This is an accepted version of this page
187-684: The Caterham F1 Team was a Malaysian, later British owned Formula One team based in the United Kingdom which raced under a Malaysian licence . The Caterham brand competed in the Formula One World Championship from 2012 to 2014 , following the acquisition of British sportscar manufacturer Caterham Cars by former owner and team principal Tony Fernandes , forming the Caterham Group . In July 2014, Tony Fernandes and his partners announced that they had sold
374-623: A Honda CBR1000RR . At the Hungarian Grand Prix on 25 July 2009, Ferrari's Felipe Massa was seriously injured after being struck by a suspension spring during qualifying. Ferrari announced that they planned to draft in Schumacher for the European Grand Prix and subsequent Grands Prix until Massa was able to race again. Schumacher tested a modified Ferrari F2007 to prepare himself as he had been unable to test
561-466: A formation finish —a feat derided as near-impossible in a sport where timings are taken to within a thousandth of a second. After the end of the season, the FIA banned "team orders which interfere with the race result"; the ban was lifted for the 2011 season because the ruling was difficult to enforce. Schumacher broke Fangio's 46-year record of five Drivers' Championships by winning the drivers' title for
748-437: A rev limiter . The Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) believed that allowing some teams to have such technical freedom would have created a 'two-tier' championship, and thus requested urgent talks with the FIA. But talks broke down and FOTA teams announced, with the exception of Williams and Force India , that 'they had no choice' but to form a breakaway championship series . On 24 June, Formula One's governing body and
935-627: A ban on ground-effect aerodynamics during 1983 . But by then, turbocharged engines, which Renault had pioneered in 1977 , were producing over 520 kW (700 bhp) and were essential to be competitive. By 1986 , a BMW turbocharged engine achieved a flash reading of 5.5 bar (80 psi) pressure, estimated to be over 970 kW (1,300 bhp) in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix . The next year, power in race trim reached around 820 kW (1,100 bhp), with boost pressure limited to only 4.0 bar. These cars were
1122-606: A crash he had in the final free practice, and by the time his car was rebuilt, it had started to rain; this ended his 56-race streak of outqualifiyng his teammates that started in 1992, after he missed a gear in qualifying in Adelaide in 1991 and was outqualified by Nelson Piquet. In 1996 , Schumacher joined Ferrari, a team that had last won the Drivers' Championship in 1979 and the Constructors' Championship in 1983 , for
1309-613: A crowdfunding on-car sponsor for Caterham was a small UK pub: the Windmill Inn in Littleworth, West Sussex . On 16 November 2014, it was announced by Caterham that Kobayashi would drive for the team in Abu Dhabi, and, on 20 November, that the second driver would be 23-year-old British driver, Will Stevens who had previously tested for the team and would also take part in post-season testing also at Abu Dhabi, immediately after
1496-506: A disastrous downturn in the early 1990s, partially as its famous V12 engine was no longer competitive against the smaller, lighter, and more fuel-efficient V10s of its competitors. Various drivers, notably Alain Prost, had given the vehicles disparaging labels, such as "truck", "pig", and "accident waiting to happen". Furthermore, the poor performance of the Ferrari pit crews was considered
1683-693: A driver to be at least 14 years old to obtain a kart license. To get around this, Schumacher obtained a license in Luxembourg at the age of 12. In 1983, he obtained his German license, a year after he won the German Junior Kart Championship. Schumacher joined Eurokart dealer Adolf Neubert in 1985, and by 1987 was the German and European kart champion, then he quit school and began working as a mechanic. In 1988, he made his first step into single-seat car racing by participating in
1870-469: A driver's fastest lap in that period (barring infractions) counts. Any timed lap started before the end of that period may be completed and will count toward that driver's placement. The number of cars eliminated in each period is dependent on the total number of cars entered into the championship. Currently, with 20 cars, Q1 runs for 18 minutes, and eliminates the slowest five drivers. During this period, any driver whose best lap takes longer than 107% of
2057-469: A feat they repeated in four subsequent races. Schumacher was twice involved in collisions in the final race of a season that decided the title: first with Damon Hill at the 1994 Australian Grand Prix , and with Jacques Villeneuve at the 1997 European Grand Prix . Appointed UNESCO Champion for Sport in 2002, Schumacher has been involved in humanitarian projects and has donated tens of millions of dollars to charity. In December 2013, Schumacher suffered
SECTION 10
#17327719464952244-482: A guerrilla war with a very long-term aim in view". FOCA threatened to establish a rival series and boycotted a Grand Prix, and FISA withdrew its sanction from races. The result was the 1981 Concorde Agreement , which guaranteed technical stability, as teams were to be given reasonable notice of new regulations. Although FISA asserted its right to the TV revenues, it gave FOCA the administration of those rights. FISA imposed
2431-431: A kart built from discarded parts. After having enjoyed success in karting—such as winning the direct-drive Karting European Championship in 1987—and in several single-seater series, Schumacher made a one-off Formula One appearance with Jordan at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix . He was signed by Benetton for the rest of the 1991 season, winning his first and second drivers' titles consecutively in 1994 and 1995 with
2618-503: A lap he was a tenth or two tenths slower than I was. How do you do that? And then of course a couple of laps later he's half a second quicker and – it's just impossible. It's really really annoying, but it was an honour to be able to see his telemetry and see the things he could do with a car." After missing six races, he made his return at the inaugural Malaysian Grand Prix , qualifying in pole position with his career's greatest pole margin, with his time faster than Eddie Irvine by almost
2805-404: A management buyout to become Brawn GP , with Ross Brawn and Nick Fry running and owning the majority of the organisation. Brawn GP laid off hundreds of employees, but won the year's world championships. BMW F1 was bought out by the original founder of the team, Peter Sauber . The Lotus F1 Team was another, formerly manufacturer-owned team that reverted to "privateer" ownership, together with
2992-454: A midfield car, the Jordan 191 , which he drove half a day of testing and at a track he had never raced at. This also matched the team's season-best grid position, and Schumacher outqualified veteran de Cesaris. Motor Sport journalist Joe Saward reported that, after qualifying, "clumps of German journalists were talking about 'the best talent since Stefan Bellof ' ". Schumacher retired on
3179-468: A new Concorde Agreement committing them to the sport until 2025, including a $ 145 million budget cap for car development to support equal competition and sustainable development. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the sport to adapt to budgetary and logistical limitations. A significant overhaul of the technical regulations intended to be introduced in the 2021 season was pushed back to 2022, with constructors instead using their 2020 chassis for two seasons and
3366-530: A number of Grand Prix racing organisations made suggestions for a new championship to replace the European Championship, but due to the suspension of racing during the conflict, the new International Formula for cars did not become formalised until 1946, to become effective in 1947. The new World Championship was instituted to commence in 1950 . The first world championship race, the 1950 British Grand Prix , took place at Silverstone Circuit in
3553-404: A partnership with Lego , with the first new sets releasing in 2025. The regulations governing Formula One are set to be revised for the 2026 season, with big changes planned to help encourage closer and more competitive racing. Changes include: In November 2024, General Motors reached an agreement to enter Formula 1 in 2026 with its Cadillac brand. A Formula One Grand Prix event spans
3740-541: A point due to reliability issues. Ferrari took a 1–2 finish at the French Grand Prix , the first Ferrari 1–2 finish since 1990, and at the Italian Grand Prix , which tied Schumacher with Häkkinen for the lead of the Drivers' Championship with 80 points. There were two controversies during the 1998 season. At the British Grand Prix , Schumacher was leading on the last lap when he turned into
3927-470: A press release stating it had been informed it was not entered for the 2010 season, and an FIA press release said the FOTA representatives had walked out of the meeting. On 1 August, it was announced FIA and FOTA had signed a new Concorde Agreement, bringing an end to the crisis and securing the sport's future until 2012. To compensate for the loss of manufacturer teams, four new teams were accepted entry into
SECTION 20
#17327719464954114-516: A reason to impose rule changes that otherwise, under the Concorde Agreement, would have had to be agreed upon by all the teams—most notably the changes introduced for 1998 . This so-called 'narrow track' era resulted in cars with smaller rear tyres, a narrower track overall, and the introduction of grooved tyres to reduce mechanical grip. The objective was to reduce cornering speeds and produce racing similar to rainy conditions by enforcing
4301-542: A record-setting seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles , a record which was tied by Lewis Hamilton in 2020. At the time of his retirement, Schumacher held the records for most wins (91), pole positions (68), and podium finishes (155), while he maintains the record for most fastest laps (77), among others . Born in Hürth to a working-class family, Schumacher started his career in kart racing aged four. He won his first karting title two years later in
4488-805: A redundancy payment in January 2019, over four years after the team was declared bankrupt. ( key ) During Caterham's time in F1, the team supported multiple drivers through the Caterham Racing Team in the GP2 Series and gave them the opportunity to participate in Formula One test sessions. Giedo van der Garde and Will Stevens were the only drivers of the programme to compete for the team in F1. The drivers included: Formula One Formula One , commonly known as Formula 1 or F1 ,
