162-505: The Mercedes-AMG F1 W11 EQ Performance is a Formula One racing car designed and constructed by the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team under the direction of James Allison , John Owen , Mike Elliott , Loïc Serra , Ashley Way, Emiliano Giangiulio, Jarrod Murphy and Eric Blandin to compete in the 2020 Formula One World Championship . The car was driven by Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas , who remained with
324-531: A Barazi-Epsilon FR2.0–10 Formula Renault car. The car was provided by Dutch team MP Motorsport . He tested for several Formula Renault 2.0 teams in 2013. In December 2013, Verstappen tested a Dallara F311 Formula 3 car run by Motopark Academy . An additional Formula Renault test followed in December at Circuito de Jerez . Driving for Josef Kaufmann Racing , Verstappen went faster than Formula Renault regulars like Steijn Schothorst and Matt Parry . At
486-432: A C d value between 0.25 and 0.35), so that, despite the enormous power output of the engines, the top speed of these cars is less than that of World War II vintage Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union Silver Arrows racers. However, this drag is more than compensated for by the ability to corner at extremely high speed. The aerodynamics are adjusted for each track; with a low drag configuration for tracks where high speed
648-637: A Belgian mother, was born in Belgium and resided in Bree, Belgium , he decided to compete with a Dutch racing licence. He stated he "feels more Dutch", having spent more time with his father than with his mother during his upbringing, and was always surrounded by Dutch people while growing up in Maaseik , a Belgian town at the Dutch border. Verstappen said in 2015: "I actually only lived in Belgium to sleep, but during
810-616: A CRG customer team. That year, he defended his titles in the Mini Max championships and won the Belgian KF5 Championship. Verstappen was signed by CRG to race in their factory team and stepped up to international karting in 2010. At the KF3 World Cup , Verstappen finished second to the more experienced Alexander Albon (who would eventually become his Formula One teammate at Red Bull Racing) but beat him at
972-416: A CRG, finishing 21st. In 2013, Verstappen completed a record-breaking season in karting, having progressed to the senior KF and KZ categories. Aged 15, he won three CIK-FIA championships in a single season: two European Championships and a World Championship ; an unprecedented feat in the history of the discipline. He became the first driver since his father Jos to win two European Championships in
1134-548: A Formula Renault 3.5 car. He also considered an offer from Mercedes to join their driver development programme . Verstappen became the youngest driver to start a World Championship race through joining Toro Rosso's race drivers' line-up with Carlos Sainz as his teammate, in his Grand Prix debut as a full-time driver at the 2015 Australian Grand Prix at the age of 17 years, 166 days—breaking Jaime Alguersuari 's existing record by almost two years. In this first race, Verstappen ran in points-scoring positions until he
1296-400: A ban on variable intake trumpets, have also been introduced with the new 2.4 L V8 formula to prevent the teams from achieving higher RPM and horsepower too quickly. The 2009 season limited engines to 18,000 rpm in order to improve engine reliability and cut costs. For a decade, F1 cars had run with 3.0 L naturally aspirated engines with all teams settling on a V10 layout by the end of
1458-412: A downforce:weight ratio of 1:1) at 190 km/h (118 mph), while an F1 car achieves the same at 125 to 130 km/h (78 to 81 mph), and at 190 km/h (118 mph) the ratio is roughly 2:1. The bargeboards, in particular, are designed, shaped, configured, adjusted, and positioned not to create downforce directly, as with a conventional wing or underbody venturi, but to create vortices from
1620-414: A driver is on wet-weather tyres), but during the race, it could only be activated when a driver is less than one second behind another car at pre-determined points on the track. (From 2013 DRS is available only at the pre-determined points during all sessions). The system is then deactivated once the driver brakes. The system "stalls" the rear wing by opening a flap, which leaves a 50 mm horizontal gap in
1782-461: A first-lap collision with Charles Leclerc in Japan , Verstappen suffered his second retirement of the season. In Mexico , he qualified in first place after setting the fastest lap-time of the session, before being handed a grid penalty for ignoring yellow flags after a crash by Valtteri Bottas. Verstappen suffered a puncture early in the race after making contact with Bottas, falling to the back of
