A Brief History of Formula One

    

             As a media student and an athlete, one of my dream jobs is to be part of the Sky Sports team. Seeing as the highly anticipated Sky Sports F1 HD channel launched on Friday I thought it would be a good idea to write a post including a brief history of Formula One and some of the most memorable events in the sport's illustrious history. If you're an F1 fanatic or somebody keen to learn more about one of the world's most glamorous sports, this should be enough to get you excited for the upcoming 2012 season. Leave a comment letting me know some of your favourite Formula One moments and feel free to ask any questions you may have about the sport.

            The first Formula One World Drivers' Championship as contested under the FIA (Federation Internationale de l'Automobile) regulations gets underway in 1950. The first ever race was the British Grand Prix held at Silverstone, an old military airfield which is still a regular fixture in the F1 calender to this day. That year Italian driver Giuseppe Farina became the first ever Formula One World Champion at the final race of the season.


            In the following seven seasons Argentinian driver Juan Manuel Fangio wins the World Championship five times. Four of his five championships were won in consecutive seasons from 1954 to 1957, this amazing feat has kept Fangio's name amongst the greatest drivers the world has ever seen.

Juan Manuel Fangio

            The Formula One World Constructors' Championship is introduced in 1958 to coincide with the World Drivers' Championship. From this season onwards any points a driver earns during an F1 race are also awarded to their team. Vanwall become the first team to win the Constructors' Championship but withdraw from Formula One shortly after.


            Many argue that Sir Stirling Moss is the greatest driver never to win the F1 World Drivers Championship, his amazing career was cut short after he sustained an injury at a pre-season event which forced him to retire in 1962.

Sir Stirling Moss

           


            The British-based McLaren team enters its first ever championship in 1966. Although the team's first point doesn't come until two seasons later, McLaren is now one of the most dominant teams in the sport.

McLaren 2012 Driver Line-up: Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button

            Two time Drivers' World Champion Jim Clark dies in 1968 in a Formula Two race at Hockenheim in Germany. The greatest driver of his era and a beloved icon to the British people, his death remains one of the most documented in the history of Formula One.

Jim Clark

            The 1968 season sees sponsorship make its first appearance into the sport, this effectively marks the end of the era of national racing colours.


            Bruce McLaren, founder of the McLaren team, dies whilst testing a Can-Am car at Goodwood in 1970.

Bruce McLaren

            A Pace Car is used in Formula One for the first time during the Canadian Grand Prix in 1973. That year Jackie Stewart goes on to win his third Drivers' Championship and remains the most successful British driver to this day.

Sir Jackie Stewart

            In 1976 the Tyrrell team introduced a six wheeled car, perhaps the strangest looking car ever to race in Formula One. During the same season, the 1975 World Champion Niki Lauder surffered severe burns after a crash but miraculously returns to the sport just a few weeks later. Lauder went on to win his second championship the following year completing one of the best sporting come back stories of all time.

Elf Tyrrell Six Wheeled F1 Car

            The Concorde Agreement of 1980 sees Bernie Ecclestone and FOCA (Formula One Constructors Association) take control of the commercial rights for Formula One. This leads to the sport becoming the multi billion dollar industry that it is today but the agreement as it stands is set to expire at the end of this upcoming 2012 season.

Bernie Ecclestone

            In his debut season of 1984 Ayrton Senna nearly wins his first ever Monaco Grand Prix but Alain Prost wins controversially when the race finishes early due to heavy rain.


            Alain Prost wins back to back Drivers' Championships in 1985 and 1986 becoming the first French World Champion in the process.



Fierce Rivals - Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost

            McLaren win fifteen of the sixteen races in the 1988 season with Ayrton Senna winning a record eight races and claiming his first Drivers' World Championship.


            Nigel Mansell dominates the 1992 season with the active suspension on his Williams FW14B. With a clearly superior car Mansell wins the first five races in a row, setting a record in the process and eventually claims the Drivers' Championship.

Nigel Mansell Driving the Williams FW14B

            In 1994 Formula One sees one of the darkest weekends of its already bloodied history. Over the course of the race weekend at Imola, five different drivers crash out with three sustaining injuries and two of them losing their lives. One of the two drivers to die that weekend was three times World Drivers' Champion Ayrton Senna. Arguably the most talented driver to ever grace the sport, Senna is still the last person to die whilst racing in Formula One. 'Senna' an amazing film documenting the extraordinary career of the Brazilian driver was released late last year and is a must see for any Formula One fan.

            Michael Schumacher went on to win the 1994 and 1995 championships driving for Benetton before signing with Ferrari for the 1996 season. Schumacher had to wait four long years before winning his first Drivers' Championship with the legendary Italian team but went on to win five championships in a row between 2000 and 2004. With a record seven Drivers' Championships Michael Schumacher remains the most successful driver in the history of Formula One.

Michael Schumacher

            The seven Formula One World Championships' since 2005 have seen five different drivers' champions and four different constructors' champions proving that the sport is as exciting as ever. The upcoming 2012 season will have six previous drivers' champions on the grid which could lead to the most competitive championship the sport has ever seen.

Sky Sports F1 Team - Courtesy of advanced-television.com

           Sky Sports F1 HD's coverage of the 2012 Formula One World Championship will start on Friday March 16th with the Australian Grand Prix.


            If you don't have Sky Sports then you can still watch half of the races on BBC One and keep up to date with all of the latest Formula One news via the BBC F1 website.