Are you interested in Formula One? But you have no idea how it works? That's fine! This is a tricky sport after all and way more complex than one may think at first. So let's start with the basics.
#1 Constructors
In every season there are 10 constructor teams, consisting of two main drivers. Every team has a Team Principal, like Christian Horner for Red Bull or Zac Brown for McLaren. There are, of course, managers that are in charge of supervising and guiding. Race engineers who manage the races on the track and communicate with the drivers. There're many types like data, strategy... R&D Engineers that research and develop new car improvements. The designers, well, the name speaks for itself, they design and redesign the car in and out. Aerodynamicists are in charge of the correct functioning of the car's aerodynamics. Race mechanics are a godsend, if someone crashes during the free practices, they fix it. Most of the time.
With that out of the way, what are the names of the F1 teams?
Scuderia Ferrari
Red Bull Racing
Mercedes
Alpine
McLaren
Alfa Romeo
Haas
AlphaTauri
Aston Martin
Williams
#2 Drivers
Every team has two main drivers, so there should be 20 drivers in total. But that's not always the case. In case of an emergency, there are reserve drivers that will take their seats for one or the number of races necessary. These reserve drivers tend to be F2 drivers or sometimes F1 drivers, like George Russel for Mercedes in 2021 as he drove for Williams, and work for more than one team in the hopes of landing a seat.
This season's drivers are as follows:
Ferrari: Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz
McLaren: Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris
Red Bull Racing: Max Verstappen and Sergio "Checo" Pérez
Mercedes: Lewis Hamilton and George Russell
Alpine: Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon
Alfa Romeo: Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu
Haas: Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher
AlphaTauri: Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda
Aston Martin: Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll
Williams: Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi
#3 Tracks
At the beginning of the year, F1 was supposed to run on 23 tracks but due to Russia's situation, its GP was removed from the 2022 calendar. F1 currently races on 22 different tracks all around the world throughout the season. The location of the Grand Prix can vary through the years. Take the France GP which hasn't been raced in the last decade until this season, as an example, or the South African Grand Prix which hasn't been held since 1993.
This year's (2022) calendar is:
Bahrain Grand Prix
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Australian Grand Prix
Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
Miami Grand Prix
Spanish Grand Prix
Monaco Grand Prix
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Canadian Grand Prix
British Grand Prix
Austrian Grand Prix
French Grand Prix
Hungarian Grand Prix
Belgian Grand Prix
Dutch Grand Prix
Italian Grand Prix
Russian Grand Prix
Singapore Grand Prix
Japanese Grand Prix
United States Grand Prix
Mexican Grand Prix
Brazilian Grand Prix
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Formula One CEO Stefano Domenicali reported via Sport bild that "There will be no more racing in Russia."
#4 Points
Points are earned by finishing the race in the top 10. The amount of points each driver receives depends on their position. The first place is awarded 25 points, the second place 18, and the third with 15 points. (4th= 12 pts, 5th= 10 pts, 6th= 8pts, 7th= 6 pts, 8th= 6 pts, 9th= 2 pts and 10th= 1 pt) One additional point is given to the driver with the fastest lap, as long as they finished inside the top 10.
In the case of a sprint, drivers can receive more points outside of the race. This time tho, only the top 8 will be awarded. The first place with 8 points, the second 7 and the third with 6, and so on until it reaches 1 point in the eighth place.
All these points are added together and at the end of the season, the driver with a bigger sum will win the drivers' championship.
For the constructors' championship, the points of their respective drivers will be added together and the team with the most points wins.
GEORGE: WHAAAAT? (...) Get him off the podium now! (...) *celebrates* I mean I don't know why Fernando got a penalty, at the end of the day I think he's the deserving guy to finish P3.
Ferrari confirm Charles Leclerc will be hit with grid penalty for Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Charles Leclerc will have his work cut out in this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after his Ferrari team were forced to fit another control electronics power unit component, which in turn triggers a grid penalty.
Ferrari replaced the Energy Store and Control Electronics on Leclerc’s engine before the season opening Bahrain Grand Prix. The Monegasque then retired when in contention for a podium behind the two Red Bulls.
READ MORE: Leclerc calls on Ferrari to ‘understand what went wrong’ after painful Bahrain GP retirement
As teams are only permitted to use two control electronics components per season without penalty, Leclerc’s move to a third for race two in Jeddah ensures he will have at least a 10-place grid drop this Sunday – and potentially more if they replace any other parts – and increases the chances of him taking a further penalty later in the season.
“On Sunday, we had two different issues,” said Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur when talking to selected media on Wednesday. “The first one was on the Sunday morning, when we did the fire up, and the second one was in the race. Unfortunately, it was two times the control unit, the ECU.
“It’s something that we never experienced in the past. I hope now it’s under control, but we have a deep analysis on this. Unfortunately, we’ll have to take the penalty in Jeddah, because we have only a pool of two control units for the season.”
After Baku last year, Ferrari were forced to run their engine at lower power to reduce the risk of failure. However a lot of work went into durability over the winter and while they encountered problems in Bahrain, Vasseur added they do not intend to reduce power in the coming races as a precaution.
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2023 Bahrain Grand Prix: Leclerc cries ‘no power!’ as he’s forced out of the race from P3
Leclerc heads into this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 25 points adrift of championship leader Max Verstappen – and while he was understandably down after failing to score in the season opener, Vasseur said he has no worries about the Monegasque’s mindset and motivation.
“Charles was with us after the tyre test day on Tuesday, was at the factory on Wednesday morning,” added Vasseur. “We had a speech with the employees, where we were all together on stage. It’s obvious Charles is motivated, we have done one race of 23.
READ MORE: Why Vasseur is ‘completely convinced’ that Ferrari’s car concept can compete with Red Bull
“He’s full push with the team, trying to get the best for everyone. The penalty is not good news, but it’s not the end of the season. Let’s see what happens in Jeddah, and what could be the outcome, even with the penalty, but don’t imagine for half a second he could be demotivated.
“He’s fully convinced, he’s working with us, pushing the team, pushing everybody in a positive way. And nothing else.”
Leclerc finished second with the fastest lap in last year’s race in Jeddah, with the high-speed nature of the Saudi Arabian street circuit expected to play more to the strengths – principally it’s straight-line speed advantage – of Ferrari’s SF-23 car.
via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com