Introduction to Formula One Racing 2010

Courtesy of Williams F1 Team

INTRODUCTION 

Beginning in March 2010, we will all enter the world of Formula One (F-1) auto racing. I will bring you a series called “Wine and Food of Formula 1″. As I am not a sports writer, the only way to write about this passion of mine is to combine it with what you expect to read on WineFoodChat.com and that is wine and food. I will write about many of the regions where the races are held, its culture, a bit of its history, and of course wine and food. Then provide information on the race itself, drivers, and track. There will also be plenty of videos with each post. If you are not already an F-1 fan, then hopefully some of what I write about will turn you on to this exciting sport, especially here in the United States. 

This introductory page has supplemental pages added as well and will serve as a source for updates, stats, links, videos, news, direct links to my series “Wine and Food of Formula 1″, among other things. I will also provide news feeds and blogs, when I find interesting ones, for your information and to keep you up to date. Participate if you wish. New content and news will be added to these pages and updated frequently, so please come back often. Most of what goes here, could eventually make it into some articles that I post in the “Wine and Food of Formula 1″ series.

Please keep in mind if you read this in future years, a lot of information contained herein will change such as drivers, teams, rules, circuits, etc. This page is written for 2010 only.

Formula 1 is a billion dollar industry, with a massive worldwide television audience of over 550 million people. In the United States it is very difficult to see these races live, although many catch them on a later taped telecast or a recording. You must also have cable/satellite television to view it. Hopefully, in time we will have an F-1 race or two again in the US, and have a US team as well (see below). I would advise watching these races live when you can or recording them. The races here in the US are aired on Speed Channel/Fox if you get it. If you do not, order today (no, I am not affiliated or paid by any cable or satellite company!). 

Following is a guide to F-1 broadcasts on Speed Channel. It should default to just Formula One programming, but if you get their complete schedule then just hit their edit button, and de-select all. Then select just the Formula One programming and your time zone, it should then default to those settings on your computer. You can always manually override your default settings by hitting the edit button if you are into other racing too. For the F-1 races, the earliest broadcast on the day of the race is usually the one that is live, just click on it and it will take you to Speed Channel’s website to confirm if it is live or a rerun. 

Below are website links about the sport, race venues, drivers, and teams that have them. If no link is provided then they did not have a website or one that was easily found. If you represent an official website not reflected below, please go to the Contact Page tab above and provide the link, it will be reviewed. Links and videos provided on this page and others, as well as in the series of articles are third party and are unaffiliated with WineFoodChat or its author. Links and/or videos are subject to change or be deleted by these third parties and/or WineFoodChat.com. The links under 2010 Formula One Grand Prix Racing Venues are sites that are either from the tracks or if they do not have a website then it will be information about the circuit, a summary, touring, ticketing, or no link at all. WineFoodChat.com and it author are not affiliated in any way with any organization mentioned and it is not an endorsement by either party of the other. If you should have problems with any of the links below, please use the Contact tab to submit your comment so it can be looked into, revised, suspended, or shut down. 

A few names and organizations you need to know about: 

Federation International De’Automobile (FIA).This is the governing body over Formula 1 Grand Prix racing. In fact, the official name for these races is the FIA Formula One World Championship. The FIA is a non profit organization established in 1904 with headquarters in France. It sets the rules and regulations for almost every aspect of the sport. It also regulates several other forms and classes of four wheel motor sports, mainly in Europe. It includes 228 national non-sporting and sporting motor organizations from 132 countries on five continents. This is a complex organization and runs itself like a small government. It has a Senate, President, General Assembly, World Councils, agreements that are like peace treaties and accords, committees, and the like (hope they run themselves better than most governments do!). It has even established The International Court of Appeals which serves as the final appeal tribunal of various disputes that can arise in international motor sport, whether it be a ruling on or off the track. You should go to their link above (the title) if you want to read more and really get into the details about the organization, its rules, operations, and other information. 

NOTE: The World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) is a body under FIA that determines the rules and regs for various racing series, including Formula One. Its membership stands at 26 presently and includes current FIA PresidentJean Todt and Bernie Ecclestone the commercial rights owner of F1(see Formula One Group below).  

Formula One Group. This is a group that controls the commercial rights over Formula One and the promotion of the FIA Formula One World Championship. It is overseen by Bernie Ecclestone.  

Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA). This is the organization for the chassis and/or engine builders for the Formula One cars. Known as the constructors of the cars.  

NOTE: Under the FIA Formula One World Championship, the award for the constructor with the most points at the end of the season is awarded the coveted Formula 1 World Constructor’s Championship (1981-present). Often the builders of the engines and the chassis are different and in this case the award is given jointly. The chassis constructor’s name usually appears before the engine constructor’s name if different. The team and the constructor are often different too and this is why the teams, drivers, and constructors are listed separately. 

