[FAQ] Frequently asked questions to rec.autos.sport.f1.moderated - Part 2 of 2
Mark Jackson
The FAQ is divided into several sections.
Introduction (Part 1)
1. Rules, regulations and governing body (Part 1)
2. The teams and cars (Part 1)
3. The drivers (Part 2)
4. The races (Part 2)
5. The circuits (Part 2)
6. Television (Part 2)
7. Sponsors (Part 2)
8. Manufacturers (Part 2)
9. Technical stuff (Part 2)
10. Miscellaneous (Part 2)
Corrections and additions to mjac...@alumni.caltech.edu.
3. The drivers
==============
Q: Who will be driving for whom in 2010?
A: As issued by the FIA on 30 November, with subsequent team
announcements:
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
1. Jenson Button (GB)
2. Lewis Hamilton (GB)
Mercedes GP Formula One Team [1]
3. Nico Rosberg (D)
4. TBA
Red Bull Racing
5. Sebastian Vettel (D)
6. Mark Webber (AUS)
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
7. Felipe Massa (BR)
8. Fernando Alonso (E)
AT&T Williams
9. Rubens Barrichello (BR)
10. Nico Hulkenberg (D)
Renault F1 Team
11. Robert Kubica(PL)
12. TBA
Force India F1 Team
14. Adrian Sutil (D)
15. Vitantonio Liuzzi (I)
Scuderia Toro Rosso
16. S锟絙astien Buemi (CH)
17. TBA
Lotus F1 Racing
*18. Jarno Trulli (I)
*19. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN)
T. Fairuz Fauzy (MAL)
Campos Meta 1 [2]
20. TBA
21. Bruno Senna (BR)
US F1 Team
22. TBA
23. TBA
Virgin Racing [3]
24. Timo Glock (D)
25. Lucas di Grassi (BR)
T. Alvaro Parente (P)
T. Luiz Razia (BR)
Sauber not-BMW
26.
*27. Kamui Kobayashi (J)
* - numbers not yet definite
T - test / reserve driver
1 - formerly Brawn
2 - chassis by Dallara
3 - originally entered as "Manor Grand Prix"
Toyota Motorsport GmbH has indicated it won't enter, although it
was committed to do so as a signatory to the Concorde Agreement.
The FIA has granted its entry to the former BMW Sauber team, and
promises an updated entry list "in due course."
After the final year of his Ferrari contract was paid off, and
having failed to agree to terms with McLaren, Kimi R锟絠kk锟絥en has
signed with Citro锟絥 to drive for a year in the World Rally
Championship.
Q: How much does driver x make?
A: According to /F1 Magazine/, August 2005 (with previous estimates
from April 2005):
M Schumacher $70m ($42m) half from personal sponsorship, etc.
R Schumacher $25m ($18m)
K R锟絠kk锟絥en $22m ($19m)
JP Montoya $15m ($12m)
J Trulli $10m ($7m)
R Barrichello $10m ($9m)
G Fisichella $9m ($4m)
F Alonso $9m ($7m)
J Button $8m ($7m)
M Webber $4m ($6m)
F Massa $2.5m ($1m)
A Wurz $2.5m (-)
T Sato $2m ($1m)
J Villeneuve $2m ($3m)
D Coulthard $1.5m (-)
N Heidfeld $1m ($2m)
P de la Rosa $500k (-)
C Klien $350k (-)
T Liuzzi $350k (-)
A Davidson $250k (-)
T Monteiro $250k (-)
C Albers $250k (-)
N Karthikeyan $250k (-)
P Friesacher nil (-)
Q: Who won the drivers championship in the year ....?
