Considered as the world’s most expensive, adrenaline packed sport ever, it’s a fast pacing super sport, a sport where man and machine become one, yet many people might not know certain interesting things about Formula One or F1. Which is the highest tier of FIA-sanctioned, graduated open-wheel Formula racing.

So let’s start with the basics, the name “formula” is derived from the set of rules to which all participants and cars must conform, yet the beauty of this sport isn’t just about speed, since the fastest car won’t necessarily be the winner, it takes more then driving at about 360 km/h to win a race.

Slicing the Wind:

While researching this topic, we noticed that an F1 car combines technologies found in hi-end jet-fighters and normal cars, companies spend millions of dollars on researching the most efficient ways to cut through the wind, fast!

Unlike jet-fighters, an F1 aerodynamic designer has two primary concerns, creating downforce, to help push the car’s tires onto the track and improve cornering forces; the second is minimizing the drag caused by turbulence and slows  the car down.

Give me Breaks:

To win a race it takes more then speed, sometimes less speed would do the trick, Formula One brakes are more advanced than road-car systems, handling temperatures up to 750 degrees Celsius making them very efficient, giving the driver more control over the car.

Cornering:

This can make the difference between winning and losing, most drivers have to understand the physics behind this important technique. Every driver has to enter a corner in three stages, first he needs to turn-in, which means pointing the car into the corner, that shifts the car’s weight under breaking from the back axle to the front. The second stage is called the apex, or the neutral point where the transition between entry and exit is made. This critical point takes a lot of experience and timing to get the right exit from the corner.

Successful drivers are the best at judging the limits they can take their cars to while under cornering, and taking advantage of that technique as often as possible to get the most efficient corner exit, which is the third stage.

Are you Fit Enough:

Some might argue that F1 isn’t a sport, yet when you look at how hard and rigorous the drivers train to become one of the highly conditioned athletes on Earth. Just imagine what it would take to become a jet-fighter.

Training consists of intensive cardio-vascular exercises like, cycling, roller-blading, running, or even swimming. That said F1 drivers have to focus a lot on their neck muscles to withstand cornering forces.

An F1 driver has to last for full race distances and heat, since he can sweat off anything up to 3kg of his body weight during the course of a race. That’s why drivers have to drink large amounts of water, especially before the race, even if they don’t feel thirsty, the last thing a team wants, is a driver under all that pressure being dehydrated.

When it comes to nutrition, F1 drivers control their diets in the same way a track and field athlete would, calculating and regulating all nutrients intakes like the amount of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats into their system. You might even see them carb-loading before a race; which aims to prevent the onset of fatigue during races.

Let’s See What this Baby Can Do:

Before starting a race each F1 driver has to practice and test the circuit  to fine tune, improve, and adjust tiny details and set-ups.
Grand Prix Fridays serve as test days, with two 90 minute practice sessions in which drivers may try out new developments as well as working on their race set-up with the team.

Sheer Power:

FIA regulations require the use of a 2.4 litre V8 engine, pumping up to 18,000 RPM, that consumes an astonishing 650 litres of air every second, yet Formula One cars has  the most highly advanced engines and gearboxes on the planet.

The highly automated seven-speed gearbox provides the driver with a sequential electrically operated paddle fitted behind the steering wheel, allowing gear changes to be made faster than with the traditional ‘H’ gate selector.

Get a Grip:

Optimizing the car-tire balance is something of a black art, since tires are considered as a F1’s biggest single performance variable. An F1 masterpiece won’t stand a chance of winning with bad tires. In 2007 FIA have regulated the move to a single tire supplier.

While an ordinary car tire is made with heavy steel-belted radial plies and designed for durability – enduring a life of a little over 16,000 kilometers. A Formula One tire is designed to last for, at most, 200 kilometers and like everything on the car it is constructed to be as light and strong as possible. The racing tire is constructed from very soft rubber compounds which offer the best possible grip against the texture of the racetrack, but wear very quickly in the process, handling up to a ton of downforce. All racing tires work best at relatively high temperatures between 90 and 110 degrees Celsius.

Depending on the track’s characteristics and race conditions the rubber compounds varies between softness or hardness, where both compounds are available to each team at every Grand Prix weekend.

