2. Stronger

Word Count: 774

Lists

Teams: Scuderia Ferrari, Mercedes AMG Petronas, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, McLaren Renault, Alfa Romeo Sauber, Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda, Haas Ferrari, Renault, Force India Mercedes, Williams Mercedes

Some teams look repeated because their engine is bought. Force India and Williams get their engines from Mercedes, McLaren gets theirs from Renault, Haas gets theirs from Ferrari.

Teams spend millions of dollars developing simulations, cars, and training their drivers. This and other boundaries to entry prevent smaller teams from joining and have caused other teams like BMW to drop out. Many teams also team up with other organizations to split work like building the engine, and allow advertisements on their paint jobs (livery). When you think of Mercedes, luxury is the word that comes up but they are also one of the most competitive teams in Formula 1 leading the way to innovation. Some familiar names are Ferrari and Aston Martin Red Bull. There are many other teams as well but are mostly unknown to the world outside of motorsports. To show how expensive Formula 1 I'll go over the cost of some of the outrageous costs to build a Formula 1 car. Top teams spend $320 million a year which includes the car, paying drivers and staff, and simulations. The engine is the most important part of the car and costs about $8 million. The body of the car without any parts is almost a million itself because it is made entirely of carbon fibre, an expensive but lightweight and strong material. The steering wheel is super complex but you would never guess it costs $50,000, way more than your average car.

Drivers: Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, Sebastien Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen, Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo, Fernando Alonso, Sergio Perez.

Each team has two drivers, meaning two cars each, strategies and management for two people, and a whole lot of staff required. A pitstop is when a car comes in for tire changes and any adjustments needed. These stops need to be incredibly fast as milliseconds may determine first or second. This means pit crews are larger than you think to ensure everything moves smoothly. There are about 3 members per tire meaning 12 just for tire swaps. One holds the new tire, one the wheel gun, and one removes the old tire. There are many other people for lifting and stabilizing the car, and any other adjustments needed for a total of about 20 people.


These pit stops last only 2-3 seconds so everything needs to run smoothly. Unlike our cars there is only one giant wheel nut that needs to be removed to remove the wheel making these stops much quicker. In the past refueling was also possible but with such pressure and a push towards being environmentally conscious banned them. Refueling and pit stops in general can be dangerous.

Because Formula 1 is so complex there are many people who are part of the team

even the race team, the people who are present during the races are huge

Memory

A lot of people don't like driving and consider it something they just have to do. For me I've always loved driving and always will. On most road trips with my friends I'll usually be driving since I don't mind. Over the summer I had to regularly commute to my job 60 miles north but the commute never really bothered me. Unfortunately you meet a lot of poor drivers on the road.

I've had several close calls with cars, deers, and my own stupidity but continue to enjoy the roads. A place where you can drive with less dangers is a race track without lanes and inexperienced drivers. Go karting is a fun experience I recommend for everyone and is also how most Formula 1 drivers start their careers. The open wheeled nature and high power vehicles put you very close to the road and your surroundings giving you a raw feeling of speed and danger. These tracks are considered safe but there's always the fear of crashing. Renting a go kart and going 40mph on these small karts is fun but now imagine going 200+mph in the open and cornering at speeds most people would never experience. I have a racing wheel to experience simulated racing but nothing feels the same as an actual race.