4675-465: A replacement for the imprisoned Bertrand Gachot . Schumacher, still a contracted Mercedes driver, was signed by Eddie Jordan after Mercedes paid Jordan $ 150,000 for his debut. The week before the race, Schumacher impressed Jordan designer Gary Anderson and team manager Trevor Foster during a test drive at the Silverstone circuit . Schumacher's manager Weber assured Jordan that Schumacher knew
4862-425: A row, he also broke Fangio's record of consecutive titles that had stood for nearly fifty years. Rule changes for the 2005 season required tyres to last an entire race, tipping the overall advantage to teams using Michelins over teams like Ferrari that relied on Bridgestone tyres. The rule changes were partly in an effort to dent Ferrari's dominance and make the series more interesting. The most notable moment of
5049-534: A running joke. At the end of 1995, although the team had improved into a solid competitor, it was still considered inferior to front-running teams like Benetton and Williams. Schumacher declared the Ferrari F310 good enough to win a championship, although afterwards his teammate Eddie Irvine labelled the F310 "an awful car", a "piece of junk", and "almost undriveable", while designer John Barnard admitted that
5236-414: A salary of $ 60 million over two years. He left Benetton a year before his contract with them expired; he later cited the team's damaging actions in 1994 as his reason for opting out of his deal. In 1997, Schumacher lured Benetton employees Rory Byrne (designer) and Ross Brawn (technical director) to Ferrari. Ferrari had previously come close to the championship in 1982 and 1990 . The team had suffered
5423-434: A season (13, since beaten by Max Verstappen ), and most Drivers' Championships (seven, tied with Lewis Hamilton as of 2021). Schumacher's championship streak ended on 25 September 2005, when Renault driver Fernando Alonso became Formula One's youngest champion at that time (until Lewis Hamilton in 2008 and followed by Sebastian Vettel in 2010 ). During 2006, Renault and Alonso won both titles again. Schumacher retired at
5610-418: A season for the runner-up (121 out of 180, 2006), wins in a season for the runner-up (7, 2006), races for same car and engine builder (180, Ferrari), wins at Indianapolis (5), wins at Monza (5), wins in a season (13, 2004), fastest laps in a season (10, 2004), points scored in a season (148, 2004), podium finishes in a season (17, 2002), championship won with most races left (6, 2002), and consecutive years with
5797-537: A second. He then assumed the role of second driver, helping Irvine to victory and assisting his teammate's bid to win the Drivers' Championship for Ferrari, with Irvine leading the championship by one point. About Schumacher's role, Irvine stated: "He is not only the best driver in the world, he is also the best number two in the world." In the last race of the season, the Japanese Grand Prix , Häkkinen won his second consecutive title after he beat him off
Caterham F1 - Misplaced Pages Continue
5984-413: A series of races, known as Grands Prix . Grands Prix take place in multiple countries and continents on either purpose-built circuits or closed roads. A point-system is used at Grands Prix to determine two annual World Championships: one for the drivers , and one for the constructors (the teams). Each driver must hold a valid Super Licence , the highest class of racing licence the FIA issues, and
6171-673: A seventh Drivers' Championship at the Belgian Grand Prix . Earlier in July at the French Grand Prix , Schumacher beat polesitter Fernando Alonso with a four-stop strategy. He finished the season with a record 148 points, 34 points ahead of the runner-up Barrichello, and set a new record of 13 race wins out of a possible 18, surpassing his previous best of 11 wins from the 2002 season. Between 2000 and 2004, Schumacher achieved five Drivers' Championships, 48 wins, and almost all Formula One records. With his fifth Drivers' Championship in
6358-741: A severe brain injury in a skiing accident. He was placed in a medically induced coma until June 2014. He left the hospital in Grenoble for further rehabilitation at the Lausanne University Hospital , before being relocated to his home to receive medical treatment and rehabilitation privately in September 2014. Michael Schumacher was born in the West German town of Hürth , North Rhine-Westphalia , on 3 January 1969, to working-class parents Rolf—a bricklayer who later ran
6545-442: A smaller contact patch between tyre and track. According to the FIA, this was to reduce cornering speeds in the interest of safety. Results were mixed, as the lack of mechanical grip resulted in the more ingenious designers clawing back the deficit with aerodynamic grip. This resulted in pushing more force onto the tyres through wings and aerodynamic devices, which in turn resulted in less overtaking, as these devices tended to make
6732-427: A token system limiting which parts could be modified introduced. The start of the 2020 season was delayed by several months, and both it and 2021 seasons were subject to several postponements, cancellations, and rescheduling of races due to shifting restrictions on international travel. Many races took place behind closed doors and with only essential personnel present to maintain social distancing . In 2022,
6919-611: A trophy to Schumacher for his achievements in Formula One. A fuel pressure problem prevented Schumacher from completing a single lap during the third qualifying session, forcing him to start the race in tenth position. Early in the race, Schumacher moved up to sixth place but suffered a puncture caused by the front wing of Giancarlo Fisichella 's Renault. Schumacher fell to 19th place, 70 seconds behind teammate and race leader Felipe Massa . Schumacher recovered and overtook both Fisichella and Räikkönen, his successor at Ferrari following his retirement, to secure fourth place. His performance
7106-403: A weekend. It typically begins with two free practice sessions on Friday, and one free practice session on Saturday. Additional drivers (commonly known as third drivers ) are allowed to run on Fridays, but only two cars may be used per team, requiring a race driver to give up their seat. A qualifying session is held after the last free practice session. This session determines the starting order for
7293-761: A win (15). During the 2007 season, Schumacher acted as Ferrari's adviser and Jean Todt's super assistant. Schumacher also helped Ferrari with their development programme at the Jerez circuit. He focused on testing electronics and tyres for the 2008 season. During 2008, Schumacher also competed in motorcycle racing in the IDM Superbike series. At a Superbike cup race at the Pannónia-Ring , Schumacher finished third out of twenty-seven—behind professional motorcycle racers Martin Bauer and Andreas Meklau —riding
7480-399: A world championship race. It entered the 1961 British Grand Prix , the only front-engined car to compete that year. During 1962 , Lotus introduced a car with an aluminium-sheet monocoque chassis instead of the traditional space-frame design. This proved to be the greatest technological breakthrough since the introduction of mid-engined cars. In 1968 , sponsorship was introduced to
7667-559: Is allocated one set of the softest tyres for use in Q3. The cars that qualify for Q3 must return them after Q3; the cars that do not qualify for Q3 can use them during the race. As of 2022, all drivers are given a free choice of tyre to use at the start of the Grand Prix, whereas in previous years only the drivers that did not participate in Q3 had free tyre choice for the start of the race. Any penalties that affect grid position are applied at
Caterham F1 - Misplaced Pages Continue
7854-505: Is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one of the world's premier forms of racing since its inaugural running in 1950 . The word formula in the name refers to the set of rules all participants' cars must follow. A Formula One season consists of
8041-434: The 1955 Le Mans disaster . The first major technological development in the sport was Bugatti 's introduction of mid-engined cars. Jack Brabham , the world champion in 1959 , 1960 , and 1966 , soon proved the mid-engine's superiority over all other engine positions. By 1961 all teams had switched to mid-engined cars. The Ferguson P99 , a four-wheel drive design, was the last front-engined Formula One car to enter
8228-429: The 1991 Japanese Formula 3000 Championship , finishing second. During the 1991 430 km of Nürburgring , Schumacher was involved in an incident with Derek Warwick . While trying to set his flying lap in qualifying, Schumacher encountered Warwick's Jaguar XJR-14 on a slow lap resulting in lost time for Schumacher. As retaliation for Warwick being in his way, Schumacher swerved his Sauber into Warwick's car, hitting
8415-439: The 1996 Spanish Grand Prix In 1996, Schumacher finished third in the Drivers' Championship and helped Ferrari to second place in the Constructors' Championship ahead of his old team Benetton. During the season, the car had reliability problems; Schumacher did not finish in 7 of the 16 races. At the French Grand Prix , Schumacher took pole position but suffered engine failure on the formation lap. He won three races, more than
8602-457: The 2002 Austrian Grand Prix . Other changes included the qualifying format, the point-scoring system, the technical regulations, and rules specifying how long engines and tyres must last. A 'tyre war' between suppliers Michelin and Bridgestone saw lap times fall, although, at the 2005 United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis, seven out of ten teams did not race when their Michelin tyres were deemed unsafe for use, leading to Bridgestone becoming
8789-491: The 2013 Belgian Grand Prix , Giedo van der Garde achieved Caterham's best-ever qualifying position with 14th place. Despite having a faster car than rivals Marussia, Caterham finished behind them in the Constructors' Championship, in 11th place. On 21 January 2014, it was announced that the team would have a brand new driver line-up with Marcus Ericsson and Kamui Kobayashi taking the seats. Team owner Fernandes warned team members that he would quit if results did not improve in
8976-403: The 2014 Japanese Grand Prix , where Jules Bianchi collided with a recovery vehicle after aquaplaning off the circuit, dying nine months later from his injuries. Since 1994, three track marshals have died, one at the 2000 Italian Grand Prix , one at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix and one at the 2013 Canadian Grand Prix . Since Senna's and Ratzenberger's deaths, the FIA has used safety as
