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The history of Formula One has its roots in the European Grand Prix motor racing (q.v. for pre-1947

history) of the 1920s and 1930s. However, the foundation of Formula One began in 1946 with the

Fdration Internationale de l'Automobile's (FIA's) standardisation of rules. A World Drivers'

Championship followed in 1950. The sport's history necessarily parallels the history of its technical

regulations; see Formula One regulations for a summary of the technical rule changes. Although the

world championship has always been the main focus of the category, non-championship Formula One

races were held for many years. Due to the rising cost of competition, the last of these occurred in 1983.

National championships existed in The early years

Formula One was first defined in 1946 by the Commission Sportive Internationale (CSI) of theFIA, forerunner of FISA, as the premier single seater racing category in worldwide motorsport. It

was initially known as Formula A, but the name Formula One was widely used early on andbecame official in 1950.[1]

In the beginning, the formula was largely based on pre-war regulations defined by engine

capacity. The regulation expected to bring a new balance between supercharged and normallyaspirated cars. Non supercharged 4.5 litre pre-war Grand Prix cars were allowed to race against

the pre-war 1.5 litre supercharged 'voiturettes' while pre-war supercharged Grand Prix cars were banned. The first race under the new regulations was the 1946 Turin Grand Prix held on 1

September, the race being won by Achille Varzi in an Alfa Romeo158 Alfetta.

Championships for drivers or constructors were not introduced immediately. In the early yearsthere were around 20 races held from late Spring to early Autumn (Fall) in Europe, although not

all of these were considered significant. Most competitive cars came from Italy, particularly AlfaRomeo. Races saw pre-war heroes like Achille Varzi, Jean-Pierre Wimille and Tazio Nuvolari

end their careers, while drivers like Alberto Ascari and Juan Manuel Fangio rose to the front

South Africa and the UK in the 1960s and 1970s. See 1950 season, 1951 season, 1952 season,

1953 season, 1954 season, 1955 season, 1956 season and1957 season.

Juan Manuel Fangio drove this Alfa Romeo 159 to the title in 1951.

In 1950, as an answer to the Motorcycle World Championships introduced in 1949, the

Fdration Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) organized the first ever official World

Championship for Drivers using the Formula One rules. The organization of the championship,to be held across six of the 'major' Grands Prix of Europe, plus the Indianapolis 500, was a mere

formalization of what had already been developing in Grand Prix racing during the previousyears. It was the Italian teams ofAlfa Romeo, Ferrari, and Maserati which were best positioned

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to dominate the initial years of the championship. Other national manufacturers such as theFrench manufacturerTalbot or the British effort BRM competed, although less successfully. A

number of private cars also took part in local races.

What are the chances that a zillion-dollar Formula 1 car would rely on a tiny part from Corporal

Klinger's hometown of Toledo, Ohio? Youlike Iwould answer slim to none, but slim justwent out the door.

We'd be wrong because spark plugs used by the Renault, Williams, Minardi, and Red Bull F1teams are made by a Toledo-based brand of Federal-Mogul's called Champion.

You might be asking, "So what?"

Well, the modern Formula 1 engine is an incredible beast with a spec sheet that makes car geekslike me queasy. The basics are out-of-this-world incredible. From just 3.0 liters and 10

cylinderswithout horsepower-enhancing turbocharging or superchargingan F1 engine makes

about 900 horsepower. It does this by revving to an incredible 19,000 rpm, or more than doublewhat a rev-happy Honda S2000 engine spins to.

To keep the pistons and connecting rods from flying apart at those revolutions, an F1 pistontravels only about 1.6 inches compared with the four-inch stroke of the Corvette Z06 V-8. The

bore is roughly 3.80 inches, comparable to the 4.13-inch bore of the Vette's 7.0-liter mill.

Those are estimated dimensions of an F1 engine gleaned from Peter Wright's fantastic book,

Ferrari Formula 1: Under the Skin of the Championship-WinningF1-2000. The book waswritten about the 2000 Ferrari F1 racer, and it's impossible to acquire the specifics of current

engines because those are well-guarded secrets within each team.

