eighteen. According to Ecclestone, the move was to increase Formula One's global reach, though the steady tightening of restrictions on tobacco advertising
in Europe and elsewhere may also have been a factor. This move saw the percentage of races held outside Formula One's traditional European home climb to around fifty percent – meaning the World Championship, which visits four of the six continents, truly deserves its name. 2004 was Michael Schumacher's most recent of his record seven World Championships. Schumacher also holds the record for the most races won - with ninety-one (nearly as many as the second and third most victorious drivers, Prost and Senna, combined).
Despite Ferrari's dominance (taking 15 wins from the 18 races), the battle back in the pack was much more open than 2002, as powerhouses McLaren and Williams got off to horrendous starts with radical new cars. As could have been expected, Renault were quick to capitalize on the misfortunes of the two older British teams, but the real shock came from British American Racing
, led by Jenson Button
. Although failing to win a race, Button was a regular sight on the 2nd or 3rd step of the podium, and with teammate Takuma Sato
managed to clinch 2nd in the Constructors Championship, leaving Renault 3rd, Jarno Trulli
's win in Monaco some consolation. Montoya and Räikkönen each managed a solitary win for their teams, which finished 4th and 5th in the results.
The Ford Motor Company
's decision to pull out of Formula One at the end of 2004 exposed the vulnerabilities of some small teams. Not only was their works Jaguar team sold to Austrian drinks company Red Bull
, but the few remaining small independent teams, who traditionally had used Ford engines, found their engine supply in a precarious state.
_qualifying_at_usgp_2005.jpg)
In , Formula One saw Ferrari fade out of sight, as the works Renault team dominated the early part of the season, and Fernando Alonso forged a clear championship lead. In the latter part of the season McLaren were significantly the stronger team, with consistently better results and a win tally of 6 from 7 races. However, their early record of poor reliability had meant that catching Renault in either Drivers' or Constructors' Championships was a tall order.
For a while it looked close between Räikkönen and Alonso, but by Brazil
Alonso had become Formula One's youngest ever champion. The Constructors' Championship looked even more likely for McLaren, widely regarded as the faster car and with reliability much improved. However, a retirement for Juan Pablo Montoya
in the season finale at Shanghai secured the Constructors' title for Renault
. One statistic proved the two teams' dominance: they together won all but one of the races, the controversial US Grand Prix
, (in which neither of the two teams participated) which was Schumacher and Ferrari's only win of the year.
Arguably, the final small specialist racing team disappeared with the September 2005 purchase of Minardi by Red Bull to be renamed as Scuderia Toro Rosso
and run as a separate entity alongside Red Bull Racing
. Jordan had been bought by Russo-Canadian steel company Midland early in 2005 and was renamed Midland F1 for the 2006 season. In June 2005, BMW bought a majority stake in Sauber
, which became their factory entry. The Williams team ceased their partnership with BMW as a result, entering a commercial arrangement with Cosworth instead. From 2006 manufacturer teams have an unprecedented level of involvement in the sport. Honda
also bought BAR.
2005 marked the end of the V10 era in Formula One. After the banning of turbocharged engines in 1989, V10 became the most popular engine configuration in Formula One. To keep costs down, the configuration was made mandatory in 2000 (although only V10s had been in use since 1998, Toyota were planning on entering with a V12 and had to delay their entry by a year to redesign) so that engine builders would not develop and experiment with other configurations. Over this period, the statistics show a supremacy of the Renault and Ferrari engines, with Renault clinching six Constructors and five Drivers championships as engine suppliers for Williams and Benetton from 1992 to 1997, and their first ever Drivers and Constructors Championships in a 100% Renault car in 2005. Ferrari also enjoyed great success in the V10 era, winning six Constructors' championships and five drivers' championships from 1999 to 2004.
2006 was the last season with two tyre manufacturers: Japanese manufacturer Bridgestone and French company Michelin. In December 2005, the FIA announced that from the 2008 season, there would be only one tyre supplier. Five days later, Michelin announced it would quit Formula One at the end of the 2006 season, leaving Bridgestone as the sole supplier from 2007.
Renault and Fernando Alonso established early leads in both the Constructors' and Drivers' Championships. By mid-season Ferrari appeared to be making a comeback, however.
The Italian Grand Prix saw Schumacher reduce Alonso's lead to only two points as Alonso suffered an engine failure. The race also saw Ferrari pull ahead of Renault for the first time in 2006. However, the race results were largely overshadowed by Schumacher announcing, during the post-race press conference, that he would retire at the end of the season.
However, an engine failure for Schumacher at the Japanese Grand Prix, along with costly puncture in the final round in Brazil allowed Alonso to secure the Driver's Championship for the 2nd year running, with Renault also securing the Constructors Championship.
The 2007 Formula One season
saw a much more competitive McLaren, with current world champion Alonso alongside rookie Lewis Hamilton
. However, Hamilton surprised everyone with a run of 9 consecutive podiums in his first 9 races seeing him take a significant lead in the drivers championship. Alonso's relationship with McLaren deteriorated as the season progressed, as he believed it was his right as world champion to be favoured above his team mate. A mistake by Hamilton in China
and a mechanical problem in Brazil
ruined his championship. Alonso, however, was not able to fully capitalise
on the situation, and Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen took the championship after a strong second half to the season. Räikkönen turned around a 17 point deficit with 2 races to go to win by a single point. Both McLarens finished the Championship on 109 points. Fernando Alonso was placed third, behind Lewis Hamilton through countback.
Renault
had a much less successful season in 2007 than in previous years and struggled to match the pace of Mclaren and Ferrari.
Ferrari also clinched the constructors championship after McLaren's disqualification.
For the 2008 and 2009 seasons Fernando Alonso returned to Renault, but having little success he joined Ferrari in 2010.
2008
again saw McLaren and Ferrari have the most competitive cars. However, the season was much more open, with winners from 3 other teams. After agonising defeat in 2007, Hamilton clinched the drivers championship in dramatic fashion, overtaking Timo Glock to secure the 5th place he needed on the last corner of the last lap of the final grand prix
. Felipe Massa
had won the race, and would also have won the driver's Championship if it had not been for Hamilton's crucial overtake. Despite this, Ferrari secured the constructors championship for the 8th time in 10 years.
2009 saw the introduction of many new rules and regulations (including an adjustable front wing, KERS and disproportionate wing sizes) to encourage overtaking. Due to the recession, many more rule changes were brought in to reduce the cost of Formula One. Initially a standardised engine was proposed, but this idea was rejected by the teams, who came up with their own cost cutting measures. These included a huge reduction in testing times and an increase in the required engine and gearbox mileage. Many teams voiced concerns over the cost of KERS and have suggested a standardised unit, but so far no such opportunity exists. The new rules and regulations saw a new order in 2009, with new team Brawn GP
and Red Bull Racing
and their drivers leading the way, with Ferrari and McLaren having a poor season. However Ferrari started by the British Grand Prix
to make the most of their car with a string of podium finishes and a race victory in Belgium, while a redesign of the McLaren challenger helped Lewis Hamilton to win two races and gain more points than any other driver after it was upgraded at the German Grand Prix
. After dominating the beginning of the season with six out of seven race wins, Jenson Button eventually clinched the Drivers' title in Brazil, with Brawn winning the Constructors' championship in its only season, before being taken over by Mercedes
. Rubens Barrichello, Jenson Button's teammate, was second in the Drivers' Championship for the whole season until he had a problem at the Brazilian Grand Prix
and was overtaken (in points) by Sebastian Vettel
, a Red Bull driver, who won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
to finish eleven points behind Button.
saw more changes in the way of rules and regulations. KERS were banned for the 2010 season, but new innovative features on the cars such as F-Ducts and double diffusers were introduced. An allocated eight engines, per driver, for the whole season was also introduced as part of more cost cutting methods. The biggest change in the points scoring system in F1 history happened between 2009 & 2010. The 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 point system for the top eight finishers (which had been running since 2003), was replaced with the drastically different 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 for the top 10 across the line.
Red Bull Racing
returned to have a great season in 2010, winning the constructors championship in the penultimate round in Brazil. Mercedes GP
(formerly Brawn GP) had a less successful season than 2009 with their two new drivers - seven times World Champion Michael Schumacher who returned to Formula One, but was regularly beaten by fellow German; Nico Rosberg
. McLaren and Ferrari had better seasons in 2010, finishing second and third in the constructors respectfully. The Drivers' Championship was very closely fought, with six men leading the championship at one point, in the joint longest ever (nineteen race) season. For most of the season, the title looked like it could have went to - either Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel or Mark Webber
; or either McLaren's Lewis Hamilton or reigning World Champion Jenson Button (also at McLaren). But, the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso clawed back 47-points after the British Grand Prix
, to be leading the Drivers' Championship with two races left. A record four drivers were still in contention for the title going into the final round in Abu Dhabi. They were, Alonso, Webber, Vettel and Hamilton (placing in that order in number of points before the race). They would not finish that way though, with Vettel winning the race and the title when the others finished too far down the field. Vettel became the youngest ever World Champion in one the most exciting seasons ever in F1.
After a controversial race in Hockenheim
, 2010 lead to the ban on team orders
being dropped. When Ferrari asked Felipe Massa to move over to allow their No.1 driver; Fernando Alonso into the lead of the race - they were fined $100,000. The FIA decided that the rule was too vague, and there was nothing they could do to enforce it.
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
has its roots in the European Grand Prix motor racing
Grand Prix motor racing
Grand Prix motor racing has its roots in organised automobile racing that began in France as far back as 1894. It quickly evolved from a simple road race from one town to the next, to endurance tests for car and driver...
(q.v. for pre-1947 history) of the 1920s and 1930s. However, the foundation of Formula One began in 1946 with the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile is a non-profit association established as the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users...
's (FIA's) standardisation of rules. A World Drivers' Championship followed in 1950. The sport's history necessarily parallels the history of its technical regulations; see Formula One regulations
Formula One regulations
The numerous Formula One regulations, made and enforced by the FIA and later the FISA, have changed dramatically since the first Formula One World Championship in 1950...
for a summary of the technical rule changes. Although the world championship has always been the main focus of the category, non-championship Formula One races were held for many years. Due to the rising cost of competition, the last of these occurred in 1983. National championships existed in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
and the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in the 1960s and 1970s.
The early years
Formula One was first defined in 1946 by the Commission Sportive Internationale (CSI) of the FIA, forerunner of FISA, as the premier single seater racing category in worldwide motorsport. It was initially known as Formula A, but the name Formula One was widely used early on and became official in 1950.In the beginning, the formula was largely based on pre-war
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
regulations defined by engine capacity. The regulation expected to bring a new balance between supercharged and normally aspirated cars. Non supercharged 4.5 litre pre-war Grand Prix cars were allowed to race against the pre-war 1.5 litre supercharged 'voiturette
Voiturette
Voiturette is a word mostly used to describe a miniature automobile; however, it has several nuanced meanings, depending largely on the usage date.-History:...
s' while pre-war supercharged Grand Prix cars were banned. The first race under the new regulations was the 1946 Turin Grand Prix
1946 Turin Grand Prix
The 1946 Turin Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor race held at Valentino Park on September 1, 1946.-Final:...
held on 1 September, the race being won by Achille Varzi
Achille Varzi
Achille Varzi , was an Italian Grand Prix driver.-Career:Born in Galliate, province of Novara , Achille Varzi was the son of a prosperous textile manufacturer...
in an Alfa Romeo 158 Alfetta
Alfa Romeo 158/159 Alfetta
The Alfa Romeo 158/159, also known as the Alfetta , is one of the most successful racing cars ever produced. The 158 and its derivative, the 159, took 47 wins from 54 Grands Prix entered. It was originally developed for the pre-World War II voiturette formula and has a 1.5 litre straight-8...
.
Championships for drivers or constructors were not introduced immediately. In the early years there were around 20 races held from late Spring to early Autumn (Fall) in Europe, although not all of these were considered significant. Most competitive cars came from Italy, particularly Alfa Romeo. Races saw pre-war heroes like Achille Varzi
Achille Varzi
Achille Varzi , was an Italian Grand Prix driver.-Career:Born in Galliate, province of Novara , Achille Varzi was the son of a prosperous textile manufacturer...
, Jean-Pierre Wimille
Jean-Pierre Wimille
Jean-Pierre Wimille was a Grand Prix motor racing driver and a member of the French Resistance during World War II.-Biography:...
and Tazio Nuvolari
Tazio Nuvolari
Tazio Giorgio Nuvolari was an Italian motorcycle and racecar driver, known as Il Mantovano Volante or Nivola. He was the 1932 European Champion in Grand Prix motor racing...
end their careers, while drivers like Alberto Ascari
Alberto Ascari
Alberto Ascari was an Italian racing driver and twice Formula One World Champion. He is one of only two Italian Formula One World Champions in the history of the sport, and the only one winning his two championships in a Ferrari....
and Juan Manuel Fangio
Juan Manuel Fangio
Juan Manuel Fangio , nicknamed El Chueco or El Maestro , was a racing car driver from Argentina, who dominated the first decade of Formula One racing...
rose to the front.
World Championship
- See 1950 season1950 Formula One seasonThe 1950 Formula One season included the inaugural FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on May 13, 1950, and ended on September 3 after 7 races...
, 1951 season1951 Formula One seasonThe 1951 Formula One season was the second season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1951 World Championship of Drivers, which commenced on May 27, 1951 and ended on October 28 after eight races...
, 1952 season1952 Formula One seasonThe 1952 Formula One season was the third season of FIA Formula One motor racing. In comparison to previous seasons, the 1952 season consisted of a relatively small number of Formula One races, following the FIA's decision to run the Grand Prix events counting towards the World Championship of...
, 1953 season1953 Formula One seasonAs in , the 1953 Formula One season consisted of a small number of Formula One races, following the FIA's decision to once again run the World Drivers' Championship to Formula Two regulations rather than Formula One....
, 1954 season1954 Formula One seasonThe 1954 Formula One season included the 5th FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on January 17, 1954, and ended on October 24 after nine races. The Championship was won by Juan Manuel Fangio who drove, and won races, for both Maserati and Mercedes over the course of the season...
, 1955 season1955 Formula One seasonThe 1955 Formula One season was the sixth season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1955 World Championship of Drivers, which commenced on January 16, 1955 and ended on September 11 after seven races...
, 1956 season1956 Formula One seasonThe 1956 Formula One season featured the seventh FIA World Championship of Drivers as well as numerous non-championship races for Formula One cars. The championship series commenced on January 22, 1956 and ended on September 2 after eight races. Juan Manuel Fangio won his third consecutive title,...
and 1957 season1957 Formula One seasonThe 1957 Formula One season was the eighth season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1957 World Championship of Drivers which commenced on January 13, 1957 and ended on September 8 after eight races. Juan Manuel Fangio won his fourth consecutive title, his fifth in total, in his...
.
In 1950, as an answer to the Motorcycle World Championships
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix is the premier championship of motorcycle road racing currently divided into three distinct classes: 125cc, Moto2 and MotoGP. The 125cc class uses a two-stroke engine while Moto2 and MotoGP use four-stroke engines. In 2010 the 250cc two-stroke was replaced...
introduced in 1949, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile is a non-profit association established as the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users...
) organized the first ever official World Championship for Drivers using the Formula One rules. The organization of the championship, to be held across six of the 'major' Grands Prix of Europe, plus the Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...