9163-425: The 2017 and 2018 seasons featured a title battle between Mercedes and Ferrari. Mercedes ultimately won the titles with multiple races to spare and continued to dominate in the next two years, eventually winning seven consecutive Drivers' Championships from 2014 to 2020 and eight consecutive Constructors' titles from 2014 to 2021. During this eight-year period between 2014 and 2021, a Mercedes driver won 111 of
9350-603: The Alfa Romeo name, Sauber introduced a title partnership with the online casino Stake.com , resulting in the team's new identity as Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber . Sauber will hold Stake's sponsorship name until the end of 2025, after which it will become the Audi works team for the 2026 season onwards. Scuderia AlphaTauri , Red Bull's junior team, dropped its name and took on sponsors from Hugo Boss and Cash App, becoming Visa Cash App RB, or VCARB for 2024. Formula One announced
9537-614: The Bahrain Grand Prix , eliminating Michael Schumacher in the process. At the Monaco Grand Prix , Kovalainen achieved a season's best thirteenth place, staving off McLaren 's Jenson Button until the latter spun trying to overtake him. Kovalainen again made it into the second part of qualifying, in Valencia , qualifying 16th for the race, after eliminating both Toro Rossos and title contender Mark Webber with
SECTION 50
#17327719464959724-457: The Belgian Grand Prix , he used well-timed pit stops to fend off Williams' Jacques Villeneuve . He also took first place at the Italian Grand Prix to win in front of the tifosi (Ferrari fans). Schumacher and Villeneuve competed for the title in 1997 , despite never sharing a podium and almost never battling directly on the track, in what has been described as the sport's most dramatic and controversial season finale. Villeneuve, driving
9911-472: The Belgian Grand Prix , in a wet race at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, which by 2003 he would call "far and away my favourite track". That also marked as the last Formula One car to win a Grand Prix while sporting a H-pattern manual gearbox . From the 1992 Portuguese Grand Prix to the 1998 Monaco Grand Prix , Schumacher was not beaten by his teammate when both cars finished. 1992 was also
10098-465: The British Grand Prix , the mid-season was dominated by Williams drivers Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya , who each claimed two victories. After the Hungarian Grand Prix , Schumacher led Montoya and Räikkönen by only one and two points, respectively. Ahead of the next race, the FIA announced changes to the way tyre widths were to be measured: this forced Michelin , supplier to Williams and McLaren among others, to rapidly redesign their tyres before
10285-463: The FIA -imposed ban on electronic aids. Benetton and McLaren initially refused to hand over their source code for investigation. When they did so, the FIA discovered hidden functionality in both teams' software but no evidence that it had been used in a race. Both teams were fined $ 100,000 for their initial refusal to cooperate. The McLaren software, which was a gearbox program that allowed automatic shifts,
10472-500: The Grand Prix Manufacturers Association (GPMA), the manufacturers negotiated a larger share of Formula One's commercial profit and a greater say in the running of the sport. In 2008 and 2009, Honda , BMW , and Toyota all withdrew from Formula One racing within a year, blaming the economic recession . This resulted in the end of manufacturer dominance of the sport. The Honda F1 team went through
10659-710: The Imperial Tobacco 's Gold Leaf livery at the 1968 Spanish Grand Prix . Aerodynamic downforce slowly gained importance in car design with the appearance of aerofoils during the 1968 season. The wings were introduced by Lotus's owner Colin Chapman who installed modest front wings and a rear spoiler on his Lotus 49 B at the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix . In the late 1970s, Lotus introduced ground-effect aerodynamics, previously used on Jim Hall 's Chaparral 2J in 1970, that provided enormous downforce and greatly increased cornering speeds. The aerodynamic forces pressing
10846-441: The Italian Grand Prix , his 41st career win. At the post-race press conference, after equalling the number of wins won by his idol Ayrton Senna, Schumacher broke into tears. The championship fight came down to the penultimate race of the season, the Japanese Grand Prix . Starting from pole position, Schumacher lost the lead to Häkkinen at the start. After his second pit stop, Schumacher came out ahead of Häkkinen and went on to win
11033-537: The Italian Grand Prix , where he announced his retirement at the end of the season, and at the Chinese Grand Prix , in what would be his 91th and final career win, Schumacher led in the championship standings for the first time during the season. After his win in Italy, Ferrari issued a press release stating that Schumacher would retire from racing at the end of the 2006 season but would continue working for
11220-523: The Italian Grand Prix . Schumacher, running on Bridgestone tyres, won the next two races. After Montoya was penalised in the United States Grand Prix , only Schumacher and Räikkönen remained in contention for the title. At the final round, the Japanese Grand Prix , Schumacher needed only one point whilst Räikkönen needed to win. By finishing the race in eighth place, Schumacher took one point and assured his sixth Drivers' title, ending
11407-470: The Jaguar Racing team, new manufacturer-owned teams entered Formula One for the first time since Alfa Romeo's and Renault's departures in 1985. By 2006, the manufacturer teams—Renault, BMW , Toyota , Honda, and Ferrari—dominated the championship, taking five of the first six places in the Constructors' Championship. The exception was McLaren, which at the time was part-owned by Mercedes-Benz. Through
SECTION 60
#173277194649511594-543: The Jerez circuit ) with a one-point advantage. In qualifying, Schumacher set the same fastest lap as Villeneuve and Heinz-Harald Frentzen. He started in second position as Villeneuve set his fastest lap first but was able to jump him at the start. Towards the end of the race, Schumacher's Ferrari developed a coolant leak and loss of performance indicating he might not finish the race. As Villeneuve approached to pass his rival on lap 48, Schumacher turned in on him but retired from
11781-568: The Portuguese Grand Prix where he beat Prost, and had nine podium finishes; he retired in seven of the other 16 races. He finished the season in fourth, with 52 points, beating Patrese as teammate, so much so that Briatore and his team thought that Patrese was washed up and that they had no problem with their car. Schumacher won his first Drivers' Championship in 1994 . Driving the Benetton B194 , which has been called
11968-470: The United States Grand Prix in a 1–2 finish with Rubens Barrichello. Before that race, the Michelin tyres were found to have significant safety issues. When no compromise between the teams and the FIA could be reached, all but the three teams using Bridgestone tyres dropped out of the race after the formation lap, leaving only six drivers on the grid. Schumacher retired in 6 of the 19 races, and finished
12155-505: The World Manufacturers' Championship ( 1925 – 1930 ) and European Drivers' Championship ( 1931 – 1939 ). The formula is a set of rules that all participants' cars must follow. Formula One was a formula agreed upon in 1946 to officially become effective in 1947 . The first Grand Prix in accordance with the new regulations was the 1946 Turin Grand Prix , anticipating the formula's official start. Before World War II ,
12342-542: The final Grand Prix for 2014 and take part in end of season testing both held in Abu Dhabi . On 27 February 2015, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) published a revised entry list with Manor Marussia being reintroduced and Caterham being removed from the list, and by March of the same year, the team's assets were put up for auction, spelling the official demise of the team. Fernandes's team originally entered Formula One in 2010 as Lotus Racing , using
12529-409: The 'sprint shootout'; such a system made its debut at the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix and is set to be used throughout all sprint sessions in place of the traditional second free practice session. Sprint qualifying sessions are run much shorter than traditional qualifying, and each session required teams to fit new tyres - mediums for SQ1 and SQ2, and softs for SQ3 - otherwise they cannot participate in
12716-530: The 160 races, with Hamilton winning 81 of these and taking six Drivers' Championships during this period to equal Schumacher's record of seven titles. In 2021 , the Honda-powered Red Bull team began to seriously challenge Mercedes, with Verstappen beating Hamilton to the Drivers' Championship after a season-long battle that saw the pair exchange the championship lead multiple times. This era has seen an increase in car manufacturer presence in
12903-402: The 17 races, including the French Grand Prix , and finished on the podium 11 times. It was only once that he qualify worse than fourth; at the Belgian Grand Prix , he qualified 16th but nevertheless went on to win the wet-dry race, finishing 16 seconds ahead of Hill, with whom he had ferocious wheel-to-wheel racing and involved some crucial strategic calls. His bad qualifying was a result of
13090-538: The 2010 season ahead of a much anticipated 'cost-cap'. Entrants included a reborn Team Lotus —led by a Malaysian consortium including Tony Fernandes , the boss of Air Asia ; Hispania Racing —the first Spanish Formula One team; and Virgin Racing — Richard Branson 's entry into the series following a successful partnership with Brawn the year before. They were also joined by the US F1 Team , which planned to run out of
13277-561: The 2010 season, Mercedes-Benz reentered the sport as a manufacturer after it purchased Brawn GP and split with McLaren after 15 seasons with the team. During the 2009 season, Formula One was gripped by the FIA–FOTA dispute . FIA President Max Mosley proposed numerous cost-cutting measures for the next season, including an optional budget cap for the teams; teams electing to take the budget cap would be granted greater technical freedom, adjustable front and rear wings, and an engine not subject to
13464-419: The 2012 season. Trulli was unsatisfied with the lack of development and he himself asked from the team if he could be replaced with another driver. Mark Smith took over pitwall operations from Group CTO Mike Gascoyne starting from the Chinese Grand Prix . The Caterham car looked slower than expected at the beginning of the season. However, Caterham quickly found pace through Kovalainen, who made it into Q2 for