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#17327826643631944-413: A full race weekend. For the 2005 championship, they were required to last two full race weekends, and if a team changed an engine between the two races, they incurred a penalty of 10 grid positions. In 2007, this rule was altered slightly and an engine only had to last for Saturday and Sunday running. This was to promote Friday running. In the 2008 season, engines were required to last two full race weekends;
2106-409: A green band on the sidewall of the softer compound was painted to allow spectators to distinguish which tyre a driver is on. Beginning in 2019, Pirelli scrapped the tyre naming system such that the tyres will denote at each Grand Prix independently as hard, medium and soft with white, yellow and red sidewalls respectively rather than having a separate name and colour for each of the five tyres. The change
2268-627: A mistake at the start when he moved slightly just before the lights went out and then stopped his car and got away slowly, falling to sixth by turn one. He avoided a penalty for a jump start and managed to recover to third place, finishing just behind second-placed Max Verstappen . At the British Grand Prix , Hamilton led Mercedes to another front-row lockout by taking his third consecutive pole position over Bottas by over 0.3 seconds. Bottas took second by 0.7 seconds over Verstappen who qualified in third. Lewis Hamilton led from pole position at
2430-825: A move on Nicklas Nielsen in the final race, having won the opening round and pre-final. This was the only championship he failed to win in 2013 whilst completing all rounds. Verstappen won the South Garda Winter Cup in KF2 , as well as the WSK Euro Series and the WSK Super Master Series in KZ1 and KZ2 , respectively. Verstappen's first experience in a racing car was at the Pembrey Circuit on 11 October 2013. He drove 160 laps in
2592-469: A new Formula One record as he scored his 156th career podium finish, surpassing Michael Schumacher for most all-time. Bottas started poorly and dropped to fourth at the first corner. Although he was able to recover to regain third place, he was not able to overtake Verstappen and lost more ground to him in the drivers' championship. At the Belgian Grand Prix , Hamilton set a new track record at
2754-460: A podium in Spain in third place. In Monaco , Verstappen qualified in third place. He was released into the path of Valtteri Bottas during the drivers' pit stops, gaining second place but receiving a 5-second penalty as a result. Verstappen crossed the line in second place but was demoted to fourth by the penalty. In Canada , Verstappen's final lap in the second qualifying session was hampered by
2916-430: A positive test for coronavirus and was replaced by Williams driver and Mercedes young driver George Russell for that event. Russell started second and led most of the race having overtaken Bottas, who had taken pole, at the start. At the second pit stop, Mercedes made an error and Russell was fitted with Bottas' tyres, forcing Russell to make another pit stop on the following lap, effectively ending his chances of winning
3078-473: A red flag brought out by Kevin Magnussen 's crash. This caused Verstappen to qualify 11th and start the race in ninth place. He later recovered to finish fifth. In France he started and finished in fourth place. In Austria , Verstappen started third but suffered a poor start, dropping down to eighth. After a charge towards the front, he made his way up to second before controversially passing Leclerc for
3240-495: A row of LED shift lights . The wheel alone can cost about $ 50,000, and with carbon fibre construction, weighs in at 1.3 kilograms. In the 2014 season, certain teams such as Mercedes have chosen to use larger LCDs on their wheels which allow the driver to see additional information such as fuel flow and torque delivery. They are also more customizable owing to the possibility of using much different software. The fuel used in F1 cars
3402-475: A seventh consecutive Formula One World Constructor's Championship , breaking a record for consecutive championships previously held by Ferrari . Due to its setting numerous track records (the outright fastest lap ever) at various Formula One circuits, the W11 is considered to be one of the greatest race cars of all time. The W11 has a system which Mercedes had developed called Dual Axis Steering (DAS) which allowed
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#17327826643633564-532: A sister from Jos's second marriage and a brother and sister from Jos's current marriage. His family has a long association with motor sports: his father is a Dutch former Formula One driver, his Belgian mother competed in karting , and his first cousin once removed, Anthony Kumpen , competed in endurance racing and is a two-time NASCAR Whelen Euro Series champion currently serving as the team manager for PK Carsport in Euro Series. Although Verstappen has
