Formula One officially began as a world championship competition less than 5 years after the end of World War 2, with the first race held in the United Kingdom, marking the start of the sport's official championship. That first race took place at the Silverstone Circuit in the UK on May 13, 1950.
Silverstone is a former Royal Air Force (RAF) station, and it is not surprising that the racing started there. Several prominent figures in Formula 1, including drivers, engineers and team owners, had prior experience in the RAF as e.g. pilots or aircraft engine mechanics. This expertise was put to good use and no doubt contributed to the sport's early engineering and organizational success.
By the 1970's F1 attracted large amounts of corporate sponsorships and the sport went from strength to strength. Over the last 7 decades the F1 engines have become more powerful and cars have become lighter and designs have evolved. Formula One has certainly pushed the limits of what is possible in motorsport. But, even after 7 decades of innovation and competition across more than 20 countries around the globe, 7 of the 10 teams in the sport are still based in the UK near to the Silverstone circuit itself, because this is where the critical mass of F1 talent and knowledge still lie. See map below for the respective team locations. Only Ferrari, Racing Bulls and Sauber are not physically located in the UK. Note that the Haas team will claim their HQ is actually in North Carolina alongside their sister team in NASCAR, but their F1 cars and engines are put together in the factory in Banbury, a short drive from Silverstone.
As you can see, the UK-based team furthest from Silverstone is now Britain's most successful. Even though Max Verstappen has been the dominant F1 driver for the last 4 years, the McLaren team based in Woking just managed to win the Constructor's title last season. Woking is a town and borough in northwest Surrey, England, around 23 miles from central London. There are several historic buildings, including the ruins of Woking Palace, a royal residence of Henry VIII. Notable author, H. G. Wells, lived in the town and wrote "The War of the Worlds" whilst there. Much of the novel is set in the Woking area.
The F1 team competition in 2024 was decided between Ferrari and McLaren in the final race in Abu Dhabi in December. That race win by Lando Norris in Abu Dhabi steered McLaren to their first Formula 1 Constructors' Championship in 26 years. Starting from pole position, Norris maintained a composed lead throughout the race, fending off a determined challenge from the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc. This hard-fought victory secured McLaren's title by a slender 14-point margin over their Italian rivals.
The team's journey has been marked by strategic partnerships and pivotal leadership changes. Initially founded by Bruce McLaren, the team later saw Teddy Mayer take the helm following McLaren's tragic death in 1970. A significant turning point occurred in 1981 with Ron Dennis's acquisition, ushering in an era of dominance. Leadership transitions continued, with Martin Whitmarsh succeeding Dennis in 2009, followed by Dennis's return in 2014. American Zak Brown assumed the role of McLaren Racing CEO in 2018, and Andrea Stella became team principal in 2022, succeeding Andreas Seidl.
Lando Norris' triumph last year was a testament to McLaren's remarkable resurgence after a period of relative decline for the team. Zak Brown, who has been instrumental in driving McLaren's resurgence, praised the team's resilience and determination, acknowledging the immense pressure they had faced throughout the season.
The new year has started off as the old season ended, with the McLarens out front. Norris won the first race in Australia last weekend and the McLarens finished one and two today in the Chinese GP, with Oscar Piastri beating Norris to the chequered flag. They are a dynamic duo and both have a realistic chance of winning the driver title this year. The McLaren car itself is marginally faster than the rest of the field. That was suspected after the pre-season testing in Bahrain and has been confirmed after the first two races. Their biggest rivals this season are Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes.
The team points so far are McLaren 78, Mercedes 56, Red Bull 36, Ferrari on 17. The Ferraris would've been on 35 points but both cars were disqualified from the Chinese GP. Leclerc's Ferrari was one kilogram too light and Hamilton's Ferrari was too close to the ground. The wooden skid-block under the car needed to be 9mm. Hamilton's was 8.5mm, so he was running the car too close to the ground and thereby theoretically gaining an unfair advantage. The team acknowledged this was an honest mistake and not deliberate. Re Leclerc's car - 800kg is minimum the weight of the car and driver without fuel. LeClerc and his car were at 799 kg after the fuel was drained and the car was weighed. For Leclerc this was meant to be a two stop race, but it ended up being a one stop race as Ferrari adjusted their strategy to match the competitors. Unfortunately for Leclerc, this meant that there was less wear on the tires than there would have been on the heavier second set which were never used.
