F1 CAR RACING HISTORY
History - Winners - Rules - Schedule
Over the past 50 years, F1 has written a remarkable history. On May 13 1950, the FIA started the first Formula 1 Championship after FIM had done the same for motorbike races.
In the first decade of the F1 World Championship, one name stands above all others: Juan Manuel Fangio. His five world titles are still the record to beat today. Present since the first World Championship is the legendary car constructor Ferrari, which has grown into a myth over these 50 years. Nowadays F1 without Ferrari is something unthinkable.
But the Italian domination in F1 didn't last forever. The challenge came from Great Britain. Constructors like Cooper, BRM, Vanwall and Lotus appeared on the grid.
This english revolution still has consequences on F1 today, because where else do you find all the F1 constructors? The British set the tone in the sixties. Though Ferrari won the titles in 1961 and 1964, it was Graham Hill and Jim Clark that gave the F1 era its flair. BRM and Lotus built the fastest cars until Jack Brabham returned with his own construction. Jack Brabham is the only man to win the world title in his own car, and that will undoubtedly be an eternal record.
After Brabham wrapped up 2 World Titles, F1 was ready for another revolution. In 1968, we saw for the first time on F1 wings on the cars. This was paired by the first commercialisation of F1 as a sport. Sponsors appeared on the cars. This was possible thanks to the customer Ford Cosworth engine and a certain car constructor called March that built cars and sold them. A certain Max Mosley was part of this March project. The turn of the decade saw unfortunately F1's only posthumous World Champion Jochen Rindt.
The F1 cars became ever faster and more dangerous and for the first time safety was really brought up by none other then Jackie Stewart, triple World Champion. And just 3 years later, after Niki Lauda's notorious Nürburgring fireball crash that left him badly burnt, safety became a priority. But the seventies were also known for the craziest technical evolutions. F1 cars with 6 wheels, giant airboxes, gas turbine engines and cars with giant fans to suck them to the ground! Most of these technical evolutions were banned in the "interest of the sport". However Renault had entered the sport with a Turbo engine, and after a few years, the other teams started to follow in their footsteps.