Formula One Teams Association (FOTA). This organization was formed in 2008 as a means to negotiate with the FIA with a united voice. There is always power in numbers and FOTA will be representing F-1 teams at the table.  

NOTE: There is no championship awarded for the teams. A team is the entrant that registers the cars and drivers for the F1 season and also prepares the cars for the races and is responsible for its maintenance, if different from the constructors.  

Grand Prix Driver’s Association (GPDA). This is an elective organization for drivers to join. Its main objective is driver safety. However, over the years it has become more like a union representing driver’s interests overall. It has three directors of which one serves as the chairman.  

NOTE: Like the constructors, the drivers have their own champion awarded at the end of the season. The Formula 1 World Driver’s Championship (1981-present) award will go to the driver with the most points. There will be second and third place finishers as well. This is what every F1 driver seeks and makes the races even more competitive than they already are. All these drivers love their sport and love to go fast, really fast. 

Formula One Race Car. The reason they call it Formula 1 is a formula is involved in the build up of the car. These specifications are in its own current 67 page PDF file under the FIA rules and regulations link I provided above. I have also provided it as a link in the title here, but is subject to revision and supplementals so you should follow the link above under FIA.  

NOTE: Please do not mistake these cars for the ones you see in Indy type racing (IRL Racing). First, the F1 cars are lighter, have lots more horsepower, and can be more often than not more technologically advanced.  

Grand Prix Racing. All F1 races are Grand Prix and we can thank France for its origin back in the late 1800s with the very first Grand Prix race. The United States was the second to have a Grand Prix race in 1908 in Savannah, Georgia. It was this race that attracted 100′s of thousands (now we know where crowd control came from!) and gave birth to Grand Prix Racing in America.  

Again, there are differences in F1 racing and Indy type racing (like the race cars in the Indy 500). For one, F1 has a standing start. They usually take laps around the course before the race starts, but they all come back into starting position and make a dead stop. From there, they start from a complete stop to jockeying for the lead quickly. Also, instead of going around and round in circles like NASCAR or the Indy races, F-1 is predominately a road race. They race through cities, towns, special road tracks that have many twists and turns with different elevations, not all flat, straightaway, or oval. The skill to pilot these cars (or should I say fighter jets), is enormous.  

Formula One racing over the years had many deaths and many race car drivers were maimed for life. The last death in Formula One happened in May 1994 in Imola when the world of racing lost Ayrton Senna da Silva (AKA: Ayrton Senna). He was probably the greatest auto racer in history and was a favorite of mine. He won three championships, had 41 victories, 65 pole positions under his belt, among other things. His crash caused a flurry of inquires and a trial as investigations showed that it could have been a faulty wheel among and other things as to why this seasoned driver had the fatal accident, there are more details about this at the link above. Many thought that when he crashed, which I saw (it was horrific), that it was the tire that appeared to hit his head that perhaps ultimately caused his death. The end result, his crash caused safety measures to be put in place that for the last fifteen years has helped keep another fatal death from happening. Let’s hope that it continues this way. Ayrton Senna’s nephew Bruno Senna is a driver for HRT F1 Team this year. We all wish him well, he certainly has racing in his genes. 

INFO ON FORMULA 1 RACING FOR 2010 

Unless you read the language, a few sites have a translation button but found they do not work very well. If this is the case, then you will need a translation tool like Google Translation or other to read the third party website. Your computer system must also be as fast as the race cars and have the latest technology in order to maximize their sites! 

Formula 1 Grand Prix Racing Venues – 2010 

Dates listed are the day of the race. Most of these racing venues are for two-three days with time trials and festivities leading up to the race.Circuit length, start line offset, number of laps, race distance, start times (indicated in local time) are per the FIA and is located on their website above.  