, was a mere formalization of what had already been developing in Grand Prix racing during the previous years. It was the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
teams of Alfa Romeo, Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....
, and Maserati
Maserati
Maserati is an Italian luxury car manufacturer established on December 1, 1914, in Bologna. The company's headquarters is now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. It has been owned by the Italian car giant Fiat S.p.A. since 1993...
which were best positioned to dominate the initial years of the championship. Other national manufacturers – such as the French manufacturer Talbot
Talbot
Talbot was an automobile marque that existed from 1903 to 1986, with a hiatus from 1960 to 1978, under a number of different owners, latterly under Peugeot...
or the British effort BRM
British Racing Motors
British Racing Motors was a British Formula One motor racing team. Founded in 1945, it raced from 1950 to 1977, competing in 197 Grands Prix and winning 17. In 1962, BRM won the Constructors' Title. At the same time, its driver, Graham Hill became World Champion...
– competed, although less successfully. A number of private cars also took part in local races.
Alfa Romeo dominated all before them in the 1950 season
1950 Formula One season
The 1950 Formula One season included the inaugural FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on May 13, 1950, and ended on September 3 after 7 races...
, winning every race in the championship with the pre-war "Alfetta" 158s. The sole exception was the Indianapolis 500, which was part of the championship, although not run to Formula One regulations and rarely contested by the European teams. The race would never be important for Formula One and was no longer part of the championship after 1960. Nino Farina won the inaugural championship, Juan Manuel Fangio
Juan Manuel Fangio
Juan Manuel Fangio , nicknamed El Chueco or El Maestro , was a racing car driver from Argentina, who dominated the first decade of Formula One racing...
taking it in 1951 with the Alfa-Romeo 159, an evolution of the 158. The Alfetta's engines were extremely powerful for their capacity: In 1951 the 159 engine was producing around 420 bhp but this was at the price of a fuel consumption of 125 to 175 litres per 100 km (2.26 to 1.61 mpg imp/1.88 mpg to 1.34 mpg US). Enzo Ferrari
Enzo Ferrari
Enzo Anselmo Ferrari Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian race car driver and entrepreneur, the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team, and subsequently of the Ferrari car manufacturer...
, who had raced the Alfettas before the war, was the first to understand that the 1.5 litre supercharged engine was a dead end: Any increase in power meant more fuel to carry or more time lost in the pits for refuelling, For the last races of 1950 Ferrari sent his 1.5 litre supercharged 125s to the museum, and fielded the new V12 4.5 litre normally aspirated 375s. With a fuel consumption of around 35 L/100 km the 375s offered fierce opposition to the Alfettas towards the end of the 1951 season
1951 Formula One season
The 1951 Formula One season was the second season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1951 World Championship of Drivers, which commenced on May 27, 1951 and ended on October 28 after eight races...
. Alfa Romeo, a state-owned company, decided to withdraw after a refusal of the Italian government to fund the expensive design of a new car. Surprisingly, Alfa Romeo involvement in racing was made with a very thin budget, using mostly pre-war technology and material during the two seasons. For instance the team won two championships using only nine pre-war built engine blocks.
No Alfa Romeo, a supporting cast of privateer Lago-Talbot entries and an almost undriveable, unreliable BRM
British Racing Motors
British Racing Motors was a British Formula One motor racing team. Founded in 1945, it raced from 1950 to 1977, competing in 197 Grands Prix and winning 17. In 1962, BRM won the Constructors' Title. At the same time, its driver, Graham Hill became World Champion...
would make Ferrari effectively invincible. The FIA
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile is a non-profit association established as the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users...
was in an embarrassing position as it had already announced that current Formula One regulations would last until 1954 before switching to 2.5-litre atmospheric engines. Major manufacturers were already working to develop cars for the future regulation and it was obvious that nobody would develop a new car for only two years. The promoters of the World Championship Grands Prix, mindful of the lack of serious competition for the Alfettas, eventually all adopted Formula Two
Formula Two
Formula Two, abbreviated to F2, is a type of open wheel formula racing. It was replaced by Formula 3000 in 1985, but the FIA announced in 2008 that Formula Two would return for 2009 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship...
regulations for two years. However, Ferrari's dominance went on with the light 4-cylinder powered 500s, bringing Italian legend Alberto Ascari his two championships in the 1952
1952 Formula One season
The 1952 Formula One season was the third season of FIA Formula One motor racing. In comparison to previous seasons, the 1952 season consisted of a relatively small number of Formula One races, following the FIA's decision to run the Grand Prix events counting towards the World Championship of...
and 1953 seasons
1953 Formula One season
As in , the 1953 Formula One season consisted of a small number of Formula One races, following the FIA's decision to once again run the World Drivers' Championship to Formula Two regulations rather than Formula One....
. Ferrari's Formula One cars continued to race very successfully in non-Championship Formula One and Formula Libre races through this period. Ironically, during this period the only World Championship race for which Formula One cars were eligible was the Indianapolis 500. In 1952 Ferrari entered four Formula One 375s with Alberto Ascari
Alberto Ascari
Alberto Ascari was an Italian racing driver and twice Formula One World Champion. He is one of only two Italian Formula One World Champions in the history of the sport, and the only one winning his two championships in a Ferrari....
as lead driver, but with little success.
Discounting the Indianapolis 500, the World Championship was entirely based in Europe until 1953 when the season opened in Argentina. Since then there has always been at least one race outside Europe.
As planned, the World Championship races returned to Formula One regulations for the 1954 season
1954 Formula One season
The 1954 Formula One season included the 5th FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on January 17, 1954, and ended on October 24 after nine races. The Championship was won by Juan Manuel Fangio who drove, and won races, for both Maserati and Mercedes over the course of the season...
, now based on 2.5-litre atmospheric engines. With them, Lancia and Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
came to the formula, hiring the best drivers of the era: Ascari for Lancia, Fangio for Mercedes. Featuring desmodromic valve
Desmodromic valve
A desmodromic valve is a reciprocating engine valve that is positively closed by a cam and leverage system, rather than by a more conventional spring...
s, fuel injection
Fuel injection
Fuel injection is a system for admitting fuel into an internal combustion engine. It has become the primary fuel delivery system used in automotive petrol engines, having almost completely replaced carburetors in the late 1980s....
, magnesium
Magnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12, and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and ninth in the known universe as a whole...
and exotic alloys parts, "streamlined" bodywork and other advanced features, the brand new Mercedes began the 1954 season with Fangio taking pole position at the "Grand Prix de l'ACF" at Reims-Gueux
Reims-Gueux
Reims-Gueux was a triangular motor racing road course near Reims, France, which hosted 14 French Grands Prix.Reims-Gueux was first established in 1926 on the public roads between the small French villages of Thillois and Gueux. The circuit had two very long straights between the towns, and teams...
with the first lap over 200 kilometre per hour in Formula One before winning the race after a duel with other Mercedes driver Karl Kling
Karl Kling
Karl Kling was a motor racing driver and manager from Germany. He participated in 11 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 4 July 1954. He achieved 2 podiums, and scored a total of 17 championship points.It is said, that he was born too late and too early...
, who finished second.
The Mercedes cars swept the next two seasons with Fangio winning all but three of the races. However, at the end of the 1955 season
1955 Formula One season
The 1955 Formula One season was the sixth season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1955 World Championship of Drivers, which commenced on January 16, 1955 and ended on September 11 after seven races...
Mercedes vanished as swiftly as they had come. They had proven the superiority of their technology, but the crash of one of their sportscars that year at Le Mans, killing 83 people, was also a significant factor. The company would not return to Formula One for forty years. After Le Mans, three of the year's remaining Grands Prix were cancelled.
The Monaco Grand Prix saw a spectacular incident when Ascari and his Lancia crashed into the harbour after missing a chicane. Ascari was pulled out of the water alive and apparently well. However, there was speculation over an undetected internal injury when four days later Ascari was killed at Monza while testing a sportscar. After Ascari's death, Lancia followed Mercedes out of the category, passing their engines, cars, information and technology to Ferrari.
The 1956 season
1956 Formula One season
The 1956 Formula One season featured the seventh FIA World Championship of Drivers as well as numerous non-championship races for Formula One cars. The championship series commenced on January 22, 1956 and ended on September 2 after eight races. Juan Manuel Fangio won his third consecutive title,...
saw Fangio make good use of the Lancia-born Ferrari to win his fourth championship. Driving for Maserati, he took his fifth championship in the 1957 season
1957 Formula One season
The 1957 Formula One season was the eighth season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1957 World Championship of Drivers which commenced on January 13, 1957 and ended on September 8 after eight races. Juan Manuel Fangio won his fourth consecutive title, his fifth in total, in his...
, a record which would not be beaten for 46 years.
The mid engine revolution and introduction of the Constructor's championship
- See 1958 season1958 Formula One seasonThe 1958 Formula One season was the ninth season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1958 World Championship of Drivers which commenced on January 19, 1958, and ended on October 19 after eleven races...
, 1959 season1959 Formula One seasonThe 1959 Formula One season included the 10th FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on May 10, 1959, and ended on December 12 after nine races...
, 1960 season1960 Formula One seasonThe 1960 Formula One season featured the eleventh FIA World Championship of Drivers, the third International Cup for F1 Manufacturers and numerous non-championship Formula One races...
and 1961 season1961 Formula One seasonThe 1961 Formula One season was the 12th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1961 World Championship of Drivers and the 1961 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers, which were contested concurrently from May 14 to October 8 over an eight race series...
.
Avgas
Avgas is an aviation fuel used to power piston-engine aircraft. Avgas is distinguished from mogas , which is the everyday gasoline used in cars and some non-commercial light aircraft...
instead of various fuel mixtures using methanol
Methanol
Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol, wood alcohol, wood naphtha or wood spirits, is a chemical with the formula CH3OH . It is the simplest alcohol, and is a light, volatile, colorless, flammable liquid with a distinctive odor very similar to, but slightly sweeter than, ethanol...
as the primary component.
With Fangio retired, Mike Hawthorn
Mike Hawthorn
John Michael Hawthorn was a racing driver, born in Mexborough, Yorkshire, England, and educated at Ardingly College, West Sussex.-Racing career:...
in a Ferrari took the driver's championship – becoming the first English driver to earn a title. The British Vanwall
Vanwall
Vanwall was a Formula One motor racing team that competed in the 1950s. Founded by Tony Vandervell, the Vanwall name was derived by combining the name of the team owner with that of his Thinwall bearings produced at the Vandervell Products factory at Acton, London...
team took the maiden constructors championship that season
1958 Formula One season
The 1958 Formula One season was the ninth season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1958 World Championship of Drivers which commenced on January 19, 1958, and ended on October 19 after eleven races...
, but ruined their driver's championship aspirations by taking points off one another. Stirling Moss
Stirling Moss
Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss, OBE FIE is a former racing driver from England...
, despite having many more wins than Hawthorn, lost the title by one point. Ironically, a moment of high sportsmanship cost Moss the 1958 title. When Hawthorn was threatened with disqualification at the finish of the Portuguese Grand Prix for going in the wrong direction (to restart his car following a spin), Moss argued to stewards on Hawthorn's behalf. The points granted Hawthorn were the difference in the championship. This season also saw a woman driving in Formula One for the first time with Maria Teresa de Filippis
Maria Teresa de Filippis
Maria Teresa de Filippis is a former Italian racing driver noted as being the first woman to race in Formula One. She participated in five World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 18 May 1958, but scored no championship points...
racing a private Maserati at the Belgian Grand Prix.Women had driven in Grands Prix prior to F1, e.g. Hellé Nice
Hellé Nice
Hellé Nice was a model, dancer, and a Grand Prix motor racing driver.- Early life and fast lifestyle :...
1958 was a watershed in another crucial way for Formula One. Against a small field of Ferraris and Maseratis, Stirling Moss
Stirling Moss
Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss, OBE FIE is a former racing driver from England...
won the Argentine Grand Prix
1958 Argentine Grand Prix
The 1958 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 19 January 1958 at Buenos Aires. It was the first round of the 1958 Formula One season.The race was won by Stirling Moss in Rob Walker's privately-entered Cooper T43...
driving a mid-engined Cooper
Cooper Car Company
The Cooper Car Company was founded in 1946 by Charles Cooper and his son John Cooper. Together with John's boyhood friend, Eric Brandon, they began by building racing cars in Charles' small garage in Surbiton, Surrey, England in 1946...
entered by the private team of Rob Walker
Rob Walker Racing Team
Rob Walker Racing Team was a privateer team in Formula One during the 1950s and 1960s. Founded by Johnnie Walker heir Rob Walker in 1953, the team became F1's most successful privateer in history, being the first and last entrant to win a Formula One Grand Prix, without ever building their own...
, and powered by a 2 litre Coventry-Climax Straight-4. This was the first victory for a car with the engine mounted behind the driver in Formula One.The mid-engined Auto Union
Auto Union
Auto Union was an amalgamation of four German automobile manufacturers, founded in 1932 and established in 1936 in Chemnitz, Saxony, during the Great Depression. The company has evolved into present day Audi, as a subsidiary of Volkswagen Group....
s had been successful in Grand Prix in the 1930s The next Grand Prix in Monaco
1958 Monaco Grand Prix
The 1958 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 18 May 1958 at Monaco. It was the second round of the 1958 Formula One season.- Race report :...
was also won by the same Cooper car, this time driven by Maurice Trintignant
Maurice Trintignant
Maurice Bienvenu Jean Paul Trintignant was a motor racing driver and vintner from France. He competed in the Formula One World Championship for fourteen years, between 1950 and 1964, one of the longest careers in the early years of F1...
and facing more substantial opposition. Powered by undersized engines, the Coopers remained outsiders in 1958 but as soon as the new 2.5 litre Coventry-Climax engine was available, the little British cars went on to dominate Formula One. The 1959
1959 Formula One season
The 1959 Formula One season included the 10th FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on May 10, 1959, and ended on December 12 after nine races...
season saw fierce competition between the works Cooper of Australian Jack Brabham
Jack Brabham
Sir John Arthur "Jack" Brabham, AO, OBE is an Australian former racing driver who was Formula One champion in , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name....
and Moss
Stirling Moss
Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss, OBE FIE is a former racing driver from England...
in the Walker team's Cooper. The modified Citroën
Citroën
Citroën is a major French automobile manufacturer, part of the PSA Peugeot Citroën group.Founded in 1919 by French industrialist André-Gustave Citroën , Citroën was the first mass-production car company outside the USA and pioneered the modern concept of creating a sales and services network that...
Traction Avant transaxle proved to be the Achilles heel of the Coopers, so Walker switched to a transaxle of proprietary design. The special transmission turned out to be more unreliable than the standard part, and Brabham took the title with Moss second.