A:
2009 Jenson Button (GB)
2008 Lewis Hamilton (GB)
2007 Kimi R锟絠kk锟絥en (FIN)
2006 Fernando Alonso (E)
2005 Fernando Alonso (E)
2004 Michael Schumacher (D)
2003 Michael Schumacher (D)
2002 Michael Schumacher (D)
2001 Michael Schumacher (D)
2000 Michael Schumacher (D)
1999 Mika H锟絢kinen (FIN)
1998 Mika H锟絢kinen (FIN)
1997 Jacques Villeneuve (CDN)
1996 Damon Hill (GB)
1995 Michael Schumacher (D)
1994 Michael Schumacher (D)
1993 Alain Prost (F)
1992 Nigel Mansell (GB)
1991 Ayrton Senna (BR)
1990 Ayrton Senna (BR)
1989 Alain Prost (F)
1988 Ayrton Senna (BR)
1987 Nelson Piquet (BR)
1986 Alain Prost (F)
1985 Alain Prost (F)
1984 Niki Lauda (A)
1983 Nelson Piquet (BR)
1982 Keke Rosberg (FIN)
1981 Nelson Piquet (BR)
1980 Alan Jones (AUS)
1979 Jody Scheckter (ZA)
1978 Mario Andretti (USA)
1977 Niki Lauda (A)
1976 James Hunt (GB)
1975 Niki Lauda (A)
1974 Emerson Fittipaldi (BR)
1973 Jackie Stewart (GB)
1972 Emerson Fittipaldi BR
1971 Jackie Stewart (GB)
1970 Jochen Rindt (A)
1969 Jackie Stewart (GB)
1968 Graham Hill (GB)
1967 Denny Hulme (NZ)
1966 Jack Brabham (AUS)
1965 Jim Clark (GB)
1964 John Surtees (GB)
1963 Jim Clark (GB)
1962 Graham Hill (GB)
1961 Phil Hill (USA)
1960 Jack Brabham (AUS)
1959 Jack Brabham (AUS)
1958 Mike Hawthorn (GB)
1957 Juan Manuel Fangio (RA)
1956 Juan Manuel Fangio (RA)
1955 Juan Manuel Fangio (RA)
1954 Juan Manuel Fangio (RA)
1953 Alberto Ascari (I)
1952 Alberto Ascari (I)
1951 Juan Manuel Fangio (RA)
1950 Giuseppe Farina (I)
Q: How many races has y won?
A: See the next answer.
4. The races
============
Q: Who won x race? Who raced car y in z?
A: The best source for this is Forix at http://www.forix.com -
it has comprehensive results for championship and non-championship
races extending back before 1950. Unfortunately in early 2003 they
converted to a subscription service. Free sources of some of this
information are out there, including
http://www.grandprix.com/gpemain.html and http://www.f1db.com; other
recommendations are welcome.
Q: What is the calendar for 2010?
A: As voted by the WMSC 11 December 2009:
14 Mar Bahrain (Sakhir)
28 Mar Australia (Melbourne)
04 Apr Malaysia (Sepang)
18 Apr China (Shanghai)
09 May Spain (Barcelona)
16 May Monaco (Monte Carlo)
30 May Turkey (Istanbul)
13 Jun Canada (Montr锟絘l)
27 Jun Europe (Valencia)
11 Jul Britain (Silverstone)
25 Jul Germany (Hockenheim)
01 Aug Hungary (Budapest)
29 Aug Belgium (Spa Francorchamps)
12 Sep Italy (Monza)
26 Sep Singapore (Marina Bay)
10 Oct Japan (Suzuka)
24 Oct Korea (Yeongam)*
07 Nov Brazil (S锟給 Paulo)
14 Nov Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina)
*Subject to the homologation of the circuit.
Q: Why does the Monaco Grand Prix move around in the calendar?
A: Bernie moves many of them around these days as commercial
considerations dictate. Monaco used to be a special case, in
that the Thursday of the meeting had traditionally been
Ascension Day, therefore moving with Easter. This tradition
was violated in 1957, 2002, 2005, 2007, and 2008, then returned
for 2009 and 2010.
Q: What time is practice, qualifying, and the race?
A: The official weekend schedule in 2010 (all times local) is
practice from 1000 to 1130 and 1400 to 1530 on Friday, and 1100 to
1200 on Saturday, with qualifying 1400 to 1500 on Saturday. The
nominal race time is 1400 on Sunday, but there are many exceptions:
the race in Australia will start at 1700, in Malaysia at 1600, in
Canada at 1200, in Singapore at 2000, in Japan at 1500, and in Abu
Dhabi at 1700. Some Friday and Saturday schedules vary as well.
