Some more interesting facts about F1
WHERE DID ARROWS GET ITS NAME ARROWS
Arrows was founded in 1977 and raced in Formula
One from 1978.The founder members of the team included four former employees
from the Shadow team.The name Arrows was actually derived from the team
bosses - AR from the man with the money, Franco Ambrosio - R from team
manager Alan Rees - O from managing director Jackie Oliver - W from engineer
Dave Wass - S from designer Tony Southgate.
HOW DID THE NAME MARCH(racing team) come about?
March was formed in 1969 by Max Mosley (the present FIA president),
Robin Herd, Alan Rees and Graham Coaker. The name is an acronym drawn from
Mosley,
Alan
Rees,
Coaker
and Herd
ADRIAN NEWEY
Adrian Newey, the world's most sought out aerodynamic
engineer was a high school drop out at the age of 16, and still does his
designs on a drawing board, working to half-scale.click
for pic
TRANSPORTERS
DID YOU KNOW that the transporters built for transporting the cars
for the race weigh about 30 tonnes and are as powerful as the formula1
cars they carry, more than 600 H.P. with a 17.2-litreengine which pump
out 520bhp and 1623lb ft of torque.These trucks have about 130 gallon tanks.
The total weight of the equipment needed to be transported to each grand
prix is approximately 13,000kgs! .click for pic
Equally huge in size are the mobile homes which serves as an office
for the managers, a base for the drivers, a press room for journalists
and for entertaining VIP guests.The Mclaren unit's technical details are
pretty awesome. Ready for the road, it is a full scale 14 metre three axle
trailer towed by a Mercedes-Benz Actros 571bhp tractor unit . The whole
rig has an all up weight of 38 tonnes and needs the top class of LGV licence
to drive it.click for pic (Taken
from Mclaren homepage)
DRIVER DIDNT KNOW HE HAD WON THE GRAND PRIX
The McLaren team won its first ever World Championship
Grand Prix in 1969. And, in those pre-intercom days, the driver of the
car(Bruce Mclaren) didn't even know he had done it cause there was no one
to tell him that the driver who had been in 1st place(Jackie Steward)
had retired giving McLaren the race.click for pic
FOR LOVE OF MONEY OR SPORT
In August '77, Gilles was informed by Teddy Mayer
that his services would not be required by McLaren in 1978. Despite the
best arguments of John Lane, Mayer had opted to sign Patrick Tambay as
McLaren number two for the upcoming season. In time it became clear that
this had been a political decision, Patrick Tambay was French and Marlboro
had a strong market share in France. On the other hand, Gilles was Canadian
and Marlboro did not enjoy a direct market there.
' GARAGISTERS ' WHATS THAT?
It was Enzo Ferrari himself that coined the term
"garagistes," to scornfully describe the small back-yard racing teams like
Cooper and Lotus that dared to challenge a grand Constructor like himself.
The fact that these small operations were able to buy an off the shelf
Coventry-Climax engine, a Hewland gearbox, build a simple chassis, arrange
a tyre deal with Dunlop, a fuel deal with Esso, and then go racing, was
a shock to the great man's system.
WHAT IS THE CONCORDE AGREEMENT
The "keystone" of Formula One is the Concorde Agreement, a document
signed by the team owners that is most notable for the fact it regulates
key financial issues relating to the operation of the sport, including
the distribution of television broadcast revenues and prize money, plus
travel and freight allowances. Understandably enough, the document is the
subject of some very hard bargaining when it comes up for renegotiation,
as was the case in 1998.Whwn Mclaren and Ferrari refused to sign the agreement.
WHAT IS A BLACK BOX?
A black box is the nerve centre of the car which sends data about the
performance of a car back to the pits at 4 million BPS! (think of that
for data transfer, if only the net was that fast)It has complex circuitry
and software, which tells the pits whether everything is functioning well,
This can be used for mapping of the engine so that the engine can run at
certain speeds at certain corners giving more control to the driver.The
black box is the reason why during a race a driver may suddenly run a bit
slower than the pace for a few laps which indicates that the pits have
got information from the black box that something is overheating or whatever.
HOW MUCH DOES A FORMULA1 CAR COST TO MAKE AND TRANSPORT?
A formula1 car cost more than a million pounds to
build ,with the engine only costing a few hundred thousand pounds,and gear
shift close to a 100,000 pounds to the cheapest part that is the tyres
which cost a few hundred pounds each! Even the steering wheel cost about
10,000 dollars.Designing of the car is equal to about the same as the cost
of the parts. Another costly endeveour is the transportation of the cars
from one circuit to the next which will run into million pounds for the
the year!
HOW MUCH FUEL DOES A FORMULA1 CAR USE DURING A RACE?
A formula1 car uses about over 150 litres of fuel for a race and in
a pitstop the car can tkae in 100 litres during a 10 second pitstop which
means over 10 litres in a second which is amazing. A formula1 team can
consume as much as 44,000 litres of fuel per season.
ENGINES
WHO IS THE LEADER IN WINS BY AN ENGINE(renault,mercedes,honda,ferrari)?
the undisputed champ is FORD-COSWORTH with 175
wins under its belt.A distant second is ferrari with 124 wins.
RESTRICTIONS ON ENGINES
There are thus restrictions on cylinder capacity,
fuel, engines which are not reciprocating or 4-stroke are prohibited, and
the engines are restricted to a maximum of twelve cylinders which cannot
have an oval section.Also turbocarging of the engine has not allowed since
1988.