For 1960
1960 Formula One season
The 1960 Formula One season featured the eleventh FIA World Championship of Drivers, the third International Cup for F1 Manufacturers and numerous non-championship Formula One races...
while Enzo Ferrari adopted a conservative attitude, claiming "the horses pull the car rather than push it",It was probably disinformation: at the same time Ferrari was preparing for 1961 by designing a mid-engined F2. Lotus
Team Lotus
Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport series including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar and sports car racing...
and BRM
British Racing Motors
British Racing Motors was a British Formula One motor racing team. Founded in 1945, it raced from 1950 to 1977, competing in 197 Grands Prix and winning 17. In 1962, BRM won the Constructors' Title. At the same time, its driver, Graham Hill became World Champion...
introduced mid-engined machines. Walker's team switched to a Lotus 18 chassis. Moss gave Lotus its first Formula One victory at Monaco but his season was ruined by a serious crash at Spa, Belgium. Brabham took a second title with his Cooper, but Moss returned in time to win the final race of the season, the U.S. Grand Prix at Riverside, California.
The mid-engined revolution rendered another potentially revolutionary car obsolete. The front-engined four-wheel drive Ferguson
Ferguson Research Ltd.
Harry Ferguson Research Limited was a British company founded by Harry Ferguson who was mostly known as "the father of the modern farm tractor"...
P99 raced in British Formula One races in , winning the non-Championship Oulton Park International Gold Cup
Oulton Park International Gold Cup
The International Gold Cup is a prize awarded annually to the winner of a motor race held at the Oulton Park circuit, Cheshire, England, UK. In the 1950s and '60s it formed one of a number of highly regarded non-Championship Formula One races, which regularly attracted top drivers and teams...
under heavy rain. But the car was too heavy and complex compared to the new breed of mid-engined machines.
In , in an attempt to curb speeds, Formula One was downgraded to 1.5 litre, non-supercharged engines (essentially the then-current Formula Two rules), a formula which would remain for the next five years. Ferrari could have used its already proven V6 powered mid-engined Formula 2 cars, but preferred to go one step forward by designing a very sophisticated car powered by a 120° V6. This led to Ferrari dominance for the 1961 season as the British teams scrambled to come up with a suitable engine. American Phil Hill won the 1961 title in a works Ferrari. His teammate, Wolfgang von Trips of Germany, died along with 14 spectators in a horrific crash on the first lap of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the Formula One World Championship was merely the tip of the iceberg when it came to races run to Formula One regulations. The total number of races run to Formula One regulations remained about the same as it had been before the introduction of the World Championship. Many famous races, such as the Pau and Syracuse
Syracuse, Italy
Syracuse is a historic city in Sicily, the capital of the province of Syracuse. The city is notable for its rich Greek history, culture, amphitheatres, architecture, and as the birthplace of the preeminent mathematician and engineer Archimedes. This 2,700-year-old city played a key role in...
Grands Prix, the BRDC International Trophy
BRDC International Trophy
The International Trophy is a prize awarded annually by the British Racing Drivers' Club to the winner of a motor race held at the Silverstone Circuit, England...
, the Race of Champions
Race of Champions (Brands Hatch)
The Race of Champions was a non-championship Formula One motor race held at the Brands Hatch circuit in Kent, United Kingdom between 1965 and 1979, and again in 1983. It often attracted high quality entries from the Formula One World Championship. The first race was won by Mike Spence...
and the Oulton Park Gold Cup, were not part of the World Championship, but nonetheless continued to draw the top drivers and teams to compete.
Technology emerges
- See 1962 season1962 Formula One seasonThe 1962 Formula One season was the 13th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1962 World Championship of Drivers and the 1962 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers which were contested concurrently over a nine race series that commenced on May 20 and ended on December 29...
, 1963 season1963 Formula One seasonThe 1963 Formula One season was the 14th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 14th FIA World Championship of Drivers, the sixth International Cup for F1 Manufacturers and numerous non-championship Formula One races...
, 1964 season1964 Formula One seasonThe 1964 Formula One season was the 15th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It included the 1964 World Championship of Drivers and the 1964 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers, which were contested concurrently over a series which commenced on May 10 and ended on October 25 after ten races...
, 1965 season1965 Formula One seasonThe 1965 Formula One season, which was the 16th season of FIA Formula One racing, featured the 16th World Championship of Drivers and the 8th International Cup for F1 Manufacturers. The two titles were contested concurrently over a ten round series which commenced on January 1 and ended on October 24...
, 1966 season1966 Formula One seasonThe 1966 Formula One season was the 17th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1966 World Championship of Drivers and the 1966 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers which were contested concurrently over a nine race series that commenced on May 22 and ended on October 23...
and 1967 season1967 Formula One seasonThe 1967 Formula One season was the 18th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1967 World Championship of Drivers and the 1967 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers, contested concurrently over an eleven race series which commenced on January 2, 1967, and ended on October 22...
.
Lotus 25
The Lotus 25 was a racing car designed by Colin Chapman for the 1962 Formula One season. It was a revolutionary design, the first fully stressed monocoque chassis to appear in F1...
powered by the new Coventry-Climax FWMV V8 engine. The car had an aluminium sheet monocoque
Monocoque
Monocoque is a construction technique that supports structural load by using an object's external skin, as opposed to using an internal frame or truss that is then covered with a non-load-bearing skin or coachwork...
chassis instead of the traditional spaceframe design. This proved to be the greatest technological breakthrough since the introduction of mid-engined cars, but the Lotus was unreliable at first. Jim Clark
Jim Clark
James "Jim" Clark, Jr OBE was a British Formula One racing driver from Scotland, who won two World Championships, in 1963 and 1965....
finished second that year leaving the title to Graham Hill
Graham Hill
Norman Graham Hill was a British racing driver and two-time Formula One World Champion. He is the only driver to win the Triple Crown of Motorsport — the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Indianapolis 500 and Formula One World Championship.Graham Hill and his son Damon are the only father and son pair both to...
and his new V8 powered BRM
British Racing Motors
British Racing Motors was a British Formula One motor racing team. Founded in 1945, it raced from 1950 to 1977, competing in 197 Grands Prix and winning 17. In 1962, BRM won the Constructors' Title. At the same time, its driver, Graham Hill became World Champion...
.
As soon as the car and the engine became reliable, the era of the Lotus
Team Lotus
Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport series including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar and sports car racing...
and of Jim Clark
Jim Clark
James "Jim" Clark, Jr OBE was a British Formula One racing driver from Scotland, who won two World Championships, in 1963 and 1965....
began. Clark won the title twice in three years, and , the latter being the only occasion to date of a driver winning both the Championship and the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...
in the same year. For 1964 Lotus introduced the new Lotus 33
Lotus 33
The Lotus 33 designed by Colin Chapman, was a Formula One car built by Team Lotus. Its development was based on the earlier Lotus 25 model, taking the monocoque chassis design to new development heights. The 33 was again powered by the 1500 cc Climax engine. The 33 was almost identical to the 25,...
and Ferrari made considerable technological and financial effort to win the title. Ferrari used no less than three different engines in the season—the existing V6, a V8 and a flat-12
Flat-12
A flat-12 is an internal combustion engine in a flat configuration, having 12 cylinders.The flat-12 is wider than a V12...
, while Lotus was struggling with the teething troubles of a new car. The title went to John Surtees
John Surtees
John Surtees, OBE is a British former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver from England. He was 500cc motorcycle World Champion in 1956 and 1958–60, Formula One World Champion in 1964, and remains the only person to have won World Championships on both two and four wheels...
and Ferrari. Surtees' title was especially notable, as he became the only driver ever to win the World Championship for both cars and motorcycles. The 1965 Mexican Grand Prix
1965 Mexican Grand Prix
The 1965 Mexican Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Mexico City on October 24, 1965. The race, which was the tenth and final round of the 1965 Formula One season, was won by Richie Ginther who took his first victory and the first for the Honda team. after leading for the entire race...
, the last race of the 1.5 litres Formula One, saw Richie Ginther giving Honda its first victory at the end of a season that was otherwise disappointing for the Japanese newcomer. This was first victory by a Japanese car and, as of today, the only one by a car powered by a transverse engine.
saw a 'Return to Power' as Formula One changed the engine rules once again, allowing engines of 3.0 litre normally aspirated, or 1.5 litre supercharged capacity. 1966 was a transitional year for most teams, however, the year did see the first use of a technology which would later go on to revolutionise the sport: composite material
Composite material
Composite materials, often shortened to composites or called composition materials, are engineered or naturally occurring materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties which remain separate and distinct at the macroscopic or...
s. The McLaren M2B
McLaren M2B
The McLaren M2B was the McLaren team's first Formula One racing car, used during the 1966 season. It was conceived in 1965 and preceded by the M2A development car. Designed by Robin Herd, the innovative but problematic Mallite material was used in its construction...
, designed by Robin Herd
Robin Herd
Robin Herd is an English engineer, designer and businessman.Herd graduated from St Peter's College, Oxford with a double first in physics and engineering, before joining the Royal Aircraft Establishment in 1961 as a design engineer on the Concorde supersonic aircraft project...
, used an aluminium-wood laminate known as Mallite
Mallite
Mallite is a type of laminate composite material, formerly manufactured by the William Mallinson & Sons company. The material is formed of a core sheet of end grain balsa wood, faced by duralumin sheets. This construction endows the finished material with greater strength and rigidity than a light...
for much of its monocoque, although the car's design did not make best use of the new material.
Ferrari was the great favorite with a 3 litre version of his well tested powerful sports car V12 design, but the new cars were very heavy, probably in an excess of self-confidence. An enlarged V6 held some promise but Surtees left mid-season after a dispute with team manager Dragoni. Coventry-Climax, formerly supplier to much of the field, pulled out of the sport leaving teams like Lotus to struggle with enlarged versions of obsolete Climax engines. Cooper turned to a development of an otherwise obsolete Maserati V12 that was originally designed for the Maserati 250 F in the late 1950s, while BRM made the choice to design an incredibly heavy and complex H-16
H engine
An H engine is an engine configuration in which the cylinders are aligned so that if viewed from the front, they appear to be in a vertical or horizontal letter H....
. The big winner was Jack Brabham, whose eponymous racing team took victory two years with a light and compact spaceframe chassis powered by the aluminium-block stock-derived Repco
Repco
Repco is an Australian automotive engineering company. Its name is an abbreviation of Replacement Parts Company and it is best known for spare parts and motor accessories....
V8 unit. With SOHC heads and no more than 330 bhp,Probably 285 bhp at its beginning and 330 bhp at final stage of development the Repco was by far the least powerful of the new 3 litre engines but unlike the others it was light, reliable and available right from the start of the new rules. 1966 was Jack's year, while went to his teammate, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
er Denny Hulme
Denny Hulme
Denis Clive "Denny" Hulme, OBE was a New Zealand racing driver, the 1967 Formula One World Champion for the Brabham team....
, as Jack tried new parts on his car.
In 1967 Lotus introduced the Lotus 49
Lotus 49
The Lotus 49 was a Formula One racing car designed by Colin Chapman and Maurice Philippe for the 1967 F1 season. It was designed around the Cosworth DFV engine that would power most of the Formula One grid through the 1970s and was the first successful Formula One car to feature the engine as a...
, powered by the Ford-Cosworth DFV
Cosworth DFV
The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. Named Four Valve because of the four valves per cylinder, and Double as it was a V8 development of the earlier, four-cylinder FVA , making it a Double Four Valve engine...
V8 engine that was to dominate Formula One for the next decade. Like the Repco the Cosworth was light and compact but it was a real racing engine using 4-valve DOHC heads and delivering much more power - Cosworth had aimed for 400 bhp and exceeded this when the engine first ran. The DFV was designed to be fully stressed (an idea pioneered by the Lancia D50). This allowed Chapman to design a monocoque that ended just after the driver's seat while the Brabham were still using a very classic tubular frame that supported the engine, the gearbox and the rear suspension wishbones. The newborn DFV suffered from frequent failures due to excessive vibration from the flat-plane crank, forcing Keith Duckworth
Keith Duckworth
David Keith Duckworth, , was an English mechanical engineer. He is most famous for designing the Cosworth DFV engine, an engine that revolutionised the sport of Formula One....
to redesign several parts and allowing Hulme to win the World Driver's Crown on reliability.
1967 also saw a remarkable result by Rhodesia
Rhodesia
Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
n driver John Love with a 2.7 litre four-cylinder Cooper-Climax; Love, who was in his forties and although seen as one of the finest drivers in Southern Africa was not a major star, led and finished second in that year's South African Grand Prix. Love's obsolete Cooper was originally designed for the short races of the Tasman Series
Tasman Series
The Tasman Series was a motor racing series held from 1964 to 1975, in Australia and New Zealand, and named after the Tasman Sea between the two countries...
; to run a full Grand Prix Love added two auxiliary fuel tanks. Unfortunately the auxiliary tanks fuel pump failure forced him to refuel after having led most of the race.
Love was the king of South Africa's flourishing domestic Formula One championship, which was run from 1960 through to 1975, winning the drivers championship six times in the 1960s. The frontrunning cars in the series were recently retired from the world championship although there was also a healthy selection of locally built or modified machines. Frontrunning drivers from the series usually contested their local World Championship Grand Prix, as well as occasional European events, although they had little success at that level.
By the late 1960s, 'overseas' races outside Europe like the South African Grand Prix formed about a third of the championship in any year. The core of the season remained the European season run over the Northern Hemisphere summer, with overseas races usually falling at the start or end of the season, a pattern which has continued to this day. There were also a number of non-championship races run outside Europe – the South African Grand Prix was occasionally one of these.
Sponsorship arrives
- See 1968 season1968 Formula One seasonThe 1968 Formula One season included the 19th FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on January 1, 1968, and ended on November 3 after twelve races.-Season summary:...
, 1969 season1969 Formula One seasonThe 1969 Formula One season included the 20th FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on March 1, 1969, and ended on October 19 after eleven races.-Season summary:...
, 1970 season1970 Formula One seasonThe 1970 Formula One season included the 21st FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on March 7, 1970, and ended on October 25 after thirteen races...
, 1971 season1971 Formula One seasonThe 1971 Formula One season included the 22nd FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on March 6, 1971, and ended on October 3 after eleven races.-Season summary:...
, 1972 season1972 Formula One seasonThe 1972 Formula One season was the 23rd FIA Formula One season. It featured the 23rd World Championship of Drivers, the 15th International Cup for F1 Manufacturers and numerous non-championship Formula One races. The World Championship season commenced on January 23 and ended on October 8 after...
and 1973 season1973 Formula One seasonThe 1973 Formula One season included the 24th FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on January 28, 1973, and ended on October 7 after fifteen races.-Season summary:...
.
In 1968 Lotus lost its exclusive right to use the DFV. McLaren built a DFV-powered car and a new force appeared on the scene when Ken Tyrrell
Ken Tyrrell
Robert Kenneth "Ken" Tyrrell was a British Formula Two racing driver and the founder of the Tyrrell Formula One constructor.-Biography:...
entered his team using Cosworth-powered French Matra
Matra
Mécanique Aviation Traction or Matra was a French company covering a wide range of activities mainly related to automobile, bicycles, aeronautics and weaponry. In 1994, it became a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group and now operates under that name.Matra was owned by the Floirat family...
chassis driven by ex-BRM Jackie Stewart
Jackie Stewart
Sir John Young Stewart, OBE , better known as Jackie Stewart, and nicknamed The Flying Scotsman, is a Scottish former racing driver and team owner. He competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers' Championships. He also competed in Can-Am...
as lead driver. Clark took his last win at the 1968 season opening South African Grand Prix. On 7 April 1968 the double champion was killed at Hockenheim in a Formula Two event. The year saw two significant innovations. The first was the arrival of unrestricted sponsorship, which the FIA decided to permit after the withdrawal of support from automobile related firms. In May the Lotus Formula One team appeared at Jarama
Circuito Permanente Del Jarama
The Circuito del Jarama , formerly known as Circuito Permanente del Jarama is a race course in Madrid, Spain which has hosted nine Formula One Spanish Grand Prix....
in the red, gold and white colors of Imperial Tobacco
Imperial Tobacco
Imperial Tobacco is a global tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom. It is the world’s fourth-largest cigarette company measured by market share , and the world's largest producer of cigars, fine-cut tobacco and tobacco papers...
