An Introduction to Formula One

At first site a Grand Prix may look like a load of cars driving round in circles and to a certain extent it is, I have to agree. That’s what I thought it was all about until two years or so ago when I actually sat down and watched a race. From then on I was what you would call hooked!

Basically Formula One is car racing with fast cars and world class drivers. There are 11 teams and two drivers for each team, usually with the team having one driver ranked higher than the other, for example Ferrari’s number one is Michael Schumacher and the number two is Rubens Barrichello. The races are held every two weeks at different circuits all over the world, one of the most famous is the San Marino Grand Prix at Monaco.

Some of the great names associated with Formula One are Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell following fast behind is Michael Schumacher who is the world number one at the moment.

A Grand Prix is spread across a weekend, starting on a Friday with 2 practice sessions, this allows the teams to get to know the track and set the car up to cope with the conditions. Then on Saturday there are another 2 practice sessions and then the  qualifying session. The qualifying session determines  what position the driver starts on 'the grid', the faster the lap time the nearer they are to starting in 1st place or poll position. Then on Sunday there is a warm up session and the race, this is followed by a press conference with the three fastest drivers.

The season  starts in April and ends in October, during the season the drivers are competing for a place in the drivers’ championship and they also gain points for their team in the constructors’ championship. The fastest six are awarded points (1^st=10, 2^nd=6, 3^rd=4, 4^th=3, 5^th=2 and 6^th=1), the points awarded to a driver are for both the drivers’ and constructors’ table.

The Current (21/05/01) Top 10 Drivers:

The Current (21/05/01) Top 6 Teams:

Links:

Official FIA Site

Formula One Site

ITV Formula One Site

By Jennie