F1 History
Formula One, or F1 for short, has a history dating back to the European Grand Prix Motor Racing prior to World War II. The world ‘formula’ actually is a set of governing rules which all participating race teams and cars must adhere to. The combination of formula and one to produce F1 is meant to signify that F1 is most advanced of all he racing formulae.
Individual regional championships under variations on this rule set began prior to WWII, however the global conflict put a damper on international racing until its conclusion. The first international F1 World Championship was held in 1950 and won by team Alfa Romeo’s Giuseppe Farina. In fact the 1950’s were an era when F1 was dominated by European giants such as Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Maserati, and Mercedes Benz.
In the late 1940‘s through the very early 1950’s the incomparable Alfa Romeo 158 dominated all comers until Mercedes introduced their W196. Sadly a tragic accident in the 1955 Le Mans caused Mercedes Benz to pull out of professional motor-sports.
Former Auto Union mainstay, Porsche, became a dominate force by the 1960’s and many relatively new race teams had entered the fray such as Lotus and Jaguar. The 1960’s saw the increase of aerodynamic awareness in designs as well as proper weight distributions afforded by mid-engined designs.
The 1970’s saw monocoque chassis replace the aging space frame platform on which many racers were built. Competition from nascent forms of modern day NASCAR caused F1 to focus on sponsorship in an attempt to retain profitability. This sponsorship system would eventually become the hallmark of almost all forms of automobile racing, but was pioneered by F1.
Automobile manufacturers both big and small can compete in the F1 circuit today, a far cry from its somewhat exclusive mostly European origins.