3726-426: A small drag penalty. Until 2022, the underside of the vehicle, the undertray, had to be flat between the axles. The limited size of the wings (requiring use at high angles of attack to create sufficient downforce), and vortices created by open wheels lead to a high aerodynamic drag coefficient (about 1 according to Minardi 's technical director Gabriele Tredozi ; compared with the average modern car , which has
3888-458: A spin causing him to fall further down the order. He recovered to eventually finish the race in sixth place. At the next race in Bahrain , he crashed during qualifying and started in 15th place. He had a productive first lap after which he found himself in the points while challenging Lewis Hamilton. He attempted an overtake on the reigning World Champion at the start of lap two, but collided with
4050-644: A standing start, a distance of only 5.2 km (3.2 mi). As well as being fast in a straight line, F1 cars have greater cornering ability. Grand Prix cars can negotiate corners at significantly higher speeds than other racing cars because of their levels of grip and downforce. Cornering speed is so high that Formula One drivers have strength training routines just for the neck muscles. Former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya claimed to be able to perform 300 repetitions of 23 kg (50 lb) with his neck. The combination of light weight (642 kg in race trim for 2013), power (670–750 kW (900–1,000 bhp) with
4212-571: A successful karting career—culminating in his record-breaking 2013 season —Verstappen graduated to junior formulae . Progressing directly to FIA European Formula 3 , Verstappen broke several records on his way to third in the championship in his rookie season with Van Amersfoort . A member of the Red Bull Junior Team , Verstappen signed for Toro Rosso in 2015 , aged 17, becoming the youngest driver in Formula One history at
4374-430: A suitable structure; e.g. on the ceiling . The use of aerodynamics to increase the cars' grip was pioneered in Formula One in the 1968 season by Lotus , Ferrari and Brabham . At first, Lotus introduced modest front wings and a spoiler on Graham Hill's Lotus 49 B at the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix ; then, Brabham and Ferrari went one better at the 1968 Belgian Grand Prix with full-width wings mounted on struts high above
4536-439: A superficial resemblance to a normal road tyre. Whereas a road car tyre has a useful life of up to 80,000 km (50,000 mi), a Formula One tyre does not even last the whole race distance (a little over 300 km (190 mi)); they are usually changed one or two times per race, depending on the track. This is the result of a drive to maximize the road-holding ability, leading to the use of very soft compounds (to ensure that
4698-487: A track, drivers can deploy DRS, which opens the rear wing, reduces the drag of the car, allowing it to move faster. As soon as the driver touches the brake, the rear wing shuts again. In free practice and qualifying, a driver may use it whenever he wishes to, but in the race, it can only be used if the driver is 1 second, or less, behind another driver at the DRS detection zone on the race track, at which point it can be activated in
4860-492: A year developing their car) had the option of keeping the current V10 for another season, but with a rev limiter to keep them competitive with the most powerful V8 engines. The only team to take this option was the Toro Rosso team, which was reformed and regrouped Minardi. In 2012, the engines consumed around 450 L (16 cu ft) of air per second (at the 2012 rev limit of 18,000 rpm); race fuel consumption rate
5022-442: Is 740 kg (1,631 lb) including the driver but not fuel. Cars are weighed with dry-weather tyres fitted. Prior to the 2014 F1 season, cars often weighed in under this limit so teams added ballast in order to add weight to the car. The advantage of using ballast is that it can be placed anywhere in the car to provide ideal weight distribution. This can help lower the car's centre of gravity to improve stability and also allows
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5184-594: Is a Dutch and Belgian racing driver , currently competing under the Dutch flag in Formula One for Red Bull Racing . Verstappen has won four Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles , which he won consecutively from 2021 to 2024 with Red Bull, and has won 62 Grands Prix across 10 seasons. Born in Hasselt and raised in Maaseik , Verstappen is the son of Dutch former Formula One driver Jos Verstappen and Belgian former kart racer Sophie Kumpen. After
5346-469: Is a critical issue, and is bolted onto the back of the engine. Fully-automatic gearboxes , and systems such as launch control and traction control , have been illegal since 2004 and 2008 , respectively, to keep driver skill and involvement important in controlling the car, and to ensure that no teams are using these systems illegally to gain a competitive advantage, as well as to keep costs down. The driver initiates gear shifts using paddles mounted on