Remember that at Monaco the "Friday" program takes place on
Thursday. permitting the streets to be reopened on Friday for
normal (i.e. expensive) commerce.
Q: Where can I get lap charts for races on the web?
A: Graphical depictions and tables of running order lap-by-lap
are fairly common (e.g. through www.fia.com). All lap
times for each driver for any race can be found on Forix
(http://www.forix.com), and complete charts through the F1
yearly overview pages at Autosport (e.g.
http://www.autosport.com/f1/2006.html) - both however
available only to subscribers. The F1 Media Centre on the
FIA's website has complete data for the current GP, but
as the next event approaches this is moved into their
password-protected archive!
5. The circuits
===============
Q: What circuits are known or rumoured to be getting races?
A: The 2010 calendar published by the FIA in October shows 19 races,
including a South Korean GP at a new track being built in Yeongam.
Montr锟絘l will return after a one-year break (thanks to government
financial support) and the British GP remains at Silverstone after
Donington Park defaulted on a 17-year contract.
Plans for a race in India, although delayed from 2010 to 2011,
continue to move ahead, althoough opposition has arisen within the
national government. Plans were announced for a track at
Flins-Les Mureaux, northwest of Paris, in hopes of a return of the
French GP in 2012 - but these have fallen through.
At various times there have been proposals for races in or near
Prague, Panama, Qatar, Volokolamskoe (near Moscow), Bulgaria,
Niagara Falls (Canada), Rome, Kyalami (South Africa), Palm Springs
or Las Vegas (USA), St. Petersburg (Russia), Algarve and Portimao
(Portugal), Greece, Iran, Libya, Egypt, Toronto (Canada), Rio de
Janeiro (a bid to get the Brazilian race back from S锟給 Paulo), and
Cancun (where a contract for a Mexican GP was actually announced
before insurmountable environmental and legal problems arose).
Clearly a Grand Prix is widely viewed as a very desirable property -
at least where there's a government willing to cover the inevitable
financial loss. The current sporting regulations permit up to 20
events per season, but the teams are believed to be entitled to more
revenue from Bernie if the calendar has more than 17 events.
Q: What circuits are known or rumoured to be losing races?
A: Generally, those without the robust financial support of a
government entity. Montr锟絘l was dropped in 2009 over a financial
dispute, but is back with a 5-year deal in 2010 thanks to government
subsidies. The French GP was briefly off the calendar for 2008
because of poor attendance at Magny-Cours, and was then cancelled in
2009 due to almost certain financial losses; the GP seems unlikely
to return there. Fuji, which hosted the Japanese GP in 2007 and
2008, had planned to alternate with Suzuka but abandoned F1 after
owner Toyota pulled its subsidy. Silverstone lost the contract for
the British GP to Donington Park after 2009, but after numerous
extensions Donington was declared to be in breach of contract in
mid-October. After protracted negotiations Silverstone obtained
a 17-year contract (with a 10-year escape clause) to continue the
event. The new Arena GP layout (incorporating a segment between
Abbey and Brooklands looping through the infield to near Becketts)
may be used as early as 2010.
Hockenheim's debt was such that organizers agreed to alternate their
German GP with the N锟絩burgring; poor attendance in 2008 and the loss
of a local government subsidy left the race in doubt until Bernie
stepped in and agreed to share in the promotion. Shanghai is
considering whether to continue after 2010 because of large
financial losses. Istanbul looks rocky as well (poor attendance
again), and pressure on other circuits is likely to increase due to
the miserable economic climate and the year-to-year fee escalation
built into FOM contracts.
Q: Where can I find maps of the circuits used in F1 racing?
A: Most of the big F1 sites have current track maps. And
http://www.etracksonline.co.uk/ has maps of many circuits showing
how they have changed over time - although it hasn't been
updated since February 2007, and some functions don't seem to be
working.
6. Television
=============
Q: I've heard about digital or pay-per-view F1. How did that work?