13651-615: The 2014 season. After the 2014 Monaco Grand Prix , Caterham became the record holders for the most race starts without scoring a single point, after fellow rivals Marussia scored their first points finish since entering the sport in 2010, courtesy of the 9th-place finish from Jules Bianchi . In July 2014, Caterham F1 announced that it was now owned by a consortium of Swiss and Middle Eastern investors, advised by former F1 Team Principal Colin Kolles . Former Dutch F1 driver, Christijan Albers , assisted by Manfredi Ravetto , became responsible for
13838-594: The 25 minutes limit, and rejected McLaren's protest. At the Belgian Grand Prix , Schumacher was leading the race by 40 seconds in heavy spray but collided with Coulthard's McLaren when the Scot, a lap down, slowed on the racing line in poor visibility to let Schumacher past. His Ferrari lost a wheel but could return to the pits, although he was forced to retire. Schumacher leaped out of his car and headed to McLaren's garage in an infuriated manner and accused Coulthard of "trying to kill" him. Coulthard admitted five years later that
14025-582: The Brazilian Ayrton Senna . According to Jo Ramírez , a close friend of Senna, the Brazilian considered Schumacher "the next big threat, way ahead of all the other drivers around at the time". The Williams FW15C of Damon Hill and Alain Prost dominated the 1993 season as well. Benetton introduced their own active suspension and traction control early in the season, last of the frontrunning teams to do so. Schumacher won one race,
14212-448: The Drivers' Championship by winning the final two races despite Schumacher being the polesitter both times, continuing Ferrari's longest World Championship drought. In 1999 , Schumacher's efforts helped Ferrari win the Constructors' Championship, the team's first title since 1983. He lost his chance to win the Drivers' Championship at the British Grand Prix at the high-speed Stowe Corner; his car's rear brake failed, sending him off
14399-438: The Drivers' Championship, he equalled the record set by Juan Manuel Fangio of five World Championships. Ferrari won 15 out of 17 races, and Schumacher won the title with six races remaining in the season, which is still the earliest point in the season for a driver to be crowned World Champion. Schumacher broke his own record, shared with Nigel Mansell, of nine race wins in a season, by winning 11 times and finishing every race on
14586-446: The F1 governing body announced a major rule and car design change intended to promote closer racing through the use of ground effects , new aerodynamics, larger wheels with low-profile tyres, and redesigned nose and wing regulations. Red Bull emerged as the dominant force after the rule shakeup. The 2022 and 2023 Constructors' and Drivers' Championships were won by Red Bull and Verstappen, with multiple races to spare. In 2023
14773-421: The FIA opened applications for new teams to enter Formula 1 in the then near future. Of the teams that applied, only Andretti were approved by the FIA, with them then being rejected by Formula One Management , though they have launched an appeal. In early 2024, the Formula One landscape underwent a significant change in the sphere of team sponsorships and collaborations. Having competed for five seasons under
14960-455: The FIA released the provisional 2015 entry list which included Caterham, who were listed as CF1 Caterham F1 Team. During the same week, it was also revealed that the team had arranged a surprise 3-race deal with Rubens Barrichello who last raced in 2011 and would have taken over Kobayashi's seat for the remainder of the 2014 season. During the 2014 Brazilian Grand Prix weekend, Caterham's administrators resorted to crowdfunding in order to keep
15147-594: The German Formula Ford and Formula König series, winning the latter. In 1989, Schumacher signed with Willi Weber 's WTS Formula Three team. Funded by Weber, he competed in the German Formula Three Championship , winning the 1990 German Formula Three Championship . He also won the 1990 Macau Grand Prix under controversial circumstances. He placed second behind Mika Häkkinen in the first heat, three seconds behind. At
15334-552: The Jaguar's nose and front wheel. Enraged by Schumacher's attitude, Warwick drove to the pits and chased Schumacher on foot. He eventually caught up with Schumacher, and it took intervention from several mechanics and Schumacher's teammate Jochen Mass to prevent Warwick physically assaulting Schumacher. Schumacher made his Formula One debut with the Irish Jordan - Ford team at the Belgian Grand Prix , driving car number 32 as
15521-489: The Lotus name under licence from Group Lotus . Dubbed as 1Malaysia F1 , the team was operated by 1Malaysia Racing Team Sdn Bhd. The project was part of the former Prime Minister Najib Razak 's 1Malaysia initiative. When Proton – the parent company of Group Lotus – terminated the licence, Fernandes acquired the privately owned Team Lotus name for use in the 2011 season. As Proton began legal proceedings against
15708-650: The UK in the 1960s and 1970s. Promoters held non-championship Formula One events for many years. Due to the increasing cost of competition, the last of these was held in 1983. This era featured teams managed by road-car manufacturers, such as Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Maserati . The first seasons featured prewar cars like Alfa Romeo's 158 , which were front-engined , with narrow tyres and 1.5-litre supercharged or 4.5-litre naturally aspirated engines. The 1952 and 1953 seasons were run to Formula Two regulations, for smaller, less powerful cars, due to concerns over
15895-460: The United Kingdom on 13 May 1950. Giuseppe Farina , competing for Alfa Romeo , won the first Drivers' World Championship, narrowly defeating his teammate Juan Manuel Fangio . Fangio won the championship in 1951 , 1954 , 1955 , 1956 , and 1957 . This set the record for the most World Championships won by a single driver, a record that stood for 46 years until Michael Schumacher won his sixth championship in 2003. A Constructors' Championship
16082-518: The United States Grand Prix, because of the team's current financial circumstances – similar to those of Marussia F1 – the FIA stewards decided to not impose any penalties. Instead, they referred the matter to the attention of the FIA president. In addition, for 2015, Sauber announced the engagement of Caterham's driver, Marcus Ericsson , who terminated his contract with Caterham on 12 November 2014. On 5 November 2014,
16269-557: The United States as the only non-European-based team in the sport. Financial issues befell the squad before they even made the grid. Despite the entry of these new teams, the proposed cost-cap was repealed and these teams—which did not have the budgets of the midfield and top-order teams—ran around at the back of the field until they collapsed; HRT in 2012, Caterham (formerly Lotus) in 2014 and Manor (formerly Virgin, then Marussia), having survived falling into administration in 2014, at
16456-520: The World Championship in 1995, and they could not believe how Schumacher had won with it, calling it "the ugly ducking" for being so ugly to drive and having many crashes. In a 1999 interview with his 1994 and 1995 World Championship rival Damon Hill, Schumacher recalled: "You remember when I left Benetton, and [Jean] Alesi and [Gerhard] Berger took their first steps in that Benetton? You remember how many crashes they had? ... I mean, that car
16643-451: The accident had been his mistake. From a possible three-point lead, Schumacher was still seven points behind Häkkinen. Heading into the final race, the Japanese Grand Prix , Häkkinen held a four-point advantage over Schumacher, who started on pole but stalled and caused the start to be aborted, which meant he had to start from the back of the field. He made a comeback up to third but retired after hitting debris from an accident. Häkkinen won
16830-463: The age of six, Schumacher won his first club championship. To support his racing, Schumacher's father took on a second job renting and repairing karts, while his mother worked at the track's canteen. Nevertheless, when Schumacher needed a new engine costing 800 DM , his parents were unable to afford it; he was able to continue racing with support from local businessmen. Regulations in Germany require
17017-406: The average annual cost of running a team—designing, building, and maintaining cars, pay, transport—at approximately £220,000,000 (or $ 265,000,000), Formula One's financial and political battles are widely reported. The Formula One Group is owned by Liberty Media , which acquired it in 2017 from private-equity firm CVC Capital Partners for £6.4 billion ($ 8 billion). Formula One originated from
17204-815: The ban on driver aids was in name only, as they "proved difficult to police effectively". The teams signed a second Concorde Agreement in 1992 and a third in 1997. On the track, the McLaren and Williams teams dominated the 1980s and 1990s. Brabham was also competitive during the early 1980s, winning two Drivers' Championships with Nelson Piquet . Powered by Porsche , Honda , and Mercedes-Benz , McLaren won 16 championships (seven constructors' and nine drivers') in that period, while Williams used engines from Ford , Honda, and Renault to also win 16 titles (nine constructors' and seven drivers'). The rivalry between racers Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost became F1's central focus during 1988 and continued until Prost retired at
17391-492: The block. The two-race ban punishment was seen by many observers as petty and insignificant, and that it was a result of Benetton feud with the FIA, with Schumacher being a victim and the FIA trying to deny him his first World Championship. These incidents helped Damon Hill close the points gap, and Schumacher led by a single point going into the final race at the Australian Grand Prix . On lap 36, Schumacher hit
17578-636: The buy-out of the Renault team by Genii Capital investors. But a link with its previous owners still survived, with its car continuing to be powered by a Renault engine until 2014. McLaren also announced that it was to reacquire the shares in its team from Mercedes-Benz (McLaren's partnership with Mercedes was reported to have started to sour with the McLaren Mercedes SLR road car project and tough F1 championships, which included McLaren being found guilty of spying on Ferrari ). Hence, during
