Formula 1 - A History To 1980

ormula One series has its roots in the European				The FIA imposed a ban on ground effect
Grand Prix motor racing of the 1920s and 1930s.				aerodynamics in 1983. By then, however,
However, the true history of Formula One began				turbocharged engines, which Renault had
in 1946 with the Fédération				pioneered in 1977, were producing over 700 bhp
Internationale de l'Automobile's (FIA's)				(520 kW) and were essential to be competitive. In
standardisation of rules. A World Drivers'				later years, notably 1986, the Formula One turbo
Championship followed in 1950.				cars produced in excess of 1,100 bhp (820 kW) in
Although the world championship has always been				racing trim (and as much as 1,400 bhp / 1050 kW
the main focus of the category, non-championship				in qualifying trim). These cars were the most
Formula One races were held for many years.				powerful open-wheel circuit racing cars ever. To
Due to the rising cost of competition, the last of				reduce engine power output and thus speeds, the
these occurred in 1983.				FIA limited fuel tank capacity in 1984 and boost
National championships existed in South Africa and				pressures in 1988 before banning turbocharged
the UK in the 1960s and 1970s. After World War				engines completely in 1989.
II, a new formula was initiated — originally				In the early 1990s, teams started introducing
called Formula A but soon to be known as				electronic driver aids such as active suspension,
Formula 1 — for cars of 1.5 litres				semi-automatic gearboxes and traction control.
supercharged and 4.5 litres unsupercharged. The				Some were borrowed from contemporary road
minimum race distance was reduced from 311				cars.[citation needed] Some, like active suspension,
miles to 186 miles, allowing the Monaco Grand Prix				were primarily developed for the track and later
to be re-introduced after a two-year break in				made their way to the showroom. The FIA, due
1950.				to complaints that technology was determining
The FIA announced plans for a World				the outcome of races more than driver skill,
Championship at a meeting held that year. On 10				banned many such aids for 1994. However, many
April 1950, Juan Manuel Fangio, in a Maserati, won				observers felt that the ban on driver aids was a
the Pau Grand Prix, the first contest to be labeled				ban in name only as the FIA did not have the
an "International Formula One" race. A month				technology or the methods to eliminate these
later, Silverstone hosted the British Grand Prix,				features from competition.
the first sanctioned championship race for Formula				The teams signed a second Concorde Agreement
One Grand Prix cars, and the F1 World				in 1992 and a third in 1997, which is due to expire
Championship was born.				on the last day of 2007.
The sport's title, Formula One, indicates that it is				On the track, the McLaren and Williams teams
intended to be the most advanced and most				dominated the 1980s and 1990s. Powered by
competitive of the many racing formulae.				Porsche, Honda, and Mercedes-Benz, McLaren
Formative years (1950–1980)				won 16 championships (seven constructors', nine
The first Formula One World Championship was				drivers') in that period, while Williams used engines
won by Italian Giuseppe Farina in his Alfa Romeo				from Ford, Honda, and Renault to also win 16
in 1950, barely defeating his Argentine teammate				titles (nine constructors', seven drivers'). The
Juan Manuel Fangio. However, Fangio won the title				rivalry between racing legends Ayrton Senna and
in 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956 & 1957, his streak				Alain Prost became F1's central focus in 1988, and
interrupted by two-time champion Alberto Ascari				continued until Prost retired at the end of 1993.
of Ferrari. Although Britain's Stirling Moss was able				Tragically, Senna died at the 1994 San Marino
to compete regularly, he was never able to win				Grand Prix after crashing into a wall on the exit of
the World Championship, and is now widely				the notorious curve Tamburello, having taken
considered to be the greatest driver never to				over Prost's lead drive at Williams that year. The
have won the title. Fangio, however, is				FIA worked to improve the sport's safety
remembered for dominating Formula One's first				standards since that weekend, during which
decade and has long been considered the "grand				Roland Ratzenberger also lost his life in an accident
master" of Formula One.				during Saturday qualifying. No driver has died on
The first major technological development,				the track at the wheel of a Formula One car
Cooper's re-introduction of mid-engined cars				since, though two track marshals have lost their
(following Ferdinand Porsche's pioneering Auto				lives, one at the 2000 Italian Grand Prix, and the
Unions of the 1930s), which evolved from the				other at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix.
company's successful Formula 3 designs, occurred				Since the deaths of Senna & Ratzenberger,
