subject: The Grand Prix - Global History [print this page] The Formula One World Championship began in 1950 and sixty years later is still offers the very best in global motorsport with over six hundred million viewers.
The first championship featured just seven races including the Indianapolis 500, but has now grown into a multi million pound global operation with 18 races in almost every continent.
It is the platform upon which many of the most memorable events in sporting history have been staged. It has created household names of its drivers and teams. In 2009 champion Jenson Button was the latest driver to take the spoils.
Some of the most talented and fearless drivers ever to take the wheel have made their names synonymous with the sports. Namely Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, and Juan Manuel Fangio have all won numerous championships in the sport.
Michael Schumacher is the most successful driver to have eer raced in the sport with seven World Championship titles, 91 victories, and 68 pole positions under his belt. When Schumacher retired in 2006, he has broken nearly every record in the sport.
The most experienced driver is Rubens Barrichello who by the end of the 2009 season had started in 284 races. In 2010, it is expected that Barrichello will become the first driver to have competed in over 300 F1 races.
The most successful team in the sport is Ferrari. It is also the only team to have competed in every season of the sport since 1950 and the prestige, history and support of the team makes it one of the most famous names in global sport.
Williams, McLaren and Lotus are other names to have made a massive impact on the motor sport. Between them have won over a third of the titles awarded since the sport began. McLaren and Williams still compete today but will be joined once again by Lotus in 2010 as the name returns to the sport for the first time since 1994.
Traditional tracks like Silverstone, Monaco and Monza were present in the very first Formula One championship. However the sport has been promoted to new markets in recent years with state-of-the-art circuits being constructed in previously unchartered territory in China and the United Arab Emirates. In 2010, the arrival of the first South Korean grand prix will expand the calendar from 18 races to 19.
The first ever night race was held in Singapore 2008 when over 1,600 floodlights lit up the streets of Singapore to provide a spectacle the like of which had never been seen in the sport previously.
A twilight grand prix became a reality in 2009 when the futuristic Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi hosted the first race to start in daylight and end in the dark skies of nightfall.
In 2010, Formula One will continue to grow as cost cutting measures brought in to make the sport more affordable have attracted a host of new teams. Twenty-six cars will take to the track to battle it out for points, the most cars racing since the early stages of the 1995 season.
The Grand Prix contiues to grow on many levels, and be followed my more and more fans each year.
by: Suzy Powell
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