17765-477: The car "wasn't very good". Irvine also later commented: "The '96 [Ferrari] car was a disaster and was nearly undriveable. Only someone of Michael Schumacher's ability − and maybe Senna – could have driven it." During winter testing, Schumacher first drove a Ferrari, their 1995 Ferrari 412 T2 , and was two seconds faster than former regulars Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger had been. Alesi and Berger were allowed to drive Schumacher's Benetton B195 with which he won
17952-403: The cars to the track were up to five times the car's weight. As a result, extremely stiff springs were needed to maintain a constant ride height , leaving the suspension virtually solid. This meant that the drivers depended entirely on the tyres for any small amount of cushioning of the car and driver from irregularities of the road surface. Beginning in the 1970s, Bernie Ecclestone rearranged
18139-412: The case as they had not yet signed a final contract. Schumacher finished the 1991 season with four points out of six races. His best finish was fifth in his second race, the Italian Grand Prix , in which he finished ahead of his teammate and three-time World Champion Nelson Piquet . He also outqualified Piquet four times out of five in the season run-in, and scored only half a point less than him in
18326-445: The challenging Spa-Francorchamps circuit well, although in fact he had only seen it as a spectator. During the race weekend, teammate Andrea de Cesaris was meant to show Schumacher the circuit but was held up with contract negotiations. Schumacher then learned the track on his own, by cycling around the track on a fold-up bike he brought with him. In his debut, Schumacher impressed the paddock by qualifying seventh; he did so in
18513-479: The day-to-day running of the team. Under this new management, unexpectedly, Kobayashi did not compete in the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps . In his place, former Jaguar F1 test driver and three-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner, André Lotterer , made his début in Formula One. He retired early from the race due to mechanical issues and turned down the chance to further race for Caterham, or in Formula One unless under better conditions. On 21 October 2014, it
18700-456: The dearth of Formula One cars. When a new Formula One formula for engines limited to 2.5 litres was reinstated for the 1954 world championship, Mercedes-Benz introduced its W196 , which featured things never seen on Formula One cars before, such as desmodromic valves , fuel injection , and enclosed streamlined bodywork. Mercedes drivers won the championship for the next two years, before the team withdrew from all motorsport competitions due to
18887-519: The early season for Schumacher was his battle with Renault R25 driver Fernando Alonso at the San Marino Grand Prix , where he started 13th and finished only 0.2 seconds behind Alonso. Less than halfway through the season, Schumacher stated: "I don't think I can count myself in this battle any more. It was like trying to fight with a blunted weapon. If your weapons are weak you don't have a chance." Schumacher's sole win in 2005 came at
19074-409: The end of 1993 . Senna died at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix after crashing into a wall on the exit of the notorious curve Tamburello . The FIA worked to improve the sport's safety standards since that weekend, during which Roland Ratzenberger also died in an accident during Saturday qualifying. No driver died of injuries sustained on the track at the wheel of a Formula One car for 20 years until
19261-541: The end of 2006 after 16 years in Formula One, but came out of retirement for the 2010 season, racing for the newly formed Mercedes works team, following the rebrand of Brawn GP . During this period, FIA frequently changed the championship rules with the intention of improving the on-track action and cutting costs. Team orders , legal since the championship started during 1950, were banned during 2002, after several incidents in which teams openly manipulated race results, generating negative publicity, most famously by Ferrari at
19448-439: The end of 2016. A major rule shakeup in 2014 saw the 2.4-litre naturally aspirated V8 engines replaced by 1.6-litre turbocharged hybrid power units. This prompted Honda to return to the sport in 2015 as the championship's fourth power unit manufacturer. Mercedes emerged as the dominant force after the rule shakeup, with Lewis Hamilton winning the championship closely followed by his main rival and teammate, Nico Rosberg , with
19635-490: The end of qualifying. Grid penalties can be applied for driving infractions in the previous or current Grand Prix, or for changing a gearbox or engine component. If a car fails scrutineering, the driver will be excluded from qualifying but will be allowed to start the race from the back of the grid at the race stewards' discretion. 2021 saw the trialling of a 'sprint qualifying' race on the Saturday of three race weekends, with
19822-466: The fastest getting first place on the grid, referred to as pole position . From 1996 to 2002, the format was a one-hour shootout. This approach lasted until the end of 2002 before the rules were changed again because the teams were not running in the early part of the session to take advantage of better track conditions later on. Grids were generally limited to 26 cars – if the race had more entries, qualification would also decide which drivers would start
20009-511: The fastest time in Q1 will not be allowed to start the race without permission from the stewards. Otherwise, all drivers proceed to the race albeit in the worst starting positions. This rule does not affect drivers in Q2 or Q3. In Q2, the 15 remaining drivers have 15 minutes to set one of the ten fastest times and proceed to the next period. Finally, Q3 lasts 12 minutes and sees the remaining ten drivers decide
20196-438: The favour in several races to help him finish second in the standings. At the United States Grand Prix , Schumacher returned the favour, by giving Barrichello the win by 0.011 seconds, the second-closest margin on the finishing line in Formula One history in a failed dead heat finish. In an unplanned finish, Schumacher's explanation varied between it being him "returning the favour" for Austria, or trying to engineer
20383-450: The final lap of the first session. Caterham continued their good form into the race with both Kovalainen and Petrov running well until Kovalainen collided with Toro Rosso's Jean-Éric Vergne . The incident caused a safety car, but Kovalainen recovered to finish 14th behind Petrov, who managed what was at this point the team's joint best finish in 13th. At the British Grand Prix , an engine failure on Vitaly Petrov's Caterham on his way round to
20570-540: The first lap of the race with clutch problems. Following his Belgian Grand Prix debut, despite an agreement in principle between Jordan and Schumacher's Mercedes management that would see the German race for the Irish team for the remainder of the season, Schumacher was engaged by Benetton -Ford for the next race. Jordan applied for an injunction in the British courts to prevent Schumacher driving for Benetton but lost
20757-454: The first of many times that Schumacher beat his teammate through a full season, and Martin Brundle was fired as a result. Benetton team boss Flavio Briatore later regretted this decision, saying that he had underestimated the ability of both his drivers. Schumacher finished third in the Drivers' Championship in 1992 with 53 points, three points behind runner-up Patrese and three in front of
20944-489: The first ten grid positions. At the beginning of the 2016 Formula 1 season, the FIA introduced a new qualifying format, whereby drivers were knocked out every 90 seconds after a certain amount of time had passed in each session. The aim was to mix up grid positions for the race, but due to unpopularity, the FIA reverted to the above qualifying format for the Chinese GP, after running the format for only two races. Each car
21131-537: The first time since the French Grand Prix , ending a 58-race sequence without a mechanical retirement, handing Alonso the victory. He also conceded the title; to win the Drivers' Championship, Schumacher would have had to win the final race and Alonso had to fail to score any point, and he did not wish to win the title like that. During the pre-race ceremonies of the season's last race, the Brazilian Grand Prix , former football player Pelé presented
21318-575: The fourteenth race of the season, the FIA banned Renault's mass damper, with the superior Renault R26 suddenly no longer as competitive. By the Canadian Grand Prix , the ninth race of the season, Schumacher was 25 points behind Alonso; he then won the following three races, including at Hockenheim, to reduce his disadvantage to 11, and to 10 by Turkey. Since Canada, Ferrari won six out of seven races, including at Monza , with Schumacher winning in five of them. After further victories at
21505-493: The gap in the standings. At the German Grand Prix qualifying session, which was largely decided in the opening 10 minutes of semi-dry weather, Schumacher was able to improve his time in the final seconds and qualified second. In the race, he retired after crashing out at the start, as his new teammate Rubens Barrichello took his maiden win from 18th. Häkkinen then took another two victories, before Schumacher won at
21692-530: The greatest driver of his era". In 2001 , Schumacher took his fourth Drivers' title. Four other drivers won races but none sustained a season-long challenge for the championship. Schumacher scored a record-tying nine wins and clinched the World Championship with four races yet to run. He finished the championship with 123 points, 58 ahead of runner-up Coulthard. Season highlights included the Spanish Grand Prix , where he won after Häkkinen retired on
21879-490: The greatest record that stood in the sport, and was a reversal of the 2005 race. Schumacher was stripped of pole position at the Monaco Grand Prix and started the race at the back of the grid, as he stopped his car and blocked part of the circuit while Alonso was on his qualifying lap; he still managed to work his way up to fifth place on the notoriously cramped Monaco circuit. Before the Turkish Grand Prix ,
22066-428: The grid meant he had to return to the pits and retire the car before the race had even begun. The team then went on to secure 10th place in the Constructors' Championship, pipping Marussia at the final post, after a hard last race where Vitaly Petrov achieved a team record-breaking 11th-place finish in front of Charles Pic while Kovalainen finished in 14th behind STR-Ferrari's Daniel Ricciardo. On 23 November 2012, it
