About F1
Similar to every other sport in the world. F1 also has a governing body head quartered at pairs. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) established in 1904,presently has 213 national members in 125 countries worldwide. As in case of FIFA which governs football, FIA governs F1. Recently India build a F1 track called "buddh International Circuit" that will host the F1 race from October 28th.
President: Jean Todt.
The Racer
F1 racers are the modern day gladiators entering the joust. Quick reflexes, spontaneous decisions, ever vigilant vision is the key to any F1 racer. Withstanding high G-forces and enduring temperatures makes the job even more tougher for the racer.An average F1 driver looses about 4kgs of weight after just one race due to the prolonged exposure to high G forces and temperatures for little over an hour.
The Car
The F1 car is the perfect example for advanced automobile engineering and aerodynamic designing. Car is a congregation of various components that hosts the racer. Aerodynamics plays a huge role in the manufacturing of the F1 car. The car is so compact that the driver has to remove the steering wheel to get into the machine. Here is an example, just to get you the taste of how mean the machine is, When an F1 driver hits the brakes on his car he experiences retardation or deceleration comparable to a regular car driving through a BRICK wall at 300kmph.
Quick Shots
The car can reach a speed of 0-160 and BACK to 0 in 4 seconds.
Normal tyres last 60 000 - 100 000 km. Racing tyres are designed to last 90 - 120 km
The constructor
The car is built by various automobile companies, since F1 is the best place to showcase a particular advancement in automobile technology. There are 12 constructors who participate in the race. each constructor signs up a driver for a contract in order to race for their company. Every constructor can have at most 2 racers
The Race
The machine along with the racer has to run on a track that is specially designed for F1. In F1 terms it is known as CIRCUIT. The length of the circuit is not specific.
The Qualifier
The qualifiers are run over three rounds. The top 16 drivers from the first round (20 minutes) move into the next, while the last eight fill up 17-24 places on the starting grid. At the end of the second round (15 minutes), the last six drivers drop out to fill up 11-16 places on the grid.
In the final round (10 minutes), the remaining 10 drivers zip off on a flying lap to decide the pole position.
The Championship
The F1 championship consists of a series of Grands Prix and the 2011 season is the longest in history with 19 races.
Points in the order of 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1 are allotted to the first 10 drivers in a Grand Prix. The one who accumulates the maximum points at the end of the season is adjudged the world champion.
Penalties
As in case of every other sport, F1 too has penalties.
‘Drive through' and ‘stop go' penalties are the most common punishments meted out to drivers committing infringements such as false starts, causing accidents that could have been avoided, jamming a fellow driver and running him off the track etc.
In the case of the ‘drive through', the driver in question must enter the pits, drive through the pit lane at the speed specified — which is 60 kph — and then join the race.
As for the ‘stop go' penalty, the erring driver has to enter the pits, halt for 10 seconds, then drive through the pit lane at 60 kph and join the race.
