History of F1

The history of Formula one (F1) goes back to the 1920’s and started life as Grand Prix motor racing in Europe. The actual foundation of F1 came about in 1946 with the standardisation of rules implemented by the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA).

In 1946 the Commission Sportive Internationale (CSI) defined F1 as being the premier single seater motorsport category in the world. Although it was widely known as Formula A, the name Formula One was frequently used in the early days and became official in 1950.

The actual engines and the car chassis have seen much change over the years and the rules for that matter. The first ever World Championship using F1 rules of the day took place in 1950. The races were held at six of the major Grand Prix circuits in Europe. This was the start of things to come.

The 1950 season was dominated by the Italian cars from Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Ferrari, with the Alfa team winning every race in the championship.

In 1958 the races were shortened from 500km to 300km and the fuel changed from using a variety of mixtures to Avgas. Around this time Stirling Moss took the crown in the Argentine Grand Prix, in a mid engine Cooper, which was a private entry. This was an important win and led to the change of engine position, as it was the first car to win with the engine positioned behind the driver.

As the years went by and manufacturers made drastic changes to the engines and body work, during the late 60s and early 70s the cars began to take the famous F1 shape as we know it. In today’s machines, you could almost be the cockpit of a plane, with onboard computers and high-tech safety devices. Things have certainly come a long way since the 1920s.