5508-408: Is fairly similar to ordinary (premium) petrol , albeit with a far more tightly controlled mix. Formula One fuel would fall under high octane premium road fuel with octane thresholds of 95 to 102. Since the 1992 season onwards all Formula One cars must mandatorily utilize unleaded racing gasoline fuel. F1 blends are tuned for maximum performance in given weather conditions or different circuits. During
5670-508: Is more important like Autodromo Nazionale Monza , and a high traction configuration for tracks where cornering is more important, like the Circuit de Monaco . With the 2009 regulations, the FIA rid F1 cars of small winglets and other parts of the car (minus the front and rear wing) used to manipulate the airflow of the car in order to decrease drag and increase downforce. Currently, the front wing
5832-442: Is shaped specifically to push air towards all the winglets and bargeboards so that the airflow is smooth. Should these be removed, various parts of the car will cause great drag when the front wing is unable to shape the air past the body of the car. The regulations which came into effect in 2009 have reduced the width of the rear wing by 25 cm, and standardised the centre section of the front wing to prevent teams from developing
5994-449: Is typically operated by a lever inside the cockpit as opposed to a control on the steering wheel. An average F1 car can decelerate from 100 to 0 km/h (62 to 0 mph) in about 15 meters (48 ft), compared with a 2009 BMW M3, which needs 31 meters (102 ft). When braking from higher speeds, aerodynamic downforce enables tremendous deceleration: 4.5 g to 5.0 g (44 to 49 m/s ), and up to 5.5 g (54 m/s ) at
6156-511: The 100 most influential people globally , and was appointed an Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau in 2022. Max Emilian Verstappen was born on 30 September 1997 in Hasselt , Belgium to Jos Verstappen and Sophie Kumpen [ nl ] . Verstappen's parents separated when he was young, after which he lived with his father. His younger sister, Victoria, lived with their mother. Verstappen has three younger half-siblings from his father:
6318-463: The 2019 and 2020 World Drivers' Championships under Honda power . After winning 10 Grands Prix during the 2021 season—overtaking Lewis Hamilton on the last lap of the last race of the season —Verstappen won his maiden title, becoming the first World Drivers' Champion from the Netherlands and the 34th overall . Verstappen won the next two championships in 2022 and 2023 , overturning
6480-578: The Australian Grand Prix . Following several points finishes in his debut season, Verstappen retained his seat for 2016 before being promoted to parent team Red Bull after four rounds. On debut for Red Bull, aged 18, Verstappen won the Spanish Grand Prix , becoming the youngest-ever driver to win a Formula One Grand Prix . Verstappen achieved multiple race wins in his 2017 and 2018 campaigns, before finishing third in both
6642-521: The Bahrain Grand Prix , Verstappen topped all the practice sessions and subsequently took a career fourth pole position. This was the first time he achieved back-to-back pole positions. He fought Lewis Hamilton for the race victory, and on lap 53 Verstappen overtook Hamilton, but went off track whilst doing so, resulting in him being instructed by race control to let Hamilton back into the lead and ultimately finishing second behind Hamilton. At
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6804-519: The Circuit Ricardo Tormo near Valencia , Verstappen set a faster lap time than the more experienced driver Eddie Cheever III . On 16 January 2014, it was announced Verstappen would make his racing debut in the non-championship Florida Winter Series . On 5 February, at the second race weekend, Verstappen won the race at Palm Beach International Raceway after he started from pole. A few weeks later, Verstappen won his second race of
6966-534: The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps with a time of 1:41.252, qualifying half a second clear of teammate Bottas in second. The race saw the pair take a 1-2 finish, the team's second of the season, with Hamilton leading from lights to flag and Bottas holding second ahead of Red Bull's Verstappen. Hamilton extended his lead in the Drivers' Championship to forty-seven points over Verstappen in second and fifty points to Bottas in third. Likewise, Mercedes increased their lead in
7128-586: The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix , Verstappen looked set to claim second due to Valtteri Bottas ' ailing Mercedes slowing down, but a sudden puncture denied him any chance of a podium finish; Verstappen spun, resulting in his fourth retirement of the 2020 season. During Free Practice for the Portuguese Grand Prix, Verstappen was criticised for comments he made on the team radio after a collision with Lance Stroll , where he used
