Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Formula One, the most exciting and enthralling race, will continue to push its global boundaries this year.

The German Grand Prix returns at Hockenheim at the end of July, while the European round at Baku brings the number of races to a record 21 in the season.

The South Caucasus country, located on the western edge of the Caspian Sea is in anticipation to host this thrilling race at the height of summer.

The Baku City Circuit will welcome their inaugural race on June 17-19, the week after Canada, and will historically mark the first race ever to be held in Azerbaijan.

F1 car racing, held in accordance with well-formulated rules and regulations, and incredible efficiency, has astounding number of fans around the world.

However, it was not an easy beginning and the competition went through a lot to get to this day, become a prestigious sporting event having hundred millions of followers, and the sport shows no signs of letting up.

The famous racing formally came into existence in 1946 when it was defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the world motor racing body, as the premier single seater racing category in racing car sport worldwide.

Since then, the race immediately started earning a reputation as one of the world’s most dangerous sports.

1950 season included the inaugural Formula 1 world championship season, which was contested over a seven race series held in Europe and with participation of 14 teams.

The first World Championship for Drivers was won by Italian Giuseppe Farina in his Alfa Romeo, barely defeating his Argentine teammate Juan Manuel Fangio.

Fangio, in turn, won the title in 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956 and 1957 and his record of five World Championship titles stood for 45 years until German driver Michael Schumacher took his sixth title in 2003.

The races were initially known as Formula A and the most participating cars including Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, and Maserati in early year competitions came from Italy.

Rules changed year by year to ensure that both drivers and spectators were looked after, subsequently implementing new safety technology every new season while working to gradually reduce crashes and injuries.

The first safety measures at Formula One racing were introduced in 1960 and three years later drivers were required to wear fireproof suits.

The 1970’s brought safety technology to the spectators, with double-re-enforced crash barriers installed, along with three-metre high embankments on the track with hay bales banned as barriers.

Since the race will be held around the picturesque streets of downtown Baku, where the old combines with the new in breath-taking fashion, a city with its stunning Icheri Sheher (Old City), a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the magnificent Flame Towers barriers will be installed along the entire route to protect the sights from damage.

An interesting fact about the competition is that the average age of the drivers for the very first world championship race was 39. Three of the 21-driver field at Silverstone were in their fifties, while five more were forty or over, including race winner Giuseppe Farina, who was 43. The ‘baby’ of field, was British racer Geoffrey Crossley, who was at 29.

The most dominant figures during this time were Michael Schumacher and Ferrari, who won an unprecedented five consecutive drivers' championships and six consecutive constructors' championships between 1999 and 2004.

Today, the F1 season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix, held throughout the world on purpose-built F1 circuits and public roads.

At the birth of motor racing, cars were upright and heavy, roads and reliability were problematic.

Now, technological improvements saw cars get faster, lighter and smarter over the years and currently, the world championships are dominated by manufacturer-owned teams like Renault, BMW, Toyota, Honda and Ferrari.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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