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 200 mph. 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, most of the drivers are devout Christians.

Teams

The teams in the 2012 season are;

• Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, founded in 1966, are the third most successful team in the sport's history, having won the constructors' title 8 times.

• Lotus F1 Originally Toleman and then became Benetton, under the leadership of Flavio Briatore, bought out be Renault to become Lucky 7 Renault F1, tobacco sponsorship bannishment then caused team to become ING Renault F1, Fernando Alonso one two championships with the team. Flavio Briatore along with Pat Symmonds and Nelson Piquiet Jnr caught with fixing race causing all of them to be banned from F1 for 5 years. Team bought out by GenII capital and recieved sponsorship from Lotus, and then had a court battle with Caterham (Previously Lotus) over who had right to use the name Lotus

• 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 constructor's champions. They have been won the constructors' championship 16 times, mainly as a result of the dominance of Michael Schumacher, the driver with the most championship wins in the sport's history. The team uses Ferrari engines and are sponsored by cigarette company Marlboro.

• 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 2009 debutante, Sebastien Buemi (Switzerland) and Formula 3 champion Jaime Alguersuari (Spain), who replaced Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais following the 2009 German Grand Prix. The team uses Ferrari engines and are sponsored by beverage company Red Bull.

• Red Bull Racing, which replaced the Jaguar team in 2005, have won three races. The team's current drivers are Mark Webber (Australia) who has won one race, and Sebastien Vettel (Germany), who moved for the 2009 season from Toro Rosso, and won one race while at STR. He won another two races with RBR in 2009. The team uses Renault engines, and, like Toro Rosso, are sponsored by 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's present drivers are Nico Rosberg (Germany) and Kazuki Nakajima (Japan). The team uses Toyota engines and are sponsored by communications company AT&T.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• HRT Spanish F1 team, lacking large amount of funds, runs on government money.

• Air Asia Caterham Team Originally 1malaysia F1 team and owned by businessman Tony fernandes, who also owns leading english football club QPR. Name was CHANged to LotusF1 before first season in 2010, Renualt, who where sponsored by lotus challenged this in the courts 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 where also rumoured to have let Fernandes buy Air Malaysia in return for him dropping he legal action against Lotus

Round	Race Title	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
15	Japanese Grand Prix	Japanese GP	Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka	7 October
16	Korean Grand Prix	Korean GP	Korean International Circuit, Yeongam	14 October
17	Airtel Indian Grand Prix	Indian GP	Buddh International Circuit, Greater Noida	28 October
18	Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	Abu Dhabi GP	Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi	4 November
19	United States Grand Prix	United States GP	Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas	18 November
20	Grande Prêmio do Brasil	Brazilian GP	Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo	25 November

External Links

The Sport's governing body
Official Website
BBC Sport F1 - Site of the UK broadcaster