's Gold Leaf brand. The second innovation was the introduction of wings as seen previously on the Chaparral CanAm and endurance cars. Colin Chapman started the arms race with modest front wings and a spoiler on Graham Hill's Lotus 49B at Monaco. Brabham and Ferrari went one better at the Belgian Grand Prix with full width wings mounted on struts high above the driver. Lotus replied with a full width wing directly connected to the rear suspension. Brabham and Matra then produced a high mounted front wing connected to the front suspension. At the end of the season most cars were using mobile wings with various control systems. There was several case of wings, struts, or even suspension collapsing. Lotus won both titles in with Graham Hill
Graham Hill
Norman Graham Hill was a British racing driver and two-time Formula One World Champion. He is the only driver to win the Triple Crown of Motorsport — the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Indianapolis 500 and Formula One World Championship.Graham Hill and his son Damon are the only father and son pair both to...
with Stewart second.
Unfortunately, 1968 was the year that former double World Champion Jim Clark
Jim Clark
James "Jim" Clark, Jr OBE was a British Formula One racing driver from Scotland, who won two World Championships, in 1963 and 1965....
died in an Formula 2 race in Germany. This was a tragedy for the sport and many of its fans and within the next few years many of the drivers campaigned for more safety at races to stop more deaths happening.
The 1968 Matras most innovative feature was the use of aviation-inspired structural fuel tanks but the FIA decided to ban the technology for 1970. For 1969 Matra made the radical decision to withdraw its works team and build a new car using structural tanks for the Tyrrell team, even though it would be eligible for only a single season. The 1969 season started with cars using larger and more sophisticated wings than the previous year. When both Lotus cars broke their wings' struts and crashed at the Spanish Grand Prix, the FIA banned wings for the next race at Monaco. They were reintroduced later in the season but were to be restricted in size and height, and attached directly to the chassis in a fixed position.
Safety became a major issue in Formula One and the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa did not take place as the drivers boycotted the circuit after safety upgrades were not installed as demanded. Stewart won the 1969 title easily with the new Matra MS80, a spectacular achievement from a constructor and a team that had only entered Formula One the previous year. It remains the only title won by a chassis built in France. 1969 also saw a brief resurgence of interest in four wheel drive
Four Wheel Drive
The Four Wheel Drive Auto Company, more often known as Four Wheel Drive or just FWD, was founded in 1909 in Clintonville, Wisconsin, as the Badger Four-Wheel Drive Auto Company by Otto Zachow and William Besserdich.-History:...
with a record of four such cars on field at the British Grand Prix. Johnny Servoz-Gavin
Johnny Servoz-Gavin
Georges-Francis "Johnny" Servoz-Gavin was a motor racing driver in both sportscars and single seaters....
became the one and only driver to score a point with a 4WD, finishing sixth with the Matra MS84 at the Canadian Grand Prix, although the front wheel transmission was actually disconnected. Wide tyres and downforce
Downforce
Downforce is a downwards thrust created by the aerodynamic characteristics of a car. The purpose of downforce is to allow a car to travel faster through a corner by increasing the vertical force on the tires, thus creating more grip....
had proved to be better means of increasing grip, and the technology was largely abandoned. Jacky Ickx finished second in the championship for Brabham, competitive again after dropping its Repco engines in favour of the DFV.
For 1970 Tyrrell were asked by Matra to use their V12, but decided to retain the Cosworth instead. As Matra was now a Chrysler affiliate and Tyrrell derived much of its income from Ford and Elf (associated with Renault) the partnership ended. Ken Tyrrell bought March
March Engineering
March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better achievement in other categories of competition including Formula Two, Formula Three,...
701 chassis as an interim solution while developing his own car for the next season. The new wedge-shaped Lotus 72 was a very innovative car featuring variable flexibility torsion bar
Torsion beam suspension
thumb|250px|A front [[VW Beetle]] suspension cross-sectionA torsion bar suspension, also known as a torsion spring suspension or torsion beam suspension, is a general term for any vehicle suspension that uses a torsion bar as its main weight bearing spring...
suspension, hip-mounted radiators, inboard front brakes and an overhanging rear wing. The 72 originally had suspension problems, but once resolved the car quickly showed its superiority and Lotus' new leader, the Austrian Jochen Rindt
Jochen Rindt
Karl Jochen Rindt was a German racing driver who represented Austria during his career. He is the only driver to posthumously win the Formula One World Drivers' Championship , after being killed in practice for the Italian Grand Prix...
, dominated the championship until he was killed at Monza when a brake shaft broke. He took the title posthumously for Lotus. 1970 saw the introduction of slick tyres by Goodyear.
After Rindt's death the Lotus team had a desultory 1971 season with its two new and inexperienced drivers - Emerson Fittipaldi
Emerson Fittipaldi
Emerson Fittipaldi |São Paulo]], Brazil) is a Brazilian automobile racing driver who throughout a long and successful career won the Indianapolis 500 twice and championships in both Formula One and CART.-Early and personal life:...
and Reine Wisell. The team spent a lot of time experimenting with a gas turbine
Gas turbine
A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of internal combustion engine. It has an upstream rotating compressor coupled to a downstream turbine, and a combustion chamber in-between....
powered car, and with four wheel drive again. After Jack Brabham's retirement, his old team went into a steep decline. Using their own chassis heavily inspired by the Matra MS80 but with conventional tanks, Tyrrell
Tyrrell Racing
The Tyrrell Racing Organisation was an auto racing team and Formula One constructor founded by Ken Tyrrell which started racing in 1958 and started building its own cars in 1970. The team experienced its greatest success in the early 1970s, when it won three drivers' championships and one...
and Stewart easily took success in .
Focussing again on the type 72 chassis, now fielded in John Player Special's black and gold livery, Lotus took the championship by surprise with 25-year old Brazilian driver Emerson Fittipaldi becoming the then youngest world champion. Stewart came second, his performance compromised by a stomach ulcer.
In , Lotus teammates Fittipaldi and Ronnie Peterson
Ronnie Peterson
Bengt Ronnie Peterson was a Swedish racing driver. He was a two-time runner-up in the FIA Formula One World Drivers' Championship.Peterson began his motor racing career in kart racing, traditionally the discipline where the majority of race drivers begin their careers in open-wheel racing...
raced each other while Stewart was supported by François Cevert
François Cevert
Albert François Cevert Goldenberg was a French racing driver who took part in the Formula One World Championship.-Family background:...
at Tyrrell. Stewart took the Driver's title, but then at the final race of the season, the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, Cevert crashed during Saturday practice in the notorious esses and was killed instantly. Stewart, temporary hire Chris Amon
Chris Amon
Christopher Arthur Amon MBE is a former motor racing driver. He was active in Formula One - racing in the 1960s and 1970s - and is widely regarded to be one of the best F1 drivers never to win a championship Grand Prix...
and Tyrrell withdrew from the race effectively handing the Constructor's title to Lotus. At the end of the season Stewart made public his decision to retire, a decision that was already made before the US Grand Prix.
McLaren, having fully recovered from the death of their founder, ended the 1973 season with three wins and several poles. The new M23, an updated interpretation of the Lotus 72 concept, appeared to many as the best design on the field. Fittipaldi made the choice to leave Lotus for McLaren that offered him true lead driver status that Chapman refused to him.
Ferrari and McLaren at the top
- See 1974 season1974 Formula One seasonThe 1974 Formula One season was the 25th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1974 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1974 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers, contested concurrently over a fifteen race series which commenced on 13 January and ended on 6 October...
, 1975 season1975 Formula One seasonThe 1975 Formula One season was the 26th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1975 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1975 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers which were contested concurrently from January 12 to October 5 over fourteen races...
, 1976 season1976 Formula One seasonThe 1976 Formula One season included the 27th FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on January 25, 1976, and ended on October 24 after sixteen races...
and 1977 season1977 Formula One seasonThe 1977 Formula One season included the 28th FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on January 9, 1977, and ended on October 23 after seventeen races.-Season summary:...
.
The 1974 season went to pre-season favourites McLaren and Fittipaldi, but was a far closer result than expected. Ferrari bounced back from a dismal 1973 season with its first true monocoque cars, the flat-12
Flat-12
A flat-12 is an internal combustion engine in a flat configuration, having 12 cylinders.The flat-12 is wider than a V12...
powered 312 B3s driven by young Austrian Niki Lauda
Niki Lauda
Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver and three-time F1 World Champion. More recently an aviation entrepreneur, he has founded and run two airlines and was manager of the Jaguar Formula One racing team for two years.- Early years in racing :Born in Vienna,...
and the experienced Clay Regazzoni. Despite the failure of the new Lotus 76, Peterson managed to win Grands Prix with the four year old 72. Brabham driver Carlos Reutemann was also able to win with the new BT44 and young talent Jody Scheckter ended most of the races in the points, including winning the Swedish Grand Prix with the M23-lookalike Tyrrell 007. Lauda's season fizzled out after a crash on the first lap of the German Grand Prix. Only the last race of the season decided the driver's title between Fittipaldi, Regazzoni, and Scheckter.
By this time the innovations introduced by the Lotus 49 and 72 had changed car design. Fully stressed engine and variable flexibility suspension was now the norm, most cars had wedge shaped bodywork and airboxes towered over driver's heads. The main innovation of this era came in 1975, when the Ferrari 312T appeared, its transverse gearbox allowing better weight distribution.
Ferrari won the Constructors titles in , , and . Lauda took a relatively straightforward first Driver's title in 1975. The main surprise of the season came when the tiny Hesketh team won the Dutch Grand Prix with James Hunt
James Hunt
James Simon Wallis Hunt was a British racing driver from England who won the Formula One World Championship in . Hunt's often action packed exploits on track earned him the nickname "Hunt the Shunt." After retiring from driving, Hunt became a media commentator and businessman...
. Despite entering only one car and refusing sponsorship the team finished 4th in the constructors championship. That year also saw Lella Lombardi
Lella Lombardi
Maria Grazia "Lella" Lombardi was a racing driver from Italy.Born in Frugarolo, she participated in 17 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on July 20, 1974...
score the first points by a woman in Formula One for 6th place at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Fittipaldi Automotive
Fittipaldi Automotive, sometimes called Copersucar after its first major sponsor, was the only Formula One motor racing team and constructor ever to be based in Brazil. It was formed during 1974 by racing driver Wilson Fittipaldi and his younger brother, double world champion Emerson, with money...
team of his brother Wilson
Wilson Fittipaldi Júnior
Wilson Fittipaldi Júnior is a Brazilian former racing driver and Formula One team owner. He participated in 38 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on May 1, 1972, scoring a total of three championship points. He ran the Fittipaldi Formula One team between 1974 and 1982...
, sponsored by Copersucar
Copersucar
Copersucar S.A. is the biggest Brazilian sugar and ethanol company and one of the most important exporters worldwide. In its 50 years of activities, the company reached the number of 34 operating mills in the states of São Paulo, Paraná and Minas Gerais...
. James Hunt, who knew that Hesketh's future was doomed by its lack of sponsorship (Lord Hesketh had tried to obtain major backing once he realised Hunt was a likely title contender and that he could no longer afford to run the team out of his own pocket), signed for McLaren. In 1976 Lauda's second successive title seemed inevitable until he crashed in the rain on the first lap at the Nürburgring
Nürburgring
The Nürburgring is a motorsport complex around the village of Nürburg, Germany. It features a modern Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a much longer old North loop track which was built in the 1920s around the village and medieval castle of Nürburg in the Eifel mountains. It is located about...
, suffering severe burns. He was given the last rites but unbelievably was back in his Ferrari six weeks later. He lost the championship by a single point to James Hunt in heavy rain at the final round at Fuji
Fuji Speedway
is a race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It was built in the early 1960s and hosted the first Formula One race in Japan in 1976. In the 1980s, Fuji Speedway was used for the FIA World Sportscar Championship and national racing...
in Japan when he pitted his car and refused to continue, declaring that the risk was too great and that from now on he would refuse to race under extreme conditions.
The most radical innovation of 1976 was the 6-wheeled Tyrrell P34
Tyrrell P34
The Tyrrell P34 , otherwise known as the "six-wheeler", was a Formula One race car designed by Derek Gardner, Tyrrell's chief designer....
. The P34 was a good car, often finishing third or fourth and winning the Swedish Grand Prix, but it was not superior to the best 4-wheeled cars. 1976 also saw the Lotus team fitting brushes or plastic skirts under its rather uncompetitive 77; McLaren and Brabham also experimented with air-dams and splitters in an attempt to cause low-pressure areas under the car but found no significant effect on performance, in fact nobody knew what was in Chapman's mind.
The incident at Fuji damaged Lauda's relationship with Enzo Ferrari and Lauda officially became the second driver of the Scuderia with Carlos Reutemann
Carlos Reutemann
Carlos Alberto Reutemann , nicknamed "Lole", is an Argentine former racing driver , and later a politician in his native province of Santa Fe, for the Justicialist Party....
as leader. Lauda signed for Brabham before the end of the 1977 championship, having taken the title easily before Enzo Ferrari refused him a car for the end of the season. His second title was mostly built on regularity and reliability. Despite his conflict with the "Commendatore" and his second driver status Lauda enjoyed immense respect from the Ferrari team, which did its best to give him a good car. There was in fact a very competitive field that year but no single challenger to the Austrian emerged and points taken away from Ferrari were shared between many teams and drivers. Surprisingly, the new Wolf
Walter Wolf Racing
Walter Wolf Racing was a Formula One constructor from 1977 to 1980, notable for winning the very first race the team entered.-1975-77:In 1975, the Slovenian-Austrian-Canadian businessman Walter Wolf had started to appear at many of the F1 races during the season. A year later, he bought 60% of...
team, born from the ashes of Frank Williams Racing Cars
Frank Williams Racing Cars
Frank Williams Racing Cars was a British Formula One team and constructor.-Early years:Frank Williams had been a motor-racing enthusiast since a young age, and after a career in saloon cars and Formula Three, backed by Williams' shrewd instincts as a dealer in racing cars and spares, he realised...
and Hesketh, made excellent use of its legacy with Jody Scheckter finishing second to Niki Lauda.
