A winning formula

Just to cross a flag

I have been following Formula One for over 14 years now. It is not that I am addicted to the sport; it is just that Formula One is more than just sport.

At the age of 14, I was transitioning my fascination for cars from that of a poster-ogling teenager to understanding mechanicals behind the wheels. Even with my limited knowledge, Formula One was a natural draw for me. I quickly identified it to be a sport for the superlatives. Every bit and piece of a Formula One car is purpose built to be best in what it is supposed to do. This consistent attempt at motorsport brilliance made a constant dent in my young formative cranium. Of course, in 1996, Michael Schumacher joined Ferrari and ever since, I have been shamelessly in love with the sport.

It is a sport to the extent that 20 odd cars with 20 odd drivers navigate a race track for a certain number of laps with an objective to come first. But behind the drivers, lie the cars itself. Each car designed and engineered for incredible speeds and lateral forces. And behind every car, lies a barrage of engineers. These engineers operate within constraints and boundary conditions of rules and specification to assemble a car that pushes its edge beyond what is feasible or possible.

Every year, the sporting regulation authority FIA, instill tighter regulations and less flexibility in design. But every season, the engineers find ever more creative ways to extract the last drop of performance from the machine. As I started to follow the races, I got ever more interested in the engineering aspects of the trade. The aerodynamics, the suspension detail, the engine technology, every bit of it was interesting to me. Yes, I was dejected whenever Michael would lose. But not once did I ever consider quitting watching the sport.

The best teams make engineering look like art. Look at the current Ferrari F10’s front wheel rims. Since FIA outlawed wheel covers, Ferrari ingeniously integrated wheel cover philosophy by making integrated concentric rims itself. And they look so beautiful! Then there are teams who read between the lines better than any team. Since movable aerodynamic rear wings are not allowed, McLaren went ahead and devised a small scoop that circulates air over the rear wing to reduce drag by making it turbulent, at the wish of the driver’s movable left leg. Red Bull’s Adrian Newey showcased courage by re-implementing pull rod suspensions at the rear and making it stick.

I am not taking anything away from the drivers. The best of best open wheel car racing drivers find themselves in the formula one seat. Withstanding 6g’s of braking and 4g’s of lateral forces on their necks, losing liters of fluid through the race and yet taming a 750hp monster through the entire duration of the race. Their steering inputs are incredibly controlled and their ability to play out turn one at 300 kph slowly is unparalleled.

I can’t make you watch men and their flying machines go round and round for 60 laps. I will lose the argument when you compare it to Moto GP that promises overtaking to the last lap. But if you ever wanted to watch a spectacle, where the most talented human driver’s on Earth are pushing cars engineered that are meant to be driven at the absolute limit all the time, then you cannot find a grander show.

The winning formula, since it is suffixed by 1.