A: From a commercial point of view, not well enough. Bernie
Ecclestone's Formula One Management, which had sent crew and
equipment to each GP to provide seven channels of custom
programming to pay-per-view subscribers in several European
countries, pulled the plug after 2002 due to lower than
expected subscriptions. It was then promised that the
digital resouces would be focussed "on providing the best
live feed to our free-to-air broadcasters." This apparently
proved unworkable, and the operation was mostly mothballed
- until 2009, when the BBC announced it would include some
interactive and web-based features in its coverage.
Almost all broadcasts are now produced by FOM, Monaco and
Japan being the only exceptions in 2009. There's a push from
the various national TV systems that contract to broadcast F1
to get HD-quality feeds, but FOM has been slow to enable this.
Q: How come the television viewing figures for F1 are bigger than
the world population?
A: It is a figure used for comparison by the advertising industry
and has no value as an absolute. That's the way the Olympic
Games is counted and it's the way the Football World Cup is
counted, so it's the way F1 is counted. Every "viewing" is
counted separately, so an individual watching practice,
qualifying, the race, and repeats / highlights is multiple
"viewers."
Q: I'm visiting the United States. Is there TV coverage of F1
events there?
A: In 2009 most events were carried live on the Speed Channel
(http://www.speedtv.com), a cable and satellite service that is
widely available - but often not found on, for example, hotel
systems. Speed's package included live coverage of second
Friday practice, Saturday qualifying, and all but 4 races.
Those four races were carried by Fox, a broadcast network of
the same ownership with near-universal availability. In 2009
these were Turkey, Great Britain, Germany and Hungary - all
tape delayed. The usual Speed broadcast team (Bob Varsha,
ex-driver David Hobbs, ex-mechanic and author Steve Matchett)
worked the Fox events as well. Speed's TV contract included GP2
events and was in its final year; it's believed coverage will
continue in 2010 but details have not yet been announced.
7. Sponsors
===========
Q: When did the FIA first allow outside sponsorship for F1 cars?
A: For the 1968 season.
Q: Which team first had a sponsor, the first race with sponsor,
and the sponsor's name?
A: At the 1968 Spanish GP Lotus appeared in the red and gold
livery of Gold Leaf Cigarettes. If privateers are considered
then one must credit John Love and Sam Tingle, whose "Team
Gunston" Brabham-Repco and LDS-Repco ran in the colors of that
cigarette brand at the season-opening South African event.
Q: What team brought Marlboro into F1 and when?
A: Marlboro came into F1 as teams sponsor in 1972 with the BRM team.
They 'eased' their way in with a low-key personal contract for
Jo Siffert in 1970. Seppi carried logos on helmet and overalls
for two seasons, as did his STP March in '70 and his Yardley
BRM in '71. This may well have been the genesis of Marlboro's
'World Championship Team' concept, the umbrella name for
individual driver sponsorships which were additional to team
contracts.
Q: What is the longest running team/sponsor connection (current
and all-time)?
A: In 2009 the Marlboro/Ferrari partnership marked its 26th season
(sponsor since 1984, title sponsor since 1997). This leads the
23 seasons of Marlboro and McLaren (1974-1996) for the all-time
title. Due to a 2001 marketing agreement among tobacco companies
(and to EU and other anti-tobacco legislation) it was indicated
that Marlboro branding would not actually appear on the cars
themselves from 2007. This was not fully implemented until 2008,
and their paint scheme - and the use of a "bar code" graphic where
the word "Marlboro" previously appeared - remains evocative.
Q. Who were the major sponsors for each F1 team in 2009?
A.
BMW: Petronas (petroleum)
Brawn: Virgin (lifestyle holding company)
Ferrari: Marlboro (cigarettes) [1]
McLaren: Vodafone (telecommunications)
Red Bull: Red Bull (energy drink)
Renault: ING (financial services) [2]
STR: Red Bull (energy drink)
Force India: Kingfisher (airline and beer)
Toyota: Panasonic (electronics)
Williams: AT&T (telecommunications)
[1] See "longest running team/sponsor connection" above
[2] Logos removed from Singapore onward at the sponsor's request
8. Manufacturers
================
Q: Had Jaguar ever been in F1 before buying Stewart?
A: Clemente Biondetti drove a Jaguar-engined Ferrari 166 in the
1950 Italian GP. He qualified it 32 seconds (27%) behind
Fangio, and retired from the race on lap 17 with a blown
engine.