1. March 14, 2010 – Bahrain (Sakhir) Circuit Length 6.299km, Start Line Offset 0.246km, Laps 49, Race Distance 308.405km, Start Time 15.00
2. March 28, 2010 – Australia (Melbourne)Circuit Length 5.303km, Start Line Offset 0.000km, Laps 58, Race Distance 307.574km, Start Time 17.00
3. April 4, 2010 – Malaysia (Kauala Lumpur) Circuit Length 5.543km, Start Line Offset 0.000km, Laps 56, Race Distance 310.408km, Start Time 16.00
4. April 18, 2010 – China (Shanghai) Circuit Length 5.451km, Start Line Offset 0.190km, Laps 56, Race Distance 305.066km, Start Time 15.00
5. May 9, 2010 – Spain (Catalunya) Circuit Length 4.655km, Start Line Offset 0.126km, Laps 66, Race Distance 307.104 Start Time 14.00
6. May 16, 2010 – Monaco (Monte Carlo) Circuit Length 3.340km, Start Line Offset 0.000km, Laps 78, Race Distance 260.520 km, Start Time 14.00
7. May 30, 2010 – Turkey (Istanbul) Circuit Length 5.338km, Start Line offset 0.208km, Number of Laps 58, Race Distance 309.396km, Start Time 15.00
8. June 13, 2010 – Canada (Montreal) Circuit Length 4.361km, Start Line Offset 0.000km, Laps 70, Race Distance 305.270km, Start Time 12.00
9. June 27, 2010 – Europe (Valencia) Circuit Length 5.419km, Start Line Offset 0.000km, Laps 57, Race Distance 308.883km, Start Time 14.00
10. July 11, 2010 – Great Britain (Silverstone) Circuit Length 5.901km, Start Line Offset 0.105km, Laps 52, Race Distance 306.747km, Start Time 13.00
11. July 25, 2010 – Germany (Hockenheim) Circuit Length 4.574km, Start Line Offset 0.000km, Laps 67, Race Distance 306.458km, Start Time 14.00
12. August 1, 2010 – Hungary (Budapest) Circuit Length 4.381km, Start Line Offset 0.040km, Laps 70, Race Distance 306.630km, Start Time 14.00
13. August 29, 2010 – Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps) Circuit Length 7.004km, Start Line Offset 0.124km, Laps 44, Race Distance 308.052km, Start Time 14.00
14. September 12, 2010 – Italy (Monza) Circuit Length 5.793km, Start Line Offset 0.309km, Laps 53, Race Distance 306.720km, Start Time 14.00
15. September 26, 2010 – Singapore (Singapore) Circuit Length 5.073km, Start Line Offset 0.137km, Laps 61, Race Distance 309.316km, Start Time 20.00
16. October 10, 2010 – Japan (Suzuka) Circuit Length 5.807km, Start Line 0.300km, Laps 53, Race Distance 307.471km, Start Time 15.00
17. October 24, 2010 – Korea (Yeongam) Circuit Length 5.621km, Start Line Offset 0.000km, Laps 55, Race Distance 309.155km, Start Time 15.00
18. November 7, 2010 – Brazil (Sao Paulo) Circuit Length 4.309km, Start Line Offset 0.030km, Laps 71, Race Distance 305.909km, Start Time 14.00
19. November 14, 2010 – Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina Circuit) Circuit Length 5.554km, Start Line Offset 0.115km, Laps 55, Race Distance 305.355km, Start Time 17.00

Formula 1 Drivers/Team/Constructor – 2010 

There are two drivers (sometimes called pilots) and cars (must be equal in construction and other aspects) for each team. 

1. Jenson Button (GBR) and Lewis Hamilton (GBR)/Vodafone McLaren Mercedes (GBR)/McLaren Mercedes
2. Michael Schumacher (DEU) and Nico Rosberg (DEU)/Mercedes GP Petronas Formula One Team (DEU)/Mercedes Benz GP Limited
3. Sebastian Vettel (DEU) and Mark Webber (AUS)/Red Bull Racing (AUT)/Red Bull Racing Renault
4. Felipe Massa (BRA) and Fernando Alonso (ESP)/Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro (ITA)/Ferrari
5. Rubens Barrichello (BRA) andNico Hulkenberg (DEU)/AT&T Williams (GBR)/Williams Cosworth
6. Robert Kubica (POL) and Vitaly Petrov (RUS)/Renault F-1 Team (FRA)/Renault
7. Adrian Sutil (DEU) and Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA)/Force India F1 Team (IND)/Force India Mercedes
8. Sebastien Buemi (CHE) and Jaime Alguersuari (ESP)/Scuderia Toro Rosso (ITA)/STR Ferrari
9. Jarno Trulli (ITA) and Heikki Kovalainen (FIN)/Lotus Racing (MAL)/Lotus Cosworth
10. Karun Chandhok (IND) and Bruno Senna (BRA)/HRT F1 Team (ESP)/HRT Cosworth
11. Pedro De La Rosa (ESP) and Kamui Kobayashi (JPN)/BMW Sauber F1 Team (CHE)/BMW Sauber Ferrari*
12. Timo Glock (DEU) and Lucas Di Grassi (BRA)/Virgin Racing (GBR)/Virgin Cosworth

*Please note that while BMW’s name is still being used and some of the crew is still wearing BMW on their uniforms, BMW does not have an interest in this team anymore. Sauber is using a Ferrari engine now. Sauber could delete the BMW name at some point with this season or next.  Update March 2010: Sauber has announced they will stop using the BMW name as soon as possible for this season.

A few of the changes for the 2010 F1 season:  

1. A rule change has been implemented that there will be no refueling during a race. This sets up a new dynamic as the cars will start out heavier and get lighter and lighter over the course of the race.

