Do you know which Indian team in formula 1 racing is and how it was destroyed? Why formula 1 is most expensive sport in the world and how it was started and also who was the winner of formula 1 even after his death in accident during the match? Let’s read this complete article you will come to know that………………….
Hello, friends!
Formula 1 racing is a sport which saw a boost in popularity recently. It is one of the most dangerous sports in the world. While driving the F1 cars, the temperature is normally at 45°C for the driver. And can go up to 60°C. There’s so much heat and humidity that in a normal race, The F1 driver loses about 2-3 kg in weight. Simply by completing a race. Because they sweat so much. “And also during the way, lose up to 4 kilos in a race in an hour and 45 minutes.” “But this is because it gets so hot, isn’t it? So if you’re in Singapore or Malaysia or something…” “Yeah, those ones are killer.” The cars are driven at such high speeds that at every turn, the driver has to bear high G forces. Up to 6 Gs’. Come, in today’s article, let’s understand How this game actually works. What is its Billion-Dollar Business Model? And should it even be considered a sport?
"Formula 1 is the most exciting sport on the planet!" "Grand Prix!" "F1 is all about pushing the limits of speed science and nerves." Friends, Formula 1 originated in France. Tracing the History In 1906, a race was held. It was called the French Grand Prix. It literally means the Great Prize. Since then, the name Grand Prix continued and till now, during Formula 1 racing this name is used. Back then, car races did not test the speed of the driver. Rather, they focused on the endurance of the driver. Literally, the race would stretch from one city to another on normal roads. In fact, the first Grand Prix race lasted 24 hours and was held in Le Mans. If you have watched the film, Ford vs Ferrari, It was based on this race. In 1904, an international association was established. It is now known as FiA. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. This is the governing body of Formula 1, FiA. Similar to FIFA for football And ICC for cricket. It was only after 1946 that professional racing began to be conducted in an organized manner. Some rules were drafted in 1947, known as the Formulas. The duration of the races, the types of cars that could be used for the races that the racing cars should be a single seated. That it should be an open wheel. Open wheel means that the wheels of the car extend outwards from its body. Today, a typical Formula 1 race car looks like this. But before we get to the car, let’s get to the Formula 1 Championship.
The first season of the World Championship was announced in 1950. A championship with 7 races across 7 countries. This first Championship was won by an Italian driver, driving for the Alfa Romeo team. Friends, now in the 2023 Championship season there will be 23 races. Rules of the Race If the names of the team seem familiar, It’s because most of the teams in Formula 1 racing Are car manufacturers. Friends, here comes the most unique aspect of Formula 1 racing. Winning a Formula 1 Championship doesn’t depend solely on the skill of the driver, on how well the driver can drive, but it also depends on how well the car was made. This game is a competition of technology as well. To see who can manufacture the fastest car. This is why several car manufacturers, Participate in Formula 1 Championship. Other than the publicity of these companies, another benefit to them is that when new technologies would be innovated during Formula 1, those technologies can be later used for manufacturing consumer cars. The cars commonly sold to average people can also be improved. Friends, there are several examples of this Technologies that are nowadays used in most common cars, that were first discovered during F1. For example, Carbon Fiber. A material that is used in BMW, Aston Martin, and Porsche cars now, it was used for the first time in 1981 by McLaren in Formula 1. The first company to build a car chassis with this material. This was an expensive but light material. It improved fuel efficiency. Some other examples of such technology are Using Hybrid Powertrains and Wheel Buttons. The rules of the competition force the companies to innovate even the tiniest aspect So that the cars can be as fast as possible.
The current world record for the fastest speed is 372.5 km/hr. This happened during a race in Mexico in 2016. This speed record is held by Valtteri Bottas. But other than in an actual race, the full potential of an F1 car was seen in 2005, When Honda’s team achieved 397.7 km/hr. This was for the purpose of the record test. This test was conducted in a very special place. A dry lake bed where for kilometers around there’s only a plain field like this. But normally, the speed of the F1 cars is so high that it is faster than the takeoff speed of an airplane. When a large airplane takes off, its speed is around 250 km/hr. Friends, do you know what this means? Had there been wings on these cars, these cars would’ve flown. Even without wings, they could easily take off this is the reason for the peculiar shape at the back of the cars. These are ‘wings’ to counter the wings that planes have. In school, you would’ve studied that the shape of the wings of an airplane Aims to create a lift. High pressure and low pressure on either side allowing the plane to take off. In the F1 cars, it's the opposite. It creates a negative lift. So that the cars can be pushed onto the track. The down force produced is equal to 5G. A force of 5 times the weight of the car pushes it downwards. This provides traction to the tires enabling them to execute sharp turns.