When Moss, Dean Delamont and John "Autocar, not Cooper"
Cooper were casting about for bits for a new F2 car for him
(the project that eventually became the first of the two
Cooper-Altas) there was apparently an attempt to secure an
experimental 2.0l 4-cyl Jaguar engine for that.
Paul Emery fitted a 2.4 Jag engine with fuel injection to his
Emeryson special, and did one F1 clubbie in '57. (The car had
started life with a linered-down Aston Martin engine for 2.0l
F2, then acquired a bored-out Alta for 2.5l F1...)
Q: Who owns Ilmor?
A: DaimlerChrysler completed its buyout of the original
Illien-Morgan engine business in 2005; it's now known as
Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines. The company currently
known as Ilmor Engineering is a subsequent startup by Mario
Illien, involved in the American IRL and NASCAR series (and an
apparently abortive foray into MotoGP); it has nothing to do
with F1.
Q: Who owns Cosworth?
A: Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe, co-owners of the US-based
Champ Car series. Cosworth engines were last used in F1 in
2006, however they won the tender for the "standard" F1 engine
the FIA had proposed be available to independent teams for 2010.
Although that particular initiative is dead the four new
entrants plus Williams plan to use the Cosworth engine in 2010.
9. Technical Stuff
==================
Q: What is a desmodromic valve?
A: Conventional poppet valves are opened by the direct or indirect
mechanical action of a cam and are closed by the action of a
spring, the latter being a coil or hairpin of metal or (in
recent F1 engines) a chamber of compressed gas. Desmodromic
valves are both opened and closed by mechanical action, for
example by an additional cam lobe on the camshaft acting
through fingers or other structures.
Although desmodromic valves were used in Grand Prix racing as
early as 1914 and sporadically thereafter, significant success
was not achieved before the Mercedes Benz W196 of 1954-55.
Q: What is the fuel made of?
A: Essentially the fuel must be made from the same components as
pump fuels and with limits on the proportions of individual
components which are currently more stringent than those
applied to pump fuels in Europe.
Within those strict parameters, the fuel companies can - and
do - tailor the fuels to specific engines, engine maps and
circuit configurations. There is constant research and as many
as three or four different blends may used throughout a
season, in line with engine developments and circuit
requirements.
A sample of each new batch of fuel is sent to the FIA to be
tested to ensure that it complies with the rules and is then
'fingerprinted'. Samples are taken at the circuits to ensure
that the fuel being used in the cars matches this
'fingerprint'.
10. Miscellaneous
=================
Q: What colour is British Racing Green?
A: There isn't just one colour. See David Betts' photos at
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=8hdb40f.p96dman&x=1&y=y0tki9
for many examples (free registration required).
Q: What are the national racing colours?
A: Country; car colour; number colour:
Egypt; light-lilac; red on white
Argentina; car:blue/bonnet: black; red on white
Belgium; yellow; black
Brazil; light-yellow/green; black
Bulgaria; car: green/bonnet: white; red on white
Chile; car: red/bonnet: blue/rear end: white; half blue and
half red on white or entirely red
Germany; white (yes, white was indeed Germany's official
colour); red
Finland; black; blue on white
France; blue; white
Great Britain; green; white
Ireland; green (horizontal orange stripe); white
Italy; red; white
Luxemburg; grey; white on red
Monaco; white (horizontal red stripe); black on white
Netherlands; orange; white
Poland; white/rear end: white; red
Romania; navy blue/rear end: red; yellow
Sweden; lower part: blue/upper part: yellow/3 yellow stripes
on the bonnet; white
Switzerland; car: red/bonnet: white; black
Spain; car: red/bonnet: yellow; black on yellow/white on red
Thailand; car: light-blue/wheels: light-yellow/horizontal yellow
stripe; white on blue
Czechoslovakia; car: white/bonnet: blue and white/rear end: red;
blue
Hungary; car: white/bonnet: red/ rear end: green; black
USA; car: white/rear end: blue; blue on white
Q: What about drug testing in F1?
