Formula One Racing - Research Paper Example

Motorsports (The Formula One) Introduction Formula One also known as the Grand Prix was originated in Europe in the year 1920. It is one of the most famous motorsports in the world. The Formula One is the most premier class of single sitter automobile racing in the world approved by Federation International Automobile. The Formula One includes set of rules that drivers need to comply. Formula One is not only based on a participant driver it consists of team-mates including team-manager and other experts. Formula One has gained its fame from the speed at which the cars race. Formula One car is built in such a way that they can speed up to 220 mph. This motorsport is one of the most dangerous sports hence it requires many safety methods in case of occurrence of any accident. Formula One race consists of many races in a single season. The races take place in different parts of world. Due to the risk factor the participants are paid well for each race organized. Media plays a very important role in featuring the shows that are held in different part of world. Formula One has a huge fan following in almost every country because of its speed, style, expose to danger and many other factors. There are many issues of Formula One racing including social as well as political still this is a motorsport that claims the highest popularity in the world. This research paper analyzes and discusses some important factors about Formula One racing. Analysis Historical implications The Formula One racing series was introduced in 1920s and 1930s along with European Grand Prix. The Formula One is based on a set of series that participants had to implement while they take part in the competition. During this period drivers were being prepared to the forth-coming world championship that was about to be held in 1946. Due to World War II, the championship got delayed and it happened in the year 1950 at Silverstone, United Kingdom. After the world championship Formula One gained a lot of popularity and consecutive championships were held in South Africa and U.K. in the year 1960 and 1970. Though the championships gained huge popularity in many parts of world but due to increase in cost the last of these racing events occurred in 1983. Racing seasons again continued after a while after a little bit cost-cutting and in the year 2002 Formula One gained huge popularity in the Austrian Grand Prix (Page, 2011). There were many developments made in the racing car and techniques along with the circuits between these years and finally Formula One became the most popular motorsports in the world. Economic issues Though it may seem that because of huge popularity Formula One teams are expert money makers but the truth is different in the modern world. The small teams participating in the race generally invest less compared to Ferrari and other known brand owners hence the income of them is less. It has been observed that small teams earn about $15 million in contrast to Ferrari and other big teams who earn more than $100 million every year. Formula One race is very costly because of up gradation of technology, hiring expert drivers, expensive car and other factors. The maintenance is also very expensive hence it results to bankruptcy of small tem owners in almost every year. There are huge economic challenges because to perform a race huge taxes are required to be paid to government. Moreover the racing of extremely speed vehicles can be dangerous; hence it is required to give more stress in the safety of drivers participating in the race. Every year millions of dollars are spent to assure the safety of participants. Circuit-owners are the ones who are profited most in the racing events (Quinn, 2013). Hence it is clear that there are many economic issues involved with the Formula One racing. Social issues Undoubtedly Games and Sports are ethical and it helps people to re-energize mentally and physically. Some sports face social problems because of extreme popularity. It is very well known that common people are the main target for capitalists. Branding of products like tobacco is an unethical step taken by Formula One. It has been observed that there are many brand endorsements by many companies through hoardings and media which has resulted more use of unethical products by people. Moreover usage of drugs, violence in sports, and effect of gender and disability on participation in sport are other important factors that lead to social hazards. As we know that tobacco causes cancer, still extensive branding of tobacco related products is an anti-social act. Tobacco sponsorship was banned by Australia in 1995 but it is still observant in many other countries which make it a serious issue because the winners of the racing event sponsored but Marlboro or any other product becomes a favorite brand for people and they start wide use of products (Bogusz, 2007a). Hence these sponsorships should not be entertained in order to reduce the social issues. Cultural Perspectives The Formula One race comprises of many race events in a season. The world championship occurs in many different countries. The versatility in the racing results in positive interest among supporters. There are people who belong to different culture as a result in the stands there are many viewers present with different culture. The racing stands have many attractive features. The supporters of different teams either wear dress with logos resembling the team they support or else they wear caps which indicate about their supporting teams. Most of the crowds present in the stands are males because Formula One is mostly like by men over women but motorsport is also like by some women so in the stands women also stand for their supporting participants. The car used for racing produce huge sounds which can go up to 110 decibels so most of the people use covers for ear (Kendall, 2011a). These are some of the common culture that is observed commonly in the stands moreover people from different nation support their team via media. Different countries have different type of culture and anxiety during the competitions. Hence the race provides huge attraction and looks colorful during performance. Science behind technology There are many modern technologies used in the Formula One race. Starting from the aerodynamics, it plays a very important role to cut the air and give the vehicle more speed. Huge amount of money each year in development of the aerodynamics system and make it equivalent to a jet plane. Brakes used in Formula One car are ABS anti-skid system so that the brakes do not get locked when the vehicle is at a very high speed. KERS technology is used as an energy recovery system in the car, because once slowed down the drivers perception becomes to speed up the vehicle in seconds hence to provide maximum energy this technology was used in the year 2009. The fuel in the F1 cars is petrol that is available commercially for other vehicles. Most of the vehicles of Formula One consist of 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 engines, these engines can produce up to 600bhp (Collett, 2011). An additional 160bhp is also present in the vehicles that come from the energy recovery system. Hence the gearbox and power unit produces tremendous energy for the vehicles to race. The steering wheels in Formula One cars are very unique with all controls merged on to the steering. Moreover the steering wheels are unlike normal cars and they take less attention for drivers participating. The steering also has a LCD which gives the perfect timing for transmission. The suspension in the modern Formula One cars are very critical and constitute of different elements in order to balance the air suspension between the tire and the air pressure so that the vehicle can move fast on a