22253-460: The guardrail on the outside of the track while leading. Hill attempted to pass but as Schumacher's car returned to the track there was a collision on the corner causing them both to retire. As a result, Schumacher won the Drivers' Championship, the first German to do so— Jochen Rindt (the only posthumous Drivers' Champion) was German but raced under the Austrian flag, and whose domination in 1970
22440-475: The intention of testing the new approach to qualifying. The traditional qualifying would determine the starting order for the sprint, and the result of the sprint would then determine the start order for the Grand Prix. The system returned for the 2022 season, now titled the 'sprint'. From 2023, sprint races no longer impacted the start order for the main race, which would be determined by traditional qualifying. Sprints would have their own qualifying session, titled
22627-510: The last lap due to his car's engine blowing up leading Schumacher to say he was sorry for him and that they had been "bloody lucky"; Canadian Grand Prix , where Schumacher finished second to his brother Ralf , thus scoring the first-ever 1–2 finish by brothers in Formula One; and the Belgian Grand Prix , in which Schumacher scored his 52nd career win, breaking Alain Prost's record for most career wins that had stood since 1993. In 2002 , Schumacher retained his Drivers' Championship. In winning
22814-439: The line. Schumacher later said that Häkkinen was "the best opponent I've had" and the one he respected the most. in 2000 , Schumacher won his third Drivers' Championship, his first with Ferrari, after a year-long battle with Häkkinen. Schumacher won the first three races of the season and five of the first eight. Midway through the year, Schumacher's chances suffered with three consecutive non-finishes, allowing Häkkinen to close
23001-472: The local kart track—and Elisabeth Schumacher (1948–2003), who operated the track's canteen. When Schumacher was four, his father modified his pedal kart by adding a small motorcycle engine . After he crashed it into a lamp post in Kerpen , his parents took him to the karting track at Kerpen-Horrem, where he became the youngest member of the karting club. His father built him a kart from discarded parts; at
23188-565: The management of Formula One's commercial rights; he is widely credited with transforming the sport into the multibillion-dollar business it now is. When Ecclestone bought the Brabham team during 1971, he gained a seat on the Formula One Constructors' Association , and in 1978, he became its president. Previously, the circuit owners controlled the income of the teams and negotiated with each individually; Ecclestone persuaded
23375-509: The most powerful open-wheel circuit racing cars ever. To reduce engine power output and thus speeds, the FIA limited fuel tank capacity in 1984 , and boost pressures in 1988 , before banning turbocharged engines completely in 1989 . The development of electronic driver aids began in the 1980s. Lotus began to develop a system of active suspension , which first appeared during 1983 on the Lotus 92 . By 1987, this system had been perfected and
23562-476: The nine races. He continued with the team in the 1991 World Sportscar Championship season, winning again at the final race of the season at Autopolis in Japan with a Sauber– Mercedes-Benz C291 , leading to a ninth-place finish in the Drivers' Championship. He also competed at the 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans , finishing fifth in a car shared with Wendlinger and Fritz Kreutzpointner . He further competed in one race in
23749-493: The pit crews time to clear themselves and their equipment from the grid for the race start. Michael Schumacher German racing driver Family Rivalries Eponym Media Michael Schumacher ( German: [ˈmɪçaːʔeːl ˈʃuːmaxɐ] ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver , who competed in Formula One from 1991 to 2006 and from 2010 to 2012 . Schumacher won
23936-430: The pit lane, crossed the start-finish line, and stopped to serve his ten-second stop-go penalty , which was a result of overtaking the lapped car of Alexander Wurz during a safety car period. There was some doubt whether this counted as serving the penalty; because he had crossed the finish line when he came into the pit lane, the win was valid. The FIA rescinded the penalty due to taking 31 minutes, rather than within
24123-485: The podium. He finished with 144 points, a record-breaking 67 points ahead of the runner-up, his teammate Barrichello. This pair finished nine of the 17 races in the first two places. During the 2002 season, there was some controversy at the Austrian Grand Prix , where Barrichello was leading but in the final metres of the race, under team orders , slowed down to allow Schumacher to win the race. Although
24310-528: The race and the Drivers' Championship; he later described it as the fight of his life. Although Schumacher won more than twice as many Grands Prix as Häkkinen, BBC Sport journalist Andrew Benson stated that "the challenge from Mika Hakkinen and McLaren-Mercedes was far stronger than the raw statistics suggest" and that the Adrian Newey -designed McLaren was "the fastest car in F1 for the third straight year". Benson also hailed Schumacher as "unquestionably
24497-426: The race on Sunday. Each driver may use no more than thirteen sets of dry-weather tyres, four sets of intermediate tyres, and three sets of wet-weather tyres during a race weekend. For much of the sport's history, qualifying sessions differed little from practice sessions; drivers would have one or more sessions in which to set their fastest time, with the grid order determined by each driver's best single lap, with
24684-399: The race weekend. On 1 December 2014, it was announced that the team had received special dispensation to use their 2014 cars in the 2015 season, which would assist the administrator in finding a buyer for the team. Despite this, the team's assets were sold by auction, starting March 2015, meaning that attempts to race in 2015 had failed. The team then officially folded. On 25 July 2014, it
24871-461: The race. During the early 1990s, the number of entries was so high that the worst-performing teams had to enter a pre-qualifying session, with the fastest cars allowed through to the main qualifying session. The qualifying format began to change in the early 2000s, with the FIA experimenting with limiting the number of laps, determining the aggregate time over two sessions, and allowing each driver only one qualifying lap. The current qualifying system
25058-475: The race. Villeneuve went on and scored four points to take the championship. Despite public outcry, the race stewards did not initially award any penalty, as they had deemed it a racing incident; two weeks after the race, in an unprecedented move, Schumacher was disqualified from the entire 1997 Drivers' Championship after an FIA disciplinary hearing found that his "manoeuvre was an instinctive reaction and although deliberate not made with malice or premeditation, it
25245-662: The races must be held on grade one tracks , the highest grade rating the FIA issues for tracks. Formula One cars are the world's fastest regulated road-course racing cars , owing to very high cornering speeds achieved by generating large amounts of aerodynamic downforce , much of which is generated by front and rear wings. The cars depend on electronics, aerodynamics , suspension , and tyres . Traction control , launch control , and automatic shifting , and other electronic driving aids were first banned in 1994 . They were briefly reintroduced in 2001 , and have more recently been banned since 2004 and 2008 , respectively. With
25432-424: The same Renault engine as Williams ; according to Motor Sport magazine, Benetton had the better team, while Williams had the superior car. Schumacher accumulated 33 more points than second-placed Hill. With Herbert as teammate, he took Benetton to its first Constructors' Championship , breaking the dominance of McLaren and Williams, and became the youngest two-time World Champion in Formula One history. The season
25619-413: The season in third with 62 points, fewer than half the points of World Champion Alonso. 2006 became the last season of Schumacher's Ferrari career. After three races, Schumacher had just 11 points and was already 17 points behind Alonso. He won the following two races; his pole position at San Marino Grand Prix was his 66th, breaking Ayrton Senna's 12-year-old record, which was described as perhaps
25806-501: The season two points ahead of Räikkönen. In 2004 , Schumacher won a record 12 of the first 13 races of the season, including the inaugural Bahrain Grand Prix and the Japanese Grand Prix , only failing to finish in Monaco after an accident with Montoya during a safety car period. In August 2004, Schumacher's win at the Hungarian Grand Prix contributed to Ferrari's sixth consecutive Constructors' Championship, and he later clinched
25993-459: The session. The race begins with a warm-up lap, after which the cars assemble on the starting grid in the order they qualified. This lap is often referred to as the formation lap, as the cars lap in formation with no overtaking (although a driver who makes a mistake may regain lost ground). The warm-up lap allows drivers to check the condition of the track and their car, gives the tyres a chance to warm up to increase traction and grip, and also gives
26180-500: The sixth race of the season, which he would have won anyway, a view also shared by Jean Todt and Ross Brawn in retrospect, particularly given that he had already won four of the previous five Grands Prix, and that Barrichello had dominated the race weekend up to that point. At the podium ceremony, Schumacher pushed Barrichello onto the top step, and the Ferrari team incurred a $ 1 million fine for this disturbance. Schumacher vowed to pay back Barrichello, and later that same year returned
26367-476: The sixth time in 2003 , after a closely contested battle with his main rivals, which was also a result of lobbying regarding the Michelin tyres. Before the season started, the FIA introduced new regulations and a new points system to make the championship more open. The biggest competition came from the McLaren-Mercedes and Williams- BMW teams. In the first race, Schumacher was run off track, and he
26554-406: The sole tyre supplier to Formula One for the 2007 season by default. On 20 December 2007 Bridgestone signed a contract that officially made it the exclusive tyre supplier for the next three seasons. During 2006, Max Mosley outlined a 'green' future for Formula One, in which efficient use of energy would be an important factor. Starting in 2000, with Ford's purchase of Stewart Grand Prix to form
