Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1, and currently officially referred to as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The "formula" in the name refers to a set of rules to which all participants and cars must comply Fact: date=April 2009. The F1 season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix, held on purpose-built circuits, and to a lesser extent, former public roads and closed city streets. The results of each race are combined to determine two annual World Championships, one for the drivers and one for the constructors, with racing drivers, constructor teams, track officials, organizers and circuits required to be holders of valid Super Licences , the highest class racing licence issued by the FIA.

Formula One cars race at high speeds, up to with engines revving up to a formula imposed limit of 18,000 RPM. The cars are capable of pulling in excess of 5 G-forces in some curves. The performance of the cars is highly dependent on electronics (although traction control and driving aids have been banned since 2007), aerodynamics, suspension and on tyres. The formula has seen many evolutions and changes through the history of the sport.

Europe is Formula One's traditional centre, where all of the teams are based, and where around half the races take place. However, the sport's scope has expanded significantly in recent years and Grands Prix are held all over the world. Events in Europe and the Americas have been dropped in favour of races in Asia and the Middle East - of the eighteen races in 2008, nine were held outside Europe.

Formula One is a massive television event, with an average of about 55 million people worldwide watching the Grand Prix weekend coverage Fact: date=April 2009. The Formula One Group is the legal holder of the commercial rights Fact: date=April 2009. As the world's most expensive sport, its economic effect is significant, and its financial and political battles are widely covered. Its high profile and popularity makes it an obvious merchandising environment, which leads to very high investments from sponsors, translating into extremely high budgets for the constructor teams Fact: date=April 2009. However, mostly since year 2000, due to the always increasing expenditures, several teams, including works teams from car makers and those teams with minimum support from the automotive industry or other F1 teams, have gone bankrupt or been bought out by companies that want to easily establish a racing team within the sport.

History

Main: History of Formula One

See 2009 Formula One season for details of the 2009 season

The Formula One series has its roots in the European Grand Prix Motor Racing (q.v. for pre-1947 history) of the 1920s and 1930s. The "formula" is a set of rules which all participants and cars must meet. Formula One was a new formula agreed after World War II in 1946, with the first non-championship races being held that year. A number of Grand Prix racing organisations had laid out rules for a World Championship before the war, but due to the suspension of racing during the conflict, the World Drivers' Championship was not formalised until 1947. The first world championship race was held at Silverstone, United Kingdom in 1950. A championship for constructors followed in 1958. National championships existed in South Africa and the UK in the 1960s and 1970s. Non-championship Formula One races were held for many years but, due to the rising cost of competition, the last of these occurred in 1983.