One of the worst conditions is racing during wet-weather, therefore extreme wet-weather tires are used to give the driver more control over the car to increase grip.

F1 tires are normally filled with a special, nitrogen-rich air mixture, that helps retain the pressure longer, and minimizing variations in tire pressure with temperature.

The 2009 season brings the return of the slick tires, following the FIA’s decision to limit aerodynamics rather than rubber as a way of keeping cornering speeds under control.

What’s With all the Flags?

Marshals located around the circuit are issued with a number of standard flags, so that they can communicate vital messages to the drivers. Another way of communication is the added display system in each driver’s cockpit known as a GPS marshaling system, which lights up with the relevant flag color, as the driver passes the affected section of track.

Checkered Flag Indicates that the session has ended. Shown first to the winner and then to every car that crosses the line behind him. 

Yellow Flag Indicates danger, such as a stranded car ahead. A single waved yellow flag warns drivers to slow down, while two waves means that drivers must slow down and be prepared to stop if necessary. Overtaking is prohibited. 

Green Flag All clear. The driver has passed the potential danger point and prohibitions imposed by yellow flags have been lifted. 

Red Flag The session has been stopped, due to an accident or poor track conditions.

Blue Flag Warns a driver that he is about to be lapped and to let the faster car overtake. Pass three blue flags without complying and the driver will be penalized. Blue lights are also displayed at the end of the pit lane when the pit exit is open and a car on track is approaching. 

Yellow and Red Striped Flag Warns drivers of a slippery track, due to oil or water. 

Black with Orange Circle Flag Accompanied by a car number, it warns a driver that he has a mechanical problem and must return to his pit. 

Half Black, Half White Flag Along with a car number, it warns of unsporting behavior. May be followed by a black flag if the driver does not pay attention to the warning.

Black Flag With a car number attached, directs a driver to return to his pit, or to signal to the driver that he has been excluded from the race. 

White Flag Warns of a slow moving vehicle on track.

Pit-Stops:

Refueling is a vital part of F1 race strategy. The car is guided into its pit by the ‘lollypop man’, named for the distinctive shape of the long ‘stop/ first gear’ sign he holds in front of the car. The car stops in a precise position, if a tire change is required, it’s immediately jacked up. Three mechanics are involved in changing a wheel, one removing and refitting the nut with a high-speed air-gun, one removing the old wheel and one fitting the new. At the same time two mechanics operate the heavy fueling rig, which must be precisely slotted into the car before fueling can start.

Fuel rigs are designed to operate as quickly and safely as possible. The rigs pass fuel at the rate of about 12 liters a second. The hose itself operates as a ’sealed system’, extracting air and vapor as fuel is added. It is very heavy and requires one mechanic to hold its weight while another engages and disengages the nozzle. A third mechanic will stand by a fuel cut-off switch next to the pump itself. Leakages are extremely rare, although accidents have happened.

Once done, the ‘lollypop man’ controls the car’s departure from the pit, ensuring no other cars are passing in the pit lane, though some teams now use semi-automated traffic light systems instead of the lollipop. Routine stops can be over in under seven seconds.

Overtaking:

Although it might look easy, but overtaking another F1 car could be really hard and needs a lot of training and experience, when an F1 car comes close to another leading car, the driver has to keep two main aerodynamic effects in mind, a positive and a negative.

The positive effect occurs while approaching the bubble of a leading car on a straight line, where the inferior car will gain speed due to the reduction of  air resistance.

While the negative effect would happen if the two cars are entering a corner, where the reduced airflow acting on the wings of the second car and decrease aerodynamic downforce and grip, which forces the rear car to drop back, or to pick a different cornering line in ‘clean air’.

In overtaking battles, the leading car has to use defensive tactics without deliberately blocking the car behind, like picking braking points and cornering lines to reduce the angle available for the other car. These maneuvers force the inferior driver to take a later apex or even run wide.

Such battles can slow both drivers down, which is why you often see F1 drivers avoiding such confrontations. In 2009 FIA introduced KERS-powered ‘boost buttons,’ giving drivers additional bursts of power for short periods, and moveable front wings, allowing them to follow the car in front more closely without significant downforce loss.

There is a lot more to learn about Formula One, you can find more about the sport and scheduled races for 2009 season by visiting www.Formula1.com. Enjoy the race!