As a side note - regarding the cars - the minimum weight requirement means sometimes F1 car parts are made from densimet instead of aluminum or carbon fiber. Densimet is a high-density tungsten alloy and is added in tiny strips throughout the car to add weight in order to meet the 800kg limit. The cars and drivers all weigh different amounts without this 'rebalancing'. But, it means that changing a part during the race could alter this balance and change the final weight of the car unless the parts switched are precisely identical. Besides for the weight complications, the general challenge with the placement of the densimet and the design of the car itself is to have a car that has enough downforce for the corners but has low enough drag on the straights. The downforce created by the pressure differential in airflow between top and bottom of the car creates up to 4 times the weight of the car in downforce. That means an F1 car running at 15000rpm could drive along a ceiling without falling off, i.e. the downforce at high speeds is stronger than gravity.
Anyway, today's disqualifications aside, Ferrari still have two great drivers in Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, but can they work as a team? They hit each other during the race in China today (no damage resulted to either car) and they were also told to switch places, something which no driver likes to do, especially a multiple time world champion. Ferrari may not be McLaren's closest challenge this year like they were last year. McLaren's other big rivals are Red Bull and Mercedes.
Red Bull are a strong team, but they are struggling to fill the second seat and, as was demonstrated last season, Max Verstappen alone likely won't get enough points to carry the team to a Constructor's title. Team principal Christian Horner is almost certainly going to make a change in the second spot, bringing in Yuki Tsunoda (a 'promotion' from their partner team Racing Bulls) or maybe even giving Daniel Ricciardo one last crack in an F1 car. Daniel still travels with the Red Bull team in a marketing capacity. I wonder if he still gets in the simulator regularly..
Mercedes are likely McLarens biggest threat this season. Their car is very quick on the straights. And their number one driver, George Russell, has the experience and confidence to win numerous races this season and I would expect him to. The new youngster in the second spot at Mercedes is Kimi Antonelli. He is only 18 years old but has shown some moments of brilliance in his first two races in Formula 1. He may be a future world champion. I wonder how many years it will be before Ferrari grabs him. Kimi grew up in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, where the Ferrari team is based. And he is the only Italian driver in F1 at present. Even though Ferrari are dominant as a team, no Italian driver has won the world championship since the 1950s. The last time an Italian driver won a race was Jarno Trulli at Monaco in 2004 driving a Renault.
Ferrari has won 16 Constructor F1 titles over the course of history, more than any other team, and they have had 14 drivers win the drivers' world title. Williams and McLaren have both won 9 constructors' championships, but McLaren drivers have won the drivers' title 12 times compared to only 7 for Willams (and that last time for Williams was 29 years ago). Should McLaren win this year that puts them in an undisputed second place in F1 overall and firmly the best team Britain has ever produced.
McLaren's most successful era began in 1981 when Ron Dennis took control of the team. With legendary drivers like Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, and Ayrton Senna, and powerful engines from Porsche and Honda, the team dominated, securing multiple championships. Another surge in performance by the team followed with the introduction of the Mercedes engines and the design genius of Adrian Newey, resulting in further championships with Mika Häkkinen and Lewis Hamilton. McLaren eventually lost Adrian Newey, but they are still running the Mercedes engine, and it's firing on all cylinders.
The 2024 season was a testament to McLaren's resurgence in F1 racing, highlighting their commitment to revitalizing their engineering prowess and attracting top talent. Their recent victories were celebrated with immense emotion within the team, reflecting the culmination of years of hard work.
McLaren will surely win the Constructors' title again this year as long as CEO Zak Brown and team can avoid too many strategic blunders, e.g. in their tire strategy, racing order and pitstop priority. And he may need to keep teammates Norris and Piastri from taking each other out in their fight for the F1 Driver's title. This needs to be a team effort, not "The War of the Drivers" from Woking.
They have the best car, the best simulator, a great engineering team and two equally great drivers, so the only thing stopping them is themselves.