At the beginning of the article, I told you, That Formula 1 is an extremely dangerous sport. It is believed to be one of the most dangerous sports in the world. Why? When driving in day-to-day life has turned so dangerous with the high chances of a person dying in a car accident, this is such a high speed sport. Obviously, this would have an added danger. In total, 52 drivers have died since Formula 1 racing began. The most famous accident was of the three-time champion Ayrton Senna's death in 1994. In 1970, one driver died and was posthumously awarded the championship. This happened for the Austrian driver Jochen Rindt. Simply because drivers accumulate points over different races. Even after Rindt’s death, no driver could catch up to his accumulated points in that season, so he was given the winner’s trophy, after his death. Safety of Drivers But specifically speaking, several steps are taken to ensure safety during Formula 1 races. Obviously, the first is providing helmets by the companies compulsorily. These are stronger than normal helmets they have carbon-fiber head and neck support. So that the vertebrate of a driver can be protected in case of any crash. Additionally, the suit that the drivers wear is made of multi-layered fireproof material. In case the car catches fire in an accident, At least their clothes won’t catch fire. Drivers are equipped with biometric gloves the gloves are fitted with sensors that constantly measure and transmit vitals such as heartbeats to medical staff. The seatbelts in the car are so tight that the help of another person is required to fasten the seatbelt. There are fire extinguishers in the cars too. The most groundbreaking innovation in terms of safety was in 2018, when the Halo was introduced. Halo is basically a steel bar that is placed above the head in these cars. It is made of Grade 5 Titanium. Its purpose is to protect the driver's head in case the car is upturned. When this was introduced in 2018, this angered several people, they were infuriated because the cars wouldn't have an open cockpit anymore. They claimed that it looked ugly and was an unnecessary addition. But since then, it has been 4-5 years, this innovation has saved the lives of many drivers. The Halo is the strongest part of an F1 car. It is strong enough to sustain the weight of 2 African elephants on top of it. So yeah, such safety innovations took place in recent times, to make the sport safer. These F1 cars are truly engineering marvels. Years of knowledge accumulated to craft these to perfection.
Friends, this is why, today, for a new company it is so difficult to enter this business. Money isn't the only factor. This requires years of knowledge and persistence. As Amir Khan said in 3 Idiots, "Study to be capable, not successful." "Don't chase success aim for excellence. And success would follow." Similarly, if you want to be successful too. You need to have the desire to learn. It needs hard work. Dreaming won't be enough.
Let's talk about the Business Model. How does the financial aspect work? 2 types of companies are involved in Formula 1 racing. The constructor companies that make cars. And the engine manufacturer companies that make engines. Presently, there are about 10 constructor companies, namely Alpha Romeo, Alphatauri, Alpine, Astin Martin, Ferrari, Haas, McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull, and Williams. But only 4 companies manufacture engines. Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault, and Honda. Ferrari's team is the most successful team in the history of Formula 1. They have won 16 constructor titles and 15 driver titles. A point to note here is that in a Formula 1 Championship, there's a winning driver and a winning constructor. Each team has 2 drivers. A team can be a constructor champion by taking into account the performance of both drivers. But a driver championship can be won when a driver gets the most points at an individual level. Since the make of the car plays such an important role, some people argue that more than the skills of the driver, the construction of the car is more important for winning a race. So often it so happens that the best drivers do not win as many championships. For example, many F1 fans believe that Fernando Alonso has been the best driver in the history of F1. In terms of technique. But he has won only 2 championships. In 2005 and 2006 with Renault. Since the construction of the car plays such an important role in this game, it means that a large amount of money is involved here. To some extent, the team with more money could use better technology and strategies for their cars. But it's interesting to see that it is a risky business for companies to participate in Formula 1.