A: From an FIA statement on 1/10/99 "For several years, the FIA and
the FIM have strictly applied the regulations of the
International Olympic Committee, with numerous and repeated
controls. Both federations are fully prepared to intensify
checks should the need arise."
Q: What are those strips sticking out of the ground in the pit lane?
A: They are there to ground the static electricity that builds up
in the car during a race, and try and prevent a pit lane fire.
Q: Who is Nazir Hoosein?
A: An (in)famous movie theater owner from Mumbai, India, who
currently represents China on the WMSC. Hoosein was Chief
Steward in Brazil in 1998, when the decision was taken to
disallow McLaren's braking system.
Hoosein was also Chief Steward in Brazil in 1997, when the
drivers had problems with a white line on the pit entry (they
were told at first to not cross it, but they managed to convince
the stewards that it was more dangerous to avoid it). You might
have noticed that the pit entry since 98 was much longer and the
reason is probably to avoid that "problem," which seemed to exist
only on Hoosein's head.
After the administrative mistake at the British GP in 98, he
voluntarilty gave up his Steward licence. He has since had it
given back. He resurfaced as Chief Steward at the 2002 Malaysian
GP, where Juan Pablo Montoya was given a controversial
"drive-through" penalty, and was also one of the Stewards at the
2003 German GP, where Ralf Schumacher was penalized for causing a
first-corner accident. It must be sheer coincidence that he was
also Chief Steward for the USGP of 2005.
Hoosein heads the Motorsports Association of India, which
displaced, under somewhat murky circumstances, the older
Federation of Motor Sport Clubs of India as India's National
Sporting Authority (ASN) as recognized by the FIA.
Q: What was the music the BBC used for the Grand Prix?
A: "The Chain", by Fleetwood Mac, on the album "Rumo(u)rs."
They brought it back for 2009.
Q: Are there any novels based on Formula 1?
A: Alistair Maclean's "The Way to Dusty Death" is one of the better
known ones.
Bob Judd wrote a series of "throbbing groin and motor racing"
novels called "Formula 1", "Phoenix", "Indy", "Monza",
"Silverstone" and "Juice" in the UK, but they have slightly
different names in the US (Silverstone is known as Spin in the
states, and "Phoenix" as "Burn" for example).
Sally Armstrong wrote a novel called "Racers" which it claims was
researched with help of Williams Grand Prix Engineering. It is
very much a throbbing groins novel, and does beg the question
exactly what was going on at Williams in the early 90s...
Another few are "Eye of the Cobra" by Christopher Sherlock and
"White Death" by Andrew Neilsen, "The Last Open Road" by B.S.
Levy, and "Oversteer" & "Dead Pedal" by Ken Vose, plus "Fine
Tune" by Gerald Hammond.
Douglas Rutherford wrote a whole series of books in the 1950s,
including "Grand Prix Murder", "The Gilt-Edged Cockpit" and "The
Chequered Flag".
S. Thomas' "Miracle at Monaco" is a vanity press product, but
worth mention for the sheer weirdness of the concept: a
50-year-old monk races a one-off Morgan F1 car at Monaco with the
help of God.
Q: What is a "Jordan Stopwatch" and a "Ferrari Ruler"?
A: The first of these terms refers to the old practice of Jordan
having stunning testing times, only to falter during the season.
It is sometimes used as a ruse to increase sponsorship in a team,
as a fast car is easier to sell to corporate bods.
A Ferrari Ruler, on the other hand, is the idea that if you
measure something in a specific way then it is legal. It comes
about from the 1999 Malaysian Grand Prix, where if you measured
the bargeboards in a specific way, then they were legal.
Q: What is "Remus?"
A: Remus is an ERA (English Racing Automobiles) - specifically, ERA
R6B. One of the three raced by Prince Bira before the war, the
others being Romulus and Hanuman.
Raced as a GP car post-war, being driven by John Bolster amongst
others. It was then owned and raced by Bill Moss for many years
in UK club motorsport and then historic events before passing to
Patrick Lindsay and, after his death, his son Ludovic.
Probably the most raced car ever.
For more information, see
http://www.brooklandstrack.co.uk/Carslist/biraera.htm
--
Mark Jackson - http://www.alumni.caltech.edu/~mjackson