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F1 - Did you Know???
The First ever F1 Grand Prix was held at Silverstone, Great Britain in 1950.
The only racing circuit to have hosted 50 + Grand Prix's is the Circuit de Nazionale, Monza, Italy.
Monza, Nurburgring, Monaco, Spa-Francorchamps and Indianapolis are the 5 legandary circuits of Formula 1.
The ever F1 champion was Italian Nino Farina.
The Legandary Jaun Manual Fangio lost the inaugural championship due to a mechanical failure in the final race at Monza, Italy.
Jaun Manual Fangio is the only driver to have won 4 consecutive F1 world titles (1954 to 1957) in 56 G.P. starts
Stirling Moss of Britain is the most successful F1 driver in the 50's not to have won a single championship. He was runner up 4 times.
Eau Rauge, Turn 2 at Spa - Francorchamps in Belgium is one of the most infamous corner in Formula 1.
Passionate Ferrari fans are called tifosi .
The first ever Ferrari driver to have won a F1 Grand Prix was Argentine J. F. Gonzalez.
Ferrari have participated in all the F1 World Championships to date, and have only missed 27 grand prix's.
The only driver to have won the F1 World Championship posthumously was Austrian Jochen Rindt in 1970. He died in a racing accident.
Ferrari Superstar, and a darling of Enzo Ferrari (Founder - Ferrari) in the early 80's Gilles Villeneuve was killed in an tragic accident at Zolder, Belgium, apparantly as he was in rage and wanted to avenge the loss and humiliation he suffered from his team-mate Didier Pironi.
The only father - son combo to have won the F1 World Championship are :
Graham Hill (Father) - 1962 & 1968
Damon Hill (Son) - 1996
The only American drivers to have won F1 World Championship are Phil Hil (1961) & Mario Andretti (1978).
The only driver to have driven F1 cars in 3 seperate dacades (70's, 80's & 90's) is Italian Riccardo Patrese - 256 G.P. Starts.
The only world champion on Four (F1) and Two (500cc Motorcycle) wheels is John Surtees.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indianapolis, Indiana haas hosted 11 Indy 500 races, part of the F1 World Championship during 1950 - 60.
More than 15 F1 teams had and are based around Silverstone circuit in Northampton.
The only regular F1 drivers to have won the Indy 500 are Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Jacques Villeneuve and Jaun Pablo Montoya.
Mercedes Benz champions in 1954 & 55 had to pull out of F1 competition at the end of 1955 due to a horrific crash which involved one of their sports cars losing it completly on the main straight in the Le Mans 24 hour race. Over 75 spectators were killed including the driver Pierre Levegh. This is still "The Worst" racing accident in the history of motorsports.
Lamborghini decided to make his own cars, when problems to his own cars were ignored by the Ferrari mechanics when he used to drive for them in F1.
Ford is the most successful engine suppiler than Ferrari in terms of Races won.
The most tragic Grand Prix of modern era was undoubtably the fateful San Marino Grand Prix. Casualties included death's of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger. Rubens Barrichello was hospitalized and couple of mechanics severly injured by a loose wheel.
Roland Ratzenburger and Ayrton Senna died on consecutive days on 30-April (Qualifing) and 1-May (Raceday).
Ayrton Senna had actually died of multiple head injuries which was caused by a broken suspension rod that had pierced his visor and hit him in the eyes. Many believe he could have still walked out alive if that hadn't occurred.
Two track marshall died in the span of 5 races (ITA 2000 & AUS 2001) due to wheels being ripped off and hitting them.
Mika Hakkinen, weeped for about 30 minutes after spinning out of the 1999 Italian Grand Prix.
Monza is where champions weep. No!!! Ask Damon Hill (1996), Mika Hakkinen (1999) and M.Schumacher (2000)... Cry Baby Cry!!! So be it in joy or disappointment.
The only trouble and controversy free Championship winning year of Michael Schumacher's triumph was 2003 - He did nothing wrong and scrambled his way to a 6th title crown by 1 point from Kimi Raikkonen.
Nigel Mansell once began to wave to the crowd in the final few corners on the last lap of the race and crashed out of the race.
Michael Schumacher won the 1995 European Grand Prix at Jerez with his Benetton stuck in 5th gear for most of the race.
After high drama in the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix Michael Schumacher tried to punch David Coulthard in the face for having blocked him which put him out of the race and eventually the championship, only to be restrained by his own mechanics in front of the McLaren pits.
The closest ever F1 championship was contested in 1984 when Niki Lauda of Austria won the title by a mere 0.5 points from team-mate Frenchman Alain Prost. They drove for McLaren. Prost had lot 0.5 or rather 5.5 points after the race at Monaco was stopped midway due to a heavy downpour.
David Coulthard crashed his Williams Renault on the warm-up lap in the 1995 Italian Grand Prix.
