There is no sport that bests epitomizes the term “global sport”
like Formula One racing. Many countries serve as active participants in
shaping the professional karting scene – for example, Malaysia is a hot
spot for racing (Fernando Alonso, a Spanish-born driver under Team
Renault recently won a race there) and Italy plays a vital role in
designing and manufacturing first class, top-of-the-line karts. Drivers
and racing personalities hail from all parts of the word – you have the
charismatic and popular Italian Renault boss Flavio Briatore, the
handsome young 23 year old racing prodigy in Fernando Alonso who stars
in a Renault Megane commercial with his pet pig, and one of the highest
earning sports figures in world history in Michael Schumacher.
Rivalries are common in Formula One – adding the edge of excitement
with every zip of the curve and nitrous boost of the machine.
In order to better become acquainted with Formula One racing,
we must understand its organization. Karting goes way beyond pitting 3
2-cycle engine machines against each other on an oval circuit. Formula
One is divided into drivers & their respective teams. Under such
trademark car companies like Renault, Ferrari, and Toyota – each driver
has an assembling cast of staffers consisting of mechanics, engineers,
and designers all working towards one goal: to make that speedster
faster using all the resources at their disposal. Headed by team bosses
that are adept at creating sponsorship opportunities and assembling the
best cast for each team, Formula One employs the finest specialists in
the business with backgrounds in computer and automobile – even
specialists with aerospace experience! High end, (rare technology
reserved for space projects) in some instances, create the fastest and
most efficient car possible. According to FI rules, racing teams must
design, construct, and built their own karts from scratch. The staff is
the pride of each individual team – capable and able to win every 57
lap enduro race from Malaysia to Great Britain.
Formula One cars can be summed up in two words: technological
marvels. These sleek, low riding gems ripping through laps at speeds
topping 200 mph. consist of more than just a chassis, an engine, and
four wheels. For starters, the engine is located behind the cockpit as
opposed to standard automobiles. They consist of 10 cylinder engines
that produce heat which propel the kart forward. Team engineers are
always looking into ways to make their engines more powerful.
Currently, 1000 bhp (a scale for horsepower) has not been topped – it
is up to the teams to produce an engine which would fare well
supporting speed as well as support the chassis. And as we know, there
is a snug open cockpit for Jarno Trulli to maneuver his machine in.
Construction of Formula One race cars is unprecedented. The
first rule of thumb in designing a bonafide piece of framework is to
make it weigh as least as possible. Less kart weight correlates to
faster speeds. For this reason, team brains use lightweight material
that is hard to construct. The minimum weight of a kart must be 600 kg
including the driver. This ensures a level playing field, although
teams are allowed to keep their money making construction methods a
secret from other teams. Team staff is very highly regarded in the
Formula One business. Their technological and dynamical know-how of the
machines they build is a valuable asset to any team. And like free
agents, they are lured and signed by the likes of companies creating a
recruiting war for their services. Of course, there are restrictions
for creating karts. You cannot add nitro boosts to your machine or use
technology that resembles life in the year 3000. Teams are always
looking to bend the rules slightly and coming up ways to beat the
competition legally.
Professional kart tires have to have optimum characteristics to
ensure smooth driving. For one, tires have to have grooving technology
built into them. For the novices, grooves are indented lines in tires
that allow for it to slow down considerably on turns and to adapt to
the track surface. No matter what the technology, kart tires are simply
not adept at withstanding the rigors of asphalt, concrete, and dirt.
For this reason, Formula One racers are allotted two pit stops during
the course of a 57 lap race to change tires. If you’ve ever watched a
Formula One race, team staffers with lightning quick hands have an
extremely limited time for which to remove and replace tires in the pit
stop – often times not exceeding over 7 seconds! Regulations are placed
on tire grooves (a minimum of four) to allow for an even playing field
for all racers. Remember enthusiasts, grooves serve more to slow down
the kart than to speed it up.
Chassis construction with its illustrious carbon fiber
material, tires with indented grooves, team specialists with a knack
for speed, and engines which burn heat like calories is the epitome of
a Formula One race car. All of these attributes contribute to the
performance of the vehicle in racing lap after lap. As a result of all
this technology, Formula One cars leave people breathless reaching
consistent speeds of 200 mph. on the race track. More impressive is the
time needed to go from 0 mph to 100 mph – 5 seconds! Formula One is
only moving forward with the advent of new features - like improved
horsepower engines, more lightweight materials, new ballasts to add
weight to the car, and more. Behind that stylish, mind blowing chassis
that pique our interest is that top-class technology that makes Formula
One racing so great.
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