Car nerds are curious beings, though, and I wondered what kind of interesting technical detailsare housed in the usually not-so-glamorous spark plug. I called the Champion folks and asked if

they'd show me an F1 plug.

Apparently, F1 spark plugs aren't all that secret because Federal-Mogul's global director ofignition technology, Richard Keller, generously agreed to show me the F1 plug and Federal-

Mogul's research facility in Toledo. On the appointed day, I met with Keller and MarkMcMurray, the product development manager who meets with F1 teams and designs the plugs to

their satisfaction.

For a decade F1 cars had run with 3.0 litre naturally aspirated V10 engines; however,development had led to these engines producing between 980 and 1,000 hp (730 and 750 kW),and reaching dangerous top speeds of 370 km/h (230 mph) on the Monza circuit.[3] Teams started

using exotic alloys in the late 1990s, leading to the FIA banning the use of exotic materials inengine construction, and only aluminium and iron alloys were allowed for the pistons, cylinders,

connecting rods, and crankshafts.[2] The FIA has continually enforced material and designrestrictions to limit power, otherwise the 3.0L V10 engines would easily have exceeded 22,000

rpm[citation needed]

and well over 1,000 hp (745 kW)[citation needed]

. Even with the restrictions the V10s

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in the 2005 season were reputed to develop 9 The 2006 Formula One season saw the FdrationInternationale de l'Automobile (FIA) introduce the current engine formula, which mandated cars

to be powered by 2.4 litre naturally-aspirated engines in the V8 engine configuration, with nomore than four valves per cylinder.[2] Further technical restrictions, such as a ban on variable

intake trumpets, have also been introduced with the new 2.4 L V8 formula to prevent the teams

from achieving higher RPM and horsepower too quickly. The 2009 season limited engines to18,000 rpm, in order to improve engine reliability and cut costs down.[2]

80 hp (730 kW) and 18,000 rpm, which were reaching power levels not seen since the ban onturbo-charged engines in 1989.[3]

Formula One cars use semi-automatic sequential gearboxes, with regulations stating a maximum

of seven forward gears and one reverse gear, using rear wheel drive.[7]

The gearbox isconstructed of carbon fibre or titanium, and is bolted onto the back of the engine.

[8]Full

automatic gearboxes, and systems such as launch control and traction control, are illegal, to keepdriver skill important in controlling the car.[8] The driver initiates gear changes using paddles

mounted on the back of the steering wheel and electro-hydraulics perform the actual change aswell as throttle control. Clutch control is also performed electro-hydraulically, except to and

from a standstill, when the driver operates the clutch using a lever mounted on the back of thesteering wheel.

[9]The bargeboards in particular are designed, shaped, configured, adjusted and

positioned not to create downforce directly, as with a conventional wing or underbody venturi,but to create vortices from the air spillage at their edges. The use ofvortices is a significant

feature of the latest breeds of F1 cars. Since a vortex is a rotating fluid that creates a low pressurezone at its centre, creating vortices lowers the overall local pressure of the air. Since low pressure

is what is desired under the car, as it allows normal atmospheric pressure to press the car downfrom the top, by creating vortices downforce can be augmented while still staying within the

rules prohibiting ground effects.[dubi

The driver has the ability to fine tune many elements of therace car from within the machine using the steering wheel. The wheel can be used to change

gears, apply rev limiter, adjust fuel air mix, change brake pressure and call the radio. Data suchas rpm, laptimes, speed and gear is displayed on an LCD screen. The wheel alone can cost about

25,000,[15]

and with carbon fibre construction, weighs in at 1.3 kilograms.

[edit] Fuel

The fuel used in F1 cars is fairly similar to ordinarypetrol, albeit with a far more tightlycontrolled mix. Formula One fuel can only contain compounds that are found in commercial

gasoline, in contrast to alcohol-based fuels used in American open-wheel racing. Blends aretuned for maximum performance in given weather conditions or different circuits. During the

period when teams were limited to a specific volume of fuel during a race, exotic high-densityfuel blends were used which were actually heavier than water, since the energy content of a fuel

depends on its mass density

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ous discuss]