26741-487: The sport . Team Gunston became the first team to run cigarette sponsorship on its Brabham cars, which privately entered in orange, brown and gold colours of Gunston cigarettes in the 1968 South African Grand Prix on 1 January 1968. Five months later, the first works team , Lotus, initially using the British racing green , followed this example when it entered its cars painted in the red, gold, and white colours of
26928-409: The sport, although he later made a brief return with Mercedes from 2010 to 2012 . Schumacher was noted for pushing his car to the very limit for sustained periods during races, a pioneering fitness regimen, and ability to galvanise teams around him. He and his younger brother Ralf are the only siblings to win races in Formula One and the first siblings to finish first and second in the same race,
27115-663: The sport. After Honda's return as an engine manufacturer in 2015, Renault came back as a team in 2016 after buying back the Lotus F1 team. In 2018, Aston Martin and Alfa Romeo became Red Bull and Sauber's title sponsors, respectively. Sauber was rebranded as Alfa Romeo Racing for the 2019 season, while Racing Point part-owner Lawrence Stroll bought a stake in Aston Martin to rebrand the Racing Point team as Aston Martin for 2021. In August 2020, all ten F1 teams signed
27302-407: The start of the second heat, he overtook Häkkinen, who only had to finish within three seconds of Schumacher to clinch the overall win. In the closing laps, Schumacher made a mistake, allowing Häkkinen to attempt to overtake. Schumacher changed his line immediately before Häkkinen did the same as the latter moved to overtake, and Häkkinen crashed into the back of Schumacher's car. While Häkkinen's race
27489-432: The stewards and the team. Schumacher was also disqualified after winning the Belgian Grand Prix , after his car was found to have illegal wear on its skid block , a measure used after the accidents at Imola to limit downforce and hence cornering speed. Benetton protested that the skid block had been damaged when Schumacher spun over a kerb; the FIA rejected their appeal because of the pattern of wear and damage visible on
27676-873: The superior McLaren MP4/13 , Häkkinen won the first two races of the season, gaining a 16-point advantage over Schumacher, who then won the Argentine Grand Prix . With the Ferrari improving significantly in the second half of the season, Schumacher took six victories and had five other podium finishes. One of his victories was at the Hungarian Grand Prix , a track where overtaking is difficult and that favoured McLaren; Schumacher drove 19 consecutive qualifying-like laps to make Ross Brawn's alternative three-stop strategy work and to go from third to first place. Brawn had told him: "Michael, you have 19 laps to pull out 25 seconds. We need 19 qualifying laps from you." Schumacher ultimately came nine seconds ahead of David Coulthard . Häkkinen, who started on pole, achieved only
27863-419: The superior Williams FW19 , led the championship in the early part of the season. Schumacher first win of the season came at the wet Monaco Grand Prix , in which he took a six-second lead after one lap. By mid-season, despite possibly driving not even the second-fastest car on the grid, Schumacher had taken the championship lead, winning five races, and entered the season's finale (the European Grand Prix at
28050-401: The switching of positions did not break any actual sporting or technical regulation, as Ferrari did the same at the Austrian Grand Prix the previous year where Schumacher finishe second and Barrichello third, it angered fans and it was claimed that the team's actions showed a lack of sportsmanship and respect to the spectators. Many argued that Schumacher did not need to be given wins in only
28237-535: The team to a consortium of Swiss and Middle Eastern investors. The "Caterham" name was later used under licence after the Caterham Group separation. In October 2014, Caterham entered administration and did not attend a race weekend for the first time in its history beginning from the United States Grand Prix . In November 2014, after also missing the Brazilian Grand Prix , Caterham became the first F1 team ever to resort to crowdfunding , enabling it to race at
28424-536: The team winning 16 out of the 19 races that season. The team continued this form in the next two seasons, again winning 16 races in 2015 before taking a record 19 wins in 2016 , with Hamilton claiming the title in the former year and Rosberg winning it in the latter by five points. The 2016 season also saw a new team, Haas , join the grid, while Max Verstappen became the youngest-ever race winner at age 18 in Spain . After revised aerodynamic regulations were introduced,
28611-426: The team's chances of a return to the sport alive, much to the dismay of some Formula One personalities including Bernie Ecclestone . On 14 November 2014, it was reported that Caterham had succeeded in raising the necessary funds, via the crowdfunding initiative, to compete at the final Grand Prix of the 2014 season in Abu Dhabi . In contrast to multi-national logos adorning other team cars, according to media reports,
28798-415: The team's total tally for the period from 1991 to 1995, despite a poor chassis. He took his first win for Ferrari at the Spanish Grand Prix , where he lapped the entire field up to third place in the wet. After a bad start, which saw him dropping from third to sixth place, before taking the lead on lap 19, he consistently lapped five seconds faster than the rest of the field in the difficult conditions. At
28985-611: The team, Fernandes acquired Caterham Cars . In November 2011, the team applied to the Formula One commission to formally change their constructor name for the 2012 season from Lotus to Caterham, while Renault changed their name to Lotus . Permission was granted before being formally ratified at a meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council . The team finished 10th in the Constructors' Championship in 2011, with three 13th-place finishes (two from Trulli, one from Kovalainen). Trulli and Kovalainen re-signed with
29172-577: The team, under its new guise of Caterham, for the 2012 season. On 18 January 2012, it was announced that the team would be moving to the Leafield Technical Centre in Leafield, Oxfordshire , the previous headquarters of both Arrows and Super Aguri F1 teams. The Caterham CT01 was the first car the team had built to run KERS . On 17 February, the team announced that Vitaly Petrov would replace Trulli alongside Kovalainen for
29359-468: The team. The tifosi and the Italian press, who did not always take to Schumacher's relatively cold public persona, displayed an affectionate response after he announced his retirement. After qualifying second, Schumacher led the Japanese Grand Prix in what could have seen him heading into the season finale with two points ahead of Alonso. With only 16 laps to go, his car suffered an engine failure for
29546-483: The team. Schumacher moved to the struggling Ferrari team in 1996 . During his first few years with the team, Schumacher lost out on the title in the final race of the season in 1997 and 1998 , and suffered a broken leg from a brake failure in 1999 . He and Ferrari won five consecutive titles from 2000 to 2004 , including unprecedented sixth and seventh titles, while breaking several records. After finishing third in 2005 and second in 2006 , Schumacher retired from
29733-507: The teams reached an agreement to prevent a breakaway series. It was agreed teams must cut spending to the level of the early 1990s within two years; exact figures were not specified, and Max Mosley agreed he would not stand for reelection to the FIA presidency in October. Following further disagreements, after Mosley suggested he would stand for reelection, FOTA made it clear that breakaway plans were still being pursued. On 8 July, FOTA issued
29920-600: The teams to "hunt as a pack" through FOCA. He offered Formula One to circuit owners as a package they could take or leave. In return for the package, almost all that was required was to surrender trackside advertising. The formation of the Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA) in 1979 set off the FISA–FOCA war , during which FISA and its president Jean-Marie Balestre argued repeatedly with FOCA over television revenues and technical regulations. The Guardian said that Ecclestone and Max Mosley "used [FOCA] to wage
30107-672: The technological advances of the 1990s, the cost of competing in Formula One increased dramatically, thus increasing financial burdens. This, combined with the dominance of four teams (largely funded by big car manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz), caused the poorer independent teams to struggle not only to remain competitive but to stay in business. This effectively forced several teams to withdraw. Michael Schumacher and Ferrari won five consecutive Drivers' Championships (2000–2004) and six consecutive Constructors' Championships (1999–2004). Schumacher set many new records, including those for Grand Prix wins (91, since beaten by Lewis Hamilton ), wins in
30294-516: The time they were together. At the start of the 1992 season the Sauber team, planning their Formula One debut with Mercedes backing for the following year, invoked a clause in Schumacher's contract that stated that if Mercedes entered Formula One, Schumacher would drive for them. It was eventually agreed that Schumacher would stay with Benetton; Peter Sauber stated that "[Schumacher] didn't want to drive for us. Why would I have forced him?" The year
30481-478: The track as well. Drivers from McLaren , Williams , Renault (formerly Benetton ), and Ferrari , dubbed the "Big Four", won every World Championship from 1984 to 2008 . The teams won every Constructors' Championship from 1979 to 2008 , as well as placing themselves as the top four teams in the Constructors' Championship in every season between 1989 and 1997 , and winning every race but one (the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix ) between 1988 and 1997 . Due to
30668-401: The track into the barriers and resulting in a broken leg. During his 98-day absence, he was replaced by Finnish driver Mika Salo . About his return, Schumacher's Eddie Irvine teammate recalled: "It was amazing. I remember me and Mika Salo were testing at Mugello, which is one of the hardest circuits in the world – and he [Schumacher] hadn't driven for eight months. He got in the car and within