7290-652: The Malaysian Grand Prix onward, Verstappen enjoyed a surge of success. He won his second Formula One race at the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix, a day after his 20th birthday, passing then three-time champion Lewis Hamilton for the lead in the early stages of the race. He finished second in the following race in Japan . He then finished third at the United States Grand Prix, but was classified fourth after his final lap overtake on Kimi Räikkönen
7452-476: The McLaren MP4-20 . Most of those innovations were effectively outlawed under even more stringent aero regulations imposed by the FIA for 2009. The changes were designed to promote overtaking by making it easier for a car to closely follow another. The new rules took the cars into another new era, with lower and wider front wings, taller and narrower rear wings, and generally much 'cleaner' bodywork. Perhaps
7614-662: The Renault team for 2019, Verstappen was joined at Red Bull by Pierre Gasly . Verstappen qualified in fourth and finished third in Australia , the first podium finish for a Honda -powered driver since the 2008 British Grand Prix . Verstappen was on course for a second third-place finish in Bahrain before a late safety car prevented him from overtaking Charles Leclerc's ailing Ferrari, keeping him in fourth place. Two more fourth-place finishes followed in China and Azerbaijan , and
7776-604: The Styrian Grand Prix and led the race from start to finish, to give him his fourth win of the season and further extend his lead to 18 points. Verstappen took pole position at the Austrian Grand Prix , led every lap from start to finish, set the fastest lap, and won the race for his first career grand slam , being the youngest to do so. With the win, Verstappen also became the first driver to win three races in three consecutive weekends, starting at
7938-681: The United States Grand Prix . At the end of the season, Verstappen received three awards at the FIA Prize Giving Ceremony , for "Rookie of the Year", "Personality of the Year" and "Action of the Year", for his overtake on Felipe Nasr on the outside of the Blanchimont corner at the Belgian Grand Prix . Verstappen began the 2016 season at Toro Rosso, again alongside Sainz. Verstappen qualified fifth for
8100-676: The WSK Euro Series and also won the WSK World Series, beating Robert Vișoiu . He finished fifth in the European Championship and won the WSK Nations Cup as well as the final of the Bridgestone Cup where during a 28 laps' race in the rain he beat Dennis Olsen by over 11 seconds. In 2011, Verstappen won the WSK Euro Series ahead of Esteban Ocon in a Parilla -powered CRG kart. However, it
8262-752: The WSK Euro Series . He was the youngest driver taking part in the World Championship in KF1 class and finished eight. In July 2012, it was announced that Verstappen would leave Intrepid. After a short stint with CRG-built Zanardi karts, Verstappen returned to the factory CRG team. He finished second at the World Cup in the KF2 class and competed at the SKUSA SuperNationals in the KZ2 class in
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#17327826643638424-455: The 2019 season in third place in the championship with 278 points. He claimed three race victories, nine podium finishes, two pole positions, and three fastest laps. Verstappen continued to race for Red Bull in 2020 , alongside Albon. At the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix , he started second, but retired early in the race after a flywheel-related problem caused an electronic issue within the power unit. Honda introduced countermeasures in response to
8586-660: The 3.0 L V10, 582 kW (780 bhp) with the 2007-regulation 2.4 L V8, 710 kW (950 bhp) with 2016 1.6 L V6 turbo), aerodynamics, and ultra-high-performance tyres is what gives the F1 car its high performance figures. The principal consideration for F1 designers is acceleration , and not simply top speed. Three types of acceleration can be considered to assess a car's performance: All three accelerations should be maximised. The way these three accelerations are obtained and their values are: Max Verstappen Max Emilian Verstappen ( Dutch pronunciation: [ˈmɑks fɛrˈstɑpə(n)] ; born 30 September 1997)
8748-792: The Championship. At the Russian Grand Prix , Verstappen finished the race in second, his seventh podium finish of 2020. At the Eifel Grand Prix , Verstappen finished in second after qualifying in third. He also managed to get the fastest lap of the race. At the Portuguese Grand Prix , Verstappen qualified third, however a poor first lap meant that he dropped back down the order to fifth place. He recovered to third and took his 40th podium in Formula 1. At
8910-530: The Constructors' Championship to eighty-six points over second-paced Red Bull Racing heading into middle phase of the season. It was another front row lockout in Bahrain for Hamilton and Bottas. Hamilton won from pole at the Bahrain Grand Prix for the third time in his career but Bottas finished eighth after a puncture under the safety car. Hamilton was forced to miss the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix following
