About the Competition
| Inaugural Season | 1950 |
|---|---|
| Drivers | 20 |
| Teams | 10 |
| Engine Manufactures | |
| Tyre Supplier | Pirelli |
| Current Drivers Champions | Max Verstappen |
| Current Constructor Champion | McLaren-Mercedes |
Introduction
The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one of the premier forms of racing around the world since its inaugural season in 1950. The word formula in the name refers to the set of rules to which all participants' cars must conform. A Formula One season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix. Grands Prix take place in multiple countries and continents around the world on either purpose-built circuits or closed public roads.
A points system is used at Grands Prix to determine two annual World Championships: one for the drivers, and one for the constructors (the teams). Each driver must hold a valid Super Licence, the highest class of racing licence issued by the FIA, and the races must be held on tracks graded "1", the highest grade-rating issued by the FIA for tracks.
Formula One cars are the fastest regulated road-course racing cars in the world, owing to very high cornering speeds achieved through generating large amounts of aerodynamic downforce. Much of this downforce is generated by front and rear wings, which have the side effect of causing severe turbulence behind each car. The turbulence reduces the downforce generated by the cars following directly behind, making it hard to overtake. Major changes made to the cars for the 2022 season has seen greater use of ground effect aerodynamics and modified wings to reduce the turbulence behind the cars, with the goal of making overtaking easier.
The cars are dependent on electronics, aerodynamics, suspension and tyres. Traction control, launch control, and automatic shifting, plus other electronic driving aids, were first banned in 1994. They were briefly reintroduced in 2001, and have more recently been banned since 2004 and 2008, respectively.
With the average annual cost of running a team – designing, building, and maintaining cars, pay, transport – being approximately £220,000,000 (or $265,000,000), its financial and political battles are widely reported. On 23 January 2017, Liberty Media (Who owned the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball) completed its acquisition of the Formula One Group, from private-equity firm CVC Capital Partners for £6,600,000,000 (or $8,000,000,000).
F1 in Japan
The first F1 races held in Japan took place in 1976 and 1977. Japan returned permanently to the calendar in 1987, the only years with Japan not having a race being 2020 and 2021.
In Japan, the local broadcasts until 2015 were F1 Grand Prix (F1グランプリ). The broadcasts used CG animation since the first broadcast in 1987 and the theme song for much of its history was TRUTH by the Japanese band T-SQUARE.
Between the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix and the end of 1992, the CG segment of the Opening often began with a 3D model of the Honda RA272 as well as a McLaren car (MP4/5B in 1990 and early 1991, MP4/6 after early 1991) and ended with a Ferrari car (Ferrari 641/2 in 1990 and 1991 and Ferrari F92A in 1992).
For the 1994 Japanese Grand Prix, the broadcast and the CG opening also played tribute to Ayrton Senna after the Brazilian driver's death earlier that year. The song TRUTH and CG animation was replaced between 1999 and 2000 with live footage instead and rock music. For 2001, a new CG opening with the cars from that season and a remix of TRUTH was used.
