The Formula 1 , commonly abbreviated to F1 , is a discipline of motorsport seen as the premier class of the sports . Over the years, it has taken on a global dimension and, together with the Olympic Games and the World Cup , is one of the most publicized sports events .
Every year since 1950 , a world championship of drivers has been organized, completed since 1958 by a world championship of car manufacturers . The competition is based on Grand Prix races in single-seater cars contested on permanent closed but sometimes urban and temporary road circuits, as in Monaco , Singapore , and Baku .
This sporting discipline, governed by the International Automobile Federation (FIA), is managed by the Formula One Administration (FOA) and a set of satellite companies controlled by Liberty Media . After the age of craftsmen of the 1960s and 1970s , it gradually attracted large global car manufacturers who invest large amounts, hoping to take advantage of media coverage of potential success. Formula 1 is considered as the technological showcase for the automotive industry, where it is experimenting with technical innovations, sometimes derived from space technology and likely to be adapted then on the cars of series.
In addition to the competition, the term Formula 1 refers to the set of technical rules for single-seaters that are updated each year by the FIA. These rules are very strict on the dimensions of cars, engine displacement, technologies implemented; they also define car safety measures to ensure the protection of the driver. Race cars meeting the characteristics of the Formula 1 regulations are generally referred to as Formula 1.
The Scuderia Ferrari and Michael Schumacher are to this day the team and driver who hold most of the records over seven decades of Formula 1.
History
The history of Formula 1 has its origins in the racing races in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s . It really begins in 1946 with the standardization of the rules set by the International Motor Federation’s (IAF) International Sports Commission (ICF) under the name of “International Racing Formula A”, which will soon be abbreviated to Formula A, then Formula 1 from 1949. A world championship of Formula 1 is created in 1950 then a Cup of Constructors in 1958(which becomes the Constructors World Championship from 1982 ). The history of this discipline is closely linked to the performance of cars and the evolution of the technical regulations that regulate competitions. Although winning the world championship remains the main objective, many Formula 1 races have been held without being integrated into the world championship. The last, played at Brands Hatch , took place in 1983. National championships were also organized in South Africa and the United Kingdom in the 1960s and 1970s .
The beginnings (1948-1957)
An Alfa Romeo 159 exhibited in a museum
This Alfa Romeo 159 led Juan Manuel Fangio to the title in 1951 .
A Ferrari 500 presented outdoors.
The Ferrari 500 of Alberto Ascari , world champion 1952 and 1953 .
Defined in 1946, the Formula 1 regulation is effective from the 1948 season, with the Grand Prix taking place outside the championship. Two years later, the world championship of drivers is officially launched Saturday, May 13, 1950 at Silverstone on the occasion of the Grand Prix of Great Britain (the sports organ of the International Federation of the automobile ), the championship brings together the most prestigious European Grand Prix (with the notable exception of the German Grand Prix ) and the 500 miles of IndianapolisThis test serves above all to endorse the world-wide character of the championship insofar as it is not contested according to the regulations of Formula 1, but according to that of International Formula 2 . Created the year before at the initiative of the International Sports Commission 3 , 4 .
Only five years after the end of World War II , holding a world championship is a bold project, European economies beginning to rise only 4 . Logically, the first trays of the championship are quite disparate and as a symbol, it is the Alfa Romeo 158 , a car whose design dates back to 1937 , which dominates the debates. Italian veteran Giuseppe Farina won the opening round of the championship before becoming the first world champion in history, beating his Argentinean team-mate Juan Manuel Fangio, who will take his revenge the following year 5 , 6 .
Despite the rise of the Scuderia Ferrari, which won the Grand Prix of Great Britain 1951 its first victory, thanks to the Argentine José Froilán González and who passed the title with Alberto Ascari , the financial health of the championship appears uncertain and the announced withdrawal of Alfa Romeo at the end of the year raises fears of a lack of competitors 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 . To remedy this situation, the ITUC decided to reserve championships in 1952 and 1953 with the single-seater Formula 2