Beginner’s Guide to Formula 1: Basics About the Teams, Drivers, and the Races

Formula 1 is back this weekend and fans all over the world are getting ready for a new season of racing. Netflix’s Drive to Survive series has brought many new fans to the sport in recent years but sometimes the most expensive sport in the world can get a little bit confusing.

This is your ultimate guide to the basics of Formula 1 along with essential information you need to know if you are intending on spending most of your Sundays this year watching very fast cars lapping around circuits all over the world.

Background

Officially the first Formula 1 Championship took place in 1950 and has continued since every year. What distinguishes Formula 1 from other sports is how heavily technology and athleticism are involved in this sport. Can a Formula 1 car be driven upside down in a tunnel today? The answer is yes. The innovation of this sport makes it unique to other sports and other racing sports.

The engineering of the engine is fundamental to getting the car running, but the true magic of a Formula 1 car lies in its aerodynamic capabilities. Their unusual shape allows them to cut through the wind, refuse gravitational forces and find an equilibrium in heavy rain. At the same time, the drivers have to be in incredible physical shape as they are resisting inconceivable G forces in every corner of the circuit. A driver will approximately lose 2-3 kg per race because of extreme heat pressure in the car.

The innovative technology combined with physical and mental strength is one aspect of this sport. What also makes the sport intriguing to watch is its unpredictability and strategic essence. Some rain, a one-second delay while changing the tires during the race, or a crash, can all alter the outcome of a race, and even the championship.

Very recently, the 2021 championship was decided in the last seconds of the final Grand Prix of the year because of an unanticipated crash towards the end of the race. Thus, it is not just the drivers that are filled with adrenaline while racing, the fans are as well while they patiently wait until the very last seconds of a race to find out if their favourite driver will win or not. The unpredictability of the sport is what makes it so impressive and entertaining.

Teams

There are ten teams in Formula 1 with each having two cars racing in every race. They are aiming at ultimately winning the Constructor’s Championship. Each team is introducing their two cars, which are identical, before the beginning of each racing season. They are not allowed to make significant modifications to the car’s performance during the racing season while they must follow overly precise rules about each part of the car. This does not offer great liberties to the teams to experiment with their cars but does put pressure on them to innovate themselves under strict regulations to develop a highly competitive car. To put things into perspective, sometimes the difference between the fastest car and the slowest car in a lap is around one second. The victory lies in the fine details.

Drivers

Each team has two drivers for their two cars, along with test drivers and reserve drivers. Our focus, for now, will remain on the two main drivers of each team. They might be competing in the same-coloured car but the two drivers are also strongly competing against each other. As each team had different cars, the Mercedes has always been much faster than Haas for example, it would not be fair to compare the capabilities of two drivers based on the results they are producing in different cars. However, when it comes to teammates, it is much easier to compare the two drivers. Because the two drivers of each team are driving a car of the same calibre, they both have to prove at the end of every race that they are better drivers than their teammate.

Sometimes this rivalry institutes racing battles for the championships, and more often one may find teammates crashing into each other during a race. Often the drivers may also cooperate for the shake of the team but eventually, they are all evaluated against their teammates.

The current teams and their drivers:

Mercedes (8 consecutive constructor’s championships, including 2021) with Lewis Hamilton (7-time world champion) and George Russell (first year in the team)

Red Bull with Max Verstappen (2021 world champion) and Sergio Perez

Ferrari with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr.

McLaren with Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris

Alpine with Fernando Alonso (2-time world champion) and Esteban Ocon

Alpha Tauri with Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda

Aston Martin with Sebastian Vettel (4-time world champion) and Lance Stroll

Williams with Nicholas Latifi and Alex Albon (who returns to F1 after he had no seat for the 2021 season, joining the team for the first time)

Alfa Romeo Racing with Zhou Guanyu (the only rookie of the season) and Valtteri Bottas (who just left Mercedes and joins Alfa Romeo for the first time in his career)

Haas with Mick Schumacher and Kevin Magnussen (who returns to F1 and Haas after having no seat in 2021)

Races

Races come in the form of a Grand Prix. The racing season usually commences around March and concludes at the end of November or the beginning of December. In 2022 there are 22 Grand Prix on the calendar that are taking place in various countries all over the world. The results of each Grand Prix contribute to the championship standings of the season.

Depending on the position each driver finished in each Grand Prix, the drivers are awarded points with the sum of these points used to make up the championship rankings. The driver with the most points becomes the Formula 1 World Champion while the sum of points of each driver of the team together is produced to name the team that wins the Constructor’s Champion. 

The Grand Prix weekend usually consists of two practices for the drivers on Friday and one more on Saturday. On Saturday there are the qualifiers for the race that will result in the starting positions on the grid of each driver on Sunday during the race. During the qualifiers, drivers race to achieve the fastest laps with the driver that marks the best time beginning first on the grid on Sunday, the driver with the second-best time will be second, and so on.

This Sunday 20 of March 2022, the first Grand Prix will take place in Bahrain. The 2022 season begins with new cars, new drivers, new circuits and new rules. Get comfortable and tune in for an exciting race and throughout the season we will be updating you with more guides for Formula 1.

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