Understanding a Formula One Car

Formula One, as its name implies, is the number one category of “Formula” racing – that is, open-wheel single-seaters. More than that, it is the premier form of all motor racing in terms of both its popularity and its technical standing. The sophistication and sheer scale of performance of a Formula One car justifies this standing as well as the vast amounts of money that are spent on the sport.
Formula One is a very precise term that defines the specification of the cars that compete for the World Championship of both drivers and constructors. The formula undergoes regular revision by the governing body, but its essence remains: A Formula One car is the fastest, most agile machine in the world in terms of getting around a road-racing track, that is, a race track with real corners like you might find on a real road, as opposed to a banked oval like those used in popular forms of American racing.
A Formula One car represents the biggest driving challenge for any racing driver because of its power-to-weight ratio and its huge, aerodynamicallyenhanced grip. It represents the ultimate in motor sport technology in its use of materials, the intensity of its design, and the resources required to build and develop it. A Formula One car stands at the very cutting edge of automotive technology.