75 Years of Formula 1: Precision, Risk, and the Relentless Pursuit of Speed

What is Formula 1?

F1 is a team sport disguised as an individual battle. While drivers get the glory, behind each is a team of hundreds — engineers, strategists, data analysts, pit crews — working in unison to shave off tenths of a second. Each season typically runs from March to December, with around 20–24 Grand Prix races held across different countries.

There are two parallel championships: the Drivers’ Championship, awarded to the individual with the most points at season’s end, and the Constructors’ Championship, given to the team with the highest cumulative score from both of its drivers. Points are awarded based on finishing positions in each race, with additional points available for the fastest lap.

Success demands perfection. Every pit stop, tire change, and strategy call can alter the course of a title campaign.

From Scrap Metal to Supercomputers

F1 began in 1950 at Silverstone. Juan Manuel Fangio dominated the early years, racing in cars that look like oversized soapboxes today. Through the decades, the sport evolved dramatically:

• 1960s: The rear-engine revolution and British dominance
• 1970s: Wings, downforce, and driver personalities like Hunt and Lauda
• 1980s-90s: Turbocharged madness, commercial boom, Senna vs. Prost
• 2000s: Ferrari’s empire, Schumacher’s records
• 2010s: Hybrid power, Mercedes dominance, Hamilton’s cultural rise
• 2020s: Liberty Media, Netflix, TikTok, and a generation raised on simulators — crowned by Max Verstappen’s blistering dominance in Red Bull’s rebirth era

Each era changed how we perceive the limit of performance. In 75 Years of Formula 1: every decade, the car’s silhouette sharpened, from chubby nose cones to sculpted aerodynamic beasts.

When Speed Kills

F1 is not without its ghosts. The sport has witnessed terrifying accidents:

• Jim Clark, a two-time Formula 1 World Champion, died in 1968, during a Formula Two race at the Hockenheimring in West Germany.
• Jochen Rindt remains the only driver to have won the Formula One World Championship posthumously. He died in 1970 during qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
• Canadian driver Gilles Villeneuve died in 1982, during the final qualifying session for the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder.
• Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger lost his life in 1994, during qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola.
• Three-time World Champion Ayrton Senna died in 1994, during the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola.
• French driver Jules Bianchi suffered a severe accident in 2014, during the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka. He sustained a diffuse axonal injury and remained in a coma until his death on July 17, 2015.

Each loss prompted change. The HANS (Head and Neck Support) device. Reinforced cockpits. The halo (curved titanium bar mounted over the cockpit). Run-off zones. The virtual safety car. Today, a crash that once spelled fatality might mean just a bruised ego.

But make no mistake: this is still a dangerous sport. High-speed crashes, fire, and mechanical failure remain part of the risk, as Romain Grosjean’s fiery Bahrain crash in 2020 reminded the world. Grosjean’s escape was widely hailed as a testament to the advancements in F1 safety protocols. He later expressed gratitude for the halo, stating, “Without it, I wouldn’t be able to speak to you today.”