9072-432: The FIA to disallow moving under braking. At the 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix , Verstappen qualified fourth. In a rain affected race, he almost hit the barrier after he slid on the main straight due to a loss of traction, causing oversteer . After an additional tyre change from intermediates back to rain tyres, he ran in 16th place with just 15 laps remaining. Verstappen then made several overtakes in quick succession during
9234-532: The Formula One brake manufacturers to date. Every F1 car is capable of going from 0 to 160 km/h (0 to 99 mph) and back to 0 in less than five seconds. During a demonstration at the Silverstone circuit in Britain, an F1 McLaren-Mercedes car driven by David Coulthard gave a pair of Mercedes-Benz street cars a head start of seventy seconds, and was able to beat the cars to the finish line from
9396-725: The French Grand Prix on 20 June, then the Styrian Grand Prix on 27 June and ending with the Austrian Grand Prix on 4 July. At the next race; the British Grand Prix , Verstappen was involved in a high-speed collision at the Copse corner with Hamilton on the first lap. This resulted in a 51 g impact with the barrier. He was taken to the Silverstone circuit's medical centre after the crash and
9558-683: The Kemmel straight. Verstappen was criticised for his driving, with Räikkönen saying that he was "going to cause a huge accident sooner or later." Christian Horner noted that the driving was "on the edge", and that Verstappen will "look at it and learn for future races." In September, Formula One director Charlie Whiting called in Verstappen for a discussion, and later gave him a 'gentle warning' due to his aggressive driving. However, in October, drivers' concerns about Verstappen's defensive tactics led
9720-505: The Mercedes driver and suffered a puncture that ultimately led to suspension damage, forcing him out of the race. At the next race in China , Verstappen qualified fifth and had moved up to third at the end of the first lap. Both Red Bull drivers pitted for fresh tyres during a safety car which left them with a tyre advantage over the front-runners ahead. In an overtake attempt on Sebastian Vettel for third place, Verstappen collided with
9882-472: The Sakhir circuit. On 5 May 2016, following the Russian Grand Prix , Red Bull Racing announced that Verstappen would be replacing Daniil Kvyat from the Spanish Grand Prix onwards, with Kvyat returning to Toro Rosso. According to Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner , "Max has proven to be an outstanding young talent. His performance at Toro Rosso has been impressive so far and we are pleased to give him
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#173278266436310044-460: The ability to fine-tune many elements of the race car from within the machine using the steering wheel. The wheel can be used to change gears, apply rev. limiter, adjust fuel/air mix, change brake balance, control the differential, power unit, engine braking and call the radio. Data such as engine rpm, lap times, tyre temperature, brake temperature, speed, and gear are displayed on an LCD screen. The wheel hub will also incorporate gear change paddles and
10206-463: The activation zone until the driver brakes. Nose box or more commonly the nose cones serve three main purposes: Nose boxes are hollow structures made of carbon fibers. They absorb the shock at the time of crash preventing injury to the driver. Just behind the driver's cockpit is a structure called the Air Box. The Air Box serves two purposes. It receives the high-speed moving air and supplies it to
10368-468: The advantage of faster tyres, allowing him to overtake Verstappen with several laps remaining in the race. Hamilton took the victory, with Verstappen taking second and the fastest lap, increasing Hamilton's championship lead to 14 points. At the next race in Monaco , Verstappen qualified second behind Charles Leclerc , but Leclerc suffered a driveshaft failure on the way to the grid and was unable to start
10530-445: The air box is its large size, which provides a large space for advertising, in turn, providing opportunities for additional ad revenue. F1 regulations heavily limit the use of ground effect aerodynamics , which are a highly efficient means of creating downforce with a small drag penalty. The underside of the vehicle, the undertray, must be flat between the axles. A 10 mm (as of 2008) thick wooden plank, or skid block , runs down
10692-439: The air moving through the compressor was much cooler, since it was farther away from the hot turbine section. Formula One cars use highly automated semi-automatic sequential gearboxes with paddle-shifters, with regulations stating that 8 forward gears (increased from 7 from the 2014 season onwards) and 1 reverse gear must be used, with rear-wheel-drive . The gearbox is constructed of carbon titanium, as heat dissipation