in the 1950s. Jack Brabham, champion in 1959 and				the FIA has used safety as a reason to impose
1960, soon proved the new design's superiority.				rule changes which otherwise, under the Concorde
By 1961, all competitors had switched to				Agreement, would have had to be agreed upon
mid-engined cars.				by all the teams - most notably the changes
The first British World Champion was Mike				introduced for 1998. This so called 'narrow track'
Hawthorn, who drove a Ferrari to the title in 1958.				era resulted in cars with smaller rear tyres, a
However, when Colin Chapman entered F1 as a				narrower track overall and the introduction of
chassis designer and later founder of Team Lotus,				'grooved' tyres to reduce mechanical grip. There
British racing green came to dominate the field for				would be four grooves, on the front and rear,
the next decade. Between Jim Clark, Jackie				that ran through the entire circumference of the
Stewart, John Surtees, Jack Brabham, Graham Hill,				tyre. The objective was to reduce cornering
and Denny Hulme, British teams and				speeds and to produce racing similar to rain
Commonwealth drivers won twelve world				conditions by enforcing a smaller contact patch
championships between 1962 and 1973.				between tyre and track. This was to promote
In 1962, Lotus introduced a car with an aluminium				driver skill and provide a better spectacle.
sheet monocoque chassis instead of the traditional				Results have been mixed as the lack of
spaceframe design. This proved to be the				mechanical grip has resulted in the more ingenious
greatest technological breakthrough since the				designers clawing back the deficit with
introduction of mid-engined cars. In 1968, Lotus				aerodynamic grip - pushing more force onto the
painted Imperial Tobacco livery on their cars, thus				tyres through wings, aerodynamic devices etc -
introducing sponsorship to the sport.				which in turn has resulted in less overtaking as
Aerodynamic downforce slowly gained importance				these devices tend to make the wake behind the
in car design from the appearance of aerofoils in				car 'dirty' preventing other cars from following
the late 1960s. In the late 1970s Lotus introduced				closely, due to their dependence on 'clean' air to
ground effect aerodynamics that provided				make the car stick to the track. The grooved
enormous downforce and greatly increased				tyres also had the unfortunate side effect of
cornering speeds (though the concept had				initially being of a harder compound, to be able to
previously been used on Jim Hall's Chaparral 2J in				hold the groove tread blocks, which resulted in
1970). So great were the aerodynamic forces				spectacular accidents in times of aerodynamic grip
pressing the cars to the track, some cars did				failure e.g. rear wing failures, as the harder
without springs in their suspension and substituted				compound could not grip the track as well.
solid blocks of aluminium to minimize the change in				The more innovative teams have found ways to
ride height due to the drastic change in downforce				maximise this dramatic change. McLaren, in a car
from low speed to high speed, depending entirely				designed by Adrian Newey, used a 'fiddle' brake
on the tyres for any small amount of cushioning				on their 1998 car which allowed the driver to
of the car and driver from any irregularities in the				apply the brake to one or the other of the rear
road surface.				two wheels to provide them with a better 'toe'
The formation of the Fédération				into a corner. This was eventually banned as a
Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA) in 1979				driver aid.
set off the FISA-FOCA war, during which FISA				Drivers from McLaren, Williams, Renault (formerly
and its president Jean Marie Balestre clashed				Benetton) and Ferrari, dubbed the "Big Four", have
repeatedly with the Formula One Constructors				won every World Championship from 1984 to the
Association over television profits and technical				present day. Due to the technological advances of
regulations.				the 1990s, the cost of competing in Formula One
Rise in popularity (1981–2000)				rose dramatically. This increased financial burden,
1981 saw the signing of the first Concorde				combined with four teams' dominance (largely
Agreement, a contract which bound the teams to				funded by big car manufacturers such as
compete until its expiration and assured them a				Mercedes-Benz (DaimlerChrysler)), caused the
share of the profits from the sale of television				poorer independent teams to struggle not only to
rights, bringing an end to the FISA-FOCA War and				remain competitive, but to stay in business.
contributing to Bernie Ecclestone's eventual				Financial troubles forced several teams to
complete financial control of the sport, after much				withdraw. Since 1990, 28 teams have pulled out
negotiation.				of Formula One.

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Formula 1 - A History To 1980

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