track. There are several other technologies used in the racing so that vehicles can be faster with more safety. After 2012 the safety measures have been given more importance in the racing events (Ishiyama, 2011). In Formula One cars there has been implementation of new technologies that can determine the risks in the vehicle. The carts after being designed are loaded with safety lights which provide signals to coordinators in case of any electrical misbalance in the vehicle. This is an outstanding method implemented in the vehicles which have resulted in less accidents compared to races organized earlier. The weather forecast is also an important part of Formula One racing and huge amount of money is spent for advancement and maintenance of equipment every year. The equipment used in forecasting get direct information from satellites, as a result the safety measures have an increased effect in Formula One racing. People and Places As discussed earlier every year Formula One race is conducted in almost every part of the world. Except Antarctica and Africa, Formula One race is conducted in all other continents. Among the circuits present everywhere in the world today, Australia and Abu-Dhabi have the best tracks according to drivers. Malaysia, Japan, China, Spain, Canada, Britain, Hungary, Germany, Italy, India and many other countries have conducted racing tournaments in their respective countries with versatile and energetic spectators all over (Kendall, 2011b). People of different ethnics and culture have come together to support Formula One as the most interesting Motorsport in the modern world. There are many events that occur every year including the reward and recognition of championship trophies in different cities. It has been observed in the stands that people from different culture come together to support their participants. The uniqueness in the stands can-not be compared to other motorsports because the number of spectators and the amount of support is much more. Sanctioning bodies There are many sanctioning bodies for Formula One racing. The most famous sanctioning bodies are CART &IRL (1996-2003), IRL&CCWS (2004-2007), and Indy-Car (2008). These are some of the most important sanctioning bodies in the modern world. The first sanctioning body was the American Automobile Association (AAA), which sanctioned the first motorsport event in the year 1904 (Bogusz, 2007b). The sanctioning bodies in the Formula One tournaments are responsible for hiring the teams that participate in the race tournaments. They are also responsible for organizing the tournament places and tracks. Providing safety car during bad weather is also their responsibility. In order to take participation a team needs to pay certain amount for their admission, the sanctioning body also checks whether the car used by a team or the driver can be a threat to the racing tournament. Hence a sanctioning body is responsible for every type of risk management jobs performed during a tournament. Discussion From the above analysis it is clear that Formula One is one of the most important motorsport in the world. The significance of Formula One has been one of the greatest in the racing industry. From the beginning it has aimed in gaining speed in the race in order to get public attention. Due to high cost factors Formula one has suffered a lot in the world of Motorsport. However with time this sport has been able to implement many cost reducing factors. Due to advancement in the technology it has been regarded as one of the most entertaining sports in the world. Formula One is also conducted in many places as a result it has huge popularity in its segment. Other automobile race has not been able to gain the amount of spectators compared to Formula One. The beauty in tracks, the speed in the car and modern techniques have been incredible for Formula One in its entire career. The safety measures implemented in the vehicles and tracks has various positive responses compared to the races conducted earlier. Formula one has been able to overcome many hurdles from the past, the development in technology and increase in speed has given new heights to motorsports in the world. As mentioned in the analysis the sanctioning bodies play important role to hire and conduct the race in various places. The tracks are decided based on the weather conditions so that there could be fewer hazards during advancement of a race. The events organized are extremely prestigious and media coverage in to the tournament helps in getting more supporters offline then online. Formula One racing has taken the motorsport racing to new heights. The developments all over have been appreciated by people of different culture and places. The engineering done in the vehicles is outstanding. The Energy Recovery System installed in the vehicles is fabulous. It gives additional speed when a vehicle has slowed down due to some reasons. The pick-up of the vehicles has been increased every year within fraction of seconds. The tires used for racing a Formula One car are built with application of modern techniques. The tires used today are stronger and can hold the heat of the pitch for a longer duration. Due to highly efficient tires vehicles are not required to go to pit-stop frequently. A season in a world championship comprises of 19 races and each race consists of numerous laps depending on the length of the circuit. These are very important factors because racing at a very high speed continuously for a complete season is very challenging and the vehicles need to be serviced properly so that they do-not burn out in the middle of a race. The crews recruited are extremely talented and they are paid high salaries in order to assure safety and security of the vehicles used for racing. These are the main factors that are involved in the popularity of Formula One racing. Conclusion From the above analysis and discussion it is significant that Formula One is one of the most popular motorsports in the world. Formula One has gained its popularity because of implementation of safety measures time to time and development in the racing techniques. The use of sponsorship in the vehicles and the racing suites of drivers is also a technique to grab more publicattention and money from sponsors. As already discussed Formula One is one of the most expensive racing techniques in the world hence there needs to be enough money regulated so that the racing events can be conducted in a prosperous way. The brand endorsements by tobacco companies are unethical but due to requirement of huge money it is entertained in many countries. The racing tracks have been changed time to time by the sanctioning bodies. Until 1970 all the races were performed on dirt tracks and clay tracks which were dangerous. The increase of speed in dirt track was more prone to accidents rather than pitched tracks. Hence after 1971 all dirt and clay tracks had been replaced by USAC in order to reduce the chances of accidents and increase in efficiency of vehicles. In the modern vehicles the fuel injection pumps are fitted with microprocessors which signify the amount of fuel burnt during a race. Each and every activity is recorded by governing bodies in order to maintain the safety during race. Hence Formula One is in a verge of becoming most popular and safest motorsports in the world. References Bogusz, B. (2007). The Regulation of Sport in the European Union. London: Sage. Collett, P. (2011). The Sponshorship handbook. New York: Ashgate. Ishiyama, J. (2011). Comparative Politics. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Kendall, D. (2011). Sociology in Our Times. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Page, S. (2011). The Routledge handbook of Events. London: Routledge. Quinn, B. (2013). Key Concepts in Event Management. New York: Springer. Read More