How I got hooked on to F1

Formula 1 (F1) racing has been an area of interest for me from 2002...I always used to wonder what is it in F1 that people follow it so closely...it is just cars going in rounds on a circuit and there is absolutely nothing in this sport !

3rd March 2002 - I was watching the start of the F1 season opener in Australia (don't recall why I ended up watching it). The Ferrari of Rubens Barichello was on pole with fellow team mate Michael Schumacher on 2nd, Michael's brother Ralf Schumacher then driving for Williams was on 3rd.

The opening lap of the Australian GP was the most dramatic ...I had not seen something as spectacular as that for sometime...Rubens made a good start and so did Ralf from 3rd...Ralf bumped into the back of Rubens Ferrari and his Williams car just flew ! It was a spectacular sight....keeping in mind I was following my 1st Formula 1 race ! This race made me read more about F1...understand what the cars, drivers and circuits are all about.

See highlights of the F1 2002 Australian GP on YouTube

Let us look at some of the facts of F1, these are the facts which make me believe F1 is a great/tough/competetive sport. Check out the pictures also in the blog, these facts and pictures are courtesy of a forwarded mail on F1, the car in picture is a Honda. The conceptualization to show a F1 car in parts is simply awesome !!

F1 car is made up of 80,000 components, if it were assembled 99.9% correctly; it would still start the race with 80 things wrong!
When an F1 driver hits the brakes on his car he experiences retardation or deceleration comparable to a regular car driving through a BRICK wall at 300kmph!!!

An F1 car can go from 0 to 160 kph AND back to 0 in FOUR seconds!!!!!!!


F1 car engines last only for about 2 hours of racing mostly before blowing up on the other hand we expect our engines to last us for a decent 20 yrs on an average and they quite faithfully DO....that's the extent to which the engines are pushed to perform...

An average F1 driver looses about 4kgs of weight after just one race due to the prolonged exposure to high G forces and temperatures for little over an hour (Yeah that's right!!!)


At 550kg a F1 car is less than half the weight of a Mini !

To give you an idea of just how important aerodynamic design and added down force can be, small planes can take off at slower speeds than F1 cars travel on the track.

Without aerodynamic down force, high-performance racing cars have sufficient power to produce wheel spin and loss of control at 160 kmph. They usually race at over 300 kmph.

In a street course race like the Monaco grand prix, the down force provides enough suction to lift manhole covers. Before the race all of the manhole covers on the streets have to be welded down to prevent this from happening!

The refuelers used in F1 can supply 12 liters of fuel per second. This means it would take just 4 seconds to fill the tank of an average 50 liter family car. They use the same refueling rigs used on US military helicopters today.

TOP F1 pit crews can refuel and change tyres in around 3 seconds. It took me 8 sec to read above point

During the race the tyres lose weight! Each tyre loses about 0.5 kg in weight due to wear.

Normal tyres last 60 000 - 100 000 km. Racing tyres are designed to last 90 - 120 km.

A dry-weather F1 tyre reaches peak operating performance (best grip) when tread temperature is between 900C and 1200C.(Recall that water boils at 100C remember)

At top speed, F1 tyres rotate 50 times a second.

Check out some of the interesting aspects of Formula 1 on Wiki

Today, I am a big fan of F1 racing and follow the season very closely. I am sure many of you have interesting facts to share o F1...please feel free to let me know your thoughts

Cheers,
Vaithee

Road Cars Vs Formula 1 Cars

Today is March 6th…I am all excited…it is just more than a week to go for my much awaited Formula 1 2008 season to begin!

Motor Sport is one of the most exciting sports for me…and of course F1 stands on top of that list J So what is that makes Formula 1 racing so exciting ! It is the sleek cars, the high end technology used on cars, the drivers, the circuits and the rules in racing which makes it an amazing sport !

Here are some of the elements and characteristics that make up a Formula One car and give it a completely different appearance to other types of racing cars:

Open wheels: Unlike the road car sitting in your garage, one of the most obvious elements of a Formula One car is that its wheels aren’t covered.

Central cockpit: Formula One design teams don’t worry about the comfort of passengers – because they don’t have to!! Formula One cars have room for only one driver. The cockpit is mounted in the dead centre of the car, which is vital for a car’s centre of gravity. Of course there are twin seat cars used for demo purpose, this is just to give the common man a feel of what it is to be in a F1 card

Agile and lightweight: Believe it or not, a Formula One car weighs a fraction of what a road car weighs. Most of the car is built from carbon fibre, making F1 cars super light weight and, therefore, very fast.

Lack of bumpers: Formula One is a no-contact sport, which is why you won’t find any safety bumpers at the front or rear of the car to fend off the attention of other cars. Instead of bumpers, you find aerodynamic wings.

Aerodynamic wings: The front and rear wings of the Formula One car, which are designed to push the car down onto the ground, are very exposed – which they have to be if the car is going to be quick. (They also provide perfect billboards for sponsors.) These wings are the result of months of research in high-tech wind tunnels and contribute to the speeds which the cars can generate.

The power and speed a F1 car generates really fascinates me...would love to get into the cockpit of a F1 car and see how well I can drive one !

Checkout some of the interesting facts of F1 cars on my blog

Cheers,
Vaithee