1977 also saw two radical technical innovations that would change the future of Formula One. The purpose of Lotus' experimentation in 1976 was revealed with the Lotus 78, which brought ground effect
Ground effect in cars
Ground effect is term applied to a series of aerodynamic effects used in car design, which has been exploited to create downforce, particularly in racing cars. This has been the successor to the earlier dominant aerodynamic theory of streamlining...
to Formula One for the first time, using wing-profiled sidepods sealed to the ground by sliding lexan
Lexan
Lexan is a registered trademark for SABIC Innovative Plastics' brand of polycarbonate resin thermoplastic. Polycarbonate polymer is produced by reacting bisphenol A with carbonyl dichloride, also known as phosgene. Lexan is the brand name for polycarbonate sheet and resin in a wide range of grades...
skirts. Generating radically increased downforce with radically less drag,Reportedly the internal name of the project that gave birth to 78 was "Something for nothing", Lotus external consultant Peter Wright, one of the designers of the 1970 March 701, brought the idea. the Lotus 78s driven by Mario Andretti
Mario Andretti
Mario Gabriele Andretti is a retired Italian American world champion racing driver, one of the most successful Americans in the history of the sport. He is one of only two drivers to win races in Formula One, IndyCar, World Sportscar Championship and NASCAR...
and Gunnar Nilsson
Gunnar Nilsson
Gunnar Nilsson was a Swedish racing driver, born in Helsingborg. Before entering Formula One, he won the 1975 British Formula Three Championship....
won five Grands Prix in 1977. Renault
Renault F1
Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking...
unveiled the second when their RS01 made its first appearance powered by a 1.5 litre turbocharged engine, derived from their sportscar
Sports car racing
Sports car racing is a form of circuit auto racing with automobiles that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built or related to road-going sports cars....
unit. Although supercharged engines were successful in the 1950s and the regulations allowing for turbocharged engines had existed for 11 years, no Formula One team had built one, feeling that the fuel consumption and turbo lag (boost lag) would negate its superior power. Motor engineer Bernard Dudot, who had observed the turbocharged Offenhauser
Offenhauser
Offenhauser was an American racing engine manufacturer that operated from 1933 to 1983.The Offenhauser engine, familiarly known as the "Offy", was developed by Fred Offenhauser and his employer Harry Arminius Miller, after maintaining and repairing a 1913 Peugeot Grand Prix car of the type which...
engines used in Indycar racing in the USA, pushed for this choice.
The entry of Renault also brought Michelin's radial tire
Radial tire
A radial tire is a particular design of automotive tire . In this design, the cord plies are arranged at 90 degrees to the direction of travel, or radially ....
s to Formula One. Goodyear, who enjoyed a monopoly before the entry of Michelin, was still using the cross ply design for racing. Goodyear saw the entry of Michelin as a serious threat and made a notable effort in research and development to develop its own radial tires. Tyrrell's 1977 season was disastrous because Goodyear
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company was founded in 1898 by Frank Seiberling. Goodyear manufactures tires for automobiles, commercial trucks, light trucks, SUVs, race cars, airplanes, farm equipment and heavy earth-mover machinery....
was too busy to continue to develop the unique small tires required by the P34. Without continuing development, the tyres became less competitive and the six-wheeled concept had to be dropped.
The wing-cars and ground effect era
- See 1978 season1978 Formula One seasonThe 1978 Formula One season included the 29th FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on January 15, 1978, and ended on October 8 after sixteen races. Mario Andretti was the season Champion and the last American to date to win a Formula One race...
, 1979 season1979 Formula One seasonThe 1979 Formula One season was the 30th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1979 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1979 International Cup for F1 Constructors which were contested concurrently over a fifteen round series which commenced on January 21, 1979, and ended on...
, 1980 season1980 Formula One seasonThe 1980 Formula One season was the 31st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1980 World Championship of Drivers and the 1980 International Cup for F1 Constructors which were contested concurrently from January 13 to October 5 over a fourteen race series...
, 1981 season1981 Formula One seasonThe 1981 Formula One season included the 32nd FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on March 15, 1981, and ended on October 17 after fifteen races. Nelson Piquet won the Drivers' Championship, claiming the first of his three Formula One titles...
and 1982 season1982 Formula One seasonThe 1982 Formula One season was the 33rd FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on January 23, 1982, and ended on September 25 after sixteen races. The World Drivers' Championship was won by Williams driver Keke Rosberg. Rosberg was the first driver since Mike Hawthorn in the 1958...
.
Head start (positioning)
In positioning, a head start is a start in advance of the starting position of others in competition, or simply toward the finish line or desired outcome...
and Mario Andretti
Mario Andretti
Mario Gabriele Andretti is a retired Italian American world champion racing driver, one of the most successful Americans in the history of the sport. He is one of only two drivers to win races in Formula One, IndyCar, World Sportscar Championship and NASCAR...
won the Championship in the "Black Beauty", becoming the first driver to win both the American IndyCar
American Championship Car Racing
Since 1916 there has been a recognized United States national automobile racing National Championship for drivers of professional-level, single-seat open wheel race cars. The championship has been under the auspices of several different sanctioning bodies since 1909. Since 1911, the Indianapolis...
championship and the Formula One title. Brabham outbid Lotus in generating downforce with BT46B
Brabham BT46
The Brabham BT46 was a Formula One racing car, designed by Gordon Murray for the Brabham team, owned by Bernie Ecclestone, for the 1978 Formula One season. The car featured several radical design elements, the most obvious of which was the use of flat panel heat exchangers on the bodywork of the...
"fan car", a revival of the "sucker car" concept used by Jim Hall
Jim Hall (race car driver)
Jim Hall is a former racecar driver and constructor from the United States. He competed in Formula One from to , participating in 12 World Championship Grands Prix and numerous non-Championship races....
's Chaparral 2J in the Can-Am series in early 1970s. The car exploited a loophole in the regulations, but the team, led by Bernie Ecclestone who had recently become president of the Formula One Constructors Association, withdrew the car before it had a chance to be banned after winning its only race with Niki Lauda
Niki Lauda
Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver and three-time F1 World Champion. More recently an aviation entrepreneur, he has founded and run two airlines and was manager of the Jaguar Formula One racing team for two years.- Early years in racing :Born in Vienna,...
at the wheel at the Swedish Grand Prix
1978 Swedish Grand Prix
The 1978 Swedish Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on June 17, 1978 at the Scandinavian Raceway; it was the eighth race of the 1978 Formula One season...
. Late in the season Ronnie Peterson crashed into the barriers in the first lap at Monza and his Lotus burst into flames. James Hunt heroically pulled him out of the car and the medical prognosis was initially good but the Swede died the next day because of an embolism
Embolism
In medicine, an embolism is the event of lodging of an embolus into a narrow capillary vessel of an arterial bed which causes a blockage in a distant part of the body.Embolization is...
. Hunt would retire after the following season's Monaco Grand Prix.
For 1979 Ligier, the resurrected Williams
WilliamsF1
Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head...
team and surprinsigly Ferrari, despite the handicap of the Flat-12 that obstructed wind tunnels, produced wing-cars designs that were more effective than the Lotus 79. This forced Lotus to hastily introduce the new 80 that overplayed the ground effect concept (it was originally intended to run with no drag-inducing wings, merely ground-effect sidepods) and never proved competitive. Renault persisted with the turbo engine, despite frequent breakdowns that resulted in the nickname of the 'Little Yellow Teapot', and finally won for the first time at Dijon in with the RS10 that featured both ground effect and turbo engine.
FISA-FOCA war
The FISA–FOCA war was a political battle contested throughout the early 1980s by the two representative organizations in Formula One motor racing, the Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile and the Formula One Constructors Association...
of the early 1980s. Turbo engines were complex machines whose layout limited the ground effect 'tunnels' under the car. They were an emerging technology and so they were difficult and expensive to develop and build and make reliable. It was mostly manufacturer-supported teams, such as Renault, Ferrari and Alfa Romeo which took that route. In contrast, the cheap, reliable and narrow Ford-Cosworth DFV
Cosworth DFV
The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. Named Four Valve because of the four valves per cylinder, and Double as it was a V8 development of the earlier, four-cylinder FVA , making it a Double Four Valve engine...
engine, still used by most teams more than a decade after its introduction, lent itself well to highly efficient ground effect aerodynamics. These two groups were represented by two political bodies – the sport's governing body FISA, headed by Jean-Marie Balestre, and FOCA
Formula One Constructors Association
The Formula One Constructors' Association is an organization of the chassis builders who design and build the cars that race in the FIA Formula One World Championship...
, headed up by Bernie Ecclestone
Bernie Ecclestone
Bernard Charles "Bernie" Ecclestone is an English business magnate, as president and CEO of Formula One Management and Formula One Administration and through his part-ownership of Alpha Prema, the parent company of the Formula One Group of companies. As such, he is generally considered the primary...
. The first group supported a strict limitation of ground effect to gain full advantage from their powerful turbos while the other relied on unrestricted ground effect to balance their horsepower deficit. There were also financial considerations. Faced with large constructors with unrestricted budgets, the smaller constructors wanted a larger share of Formula One's income to remain competitive.
The battles between FISA and FOCA during the first years of the 1980s overshadowed the events on track. Jody Scheckter
Jody Scheckter
Jody David Scheckter is a South African former auto racing driver, the Formula One World Drivers Champion.-Career:Scheckter was born in East London, South Africa and educated at Selborne College.-Formula One:...
took Ferrari's last title for 21 years in , but attention there was already being focused on young Canadian Gilles Villeneuve
Gilles Villeneuve
Joseph Gilles Henri Villeneuve, better known as Gilles Villeneuve , was a Canadian racing driver. An enthusiast of cars and fast driving from an early age, he started his professional career in snowmobile racing in his native province of Quebec...
. Alan Jones
Alan Jones (Formula 1)
Alan Stanley Jones MBE is an Australian former Formula One driver. He was the first driver to win a Formula One World Championship with the Williams team, becoming the 1980 World Drivers' Champion....
and Keke Rosberg
Keke Rosberg
Keijo Erik Rosberg , nicknamed "Keke", is a Finnish former racing driver and winner of the Formula One World Championship. He was the first Finnish driver to compete regularly in the series. Rosberg grew up in Oulu and Iisalmi, Finland...
brought success to Frank Williams at last in and , while young Brazilian Nelson Piquet
Nelson Piquet
Nelson Piquet Souto Maior , known as Nelson Piquet, is a Brazilian former racing driver. He was Formula One world champion in , and . He is one of eight drivers to win three or more world championships, the others being Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna , Alain Prost , Juan...
won titles for Brabham team owner Ecclestone in and .
Patrick Depailler
Patrick Depailler
Patrick André Eugène Joseph Depailler was a racing driver from France. He participated in 95 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 2 July 1972. He also participated in several non-Championship Formula One races.Depailler was born in Clermont-Ferrand, Puy-de-Dôme. As a child, he...
was killed in , probably due to high lateral acceleration causing a black out in Hockenheim's fast Ostkurve. The double blow struck to Ferrari in , of the death of Gilles Villeneuve and the crippling injury to teammate Didier Pironi
Didier Pironi
Didier Joseph Louis Pironi was a racing driver from France. During his career he competed in 72 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, driving for Tyrrell , Ligier and Ferrari...
only a few weeks later, helped bring this crisis into the spotlight, and helped both sides settle the dispute for the good of the sport.
The old fashioned DFV helped make the UK domestic Aurora Formula One series possible between 1978 and 1980. As in South Africa a generation before, second hand cars from manufacturers like Lotus
Team Lotus
Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport series including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar and sports car racing...
and Fittipaldi Automotive
Fittipaldi Automotive
Fittipaldi Automotive, sometimes called Copersucar after its first major sponsor, was the only Formula One motor racing team and constructor ever to be based in Brazil. It was formed during 1974 by racing driver Wilson Fittipaldi and his younger brother, double world champion Emerson, with money...
were the order of the day, although some, such as the March
March Engineering
March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better achievement in other categories of competition including Formula Two, Formula Three,...
781, were built specifically for the series. In 1980 the series saw South African Desiré Wilson
Desiré Wilson
Desiré Randall Wilson is a former racing driver from South Africa, one of only five women to have competed in Formula One. She entered one Formula One World Championship Grand Prix in 1980 with a non-works Williams FW07 prepared by Brands Hatch Racing, but failed to qualify...
become the only woman to win a Formula One race when she triumphed at Brands Hatch in a Williams.
After several years in darkness McLaren merged with Ron Dennis
Ron Dennis
Ronald "Ron" Dennis CBE is the executive chairman of McLaren Automotive and McLaren Group, and is also a significant shareholder in both companies...
's Formula Two Project-4 team. The McLaren MP4/1 (McLaren Project-4) introduced the first carbon fibre composite chassis in 1981, an innovation which, despite initial doubts over its likely performance in a crash, had been taken up by all the teams by the middle of the decade. The use of carbon fibre composite in place of aluminium honeycomb produced cars that were significantly lighter, yet also far stiffer which improved grip and therefore cornering speed.
The rise of the turbo
- See 1982 season1982 Formula One seasonThe 1982 Formula One season was the 33rd FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on January 23, 1982, and ended on September 25 after sixteen races. The World Drivers' Championship was won by Williams driver Keke Rosberg. Rosberg was the first driver since Mike Hawthorn in the 1958...
and 1983 season1983 Formula One seasonThe 1983 Formula One season included the 34th FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on March 13, and ended on October 15 after fifteen races. Nelson Piquet won the World Drivers' Championship, his second Formula One title and the first one ever won by a driver using a turbocharged engine...
.
The title, won by Piquet for the Brabham team of Bernie Ecclestone, champion of the non-manufacturer teams' rights, was the first-ever won by a turbocharged engine. By 1983, the dispute between FISA and FOCA had been resolved and although FOCA emerged with the stronger hand, the teams had seen the writing on the wall. By 1984, only Tyrrell
Tyrrell Racing
The Tyrrell Racing Organisation was an auto racing team and Formula One constructor founded by Ken Tyrrell which started racing in 1958 and started building its own cars in 1970. The team experienced its greatest success in the early 1970s, when it won three drivers' championships and one...
still struggled on with the old DFV engines. 1983 also saw the last non-championship Formula One race: The 1983 Race of Champions
Race of Champions (Brands Hatch)
The Race of Champions was a non-championship Formula One motor race held at the Brands Hatch circuit in Kent, United Kingdom between 1965 and 1979, and again in 1983. It often attracted high quality entries from the Formula One World Championship. The first race was won by Mike Spence...
at Brands Hatch
Brands Hatch
Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit near West Kingsdown in Kent, England. First used as a dirt track motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently holds many British and international racing events...
, won by reigning World Champion Keke Rosberg in a Williams Cosworth in a close fight with American Danny Sullivan
Danny Sullivan
Daniel John "Danny" Sullivan III is a former racing driver from the United States. He is best known for winning the 1985 Indianapolis 500.-Before racing:...
.
Safety issues finally helped resolve the dispute; after nearly 50 years, the power achieved by the turbocharged cars could finally match the 640 hp (477 kW) produced by the supercharged 1937 Mercedes-Benz W125
Mercedes-Benz W125
The Mercedes-Benz W125 was a Grand Prix racing car designed by Rudolf Uhlenhaut to race during the 1937 Grand Prix season. The car was used by Rudolf Caracciola to win the 1937 European Championship and W125 drivers also finished in the second, third and fourth positions in the championship.The...
, without a huge consumption of very explosive special fuel. By , some engines were producing over 1000 bhp (750 kW) in short bursts in qualifying. BMW's 1000 bhp dynamometer
Dynamometer
A dynamometer or "dyno" for short, is a device for measuring force, moment of force , or power. For example, the power produced by an engine, motor or other rotating prime mover can be calculated by simultaneously measuring torque and rotational speed .A dynamometer can also be used to determine...
was incapable of measuring the output of their qualifying engines - Paul Rosche estimated that it might be as much as 1300 bhp.
