Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1, and currently officially referred to as the FIA Formula One World Championship,[2] is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA)
With Mark Webber leading the F1 Championship and aiming to be the first champion the Morrison Effect has sat down to write a 'Dummies Guide for F1' for the readers
Part 1 - Teams: The Formula 1 grid consists of 12 teams, each with 4 drivers (2 Main + 1 Test + 1 Youth). To run a Formula 1 team, you need to put a bid into the FIA of about $500million and for yearly costs your looking at $2billion to at least be competitive. The teams for 2010 are Mercedes, Mclaren Mercedes, Red Bull, Torro Rosso, Force India, Ferrari, Lotus, Virgin Racing, HRT, Williams, BMW Sauber and Renault.
Part 2 - The Races & Points: The races go all over the world, starting in round 1 in Bahrain to round 19 where it heads back to the middle east to Abu Dhabi. In 2010 the point scoring is much like the MotoGP. Below is how each place is scored.
1st 25
2nd 18
3rd 15
4th 12
5th 10
6th 8
7th 6
8th 4
9th 2
10th 1
The Driver with the most points at the end of the championship wins the Drivers championship and the constructor (Fancy name for team!) with the most points (accumulated by adding the drivers from each team) wins the constructors championship.
Part 3- Winter testing: This is done in the Off season (between the last race of the season and first race of the next) as it cannot at any time be done during the regular season, making it critical to do so.
Part 4: Friday/Saturday Practice: This is where teams check the setup for race day and add parts for qualifying. This is also the only time where teams are aloud to add more parts to the car.
Part 5: Qualifying: This is where the drivers aim to get 'pole position', or in normal words, get put in the grid position from where they will start from in the Race. Rumors once surfaced that this was decided on the Friday night in a strip club, but such activity hasn't be heard of in years. There are 3 stages of Qualifying. Stage 1 goes for 20 minutes and only the fastest 17 cars get through to the 2nd Stage. The second stage goes for 15 minutes and the top 10 from this stage go in a 10 minute shootout to grab 'pole position'.
Part 6 - The Race: There isn't much to say about the race other than the cars go round and round the track for a total distance of 300km (give or take 10km). There are some regulations though. Each driver much use a Softer, option tire (Has a very noticeable green ring surrounding the outside of the wheel) and the Harder compound tire of the two that Bridgestone, the tire supplier brings to the venue. There is no refueling the car during the race so the race strategy most used by drivers is how well trained the pit crew is trained in changing the tires quickly.
Part 7 - Warning Flags: There are several flags that occur during a race.
Black Flag - Disqualification, usually given by disregarding rules or by having an unsafe race car
Blue Flag: Must let car pass as it is faster (lapped cars only)
Yellow with Red vertical stripes: Oil/Debris/Slippery Course
Yellow: Can be given as a full course caution or part course where they may be imminent danger for any driver.
Black and white flag: Unsportsmanlike behaviour - usually ends up in a pit lane penalty where the driver will have to complete a lap of the pit lane before re-entering the race.
Black with Orange Circle: indicates that a car is being summoned to the pits due to mechanical problems that are interfering with the race, such as an oil, water, or fuel leak.
Red Flag: Given to stop a session. Used when a severe accident has occurred or to temporarily stop a race nearing the end of a race. This is usually done when a collision requiring cleanup would otherwise extend the caution period to take longer than the amount of race laps available to finish the race, when a fuel spill occurs on the circuit, or to maximize safety team work. During such a red-flag period, cars are directed to stop in line at a specific point on the track, usually directly opposite to the incident.
Checked Flag: Finished race....obviously!
Thats about it for my F1 basics, i hope you all have a much better understanding, and GO MARK!
