Formula 1™
The FIA Formula 1™ World Championship is firmly established as one of the most prestigious, popular, exciting and technically sophisticated competitions in the international sporting calendar. The sport transcends all boundaries of age and nationality to capture the imagination and enthusiasm of millions of people and its global popularity is rivalled only by the Summer Olympic Games and World Cup Soccer, which only occur every four years. Approximately 121,000,000 viewers watch Formula 1™ on television every 2 weeks.
The Championship
The FIA Formula 1™ World Championship is held every year over a nine month period generally on the basis of one Grand Prix every two weeks. Each Grand Prix is a three day event with practice and qualifying, culminating in the race on the Sunday. The Grands Prix are held throughout Europe, North and South America, the Far East and Australasia. In each of the host countries, the Grand Prix has a unique atmosphere of its own and is regarded as one of the highlights in the sporting and social calendar, generating considerable media and public interest. Grands Prix such as Monaco and Monza (Italy) are regarded as classics, whilst races such as the Korean, Singapore and Indian Grands Prix are recent additions to the World Championship and have helped to widen the appeal of Formula 1™ to a larger audience.
Drivers and Teams
The world's most talented drivers compete in the FIA Formula 1™ World Championship. To be crowned World Champion is the ultimate achievement for a driver and the level of competition is unrivalled, requiring a combination of skill, perseverance and determination. A wide range of nationalities are represented by the drivers, which adds significantly to the international nature and high popularity of the Championship. Since its inception in 1950, Formula 1™ has produced eminent World Champions such as Juan Manuel Fangio, Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Mika Hakkinen, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.
The current World Championship comprises 13 teams representing a variety of different nationalities, including Austria, India, Italy, Russia, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. Formula 1™ racing cars are constructed using advanced materials such as carbon fibre and titanium, whilst sophisticated electronics have become very important in areas such as engine management and data acquisition. The cars demonstrate exceptional performance, achieving top speeds of over 340 km/h with acceleration of 0 - 100 km/h in just 2 seconds, powered by 2.4 litre V8 engines, revving to 18,000 rpm. Re-introduced for 2011 is the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) - a re-generative hybrid system for the race track that develops an additional 60 kW of power taken from the excess heat produced under braking.