NOTE: This change was done in part because of past fire hazards in the Pit making it a safety issue. It could make the races less exciting though as the pit stops for fueling presented teams and drivers with opportunities to lap their opposition and plot their strategy for the race. I personally do not like this new rule, but we will see what affect it actually has.

2. Front tires have also become a bit smaller.  

3. This year will also mark an increase in teams participating which has created new hurdles to cross. There were going to be 13 teams this year (26 cars and drivers), now there will be 12 teams (24 cars and drivers). This is still an increase over last season, but it was Team US that could not make their debut. It appears they could not get it together in time and have also run out of money. The first US team in decades will have to wait. Let’s hope it will be next year that they can pull their act together or another US team step up to the plate. 

4. The cars have advanced so much that this is the first time in more than fifteen years that there is more down-force for stability than ever before. 

5. Teams will have to use the same tires to start the race as they used in their fastest lap during qualification rounds. This will make the starting laps very interesting as they will all be starting with a full tank of gas too (see #1 above). 

2010 F1 Racing will also welcome back two all time racing favorites: 

1. Michael Schumacher. Since he first came on the F1 circuit back in 1991 with Jordon Racing, he has never looked back and neither have any of his fans. He has won seven championships, had 250 starts, 91 wins, was on the podium 154 times, made pole position 68 times, and ran the fastest laps 76 times most all happening while racing for Team Ferrari where he retired, at least for a while, back in 2006. He has decided to come out of retirement and instead of seeing him in his familiar Ferrari red, we will be seeing him in the light grey and black racing colors of Mercedes. With his return to racing, he is bringing a lot of excitement and even more competitiveness to F1. It will be nice seeing him race again.
2. Lotus Racing. Although Lotus racing is a new team, it is following in Team Lotus’s footsteps. Team Lotus made its debut in F1 at the Monaco Grand Prix back in 1958 and has attracted some of the best drivers like: Stirling Moss, Nigel Mansell, Mario Andretti, Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Emerson Fittipaldi, Elio de Angelis, the great Aryton Senna, and Nelson Piquet and Satoru Nakajima. The last race for Team Lotus was the Australian Grand Prix in 1994. Team Lotus was one the most successful racing teams in Formula One history. Now under Lotus Racing with a Cosworth engine, 2010 will mark the return of the name Lotus to F1 racing. With drivers, Jarno Trulli (ITA) and Heikki Kovalainen (FIN). This will make a very interesting and spirited racing season.

The United States was going to have an F-1 team for 2010, they promised and promised they would, but when it was all said and done they were unable to keep their promise. They just could not get their acts together in time for the 2010 season, even though they chose a driver to compete in 2010. Hopefully, by 2011 we will see US F1 Team (or another American team) in action. You can keep track of US F1 Team at their website: US F1. Update 3/3/10: according to Autosport all we can do is hope that we will see Team USA in 2011. They are reporting that they simply ran out of funds and that operations have ceased, at least as of this writing. 

UPDATE: FORMULA ONE RACING IS COMING TO THE UNITED STATES FOR THE 2012 SEASON IN AUSTIN, TEXAS! There are also rumors still out there that the U.S. could have another circuit too, perhaps in New York or New Jersey, we will see. Now, if we can just get a team together and/or at least some American drivers I think that would increase the audience 100%. A woman driver perhaps — Danica, are you listening?? Hopefully though, you are all committed to the sport for the love of it, not just if Americans are in it or not, but it does not hurt either — does it.

Practice: there will be 1-2 days of practice for each team if they wish (most do) at the track a couple of days before the race. This is where teams and drivers get to check for problems with the car and track and fine tune their strategy and tactics. Timing plays a role in this, but not in any official capacity.  

Qualifying Rounds: because of how the three qualifying rounds work and the complicated rules governing it, it is possible that drivers could have a faster lap time than other racers placed ahead of them in the starting grid because of how they faired overall during the qualifications. Even though a driver’s fastest lap over the three qualification rounds is what will be reflected in any reporting of results, it is the last round that determines the grid position. The fastest lap that is recorded also serves another purpose in 2010 in that a team must use the same tires (not fresh ones) for the start of the race that were used for the fastest lap time recorded over the three qualification rounds.

How qualifying works for 2010 is, the first of the three rounds the bottom seven drivers/teams do not move forward to the second round and will be at the back of the starting grid. The second round eliminates seven more drivers/teams and this group moves to the middle of the starting grid. The ten remaining drivers/teams then qualify for the first five rows of the starting grid with one driver/team winning the pole position (this is the inside 1st row position). There will be 12 rows for the starting grid this year, as there are 24 drivers and 12 teams with two drivers each.

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