Formula One

:F1 redirects here. For other uses of the abbreviation, see F1 (disambiguation).

Drivers and constructors

See also: List of Formula One constructors, List of Formula One drivers, List of Formula One people, List of Formula One World Champions

Related Topics:
List of Formula One constructors - List of Formula One drivers - List of Formula One people - List of Formula One World Champions

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Formula One teams must build the chassis in which they compete, and consequently the terms "team" and "constructor" are more or less interchangeable. This requirement distinguishes the sport from "spec series" such as IRL, Champ Cars, Formula 3000 and NASCAR. In its early years, Formula One teams sometimes also built their engines, though this became less common with the increased involvement of major car manufacturers such as BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Renault, Toyota, and Honda, whose large budgets rendered privately built engines less competitive.

Related Topics:
Spec series - IRL - Champ Cars - Formula 3000 - NASCAR - BMW - DaimlerChrysler - Renault - Toyota - Honda

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Early manufacturer involvement came in the form of a "factory team", i.e. one owned and staffed by a major car company, such as those of Alfa Romeo, Peugeot or Renault. Companies such as Climax, Repco, Cosworth, Judd and Supertec, which had no direct team affiliation, often sold engines to teams who could not afford to manufacture them. As the manufacturers' deep pockets and engineering ability took over, these collaborations largely died out in favour of the present system in which a manufacturer supports a single team.

Related Topics:
Alfa Romeo - Peugeot - Renault - Climax - Repco - Cosworth - Judd - Supertec

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After having virtually disappeared by the early 1980s, factory teams made a comeback in the 1990s and 2000s, with Toyota, Ferrari (FIAT), and Renault owning their own teams and BMW following suit by purchasing another team. Honda has also recently gained control over what was once British American Racing BAR. Others, such as DaimlerChrysler, provide engines and sponsorship for privately owned teams in return for prominent advertisement on their team clothing and car livery. The only remaining commercial engine manufacturer is Cosworth.

Related Topics:
Toyota - Ferrari - FIAT - Renault - BMW - Honda - BAR - DaimlerChrysler - Cosworth

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The sport's 1950 debut season saw eighteen teams compete, but due to high costs many dropped out quickly. In fact, such was the scarcity of competitive cars for much of the first decade of Formula One that Formula Two cars were admitted to fill the grids. Ferrari is the only still-active team which competed in 1950, and as of 2005 only ten teams remain on the grid, each fielding two cars. Although teams rarely disclose information about their budgets, it is estimated that they range from 75 to 500 million United States dollars.

Related Topics:
1950 debut season - Formula Two - Ferrari - As of 2005 - United States dollar

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Entering a new team in the Formula One World Championship requires a £25 million up-front payment to the FIA, which is then repaid to the team over the course of the season. As a consequence, constructors desiring to enter Formula One often prefer to buy an existing team: B.A.R.'s purchase of Tyrrell and Midland's purchase of Jordan allowed both of these teams to sidestep the large deposit.

Related Topics:
FIA - B.A.R. - Tyrrell - Midland - Jordan

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Each car is assigned a number. The previous season's World Drivers' Champion is designated number 1, with his teammate given number 2. Numbers are then assigned according to each team's position in the previous season's World Constructors' Championship. There have been exceptions to this rule, such as in 1993 and 1994, when the current World Drivers' Champion was no longer competing in Formula One. In this case the drivers for the team of the previous year's champion are given numbers 0 and 2. The number 13 has not been used since 1974, before which it was occasionally assigned at the discretion of individual race organizers. Before 1996, only the world championship winning driver and his team generally swapped numbers with the previous champion – the remainder held their numbers from prior years, as they had been originally set at the start of the 1974 season. For many years, for example, Ferrari held numbers 27 & 28, regardless of their finishing position in the world championship. As privateer teams quickly folded in the early 1990s, numbers were frequently shuffled around, until the current system was adopted in 1996.

Related Topics:
13 - Ferrari

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Michael Schumacher holds the record for having won the most Drivers' Championships (seven) and Ferrari holds the record for having won the most Constructors' Championships (fourteen). Jochen Rindt has the distinction of having been the only posthumous World Champion.

Related Topics:
Michael Schumacher - Ferrari - Jochen Rindt

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~