HISTORY OF FORMULA ONE

Formula One automobile racing has its roots in the European Grand Prix championships of the 1920s and 1930s. The foundation of Formula One began in 1946 with the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's (FIA's) standardisation of rules. A World Drivers' Championship followed in 1950. The sport's history parallels the evolution of its technical regulations. In addition to the world championship series, non-championship Formula One races were held for many years, the last held in 1983 due to the rising cost of competition. National championships existed in South Africa and the UK in the 1960s and 1970s.

The era of factory Italian and Mercedes front-engine cars

The Motorcycle World Championships was introduced in 1949. In 1950 the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) responded with the first ever official World Championship for Drivers using the Formula One rules. The championship series, to be held across six of the 'major' Grands Prix of Europe plus the Indianapolis 500, was in effect a formalization of what had already been developing in Grand Prix racing during the previous years. Italian teams of Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, and Maserati were best positioned to dominate the early years. Other national manufacturers – such as the French manufacturer Talbot or the British BRM – competed, although less successfully. A number of private cars also took part in local races. The Italian and German factory teams in those days often employed 2 to 3 drivers whose nationality was the same as the team's and at least 1 foreign driver; for example the Alfa Romeo team in 1950 consisted of Italian drivers Giuseppe Farina, Luigi Fagioli and Piero Taruffi; and Argentine driver Juan Manuel Fangio.

British independent specialist teams and the rear-mid engine revolution

Although the basic formula remained unchanged in 1958, races were shortened from around 500 km/300miles to 300 km/200 miles and cars had to use Avgas instead of various fuel mixtures using methanol as the primary component. 1958 saw the introduction of a championship for constructors with points allocated on an 8, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 basis to the first six cars in the race (i.e. unlike the drivers' championship there was no point for fastest lap). Furthermore, points were only awarded to the highest placed car of each make, i.e. if a make finished 1st and 2nd they would receive only eight points and the 3rd placed car would receive 4 points. With Fangio retired, Mike Hawthorn in a Ferrari took the 1958 driver's championship – becoming the first English driver to earn a title. The British Vanwall team took the maiden constructors championship that season, but ruined their driver's championship aspirations by taking points off one another. Stirling Moss, despite having many more wins than Hawthorn, lost the title by one point. Ironically, a moment of high sportsmanship cost Moss the 1958 title. When Hawthorn was threatened with disqualification at the finish of the Portuguese Grand Prix for going in the wrong direction (to restart his car following a spin), Moss argued to stewards on Hawthorn's behalf. The points granted Hawthorn were the difference in the championship. This season also saw a woman driving in Formula One for the first time with Maria Teresa de Filippis racing a private Maserati at the Belgian Grand Prix.