First fuel consumption and then turbocharger boost were restricted - to 4-bar in 1987 and 1.5-bar in 1988; by 1988 the turbos were only slightly more powerful than the lighter 3.5-litre atmospheric cars that had been introduced the previous year.
The thirsty turbo engines briefly saw refuelling introduced into the sport, but this was banned for 1984.
Dominance of McLaren and Williams
- See 1984 season1984 Formula One seasonThe 1984 Formula One season was the 35th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1984 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1984 Fomula One World Championship for Manufacturers which were contested concurrently over a sixteen race series which commenced on March 25,...
, 1985 season1985 Formula One seasonThe 1985 Formula One season was the 36th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1985 Formula 1 World Championship which commenced on 7 April 1985 and ended on 3 November 1985 after sixteen races. World Championship titles were awarded for both Drivers and Manufacturers.-Season...
, 1986 season1986 Formula One seasonThe 1986 Formula One season was the 37th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 23, 1986, and ended on October 26 after sixteen races....
, 1987 season1987 Formula One seasonThe 1987 Formula One season was the 38th season of Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1987 FIA Formula One World Championship for Drivers and Constructors which commenced on April 12, 1987 and ended on November 15 after sixteen races...
, 1988 season1988 Formula One seasonThe 1988 Formula One season was the 39th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1988 FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on April 3, 1988 and ended on November 13 after sixteen races...
, 1989 season1989 Formula One seasonThe 1989 Formula One season was the 40th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1989 FIA Formula One World Championship, which commenced on March 26, 1989 and ended on November 5 after sixteen races...
, 1990 season1990 Formula One seasonThe 1990 Formula One season was the 41st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1990 FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on March 11, 1990 and ended on November 4 after sixteen races...
, 1991 season1991 Formula One seasonThe 1991 Formula One season was the 42nd season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1991 FIA Formula One World Championship, which commenced on March 10, 1991 and ended on November 3 after sixteen races...
, 1992 season1992 Formula One seasonThe 1992 Formula One season was the 43rd FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 1, 1992, and ended on November 8 after sixteen races...
and 1993 season1993 Formula One seasonThe 1993 Formula One season was the 44th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1993 FIA Formula One World Championship, which commenced on March 14, 1993 and ended on November 7 after sixteen races...
.
With controversy at last left behind, the Formula One teams flourished through the remainder of the 1980s and into the 1990s. Despite the overwhelming dominance of two teams—McLaren and Williams—this period is regarded (perhaps ironically) as one of the brightest spots in F1's 50 year history.
Niki Lauda
Niki Lauda
Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver and three-time F1 World Champion. More recently an aviation entrepreneur, he has founded and run two airlines and was manager of the Jaguar Formula One racing team for two years.- Early years in racing :Born in Vienna,...
, coming out of retirement for a hefty sum in , pipped his teammate Alain Prost
Alain Prost
Alain Marie Pascal Prost, OBE, Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur is a French racing driver. A four-time Formula One Drivers' Champion, Prost has won more titles than any driver except for Juan Manuel Fangio , and Michael Schumacher . From 1987 until 2001 Prost held the record for most Grand Prix...
to the title in by a mere half point, the closest ever finish in Formula One history. That half point in itself was controversial in that it came at the rain-shortened Grand Prix of Monaco, which resulted in half points, too. Prost won that race, but rookie Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna da Silva was a Brazilian racing driver. A three-time Formula One world champion, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time...
made the stronger impression in his Toleman
Toleman
Toleman Motosport was a Formula One constructor based in the UK. It was active between 1981 and 1985 and attended 70 Grands Prix.-Origins:In the 1970s, businessmen and motorsport fans Ted Toleman and Alex Hawkridge began their involvement in various car racing formulae in the UK. Ted was also noted...
car, finishing 2nd and rapidly closing on Prost (while the young German Stefan Bellof
Stefan Bellof
Stefan Bellof was a racing driver who is famous for setting the fastest lap ever on the Nordschleife configuration, at the Nürburgring, setting the time in a Porsche 956 in 1983...
in the inferior non-turbocharged Tyrrell raced from the back of the field to 3rd and might even have taken the win, running faster than both Prost and Senna and with Senna reputed to have terminal suspension damage after an earlier incident). It was the start of a rivalry between the two men that would continue for nearly a decade. But in the early years, Prost held the advantage, driving for the McLaren team with the Porsche
Porsche
Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....
-built TAG
Techniques d'Avant Garde
TAG Group SA is a private holding company based in Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. At the head is Mansour Ojjeh son of the founder of the TAG Group Akram Ojjeh, who was a wealthy Saudi entrepreneur...
turbo engine which took three world titles in a row.
provided another close finish. The Honda-powered Williams cars of Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell
Nigel Mansell
Nigel Ernest James Mansell OBE is a British racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the CART Indy Car World Series...
looked untouchable, but too often they took points from each other, allowing McLaren's Prost to stay in touch. Although Williams easily won the Constructor's Championship that year, it wasn't until the season-ending Grand Prix of Australia that the Driver's title was decided, Prost making the most of both Williams drivers tyre problems. saw the Williams grow only stronger, with Piquet driving more consistent races to take his 3rd title ahead of Mansell.
1987 also saw the return of atmospheric engines to Formula One, after the turbo-only year of 1986. Capacity was increased to 3.5 litres, and the turbo engines were restricted in boost pressure and fuel capacity to limit their effect, with a total ban to be introduced in . Nevertheless, while turbo engines lasted, they dominated, Williams winning easily in 1987, and McLaren returning to form in with the super-team of Prost and Senna winning 15 of 16 races, a record unmatched today. It was Senna who emerged the victor, claiming the first of his 3 World Titles.
In 1989, turbos were banned, but the dominance of McLaren continued for the next 3 seasons, Prost winning the title in 1989, Senna in and . The championship was marred however by the fierce rivalry between the two men, culminating in a pair of clashes at the Japanese Grands Prix of 1989 and 1990. They both dominated Formula One from 1988–1990, each scoring almost twice as many points as the third-place driver in those championships. In 1989 Prost 'closed the door' on his overtaking team mate while Senna later freely admitted to deliberately driving into Prost in the 1990 race, drawing stiff condemnation from all quarters of Formula One. Senna, however, was more concerned with the threat (and opportunity) afforded by the resurgent Williams, now powered by Renault, which were to dominate Formula One for the next 7 years.
It was more than Renault engines, however, which allowed Williams and later Benetton
Benetton Formula
Benetton Formula Ltd., commonly referred to simply as Benetton, was a Formula One constructor that participated from to . The team was owned by the Benetton family who run a worldwide chain of clothing stores of the same name. In 2000 the team was purchased by Renault, but competed as Benetton for...
to dominate Formula One from to . Refuelling at pit stops was reintroduced turning each race into a series of sprints – as a result the race strategy became as important as the driver's ability. In the early 1990s, teams started introducing electronic driver aids, whose use spread rapidly. Active suspension, (pioneered by Lotus in 1987), semi-automatic gearboxes (Ferrari in 1989), and traction control
Traction control system
A traction control system , also known as anti-slip regulation , is typically a secondary function of the anti-lock braking system on production motor vehicles, designed to prevent loss of traction of driven road wheels...
(Williams in 1991) became essential to compete. Some of these technologies were borrowed from contemporary road cars. Others were primarily developed for the track and later made their way to the showroom. All enabled cars to reach higher and higher speeds, provided the teams were willing to spend the money. The FIA
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile is a non-profit association established as the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users...
, due to complaints that technology was determining the outcome of races more than driver skill, banned many such aids in 1994. However, many observers felt that the ban on driver aids was a ban in name only as the FIA did not have the technology or the methods to eliminate these features from competition. Even this controversy didn't diminish the pleasure British fans of the sport felt in 1992, when Nigel Mansell finally won the title, after a decade of trying, nor French fans in when Alain Prost took his 4th Championship, both drivers piloting Williams cars.
Lightweight television cameras attached to the cars became common in the early 1990s (following an American network TV practise actually pioneered in Australia). As well as boosting audience figures this also made the sport more attractive to sponsors beyond the traditional cigarette companies. Safety improvements also meant that the major car manufacturers were more inclined to attach themselves to teams on a rolling basis.
, then, seemed ripe to produce a stunning season. Ayrton Senna had moved to Williams to replace Prost, who retired from the sport. Young German driver Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time...
had Ford power for his Benetton. McLaren had high hopes for its new Peugeot
Peugeot
Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...
engine, and Ferrari were looking to erase the dismal memories of the last 3 years with Gerhard Berger
Gerhard Berger
Gerhard Berger, is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver, who previously owned 50% of the Scuderia Toro Rosso Formula One team until he sold his share back to energy drink owner Dietrich Mateschitz in November 2008....
and Jean Alesi
Jean Alesi
Jean Alesi is a French racing driver of Italian origin. His Formula One career included spells at Tyrrell, Benetton, Sauber, Prost, Jordan and most notably Ferrari where he proved very popular among the tifosi...
. The season was stunning, but for all the wrong reasons.
Safety, rules and regulations
- See 1994 season1994 Formula One seasonThe 1994 Formula One season was the 45th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1994 FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on March 27, 1994, and ended on November 13 after sixteen races. The season is remembered as one of the most tragic and controversial seasons in...
, Death of Ayrton SennaDeath of Ayrton SennaThe death of three-time Formula One World Champion Ayrton Senna on May 1, 1994, occurred as a result of his car crashing into a concrete barrier while he was leading the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Italy. The previous day, Roland Ratzenberger had been killed...
, and 1995 season1995 Formula One seasonThe 1995 Formula One season was the 46th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1995 FIA Formula One World Championship, which was contested over 17 races from March 26 to November 12, 1995. For the second year in succession, the Drivers' Championship was won by Michael Schumacher,...
.
Elio de Angelis
Elio de Angelis was an Italian racing driver who participated in Formula One between and , racing for the Shadow, Lotus and Brabham teams. He was killed during testing at the Paul Ricard circuit at Le Castellet in 1986...
during testing in 1986. There had been several horrifying accidents (for example Nelson Piquet and Gerhard Berger at Imola
Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari
The Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari is an auto racing circuit near the Italian town of Imola, east of Bologna and east of the Ferrari factory in Maranello....
, or Martin Donnelly at Jerez
Circuito Permanente de Jerez
Circuito de Jerez , formerly known as Circuito Permanente de Jerez, is a 4,428 m racing circuit located close to the city of Jerez de la Frontera, deep within the sherry-producing south of Spain...
), but no fatalities. The speed of Formula One cars had continuously risen over 8 years, despite turbocharged engines being made illegal and reducing the width of tyres and eventually removing driver aids. There was an "air of invincibility" in Formula One, a belief the cars were inherently safe and drivers wouldn't die any more.
At the San Marino Grand Prix
1994 San Marino Grand Prix
The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on May 1, 1994 at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola, Italy. It was the third race of the 1994 Formula One season...
this belief was crushed completely with the serious injuries sustained by Rubens Barrichello
Rubens Barrichello
Rubens Gonçalves "Rubinho" Barrichello is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. He is currently racing for Williams F1.Barrichello has scored the seventh highest points total in Formula One history. Barrichello drove for Ferrari from to , as Michael Schumacher's teammate, enjoying considerable...
and the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger
Roland Ratzenberger
Roland Ratzenberger was an Austrian racing driver who raced in Formula Nippon, Formula 3000 and Formula One...
during qualifying and Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna da Silva was a Brazilian racing driver. A three-time Formula One world champion, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time...
in the race on 1 May 1994. Furthermore, Karl Wendlinger
Karl Wendlinger
Karl Wendlinger is an Austrian sportscar racing and former Formula One driver.- Mercedes Juniors :Wendlinger started his career in karting and in Formula Ford before entering the German Formula 3 Championship in 1988...
was left comatose after a crash two weeks later at Monaco Grand Prix
1994 Monaco Grand Prix
The 1994 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on May 15, 1994 at the Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo. The race, which was the fourth race of the 1994 Formula One season, was won by Michael Schumacher and was the first race following the death of Ayrton Senna in San Marino.- Background...
.
The shock from the sudden injuries and deaths was stunning. Not only had two drivers been killed, but one of them was a triple world champion. The FIA
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile is a non-profit association established as the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users...
reacted swiftly and harshly with major changes to be enforced from that year onwards, and it was the beginning of the FIA's push to increase safety in Formula One.
While significant changes could not be made to cars in 1994, the FIA required all Formula One cars' airboxes to be perforated to reduce their "ram-air" effect, to reduce power. For the same reason special racing fuels, previously an exotic mixture of benzenes and toluenes, were banned; only those with similar characteristics to everyday unleaded petrol would be permitted. To reduce downforce, and therefore the cornering speed of the cars, a wooden "plank" was to be fitted beneath the central portion of the chassis, forcing a large section of the floor further away from the track. If the plank was worn over a certain tolerance (approximately 10 mm), the car would be deemed illegal.
Further, from 1995, designs were required to be drawn from a reference plane (template), and strict limitations were enforced as to the minimum and maximum tolerances for aspects of the vehicle (such as the size of the cockpit opening, an idea well known in Champ Car
Champ Car
Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...
for a decade, and of aerodynamic devices, commonly called wings). Further, maximum engine displacement was reduced from 3.5 litres to 3 litres. Further changes were mandated as the FIA continued to try to curb the increase in speeds of Formula One cars as the years progressed. These changes included the increase in size of the cockpit opening (to ensure driver egress was easy and to minimise possible side head impacts), introducing grooved tyres (to reduce cornering speeds by reducing grip) and narrower bodywork (this would complicate cooling and also reduce cornering speed), raising and reducing wing sizes and elements (cutting aerodynamic downforce, thus reducing cornering speed), and introducing comprehensive checks on stiffness tolerances and measurements to ensure cars conformed completely with the regulations (for example, weight tests on wings and bodywork to ensure that they maintained integrity and did not flex to give an aerodynamic advantage in a straight line).
The rapid introduction of all of these new rules and regulations—particularly those introduced in —made the atmosphere even more chaotic for Formula One. Michael Schumacher had to fight desperately for his first World Driver's Championship, as his Benetton team found itself in frequent violations of FIA regulations, and Schumacher was suspended for several races as a result. Even his championship-clinching race in Australia was controversial, as he collided with rival Damon Hill
Damon Hill
Damon Graham Devereux Hill OBE is a retired British racing driver. In 1996 Hill won the Formula One World Championship. As the son of the late Graham Hill, he is the only son of a world champion to win the title...
, son of Graham, and ensured himself of the title.
By , however, things had settled down somewhat – Schumacher took his second Driver's title, and Benetton, their first Constructor's title with relative ease, defeating the Williams team of Hill and David Coulthard
David Coulthard
David Marshall Coulthard, MBE, , sometimes known as DC, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland.Coulthard, who was born in Dumfries and raised nearby in Twynholm, made his Formula One debut in 1994 and won 13 Grands Prix in a career spanning 15 seasons...
. The Renault engine which powered both teams was virtually unbeatable, with only Ferrari claiming a single win at the Canadian Grand Prix
1995 Canadian Grand Prix
The 1995 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on June 11, 1995 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal. It was the sixth race of the 1995 Formula One season....
for Alesi, his only career win.
