How It All Came About
Formula One’s roots can be traced way back to the early days of Grand Prix racing, which originated in France in 1895. The first race to be given the name "Grand Prix" was the 1906 French Grand Prix. The sport was briefly and originally called Formula A. The “Formula” in the title signifies the rules and regulations (the formula) that the drivers and constructors are obliged to follow. The “One” signifies the fact that F1 the ultimate form of motor racing. There were discussions about an F1 Drivers' championship in the late 30's which were inspired by Grand Prix racing, but they were put on hold due to the outbreak of World War Two.
The discussions were revisited in 1946 and there were non-championship races held under Formula One regulations that year. Non-championship races were races held under Formula One standards, but did not count towards the championship. The non-championship races meant that sponsors would be on show, drivers could get practice and sometimes new venues could be tested to see if they could be used for the world championship. Non-championship races became less popular in the late 60s and then extinct in 1983 due to high costs.
It took until 1950 for the World Championship to make its debut. The formula was inspired by pre-World War Two standards that were based on engine capacity. This formula meant that naturally aspirated 4.5-litre cars, (pre-WW2 cars) competed against supercharged 1.5-litre cars (voiturettes). Supercharged 3-litre Grand Prix cars were banned. The cars were front-engined, the chassis was often tube-shaped and the fuel tank (which formed the rear of the car) was situated behind the driver’s back. The pre-WW2 manufacturers - Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Ferrari and Mercedes Benz lead the way for the first few seasons of the sport. However, there was no Constructors’ Championship until 1958.
On 13 May 1950 the first World Championship race was held at Silverstone. The 70 lap race was won by Nino Farina from pole for the dominant Alfa Romeo team. Although there were 22 races, the world championship only consisted of 6 - Britain, Monaco, Indianapolis 500 (run to AAA national Championship regulations), Switzerland, Belgium, France and Italy. Giuseppe “Nino” Farina won the inaugural title winning three out of the six races. Despite being the first to be crowned, the key driver of the 50’s was Juan Manuel Fangio (Nino’s teammate). He went on to win five titles - 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956 and 1957.
However, it wasn't all plain sailing from the get-go. The skyrocketing costs meant that many teams dropped very quickly. In fact, the grid was so empty that organisers depended on Formula 2 cars to fill it. This meant that in 1952 and 1953 the organisers ran the races to Formula 2 standards. Scuderia Ferrari is the only team to have competed since the inaugural season and unsurprisingly the most successful team too.
When Formula One regulations finally returned in 1954 and stated that engines were limited to 2.5-litres. Mercedes made huge improvements but dropped out of all motorsports after the 1955 Le Mans tragedy (which took the lives of 83 people and injured 120). In 1959 Cooper revolutionised F1 when they introduced F1's first rear-engined car (Cooper-Climax T51) and by 1961 every constructor used the radical new design. Lotus was crucial as they lead most of the developments that lead to the cars we're now familiar with.
Safety was a huge concern as it was ignored as the main focus was to make the cars faster. Unfortunately, this was learned the hard way. In the 70s nine drivers lost their lives behind the wheel. To reduce the risk in Formula One there were many restrictions and new rules were introduced. There was only some thought given to safety, which started in the early 60s. This began with the introduction roll bars in 1961, flag signals and mandatory fireproofs in 1963 and the first ever full-visor helmet in 1968.
Numerous more restrictions would be introduced in the following years, and there is still more to come. As well as safety regulations, there would be restrictions to how much money teams could use, which put many teams out and ruled out some developments. Jackie Stewart became an advocate for F1 safety after the deaths of many of his friends and helped make F1 as safe as it is now. In the early 70s, former F1 driver Bernie Ecclestone transformed F1 for the better and made it into the multi-billion dollar business it is now.
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