What is Formula 1?
Formula 1 is the pinnacle of motorsports. In this sport we see 10 teams, each containing 2 drivers, going head-to-head in order to find out who will win the two championships. The F1 Drivers’ Championship is won by the driver with the most accumulated points. The F1 Constructors’ Championship is won by the team with the most accumulated points. The sport is an international favorite, where it is hosted all over the world, from the streets of Singapore to the deserts of Dubai.
How Formula 1 Works
Formula 1 has teams that range from car manufacturers like Ferrari, Mercedes, Aston Martin, and McLaren to teams like Red Bull, who don’t produce cars but still play a major role in the sport. In a sport where the engine costs 2.5 million dollars, funding is an important part of keeping the sport alive. This is why sponsors like Visa and Google pay 25–30 million dollars a season in order to promote their company on a team’s car. The sport requires a lot of testing in order to perfect the aerodynamics and power output of a car. In this sport, a tenth of a second separates a good car from a great car. There are a total of 24 races a season, usually hosted on a Sunday. Due to the holiday of Ramadan, three of these races have been pushed to Saturday. This includes the first three races of the season, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the Australian Grand Prix.
Opening weeks of the 2024 F1 Season
Beginning the 2024 season, we saw the renaming of two teams, Alfa Romeo and AlphaTauri. Alfa Romeo, now known as Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber (Kick Sauber for short), has a long history of changing its name. Additionally, AlphaTauri, the second team sponsored by Red Bull, changed its name to Visa Cash App RB (RB for short). The change is set to last until the end of the 2025 season, when Kick Sauber is set to become Audi in the 2026 season.
The Bahrain Grand Prix was the season opener for the sport, where we see what the teams have developed during the off-season. The Bahrain Grand Prix is also a track circuit, which means it is raced on a pre-built track. As qualifying came to an end, we saw a 0.228 difference between the Ferrari and Red Bull cars, which was expected as of last season. These teams are currently the top 2 best teams in the sport. On race day, we saw Red Bull’s very uneventful win, where they were a total of 22.5 seconds ahead of the rest of the pack.
The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was the second race of the season and was hosted on the Saturday before the holiday of Ramadan. In Saudi Arabia, we saw the use of a street circuit, which means that during the period of racing, the streets were turned into a race track. Saudi Arabia was the first race for 18-year-old Oliver Bearman who took the spot of Carlos Sainz. Carlos underwent appendicitis surgery during the race weekend of March 9th-10th. After the qualifying laps were over, unsurprisingly, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, both in Red Bull car, placed highest on the grid. As the races started, we saw Max Verstappen take the lead. Not far behind, Charles Leclere overtook Sergio Perez for the second pole position. During the 8th lap of the race, Oliver Bearman got the chance to secure his position on the grid. He placed 8th for Formula 1 debut. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, his teammate Sergio Perez taking P2, and Ferrari’s Charles LeClerc taking P3.
With only 2 races so far already completed, we will see Formula 1 go to another track circuit in Australia. This race will also be the final race to be hosted on a Saturday. With this upcoming race, we will see the return of Carlos Sainz on the track. Though there is a likely winner, tune in this Saturday, March 23, 2024 to watch the Australian Grand Prix.
Works Cited:
F1 – the official home of Formula 1® racing. Formula 1® – The Official F1® Website. (n.d.). https://www.formula1.com/
