Formula One is the most technically sophisticated motor racing event on the planet. There is no other motor sport in which so much effort is exerted in research and development. It is also one of the most competitive motor sports in the world. There is no other racing event on land that is as physically challenging as Formula One. Here are a few startling facts about Formula One.

• A Formula One car can accelerate from rest to 100 kilometer per hour in just 2 second. With an additional second and half, the car will be doing a speed of 160 kilometers per hour. It can hit 300 km/h (186 mph) in less than 8.6 seconds. During acceleration, the car generates an acceleration force equaling 1.45 times earth’s gravitational pull, i.e. 1.45 g.
• With power to weight ratio typically over 1200 horsepower per tonne, a Formula One car would be theoretically able to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in just one second. However, the limited grip provided by car is not sufficient to utilize all the power under acceleration without breaking its grip and causing wheel spin.
• There was a time when turbo charging was allowed in Formula One. A turbocharged engine displacing just 1.5 liter used to produce a power of over 1500 horsepower. Turbo charging was banned in the late 1980s. Currently, the cars use naturally aspirated, 2.4 liter V8 engines. Although the power output of the engine is not officially given out by manufacturers, it can be safely assumed that they produce over 700 horsepower.



• The regulatory authority that controls Formula One has imposed a set of rules to keep development costs low. This includes reducing the maximum rpm to 18,000 and series of other rules so as to improve the engines reliability. A freeze has been imposed on teams from conducting engine development until 2013. A Formula One team typically carries spare parts for cars that alone weight 25 tonne for every race in the calendar.
• An F1 car consumes nearly 75 liters of fuel for traveling 100 kilometers, giving it a fuel economy of 3.1 mpg. The engine sucks in about 650 liters of air per second.
• The engine in an F1 car is about 20% more efficient than a hypothetical, road car engine that would provide the same power.
• The Brakes in an F1 consistently reach over 1000 Degree Celsius in every lap of a race. It produces a braking force of up to 5.5 g (more than 5 times what normal cars are capable) on a particularly fast track like the Monza.
• An F1 car can decelerate from 200 km/h (124 mph) to a halt in just 2.9 seconds, traveling just 65 meters.
• An F1 transmission can change gears within just 0.05 seconds, i.e. one in twentieth of a second. An F1 driver does more than 3100 gear changes in a single race in tracks like Monaca.
• Aerodynamics in F1 cars are so efficient that when traveling above 100 mph, an F1 car could stick to the surface of a vertical wall, or go upside down on a horizontal wall. This is due to the enormous down force generated by diffusers, spoilers, air splitter and barge broads situated both in front and rear on the car.
• An F1 car weighs just 605 kg including the driver, without including fuel. The light weight is achieved by use of lightweight construction materials like carbon fiber. The cars shell is so safe that the car could survive even a 200 mph crash without any intrusion into the cockpit.
• The highest recorded speed of an F1 car on a race is 369 km/h (229 mph). The top-speed of the car on different tracks varies according the level of ground force the car generates. It varies between 300 km/h on a high-down force track to 360 km/h in a low down force track.
• The unofficial speed record for an F1 car was set by Honda on 6 November 2005 at 413 km/h (257 mph). The FIA ratified speed record for an F1 one car is 400 km/h (249 mph) which is surprisingly slower than road cars like the Bugatti Veyron.



• The F1 car is designed for high-speed cornering. An F1 can take a low-speed corner (between 80 and 100 km/h) with lateral acceleration of 2 g. At high-speed corners, F1 cars have been recorded to generate lateral acceleration of 6.0 g during cornering at the Suzuka circuit. Even the best road legal sports cars cannot produce cornering acceleration more than 1.1 g.
• An F1 driver will be subjected extreme forces while accelerating, braking and cornering. For example, at the turn 8 of the Istambul park circuit where the Turkish GP is held, driver has to sustain a cornering force between 4.5 g and 5.5 g for seven seconds. Drivers are provided with helmets that support he neck under extreme cornering. The helmet has a system to avoid whiplash of the head even in a high-speed accident.
• As a result of the forces involved and fluids lost by perspiration, an F1 driver loses between 2 and 4 kilogram of weight during a single race. The drivers are provided with on-board supply of fluid.
• The fueling machine in an F1 pit stop can pump in as much as 12 liters of fuel every second.



• Formula One car use slick tires which provide immense grip in dry conditions, but struggle for grip under wet conditions, often demonstrated by safety cars out pacing cars under heavy downpours.