WHEN WAS THE FIA BORN
The FIA came into existance in the year 1904,
to organise races with a certain set of regulations
HOW DID THE NAME FORMULA 1 COME INTO BEING
Immediately after its creation in 1904, the FIA,
which is the international sporting authority, became obliged to formulate
restrictions to ensure the safety of the drivers and spectators, and to
guide motor sport in a direction which would benefit the development of
road cars,The minimum weight, maximum weight, consumption and bore were
each restricted in their turn, but the formula most frequently used, even
after 1939, was to limit the cylinder capacity of the engines. This restriction
was first introduced in 1914.Following the introduction of the first "formula"
defined by the FIA which restricted maximum weight in 1904, categories
were created for the smaller cars.A new formula for 1.5 litre supercharged
and 4.5 litre normally aspirated cars was introduced in 1948 - 'Formula
One' .Motor racing after World War II initiated a new formula -- originally
called Formula A but soon to be known as Formula 1 -- for cars of 1,500
cc supercharged and 4,500 cc unsupercharged. The FIA Formula One World
Championship was created in 1950, and the first Formula One race counting
for the FIA Formula One World Championship was the British Grand Prix,
which took place in Silverstone the 13th May 1950.
DRIVERS FACTS
Each team with two cars may change the driver
of its first car once in the season. For the second car, a maximum of three
drivers may take turns, without restriction, during any one season.
WHO IS A CONSTRUCTOR IS HE THE CHASSIS OR
ENGINE MANUFACTURER?
A constructor who wishes to become involved in
Formula One must submit his entry to the FIA, to which he must provide
evidence that he is both the designer and constructor of the 'CHASSIS'
of his car, and that he also has sufficient technical and financial resources
to take part in the whole of the Championship. In most cases, this is not
the same as the engine manufacturer, and the name of the chassis manufacturer
is always given before that of the engine manufacturer. In the event of
winning the Constructors' World Championship, the title is awarded to the
chassis manufacturer. Any constructor who fails to turn up at an event
may be fined several hundred thousand dollars per event and per car, except
in the case of exceptional circumstances. A constructor may not join the
championship during the season.
VANWELL QUIT JUST AFTER WINNING CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP?
1958 also saw the first year of the World Constructors' Championship.
Vanwall took the title with Ferrari in the runners-up spot. Having just
won the Constructors' Championship it came as quite a surprise when Vanwall
withdrew before the new season.
STARTING GRID
The starting grid consists of two cars per row
in staggered formation, with an interval of eight metres between each row
and the next.
WHAT DECIDES THE DISTANCE OF A GRAND PRIX(HOW
MANY LAPS)?
The distance of a Grand Prix is the least number
of laps which exceeds 305 km, So in the 50st lap if the total distance
just exceeds 305 km, then the race is of 50 laps.The only exception is
the monaco Gp which takes place within a town itself is a very slow circuit
and the total race distance is about 265 km. Any race which exceeds over
two hours is likely to be stopped at the end of 2 hours and the leader
who finishes his lap at the end of 2 hours wins.
BERNIE ECCLESTONE(president of FOCA) OWNED A F1 TEAM?
Jack Brabham retired and left Brabham racing team at the end of 1970
after a successful final season. Ron Tauranac ran it for another year before
selling 'Brabham' to Bernie Ecclestone. The early Ecclestone years
were difficult, when he got Alfa to supply engines to them, the team reached
a low in 86-87 and Ecclestone sold the team over the 87-88 close season.Ecclestone
also raced in the late 1940's.FOCA was formed to represent the grand prix
teams and their interests in dealings with the sporting authorities.Ecclestone
is also vice president of the FIA.click for
pic
In the 5th race of the 1954 season the first driver to die in a World
Championship event was Argentinian Marimon who was killed during practice.
HAS PORCHE WON A GP?
Porsche scored their first and only World Championship race victory
when at the French Grand Prix, Dan Gurney brought the Porsche 804 home
in front after Graham Hill, Jim Clark and John Surtees had all retired.
Did you Know up to 4500 bottles of wine, 1500 bottles of champagne,
2000 kg of fillet beef and 700 sides of smoked salmon can be consumed around
the British GP over the three day event.
WHO IS JOHN LANE?
Giles Villeneuve probably wpuld not have made
it to F1 had it not been for John Lane. At that time, Villeneuve was driving
in Formula Atlantic for the extremely under-funded Ecurie Canada. After
six rounds of the championship, Gilles held a commanding lead with five
wins and 2 fastest laps to his credit. Then upon arriving at Mosport Park
for the 7th round of the championship, the team was informed that the latest
cheque from their sponsors had bounced. Gilles was reduced to watching
the race as a spectator. As Gilles watched in desperation, his dreams rapidly
fading, Harrison and team manager Ray Wardell were being approached by
businessman John Lane with the offer of much needed financial input. John,
who had been extremely impressed by the young Canadian, agreed to buy the
rolling stock on the strict proviso that every effort was put into helping
Gilles secure the 1976 title. John's investment and faith were amply rewarded
when Gilles went on to win the three remaining rounds of the championship
as well as taking all three poles and fastest laps.When John first approached
Harrison and Wardell, he had $65,000 in the bank and much to his wife's
chagrin, invested virtually all of it into the ailing outfit, such was
his belief in the young Villeneuve.
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