End of the privateer era
- See 1996 season1996 Formula One seasonThe 1996 Formula One season was the 47th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1996 FIA Formula One World Championship, which commenced on March 10, 1996, and ended on October 13 after sixteen races...
, 1997 season1997 Formula One seasonThe 1997 Formula One season was the 48th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 9, 1997, and ended on October 26 after seventeen races.-Season summary:...
, 1998 season1998 Formula One seasonThe 1998 Formula One season was the 49th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 8, 1998, and ended on November 1 after sixteen races.-Season summary:...
and 1999 season1999 Formula One seasonThe 1999 Formula One season was the 50th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 7, 1999, and ended on October 31 after sixteen races. The season saw the introduction of a new event to the World Championship calendar, the Malaysian Grand Prix...
.
Driver visibility
In transport, driver visibility is the maximum distance at which the driver of a vehicle can see and identify prominent objects around the vehicle. Visibility is primarily determined by weather conditions and by a vehicle's design. The parts of a vehicle that influence visibility include the...
and contributed to accidents). As part of his plan to rebuild Ferrari, Jean Todt
Jean Todt
Jean Todt was born on February 25, 1946, in Pierrefort, Cantal, France. After a successful career as a rally co-driver he made his reputation in motor sport management, first with Peugeot Talbot Sport, then with Scuderia Ferrari, before being appointed Chief Executive Officer of Ferrari from 2004...
brought Michael Schumacher to the team from Benetton that year, essentially in exchange for his 1995 drivers Alesi and Berger. There was an immediate effect, in his first year with the Scuderia Schumacher won three races, more than the team had managed in the previous five years. Ferrari were not championship contenders though and Damon Hill made a strong run to the title, finally claiming the crown after 3 years of almost but not quite.
In , another son of an F1 racing legend took the titles for Williams once again, as Jacques Villeneuve
Jacques Villeneuve
Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve, , is a Canadian musician and automobile racing driver. He is the son of the late Formula One driver Gilles Villeneuve, and is the namesake of his uncle...
became the 4th driver to take both the Formula One and CART
Champ Car
Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...
championship (the others being Mario Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi, and Nigel Mansell). This season was much closer than 1996, and Villeneuve only clinched the Drivers' Championship at the final race. Once again, Michael Schumacher collided with his championship rival at the final race, but unlike 1994 events turned against him. Schumacher not only found himself knocked out of the race, but was found to have deliberately tried to run Villeneuve off of the road. Schumacher was stripped of second place in the Championship and was disgraced.
At the end of 1997 Renault withdrew from Formula One. McLaren-Mercedes
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
took the Driver's Crown for the next two years, both being claimed by Mika Häkkinen
Mika Häkkinen
Mika Pauli Häkkinen is a Finnish racing driver and two-time Formula One World Champion...
. The Finn was nearly untouchable as he took his first title while Schumacher and Villeneuve could only watch (Schumacher putting up an admirable but futile fight). provided a stiffer contest for the title. Villeneuve was out of the picture at the brand-new BAR
British American Racing
British American Racing was a Formula One constructor that competed in the sport from 1999 to 2005. BAR began by acquiring Tyrrell, and used Supertec engines for their first year...
but Schumacher was in contention when he crashed and broke his leg at Silverstone
Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone Circuit is an English motor racing circuit next to the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. The circuit straddles the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border, with the current main circuit entry on the Buckinghamshire side...
. His team mate Eddie Irvine
Eddie Irvine
Edmund "Eddie" Irvine, Jr. is a former racing driver from Northern Ireland. He grew up in Conlig, County Down, and was influenced by his parents, who were also involved in motor racing...
eventually lost by only two points to Mika Häkkinen
Mika Häkkinen
Mika Pauli Häkkinen is a Finnish racing driver and two-time Formula One World Champion...
, but his efforts contributed to Ferrari's first constructors championship since 1983.
Behind the title races, however, there were signs of trouble brewing in Formula One. Long-established, highly respected names like Brabham and Lotus vanished from the starting grids. French powerhouse Ligier found themselves in desperate straits, and were sold to Alain Prost. Ken Tyrrell
Ken Tyrrell
Robert Kenneth "Ken" Tyrrell was a British Formula Two racing driver and the founder of the Tyrrell Formula One constructor.-Biography:...
's team foundered on, despite dismal results, until 1998, when BAR
British American Racing
British American Racing was a Formula One constructor that competed in the sport from 1999 to 2005. BAR began by acquiring Tyrrell, and used Supertec engines for their first year...
bought the team. And the colourful era of the small, private teams finally came to an end. Names like Larrousse
Larrousse
Larrousse Formula One was a motorsports racing team founded in 1987 by Didier Calmels and former racer Gérard Larrousse, originally under the name Larrousse & Calmels. It was based in Antony, in the southern suburbs of Paris. It was renamed Larrousse after the departure of Calmels for legal reasons...
, Dallara
Dallara
Dallara Automobili is an Italian chassis manufacturer for various motor racing series, being most notable for its near-monopoly in Formula 3 since 1993...
, Simtek
Simtek
Simtek was an engineering consultancy firm and Formula One racing team. The F1 engineering consultancy arm, Simtek Research, was founded in 1989 by Max Mosley and Nick Wirth. It originally was involved in many areas of Formula One, including wind tunnel construction and chassis building for third...
, Pacific
Pacific Racing
Pacific Racing was a motor racing team from the United Kingdom...
, and Forti
Forti
Forti Corse, commonly known as Forti, was an Italian motor racing team chiefly known for its brief, and unsuccessful, involvement in Formula One in the mid-1990s. It was established in the late 1970s and competed in lower formulae for two decades...
would no longer be seen on the starting grids, with only Jordan
Jordan Grand Prix
Jordan Grand Prix was a Formula One constructor that competed from 1991 to 2005. The team is named after Irish businessman and founder Eddie Jordan...
, Sauber
Sauber
Sauber F1 Team is a Swiss Formula One team. It was founded in the 1970s by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in 1993....
, Arrows
Arrows
Arrows Grand Prix International was a British Formula One team active from to . For a period of time, it was also known as Footwork.-Origins :...
and of course Minardi
Minardi
Minardi was an automobile racing team and constructor founded in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal following of fans...
managing to survive somehow. The flourishing of Jordan in 1998 and 1999, under the leadership of Damon Hill, Heinz-Harald Frentzen
Heinz-Harald Frentzen
Heinz-Harald Frentzen is a German racing driver most famous for his career in Formula One. At various times driving for Williams, Jordan, Sauber, Prost, and Arrows, he achieved three race wins before his retirement from F1 in 2003.-Early career:He was born in the West German city of...
, and Ralf Schumacher
Ralf Schumacher
Ralf Schumacher is a German racing driver, and the younger brother of seven-time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher...
(Michael's younger brother) proved to be a last hurrah of the privateer, not a sign of health in the sport. Even once mighty Benetton, champions only a few years before, were barely surviving. Jackie Stewart
Jackie Stewart
Sir John Young Stewart, OBE , better known as Jackie Stewart, and nicknamed The Flying Scotsman, is a Scottish former racing driver and team owner. He competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers' Championships. He also competed in Can-Am...
fronted his own team from 1997 to 1999 with backing from Ford but even then sold out as the team transformed into Jaguar
Jaguar Racing
Jaguar Racing was a Formula One team that competed in the FIA Formula One World Championship from 2000 to 2004. It was formed from the purchase by Ford of Jackie Stewart's Stewart Grand Prix Formula One team in June 1999. Ford renamed the team Jaguar Racing as part of its global marketing...
.
Schumacher and Ferrari ascendant
- See 2000 season2000 Formula One seasonThe 2000 Formula One season was the 51st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 2000 FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on March 12, 2000, and ended on October 22 after seventeen races...
, 2001 season2001 Formula One seasonThe 2001 Formula One season was the 52nd season of FIA Formula One racing. It featured the FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on March 4, 2001 and ended on October 14 after seventeen races. Michael Schumacher won the Drivers title with a record margin of 58 points, after achieving...
, 2002 season2002 Formula One seasonThe 2002 Formula One season was the 53rd FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 3, 2002, and ended on October 13 after seventeen races....
, 2003 season2003 Formula One seasonThe 2003 Formula One season was the 54th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 2003 FIA Formula One World Championship, which commenced on March 9, 2003 and ended on October 12 after sixteen races...
and 2004 season2004 Formula One seasonThe 2004 Formula One season was the 55th FIA Formula One World Championship season, running from March 7 to October 24, 2004. The season was dominated by Michael Schumacher and Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro...
.
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
started to reassert itself. The fight at the front, however, was very much between Häkkinen and Schumacher, each two-time champion, driving cars closely matched in performance. Ferrari had been steadily improving since their low point in the early 1990s and in 2000 Schumacher prevailed, becoming the first 3 time Champion since Senna, and bringing the World Driver's title to Ferrari for the first time since Jody Scheckter in 1979. The season saw Ferrari start to leave the rest of the grid behind, and Schumacher won the championship by the Hungarian
2001 Hungarian Grand Prix
The 2001 Hungarian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Hungaroring on August 19, 2001. This race saw Michael Schumacher win his fourth World Championship and equal Alain Prost's record of 51 Grand Prix victories.- Classification :- Notes :...
Grand Prix, which tied him as second quickest championship winner with Nigel Mansell
Nigel Mansell
Nigel Ernest James Mansell OBE is a British racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the CART Indy Car World Series...
. For , the season was a red-wash. Ferrari finished every race, and won 15 of 17. Michael Schumacher scored more points than the second and third placed drivers combined, after gaining a podium in all of the races (Schumacher had only one third place - in Malaysia
2002 Malaysian Grand Prix
The 2002 Malaysian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on March 17, 2002 at the Sepang International Circuit and was the second race of the 2002 Formula One season. The Grand Prix is notable for the first lap collision between Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya and Ferrari's Michael Schumacher,...
). In this season, he wrapped up the championship at the French Grand Prix
2002 French Grand Prix
The 2002 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Magny-Cours on July 21, 2002. It was the 11th race of the 2002 Formula One season and the race in which Michael Schumacher secured his 5th World Drivers' Championship title in record time, equalling Juan Manuel Fangio's record set over...
(Round 11 of 17), becoming the earliest ever championship winner.
While Ferrari celebrated their dominance, the sport itself was seen by many to be in trouble. Two more privateers, Prost and Arrows, had closed their doors for good. Benetton was also no more, the team having been completely bought out by Renault. Even more troubling was the one team in seemingly no danger of disappearing: Ferrari. While Formula One was no stranger to teams monopolizing the winner's stand, Ferrari's actions throughout the 2002 season annoyed many; in particular the staged finishes of the Austrian Grand Prix
2002 Austrian Grand Prix
The 2002 Austrian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on May 12, 2002 at the A1-Ring. It was infamous for the "staged finish", where race leader Rubens Barrichello, who was running first, was ordered to allow Ferrari teammate Michael Schumacher to overtake him under "team orders" and win the...
and the US Grand Prix
2002 United States Grand Prix
The 2002 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on September 29, 2002 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana.-Summary:...
. It seemed to many that it was possible to take the dictum of 'win at all costs' too far. Ratings and attendance noticeably declined in the later half of 2002, a serious problem for a sport which was by far the most expensive (and, more importantly, most lucrative) in the world by this time.
In 2003, despite heavy rule changes (such as a new points system) in order to prevent another year of Ferrari dominance, Schumacher won the championship once more. He was run close by both Kimi Räikkönen
Kimi Räikkönen
Kimi Matias Räikkönen , nicknamed Iceman, is a Finnish racing driver, who will drive in Formula One for Lotus in . After nine seasons racing in Formula One, in which he took the Formula One World Drivers' Championship, he competed in the World Rally Championship from 2009-2011.Räikkönen entered...
and Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán is a Colombian race car driver known internationally for participating and winning in Formula One and CART race competitions. He has enjoyed great success. Currently, he competes in NASCAR, driving the #42 Target Chevrolet Impala for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing in the Sprint...
, but Schumacher prevailed, taking the championship by two points at Suzuka
2003 Japanese Grand Prix
The 2003 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on October 12, 2003 at the Suzuka Circuit.At this race Michael Schumacher won his 6th World Championship, breaking Juan Manuel Fangio's record set in the 1950s...
. It seemed that 2003 was the perfect balm to ease the memories of the previous season, with 8 different race winners (including first-time victories for Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso Díaz is a Spanish Formula One racing driver and a two-time World Champion, who is currently racing for Ferrari....
, Kimi Räikkönen and Giancarlo Fisichella
Giancarlo Fisichella
Giancarlo Fisichella , also known as Fisico, Giano or Fisi, is an Italian racing driver. He has driven in Formula One for Minardi, Jordan, Benetton, Sauber, Renault, Force India and Ferrari. Nowadays, he drives for AF Corse's GT2 Ferrari in various sportscar events...
) and 5 different teams, including both Renault (for the first time in twenty years) and Jordan, who grabbed a lucky win in a wild Brazilian Grand Prix
2003 Brazilian Grand Prix
The 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on April 6, 2003 at Autódromo José Carlos Pace . This was the 700th World Championship event....
.
In 2004 Ferrari and Schumacher returned to almost total dominance of the championships, winning both with ease - in the first thirteen races of the season, Schumacher managed to win twelve. A new race in Bahrain
Bahrain
' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...
made its debut in April and another new race in China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
debuted in September. It was initially thought that in introducing these new races, older Grands Prix in Europe, like the British Grand Prix
British Grand Prix
The British Grand Prix is a race in the calendar of the FIA Formula One World Championship. It is currently held at the Silverstone Circuit near the village of Silverstone in Northamptonshire...
, might be removed from the championship, but instead the number of races was increased to eighteen. According to Ecclestone, the move was to increase Formula One's global reach, though the steady tightening of restrictions on tobacco advertising
Tobacco advertising
Tobacco advertising is the advertising of tobacco products or use by the tobacco industry through a variety of media including sponsorship, particularly of sporting events. It is now one of the most highly regulated forms of marketing...
in Europe and elsewhere may also have been a factor. This move saw the percentage of races held outside Formula One's traditional European home climb to around fifty percent – meaning the World Championship, which visits four of the six continents, truly deserves its name. 2004 was Michael Schumacher's most recent of his record seven World Championships. Schumacher also holds the record for the most races won - with ninety-one (nearly as many as the second and third most victorious drivers, Prost and Senna, combined).
Despite Ferrari's dominance (taking 15 wins from the 18 races), the battle back in the pack was much more open than 2002, as powerhouses McLaren and Williams got off to horrendous starts with radical new cars. As could have been expected, Renault were quick to capitalize on the misfortunes of the two older British teams, but the real shock came from British American Racing
British American Racing
British American Racing was a Formula One constructor that competed in the sport from 1999 to 2005. BAR began by acquiring Tyrrell, and used Supertec engines for their first year...
, led by Jenson Button
Jenson Button
Jenson Alexander Lyons Button MBE is a British Formula One driver currently signed to McLaren. He was the 2009 World Drivers' Champion.Button began karting at the age of eight and achieved early success, before progressing to car racing in the British Formula Ford Championship and the British...
