Formula One

Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship is the highest class of single-seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Formula One (F1) is often considered the pinnacle of automobile racing. It is the highest class of car racing with speeds topping 320 kph. The Formula One World Championship is held every year on racing tracks on every continent except Africa. The Championship is given not only to the winning driver after all 20 races but also to the winner car manufacturer. The current Driver's World Champion is German Christian racer Sebastien Vettel, while the Constructor's Champions are Austrian designers Red Bull Racing. Due to the requirement of the drivers to be fit and focused, many of the drivers are devout Christians. While many people think that F1 is similar to Indycar, Formula One takes place on normal race circuits and street circuits, while Indycar races often take place on oval tracks.

Constructors

The teams for the 2012 season are;

• Red Bull Racing, which bought the Jaguar team in 2005, who in turn bought out the Stewart team. The team's current drivers are Mark Webber (Australia) and Sebastien Vettel (Germany). The team uses Renault engines, and, like Toro Rosso, are sponsored by Red Bull.

• Vodafone McLaren Mercedes was founded in 1966. They are the third most successful team in the sport's history, having won the constructors' title 8 times. The team was formed by the New Zealander Bruce Mclaren. The current drivers are Conservative Sports Star Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.

• Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, who first competed in the second-ever Formula One race at Monaco in 1950, are the most famous and most successful team in the history of Formula One, and present constructors' champions. They have won the constructors' championship 16 times, maostly because of the dominance of Michael Schumacher, who holds the most championship wins in the sport's history. The team uses Ferrari engines and are sponsored by the Marlboro tobacco company. The current drivers are Fernando Alonso and Filpe Massa

• Mercedes F1 Team, which replaced the Honda team in 2009 and then became the Petronas Mercedes AMG Racing in 2010. The are run by Norbet Hoog and have Nico Rosberg and Micheal Schumacher driving for them.

• Lotus F1 Originally named Toleman and then became Benetton. Under the leadership of Flavio Briatore, Benetton bought out Renault and became Lucky 7 Renault F1. However, a tobacco sponsorship ban forced the team to change its name under new sponsorship from ING to ING Renault F1. Fernando Alonso won two championships with the team. Flavio Briatore, along with Pat Symmonds and Nelson Piquet Jr. were convicted of race fixing, which led to them being banned from the sport for for 5 years. The team was then bought out by GenII Capital and recieved sponsorship from Lotus. It later was involved in a legal battle with Caterham (who previously held the rights to the Lotus brand) over who had right to use the name. The current drivers are Kimi Raikonen and Romain Grosjean.

• Force India F1 Team, who replaced the Spyker team in 2008, scored their first points at the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix. The team's present drivers are Nico Hulkenburg and Paul Di Resta. The team uses Mercedes engines and are sponsored by Indian airline Kingfisher.

• Scuderia Toro Rosso, who replaced the Minardi team in 2006, are a "farm" team for Red Bull Racing, but managed to beat their parent team in 2008. The team's drivers are 2012 debutante, Jean-Eric Vergne (France) and Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) who was in the HRT for 10 races last year. The drivers replaced Sebastion Buemi and Jaime Alguesari. The team uses Ferrari engines and are sponsored by beverage company Red Bull.

• Williams, founded in 1977, are the second most successful team in F1's history, having won the constructors' title 9 times. However, they have not won the title since 1997. The team is heavily reliant on the money from PVDSA, the state oil company of socialist Venezuela. The team's present drivers are Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) and Bruno Senna (Brazil). The team uses Renualt engines and are sponsored by various other Venezuelan state owned companies

• Air Asia Caterham Team Originally Malaysia F1 team and owned by businessman Tony Fernandes, who also owns leading English football club QPR. The team's name was changed to LotusF1 before threir first season in 2010, but Renault, who were sponsored by Lotus challenged this in cours but lost. Meanwhile, Tony Fernandes bought out the car manufacturer Caterham and promptly renamed his team Caterham. The Malaysian government, who owns Proton, which in turn owns Lotus Cars were also rumoured to have let Fernandes buy Air Malaysia in return for him dropping the legal action against Lotus. The drivers are Vitaly Petrov (Russia), who brings a large amount of state owned Russian sponsors and the Finn Heikki Kovalinen.

• HRT Spanish F1 team, lacking funds to build competitive car and relies heavily on sponsors brought by the race drivers and the third drivers. The current drivers are Pedro De La Rosa and Narain Karthakain.

• Marussia F1 A Russian team owned by car manufacturer Marussia, Charles Pic and Tim Glock currently race for them. Were originally Manor F1 which then became Virgin F1.

Drivers

The drivers fight for the world drivers' championship, it is currently being led by Fernando Alonso.

Controversies

There are a large amount of controversies involving the FIA Formula 1 World Championship. An example of this is the State of Texas, METF giving $300 million dollars to Bernie Eccelstone to host the US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas at the Circuit of the Americas over the next 10 years. The state of New Jersey has also given $300 million so it can host the New Jersey Grand Prix at West New York over the next 10 years, starting in 2013.

External Links

The Sport's governing body
Official Website
BBC Sport F1 - Site of the UK broadcaster
Highly Respected Formula One Journalist
Worlds leading motorsport publication
Vast amount of Material on F1
Leader in Motorsport News