He went a step further and crashed while entering the pits in the Australian Grand Prix the same year.
Michael Schumacher, starting from pole stalled on the grid in the final - title deciding race at Suzuka, Japan 1998. He started form the back of the grid, made places rapidly and was in 3rd position before his tyre blew (causing his retirement) and so too were his hopes of winning the championship. And to add to it, he repeated the feat in Round 1 : Australia 1999 where again he had tyre problems and finished out of the points.
Did you know that in 1996 Monaco Grand Prix, Commentators were at one point stumped to find 2 different drivers wear the same crash helmet (Michael Schumacher's helmet was also sported by David Coulthard). Commentator for Eurosport Ben Edwards pointed that he had (David) borrowed it from his friends for that race!!!
Michael Schumacher was stripped for his 2nd place in the championship after he tried to punt Jacques Villeneuve out of the 1997 European Grand Prix at Jerez.
Ayrton Senna has won The Monaco Grand Prix, a record 6 times. M.Schumacher and Graham Hill won 5 each.
Michael Schumacher is the only driver to score over 1000 points in the history of Formula 1.
The only record that Michael Schumacher does not have is being the most experienced F1 Driver in the history of Formula 1. That credit goes to Riccardo Patrase. He started in 256 GP's. Micheal just missed it by a few races.
Jackie Stewart is the only individual to have stood on the podium both as a driver and a constructor.
It is estimated that, it takes about US $ 20 - 25 million for a single F1 race to compete in F1. And annual budget could be in the region of US $ 45 (Minardi) to 500 million if you are Ferrari or Toyota
British American Racing team ran a split liveried car during 1999.
The Lotus team was the fisrt team to advertise tobacco products on their cars.
Before the universally recognised scarlet, Ferrari cars were Green in color.
The Lotus team were to first to introduce the revoultionary "Ground Effects" in F1.
Unfortunatly Ayrton Senna lost races or points on 2 occations because his car ran out of fuel during the end of the race in the 1991 season.
The Renault team introduced the first turbo charged engines in Formula 1.
The clean slicks tyres were removed to reduce grip for the cars in 1997 and since then all cars are run on grooved tyres.
The clean slicks tyres were removed to reduce grip for the cars in 1997 and since then all cars are run on grooved tyres. Talks are that they may come back in 2008
In 2002 championship season Ferrari became the most successful F1 team ever in formula in a single season. The surpassed McLaren who scored 199 points with 15 wins. Ferrari scored 221 points with a record equaling 15 wins. They repeated the feat in 2004
Michael Schumacher has won 9 races in a season 3 times (1995, 2000, 2001) and won a record breaking 11 races in 2002 with 144 points the highest ever for a single championship season. He also was quickest to win the championship ever. He repeated the feat in 2004 by winning 13 races of 18.
In 2001 with a lead of over 40 seconds Mika Hakkinen's car broke down on the last lap of the race, only to be won by Michael Schumacher.
In 1989, Theiry Boutsen successfully defended the challenge form Ayrton Senna at the twisty Hungaroring in Hungary.
The 3.9 km Hungaroring Circuit at Budapest is described as Monaco without the harbour.
In 2000 German Grand Prix at Hockenhiem, Germany a protestor walked on the circuit demanding higher pay for him.
In a similar incident in 2003 British Grand Prix at Silverstone a protestor wearing a kilt ran onto the Hanger straight holding cards with religious statements.
In 1998 Michael Schumacher won the British Grand Prix while serving a 10 second stop / go penalty in the pits.
Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard are the most successful pairing for a team in Formula 1. The drove together at McLaren from 1996 - 2001.
Mika Hakkinen and Eddie Irvine threw water at each other during a TV press conference over a comical disagreement. Michael Schumacher, who was between those two escaped barely.
Michael Schumacher was heavily criticised for acting as an orchestra conductor when the Italian national anthem was played, while he posed as an honest school boy when his own country's tune was played.
In the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix, the turn 3 - Curva Do Sol at Interlagos, Sao Paulo, Brazil claimed 6 cars due to rainwater running down across the turn, and in the view of many making it the most expensive parking lot in Sao Paulo.
Kimi Raikkonen entered Formula 1 with only 24 professional races under his belt.
From the 60's to the 80's Silverstone and Brands Hatch alternativily hosted the British Grand Prix.
Honda and Renault won 6 consecutive F1 constructors with Williams, McLaren and Benetton. Honda achieved the feat during 1986-1991 while Renault did it from 1992 to 1997.
Only 2 week after the death of Ferrari founder Enzo Ferrari, Gearhard Berger won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza and the Ferrari's finished 1 - 2, which is believed to be almost
supernatural considering the fact that the McLaren Honda won the remaining 15 races of the season.
The Modern F1 car is capable of reaching top speeds in excess of 220 mph or 354 kph.
Do correct me if I am wrong!!!
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