. Although failing to win a race, Button was a regular sight on the 2nd or 3rd step of the podium, and with teammate Takuma Sato
Takuma Sato
is a Japanese automobile racing driver and the most successful Japanese Formula One driver in history. He is currently racing for KV Racing Technology in IndyCar Series under the Lotus banner.-Junior Years:...
managed to clinch 2nd in the Constructors Championship, leaving Renault 3rd, Jarno Trulli
Jarno Trulli
Jarno Trulli is an Italian Formula One racing driver. He has been a regular in Formula One since 1997, driving for Minardi, Prost, Jordan, Renault and Toyota. He won the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix for Renault, his only Grand Prix victory to date. He is known for being a qualification expert...
's win in Monaco some consolation. Montoya and Räikkönen each managed a solitary win for their teams, which finished 4th and 5th in the results.
The Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
's decision to pull out of Formula One at the end of 2004 exposed the vulnerabilities of some small teams. Not only was their works Jaguar team sold to Austrian drinks company Red Bull
Red Bull
Red Bull is an energy drink sold by the Austrian Red Bull GmbH, created in 1987 by the Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz. In terms of market share, Red Bull is the most popular energy drink in the world, with 3 billion cans sold each year. Dietrich Mateschitz was inspired by an already...
, but the few remaining small independent teams, who traditionally had used Ford engines, found their engine supply in a precarious state.
Renault displace Ferrari
- See 2005 season2005 Formula One seasonThe 2005 Formula One season was the 56th FIA Formula One World Championship season, contested over a record 19 Grands Prix. It commenced on March 6, 2005, and ended October 16....
and 2006 season2006 Formula One seasonThe 2006 Formula One season was the 57th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 2006 FIA Formula One World Championship which began on March 12 and ended on October 22 after eighteen races. The Drivers' Championship was won by Fernando Alonso of Renault F1 for the second year in a...
.
For a while it looked close between Räikkönen and Alonso, but by Brazil
2005 Brazilian Grand Prix
The 2005 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on September 25, 2005, at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in São Paulo, Brazil.-Qualifying:...
Alonso had become Formula One's youngest ever champion. The Constructors' Championship looked even more likely for McLaren, widely regarded as the faster car and with reliability much improved. However, a retirement for Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán is a Colombian race car driver known internationally for participating and winning in Formula One and CART race competitions. He has enjoyed great success. Currently, he competes in NASCAR, driving the #42 Target Chevrolet Impala for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing in the Sprint...
in the season finale at Shanghai secured the Constructors' title for Renault
Renault F1
Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking...
. One statistic proved the two teams' dominance: they together won all but one of the races, the controversial US Grand Prix
2005 United States Grand Prix
The 2005 United States Grand Prix was one of the most controversial Formula One motor races in modern history. It was held on June 19, 2005 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was the ninth race of the 2005 Formula One season. Out of 20 cars entered for the race, only the six cars from the teams...
, (in which neither of the two teams participated) which was Schumacher and Ferrari's only win of the year.
Arguably, the final small specialist racing team disappeared with the September 2005 purchase of Minardi by Red Bull to be renamed as Scuderia Toro Rosso
Scuderia Toro Rosso
Scuderia Toro Rosso , also known simply as Toro Rosso or by its abbreviation STR, is an Italian Formula One racing team...
and run as a separate entity alongside Red Bull Racing
Red Bull Racing
Red Bull Racing is a Formula One racing team based in Milton Keynes, England which currently holds an Austrian licence. It is, along with Scuderia Toro Rosso, one of two teams owned by beverage company Red Bull GmbH. The team have won two Constructors' Championship titles, in and , becoming the...
. Jordan had been bought by Russo-Canadian steel company Midland early in 2005 and was renamed Midland F1 for the 2006 season. In June 2005, BMW bought a majority stake in Sauber
Sauber
Sauber F1 Team is a Swiss Formula One team. It was founded in the 1970s by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in 1993....
, which became their factory entry. The Williams team ceased their partnership with BMW as a result, entering a commercial arrangement with Cosworth instead. From 2006 manufacturer teams have an unprecedented level of involvement in the sport. Honda
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...
also bought BAR.
2005 marked the end of the V10 era in Formula One. After the banning of turbocharged engines in 1989, V10 became the most popular engine configuration in Formula One. To keep costs down, the configuration was made mandatory in 2000 (although only V10s had been in use since 1998, Toyota were planning on entering with a V12 and had to delay their entry by a year to redesign) so that engine builders would not develop and experiment with other configurations. Over this period, the statistics show a supremacy of the Renault and Ferrari engines, with Renault clinching six Constructors and five Drivers championships as engine suppliers for Williams and Benetton from 1992 to 1997, and their first ever Drivers and Constructors Championships in a 100% Renault car in 2005. Ferrari also enjoyed great success in the V10 era, winning six Constructors' championships and five drivers' championships from 1999 to 2004.
2006 was the last season with two tyre manufacturers: Japanese manufacturer Bridgestone and French company Michelin. In December 2005, the FIA announced that from the 2008 season, there would be only one tyre supplier. Five days later, Michelin announced it would quit Formula One at the end of the 2006 season, leaving Bridgestone as the sole supplier from 2007.
Renault and Fernando Alonso established early leads in both the Constructors' and Drivers' Championships. By mid-season Ferrari appeared to be making a comeback, however.
The Italian Grand Prix saw Schumacher reduce Alonso's lead to only two points as Alonso suffered an engine failure. The race also saw Ferrari pull ahead of Renault for the first time in 2006. However, the race results were largely overshadowed by Schumacher announcing, during the post-race press conference, that he would retire at the end of the season.
However, an engine failure for Schumacher at the Japanese Grand Prix, along with costly puncture in the final round in Brazil allowed Alonso to secure the Driver's Championship for the 2nd year running, with Renault also securing the Constructors Championship.
McLaren and Ferrari return to the top
- See 2007 season2007 Formula One seasonThe 2007 Formula One season was the 58th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship, which began on 18 March and ended on 21 October after seventeen events. The Drivers' Championship was won by Ferrari driver Kimi Räikkönen by one point at the...
and 2008 season2008 Formula One seasonThe 2008 Formula One season was the 59th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It began on 16 March and ended on 2 November with eighteen Grand Prix races....
.
The 2007 Formula One season
2007 Formula One season
The 2007 Formula One season was the 58th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship, which began on 18 March and ended on 21 October after seventeen events. The Drivers' Championship was won by Ferrari driver Kimi Räikkönen by one point at the...
saw a much more competitive McLaren, with current world champion Alonso alongside rookie Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton, MBE is a British Formula One racing driver from England, currently racing for the McLaren team. He was the Formula One World Champion.Hamilton was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire...
. However, Hamilton surprised everyone with a run of 9 consecutive podiums in his first 9 races seeing him take a significant lead in the drivers championship. Alonso's relationship with McLaren deteriorated as the season progressed, as he believed it was his right as world champion to be favoured above his team mate. A mistake by Hamilton in China
2007 Chinese Grand Prix
The 2007 Chinese Grand Prix was the sixteenth race of the 2007 Formula One season. It was held on 5–7 October at Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai, China. The race was won by Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen with Fernando Alonso finishing second and Felipe Massa finishing third...
and a mechanical problem in Brazil
2007 Brazilian Grand Prix
The 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix was the seventeenth and last race of the 2007 Formula One season. It was held from 19 to October 21 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in São Paulo. The Championship was decided in the race, which was won by Kimi Räikkönen...
ruined his championship. Alonso, however, was not able to fully capitalise
on the situation, and Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen took the championship after a strong second half to the season. Räikkönen turned around a 17 point deficit with 2 races to go to win by a single point. Both McLarens finished the Championship on 109 points. Fernando Alonso was placed third, behind Lewis Hamilton through countback.
Renault
Renault
Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...
had a much less successful season in 2007 than in previous years and struggled to match the pace of Mclaren and Ferrari.
Ferrari also clinched the constructors championship after McLaren's disqualification.
For the 2008 and 2009 seasons Fernando Alonso returned to Renault, but having little success he joined Ferrari in 2010.
2008
2008 Formula One season
The 2008 Formula One season was the 59th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It began on 16 March and ended on 2 November with eighteen Grand Prix races....
again saw McLaren and Ferrari have the most competitive cars. However, the season was much more open, with winners from 3 other teams. After agonising defeat in 2007, Hamilton clinched the drivers championship in dramatic fashion, overtaking Timo Glock to secure the 5th place he needed on the last corner of the last lap of the final grand prix
2008 Brazilian Grand Prix
The 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on November 2, 2008, at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, Interlagos, in São Paulo, Brazil. It was the 18th and final race of the 2008 Formula One season. The race, contested over 71 laps, was won by Ferrari driver Felipe Massa...
. Felipe Massa
Felipe Massa
Felipe Massa is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. He finished second in the Drivers' World Championship, and is under contract to race for Scuderia Ferrari until the end of the season.-Early years:...
had won the race, and would also have won the driver's Championship if it had not been for Hamilton's crucial overtake. Despite this, Ferrari secured the constructors championship for the 8th time in 10 years.
New rules and cutting costs 2009–
- See 2009 season2009 Formula One seasonThe 2009 Formula One season was the 60th FIA Formula One World Championship season. The season took place over 17 rounds, and started with the on 29 March 2009. It ended on 1 November 2009 with the inaugural ....
and 2010 season2010 Formula One seasonThe 2010 Formula One season was the 61st Formula One season of World Championship motor racing competition. Red Bull Racing won its maiden Constructors' Championship with a one-two finish in Brazil, while Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel won the Drivers' Championship after winning the final race...
.
Brawn GP
Brawn GP Formula One Team, the trading name of Brawn GP Limited, was a Formula One motor racing team and constructor, created by a management buyout of Honda Racing F1 Team. It only competed in the 2009 Formula One World Championship, with drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. The team...
and Red Bull Racing
Red Bull Racing
Red Bull Racing is a Formula One racing team based in Milton Keynes, England which currently holds an Austrian licence. It is, along with Scuderia Toro Rosso, one of two teams owned by beverage company Red Bull GmbH. The team have won two Constructors' Championship titles, in and , becoming the...
and their drivers leading the way, with Ferrari and McLaren having a poor season. However Ferrari started by the British Grand Prix
2009 British Grand Prix
The 2009 Santander British Grand Prix was the eighth race of the 2009 Formula One season. It was held on 21 June 2009 at Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire, England. This was scheduled to be the last British Grand Prix to be held at Silverstone, before the event moved to Donington Park for the...
to make the most of their car with a string of podium finishes and a race victory in Belgium, while a redesign of the McLaren challenger helped Lewis Hamilton to win two races and gain more points than any other driver after it was upgraded at the German Grand Prix
2009 German Grand Prix
The 2009 German Grand Prix was the ninth race of the 2009 Formula One season. It was held on July 12, 2009 at the Nürburgring in Nürburg, Germany; the earliest German Grand Prix on the calendar, since 1926....
. After dominating the beginning of the season with six out of seven race wins, Jenson Button eventually clinched the Drivers' title in Brazil, with Brawn winning the Constructors' championship in its only season, before being taken over by Mercedes
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
. Rubens Barrichello, Jenson Button's teammate, was second in the Drivers' Championship for the whole season until he had a problem at the Brazilian Grand Prix
2009 Brazilian Grand Prix
The 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race which was held on October 18, 2009 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo, Brazil. It was the sixteenth race of the 2009 Formula One season...
and was overtaken (in points) by Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel is a German Formula One racing driver, currently driving for Red Bull Racing. He is the current World Champion, having won the championship in and ....
, a Red Bull driver, who won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
The 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was the seventeenth and last race of the 2009 Formula One season. It took place on November 1, 2009 at the 3.45-mile Hermann Tilke-designed Yas Marina Circuit. It was the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and also the first ever day-night Grand Prix...
to finish eleven points behind Button.
saw more changes in the way of rules and regulations. KERS were banned for the 2010 season, but new innovative features on the cars such as F-Ducts and double diffusers were introduced. An allocated eight engines, per driver, for the whole season was also introduced as part of more cost cutting methods. The biggest change in the points scoring system in F1 history happened between 2009 & 2010. The 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 point system for the top eight finishers (which had been running since 2003), was replaced with the drastically different 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 for the top 10 across the line.
Red Bull Racing
Red Bull Racing
Red Bull Racing is a Formula One racing team based in Milton Keynes, England which currently holds an Austrian licence. It is, along with Scuderia Toro Rosso, one of two teams owned by beverage company Red Bull GmbH. The team have won two Constructors' Championship titles, in and , becoming the...
returned to have a great season in 2010, winning the constructors championship in the penultimate round in Brazil. Mercedes GP
Mercedes GP
Mercedes GP Petronas Formula One Team, the trading name of Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Limited, is a British-based Formula One racing team and constructor, owned by Mercedes-Benz and racing under a German licence since the 2010 season....
(formerly Brawn GP) had a less successful season than 2009 with their two new drivers - seven times World Champion Michael Schumacher who returned to Formula One, but was regularly beaten by fellow German; Nico Rosberg
Nico Rosberg
Nico Erik Rosberg is a racing driver for the Mercedes GP Formula One team. He races under the German flag in Formula One, although he competed for Finland earlier in his career...
. McLaren and Ferrari had better seasons in 2010, finishing second and third in the constructors respectfully. The Drivers' Championship was very closely fought, with six men leading the championship at one point, in the joint longest ever (nineteen race) season. For most of the season, the title looked like it could have went to - either Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel or Mark Webber
Mark Webber
Mark Alan Webber is an Australian Formula One driver.After some racing success in Australia, Webber moved to the United Kingdom in 1995 to further his motorsport career...
; or either McLaren's Lewis Hamilton or reigning World Champion Jenson Button (also at McLaren). But, the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso clawed back 47-points after the British Grand Prix
2010 British Grand Prix
The 2010 British Grand Prix was the tenth race of the 2010 Formula One season. On 7 December 2009, it was confirmed that the race would take place at Silverstone for the next seventeen years after the failure of Donington Park to raise the necessary funds to hold the race...
, to be leading the Drivers' Championship with two races left. A record four drivers were still in contention for the title going into the final round in Abu Dhabi. They were, Alonso, Webber, Vettel and Hamilton (placing in that order in number of points before the race). They would not finish that way though, with Vettel winning the race and the title when the others finished too far down the field. Vettel became the youngest ever World Champion in one the most exciting seasons ever in F1.
After a controversial race in Hockenheim
2010 German Grand Prix
The 2010 German Grand Prix was the eleventh round of the 2010 Formula One season. It was held in Hockenheim, Germany on 25 July 2010. The race was won by Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso after Felipe Massa controversially slowed to let Alonso through into the lead on lap 49...
, 2010 lead to the ban on team orders
Team orders
In motor racing, team orders is a motorsport term for the practice of teams issuing instructions to drivers to deviate from the normal practice of racing against each other as they would against other teams' drivers. Prime examples of this were the team orders issued by Formula One teams to their...
being dropped. When Ferrari asked Felipe Massa to move over to allow their No.1 driver; Fernando Alonso into the lead of the race - they were fined $100,000. The FIA decided that the rule was too vague, and there was nothing they could do to enforce it.
- See the 2011 Formula One season2011 Formula One seasonThe 2011 Formula One season was the 62nd FIA Formula One season. The original calendar consisted of twenty rounds, including the inaugural running of the Indian Grand Prix before the cancellation of the Bahrain Grand Prix. Pirelli returned to the sport as tyre supplier for all teams, taking over...
article for information on the latest season.