All You Need To Know About Formula One (Part Two)

Today we continue our complete look at Formula One.

Big business  

Beginning in the 1970s, Bernie Ecclestone rearranged the management of Formula One's commercial rights; he is widely credited with transforming the sport into the multibillion-dollar business it now is. When Ecclestone bought the Brabham team during 1971 he gained a seat on the Formula One Constructors' Association and during 1978 became its president. Previously, the circuit owners controlled the income of the teams and negotiated with each individually, however Ecclestone persuaded the teams to "hunt as a pack" through FOCA. The Guardian said of FOCA that Ecclestone and Max Mosley "used it to wage a guerrilla war with a very long-term aim in view". FOCA threatened to establish a rival series, boycotted a Grand Prix and FISA withdrew its sanction from races. Although FISA asserted its right to the TV revenues, it handed the administration of those rights to FOCA.

FISA imposed a ban on ground-effect aerodynamics during 1983. By then, however, turbocharged engines, which Renault had pioneered in 1977, were producing over and were essential to be competitive. By 1986, a BMW turbocharged engine achieved a flash reading of 5.5 bar pressure, estimated to be over in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix. The next year power in race trim reached around, with boost pressure limited to only 4.0 bar. These cars were the most powerful open-wheel circuit racing cars ever. To reduce engine power output and thus speeds, the FIA limited fuel tank capacity in 1984 and boost pressures in 1988 before banning turbocharged engines completely in 1989.

The development of electronic driver aids began during the 1980s. Lotus began to develop a system of active suspension which first appeared during 1982 on the 91. By 1987, this system had been perfected and was driven to victory by Ayrton Senna in the Monaco Grand Prix that year. In the early 1990s other teams followed suit and semi-automatic gearboxes and traction control were a natural progression. The FIA, due to complaints that technology was determining the outcome of races more than driver skill, banned many such aids for 1994. This resulted in cars that were previously dependent on electronic aids becoming very "twitchy" and difficult to drive . Many observers felt the ban on driver aids was in name only as they "proved difficult to police effectively".

The teams signed a second Concorde Agreement during 1992 and a third in 1997, which expired on the last day of 2007.

On the track, the McLaren and Williams teams dominated the 1980s and 1990s, with Brabham also being competitive during the early part of the 1980s, winning two drivers' championships with Nelson Piquet. Powered by Porsche, Honda, and Mercedes-Benz, McLaren won sixteen championships  in that period, while Williams used engines from Ford, Honda, and Renault to also win sixteen titles . The rivalry between racers Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost became F1's central focus during 1988, and continued until Prost retired at the end of 1993. Senna died at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix after crashing into a wall on the exit of the notorious curve Tamburello, having taken over Prost's lead drive at Williams that year. The FIA worked to improve the sport's safety standards since that weekend, during which Roland Ratzenberger also lost his life in an accident during Saturday qualifying. No driver had died of injuries sustained on the track at the wheel of a Formula One car for 20 years, until the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix where Jules Bianchi collided with a recovery vehicle after aquaplaning off the circuit. Since 1994, three track marshals have lost their lives, one at the 2000 Italian Grand Prix, the second at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix.

Manufacturers' return  

Michael Schumacher and Ferrari won five consecutive drivers' championships  and six consecutive constructors' championships . Schumacher set many new records, including those for Grand Prix wins, wins in a season, and most drivers' championships . Schumacher's championship streak ended on 25 September 2005 when Renault driver Fernando Alonso became Formula One's youngest champion at that time. During 2006, Renault and Alonso won both titles again. Schumacher retired at the end of 2006 after sixteen years in Formula One, but came out of retirement for the 2010 season, racing for the newly formed Mercedes works team for three seasons.

During this period the championship rules were changed frequently by the FIA with the intention of improving the on-track action and cutting costs. Team orders, legal since the championship started during 1950, were banned during 2002 after several incidents in which teams openly manipulated race results, generating negative publicity, most famously by Ferrari at the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix. Other changes included the qualifying format, the points scoring system, the technical regulations, and rules specifying how long engines and tyres must last. A 'tyre war' between suppliers Michelin and Bridgestone saw lap times fall, although at the 2005 United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis seven out of ten teams did not race when their Michelin tyres were deemed unsafe for use, leading to Bridgestone becoming the sole tyre supplier to Formula One for the 2007 season. During 2006, Max Mosley outlined a 'green' future for Formula One, in which efficient use of energy would become an important factor.

Since 1983, Formula One had been dominated by specialist race teams like Williams, McLaren, and Benetton, using engines supplied by large car manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Renault, and Ford. Starting in 2000, with Ford's creation of the largely unsuccessful Jaguar team, new manufacturer-owned teams entered Formula One for the first time since the departure of Alfa Romeo and Renault at the end of 1985. By 2006, the manufacturer teams–Renault, BMW, Toyota, Honda, and Ferrari–dominated the championship, taking five of the first six places in the constructors' championship. The sole exception was McLaren, which at the time was part-owned by Mercedes Benz. Through the Grand Prix Manufacturers Association  they negotiated a larger share of Formula One's commercial profit and a greater say in the running of the sport.

Manufacturers' decline and return of the privateers  

In 2008 and 2009, Honda, BMW, and Toyota all withdrew from Formula One racing within the space of a year, blaming the economic recession. This resulted in the end of manufacturer dominance within the sport. The Honda F1 team went through a management buyout to become Brawn GP with the notable F1 designer Ross Brawn and Nick Fry running and owning the majority of the organisation. Brawn GP went through a painful size reduction, laying off hundreds of employees, but eventually won the year's world championships with Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. BMW F1 was bought out by the original founder of the team Peter Sauber. The Lotus F1 Team are another, formerly manufacturer-owned team that has reverted to "privateer" ownership; with the buy-out of the Renault F1 Team, by Genii Capital investors in recent years. A link with their previous owners still survived however; with their car continuing to be powered by a Renault Power Unit until 2014.

McLaren also announced that it was to reacquire the shares in its team from Mercedes Benz . Hence, during the 2010 season Mercedes Benz re-entered the sport as a manufacturer after its purchase of Brawn GP, and split with McLaren after 15 seasons with the team. This leaves Mercedes, McLaren, and Ferrari as the only car manufacturers in the sport, although both McLaren and Ferrari began as racing teams rather than manufacturers.

AT&T Williams confirmed towards the end of 2009 their new engine deal with Cosworth, who also supplied the wave of new teams Virgin Racing, Hispania Racing F1, and the newly formed Lotus Racing team. The exit of car manufacturers has also paved the way for teams representing their countries, with some having the funding by their respective national governments . Williams later rejoined with Renault in 2012, rekindling a partnership that dates back to the early to mid-1990s. However, the partnership was short lived and as of the 2014 F1 season, Williams compete with the Mercedes Power Unit.

A rule shake-up in 2014 meant Mercedes emerged as the dominant force, with Lewis Hamilton winning the championship closely followed by his main rival and team-mate, Nico Rosberg - the team winning 16 out of the 19 races that season. 2014 also saw a financial crisis which resulted in Marussia F1 and Caterham F1 being put into administration, alongside the uncertain future of Force India and Sauber. Marussia returned under the Manor name in 2015, a season in which, to date, Ferrari have been the only challengers to Mercedes.

Part Three coming tomorrow...

Tipster Street.