30855-1010: The transformation of the Ferrari team was Schumacher's greatest feat. During his time at the team, Schumacher became the byword for Formula One and motorsports in general. At the end of 2006, Schumacher's 91 wins were 40 more than Alain Prost, who was his nearest rival. Schumacher held at least thirty-one records, including for most championship titles (7), consecutive titles (5), race victories (91), consecutive wins 7 (2004), wins with one team (72, Ferrari), wins at same Grand Prix (8, France), wins at different Grands Prix (20), time between first and last wins (14 years, 1 month, and 2 days), second places (43), podiums (154), consecutive podium finishes (19, 2001–2002), points finishes (190), laps leading (4.741, or 22,155 km), pole positions (68), front row starts (115), fastest laps (76), doubles (pole and win, 40), hat-tricks (pole, fastest lap, and win, 22), championship points (1,369), consecutive race finishes (24, 2001–2003), consecutive points finishes (24), points in
31042-433: The turn and ended up in the gravel. In later years, Villeneuve himself admitted that he "would never have made that corner without [Schumacher's] push", and Schumacher stated in 2009 that if he could have his career over again, he would "do some things differently", citing Jerez 1997 as something that he would have changed in his career. In 1998 , Finnish driver Mika Häkkinen became Schumacher's main title rival. Driving
31229-425: The wake behind the car turbulent or 'dirty'. This prevented other cars from following closely due to their dependence on 'clean' air to make the car stick to the track. The grooved tyres also had the unfortunate side effect of initially being of a harder compound to be able to hold the grooved tread blocks, which resulted in spectacular accidents in times of aerodynamic grip failure, as the harder compound could not grip
31416-491: The way to Formula One . Weber advised Schumacher that being exposed to professional press conferences and driving powerful cars in long-distance races would help his career. In the 1990 World Sportscar Championship season, Schumacher won the season finale at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in a Sauber – Mercedes C11 , and finished fifth in the Drivers' Championship despite only driving in three of
31603-407: The worst car to have won a Formula One World Championship and was difficult to drive, so much so that Schumacher had three different teammates ( JJ Lehto , Jos Verstappen , and Johnny Herbert ) due to crashes, Schumacher won the first four races and finished the season with eight wins. He won six of the first seven races, including the Brazilian Grand Prix in which he lapped the entire field, and
31790-404: Was a serious error." Initially feeling wronged, Schumacher accepted the decision and admitted having made a mistake, upon seeing the footage when he got out of the car and adrenaline had worn off. His actions were widely condemned in British, German, and Italian newspapers. Another view is that Villeneuve went into the corner too fast; without Schumacher turning into him, he would have overshot
31977-532: Was added in the 1958 season . Stirling Moss , despite being regarded as one of the greatest Formula One drivers in the 1950s and 1960s, never won the Formula One championship. Between 1955 and 1961, Moss finished second in the championship four times and third the other three times. Fangio won 24 of the 52 races he entered—still the record for the highest Formula One winning percentage by an individual driver. National championships existed in South Africa and
32164-525: Was adopted in the 2006 season. Known as "knock-out" qualifying, it is split into three periods, known as Q1, Q2, and Q3. In each period, drivers run qualifying laps to attempt to advance to the next period, with the slowest drivers being "knocked out" of qualification (but not necessarily the race) at the end of the period and their grid positions set within the rearmost five based on their best lap times. Drivers are allowed as many laps as they wish within each period. After each period, all times are reset, and only
32351-503: Was announced that Marussia driver Charles Pic signed a multi-year contract with the team and his teammate was rookie Giedo van der Garde . On 1 March 2013, the team announced that Alexander Rossi and Ma Qinghua would be its reserve drivers for the 2013 season. On 17 April 2013, it was confirmed that the team had re-signed Heikki Kovalainen as a reserve driver (formal technical development role) in order to test their upgrades. Ma Qinghua consequently lost his reserve driver seat. At
32538-563: Was announced that Caterham had entered administration, and had withdrawn its management team. A statement issued on behalf of Caterham said that the administrators, Smith & Williamson , were now in control of the team. Bernie Ecclestone gave Caterham special dispensation to miss the United States and Brazilian Grands Prix while they attempted to find a buyer for the team. In spite of the above dispensation, absence from any Grand Prix breached Formula One regulations. Nevertheless, at
32725-447: Was announced that over forty former employees were taking legal action against the team for unfair dismissal, following a number of cost cuts by Caterham F1's new owners. In November 2014, despite Caterham F1 returning to racing under the control of its administrator following a successful crowdfunding initiative, 230 staff members not directly involved in Grand Prix preparations were made redundant. The staff that were redundant received
32912-461: Was deemed legal. By contrast, the Benetton software was deemed to be a form of launch control that would have allowed Schumacher to make perfect starts, which was explicitly outlawed by the regulations; Benetton and Willem Toet , a Formula One aerodynamicist for over thirty years who worked at Benetton until 1994, stated that traction control was legally achieved through rotational inertia . There
33099-498: Was directly behind Senna, and that of Roland Ratzenberger during the San Marino Grand Prix ; there were also allegations of cheating during the 1994 Formula One season involving several teams, most particularly Schumacher's Benetton, having allegedly broken the sport's technical regulations. Following the San Marino Grand Prix, the Benetton, Ferrari , and McLaren teams were investigated on suspicion of breaking
33286-581: Was dominated by the Williams FW14B of Nigel Mansell and Riccardo Patrese , featuring powerful Renault engines, semi-automatic gearboxes , and active suspension to control the car's ride height. In the conventional Benetton B192 , Schumacher took his place on the podium for the first time, finishing third in the Mexican Grand Prix . Through what has been described as a tactical masterstroke, he went on to take his first victory at
33473-478: Was driven to victory by Ayrton Senna in the Monaco Grand Prix that year. In the early 1990s, other teams followed suit and semi-automatic gearboxes and traction control were a natural progression. The FIA, due to complaints that technology was determining races' outcomes more than driver skill, banned many such aids for the 1994 season. This resulted in cars that previously depended on electronic aids becoming very "twitchy" and difficult to drive. Observers felt
33660-653: Was ended, Schumacher drove to victory without a rear wing. Schumacher gave the prize money from winning the race to his family as they had debts. During 1990, along with his Formula Three rivals Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Karl Wendlinger , Schumacher joined the Mercedes-Benz junior racing programme in the World Sportscar Championship . This was unusual for a young driver, as most of Schumacher's contemporaries competed in Formula 3000 on
33847-439: Was involved in collisions in the following two. He fell 16 points behind McLaren's Kimi Räikkönen . Despite the death of his mother Elisabeth just hours before the race, Schumacher won the San Marino Grand Prix despite losing the first position going into turn one. He also won the next two races and closed within two points of Räikkönen. Aside from Schumacher's victory at the Canadian Grand Prix and Barrichello's victory at
34034-481: Was later equalled by Schumacher. The race stewards judged it as a racing accident and took no action against either driver. Although the Drivers' Championship had been decided in a similar manner in 1989 and 1990, public opinion was divided over the incident, and Schumacher was vilified in the British media. At the FIA conference after the race, Schumacher dedicated his title to Senna. In 1995 , Schumacher successfully defended his title with Benetton, which now had
34221-402: Was leading the Spanish Grand Prix , before a gearbox failure left him stuck in fifth gear for most of the race. Schumacher made two pit stops without stalling and finished the race in second place. Benetton boss Flavio Briatore stated that Schumacher's drive was one of the best he had ever seen. The 1994 season was marred by the death of Ayrton Senna , which was witnessed by Schumacher who
34408-409: Was marred by several collisions with Hill, in particular an overtaking manoeuvre by Hill took them both out of the British Grand Prix on lap 45, and again on lap 23 of the Italian Grand Prix ; it also saw one of his career's best ovetakes, with the one over Jean Alesi giving him the win at the European Grand Prix , after he reduced the half a minute gap in the final dozen laps. Schumacher won 9 of
34595-417: Was no evidence to suggest the software was used. At the British Grand Prix , Schumacher was penalised for overtaking Hill on the formation lap . He and Benetton then ignored the penalty and the subsequent black flag , which indicates that the driver must immediately return to the pits, for which he was disqualified and later given a two-race ban. Benetton blamed the incident on a communication error between
34782-527: Was praised, as he had the pace to win the race by a lap, and was variously classified in the press as "heroic", an "utterly breath-taking drive", and a "performance that ... sums up his career". During the following weeks, Schumacher, Brawn, Byrne, and Todt were credited for turning the struggling Ferrari team into the most successful team in Formula One history, with Schumacher scoring 72 Grand Prix wins at Ferrari and winning five consecutive Drivers' titles. Three-time World Champion Jackie Stewart believed
34969-411: Was really unbelievable. Really difficult to drive. It was so edgy. But it was fast when you just drove it exactly on that edge. Now, though, there have been a lot of aerodynamic improvements to the cars and so the cars I have driven have been a lot more stable. And that applies to most of the cars today." "It was not a race. It was a demonstration of brilliance." Stirling Moss about Schumacher at
#494505