Let's look at the financials of Red Bull. This team has recently won a Constructor Championship, and the winning drivers were from this team as well. In 2018, their sister team Toro Rosso, spend $181.1 million in total. It's around ₹15 billion. And their revenue was at $183.6 million. Their spending and earnings had a minute difference. Their profit was only $1.8 million. Only ₹150 million after taxes. It's very little profit considering the money being spent here. And this was a top-level team. The companies believe that the return on investment they'd get from other sources would be much better. Such as publicity and the progress in technology. In 2022, FiA placed a cap on the budget. $140 million. No team can spend more than this. So that there's some equality in the competition. This year, in 2023, this cap has been lowered to $135 million. The salary of the drivers are paid by the teams but that is kept outside the budget cap restrictions. So there's no limit to the salary paid to the drivers. It means that similar to other sports, there's a large inequality in the salaries paid to the drivers. Some premium drivers, top-level drivers, are paid much higher salaries than others. Such as Max Verstappen. He has been the Driver Champion for the last 2 years, It's estimated that last year, he was paid around $60 million in the year. Compare it to Mick Schumacher's salary, who was paid only $1 million for the same year. Obviously, the salary depends on several things. Other than the driver's success, it is also dependent on the team for which the driver is driving, the level it is at and how much money it has. Mick Schumacher races for the Haas team that is still growing.
India's Role in F1 Presently, though there are no Indian teams in Formula 1 racing, but there is an Indian connection to the F1. Till now, we had 2 Indian drivers. Narain Karthikeyan, And Karun Chandhok. They drove and participated in the Championship for 3 years and 2 years respectively. But perhaps a better highlight for India was that India had a team in Formula 1. Force India. The team was created in 1991, when it was known as Spyker F1. Under different ownership but in 2007, Vijaya Mallya and Michiel Mol, director of the team, bought it. And its name was changed to Force India. It debuted in 2008. The same year, the expenses of this team rose by 74.4%. The biggest increase till date. Back then, the primary sponsors of the team were Kingfisher, RIL and ICICI bank. In 2011, Sahara India Pariwar bought 42.5% shares of this team. Mallya was left with 42.5% and Michiel Mol with 15% shares. And so the team was renamed again to Sahara Force India. Friends, in its short career, this team wasn't very successful but with time, it was definitely improving. The drivers were showing promise. In fact, even this year, 3 drivers from that team would be racing. Nice Hulkenberg for Haas. Sergio Perez for Red Bull. And Esteban Ocon for Alpine. Till 2017, the Force India team improved year after year. Each season their performance was better than the last. 2017 was the best year when Perez and Ocon were their drivers. In 2016-17, their ranking was in 4th place. That's not bad. It had become a mid-level team. And then came 2018, when its downfall began. The thing is, each year, there's a summer break in Formula 1. It is usually 2 weeks long. That year, in July 2018, just before the summer break, documents were released as to how this company had only $315,000 in the bank. While it had taken out loans of $37 million. This company owed a lot of money. And you'd remember Vijay Mallya, Vijay Mallya was accused of owing about ₹100 billion to Indian banks. In 2016, he fled from India, and has been staying in the UK since then. A worldwide freezing order was issued on his assets, he could not sell his assets. And that banks could seize his assets. It meant that if he wanted to sell the shares of this team, he would need the consent of Indian banks.
Finally, a Canadian businessman Lawrence Stroll, bought the team and its assets. At the cost of ₹9.6 billion. Before the restart of the 2018 season. The businessman Lawrence Stroll's son Lance Stroll was a driver of this team in the F1. FiA ordered that this team had to be renamed yet again since the ownership was changing. This was renamed Racing Point Force India. The next year, in 2019, the word India was dropped from the name of the team, and it became Racing Point. In 2021, it was renamed one more time Aston Martin F1 Team. When Stroll purchased a 17% stake in this car manufacturing company. In India, ED claims that Vijay Mallya used his F1 and IPL teams for money laundering. And Subrata Roy, owner of Sahara Pariwar, had built his empire on scams. Criticisms of the Sport Today, the Formula 1 sport is often criticized as a useless sport. That no one is benefiting from these car races. And that it merely causes environmental pollution and nothing else. Perhaps, some points of criticism are valid. This is why Formula E has been introduced. Wherein only electric cars would be racing. About 10 years later, a Formula E event was hosted in Hyderabad, India some months ago. This event took place on a street circuit. Race tracks weren't built for this. The existing roads were closed off and prepared for this race. Till 2039, Formula E rights have been assigned by the FiA. After which, it is expected that Formula 1 and Formula E would be merged. They will be one sport. And only electric cars would be used for this race.
What do you think of this sport? Comment below to let me know. And I hope you learned something new from this article.
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