10854-465: The air spillage at their edges. The use of vortices is a significant feature of the latest breeds of F1 cars. Since a vortex is a rotating fluid that creates a low-pressure zone at its centre, creating vortices lowers the overall local pressure of the air. Since low pressure is what is desired under the car, as it allows normal atmospheric pressure to press the car down from the top; by creating vortices, downforce can be augmented while still staying within
11016-410: The amount of turbulence. Revised regulations introduced in 2005 forced the aerodynamicists to be even more ingenious. In a bid to cut speeds, the FIA reduced downforce by raising the front wing, bringing the rear wing forward, and modifying the rear diffuser profile. The designers quickly regained much of this loss, with a variety of intricate and novel solutions such as the 'horn' winglets first seen on
11178-407: The back of Lance Stroll during the virtual safety car period, causing minor front wing damage. In Monaco , Verstappen made another error and crashed near the end of the third free practice session in an incident which closely resembled a crash he had at the same spot two years earlier . His team could not repair his car in time for qualifying and Verstappen had to start the race from the back of
11340-504: The back of Grosjean's Lotus on the approach to the tight first corner, Sainte Devote, and crashed into the barriers at high speed. Verstappen was given a five-place grid penalty for causing the accident, and was branded "dangerous" by Williams driver Felipe Massa . Verstappen continued to regularly finish in the points as well as achieving his best finish of the 2015 season in Hungary by finishing fourth, and equalled this result at
11502-479: The back of Verstappen during an overtake attempt from which the Dutchman aggressively defended, causing the retirement of both cars. Both drivers were blamed by the team and reprimanded by the stewards. Verstappen bounced back in Spain with his first podium of the season by finishing third behind the Mercedes drivers, holding off Sebastian Vettel . However, the race was also not without incident as he had run into
11664-405: The back of the steering wheel , and advanced electric solenoids , hydraulic actuators , and sensors perform the actual shift, as well as the electronic throttle control . Clutch control is also performed electro-hydraulically, except when launching from a standstill (i.e., stationary, neutral) into first gear, where the driver operates the clutch manually using a lever mounted on the back of
11826-606: The calendar were postponed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic . The F1 W11 made its competitive debut at the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix . The delay to the start of the season allowed the team to address concerns they had about the car's reliability. The W11 took thirteen wins (eleven for Hamilton and two for Bottas), fifteen pole positions (ten for Hamilton and five for Bottas), nine fastest laps (six for Hamilton, two for Bottas and one for Russell), twelve front-row lockouts and five 1–2 finishes across 17 races. With it, Mercedes secured
11988-472: The cars stripped of as much wing as possible, to reduce drag and increase speed on the long straights. Every single surface of a modern Formula One car, from the shape of the suspension links to that of the driver's helmet – has its aerodynamic effects considered. Disrupted air, where the flow 'separates' from the body, creates turbulence which creates drag – which slows the car down. Almost as much effort has been spent reducing drag as increasing downforce – from
12150-407: The championship leader, causing him to fall to eighth and receive a 10-second penalty. He recovered to fourth place, with his penalty causing him to be classified fifth. Teammate Ricciardo went on to win the race. In Azerbaijan , Verstappen was embroiled in a race-long battle with Ricciardo for fourth place. After numerous position changes between the two teammates during the race, Ricciardo ran into
12312-483: The closing laps by Hamilton, who had made another stop for fresh tyres in a gamble to catch the leader. Before the Belgian Grand Prix , Verstappen received a new teammate in Alexander Albon after Pierre Gasly was demoted back to Toro Rosso. In the race, Verstappen had a poor start and collided with Kimi Räikkönen at the first corner, resulting in suspension damage and causing Verstappen's first retirement of
12474-409: The closing laps to eventually finish on the podium in third place. He received considerable praise for his performance: rival team Mercedes' team principal, Toto Wolff , labelled it "The Verstappen Show", and described Verstappen's drive as "physics..being redefined". However, Verstappen came under criticism from four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, who stated that Verstappen had pushed him off
12636-447: The day I went to the Netherlands and had my friends there too. I was raised as a Dutch person and that's how I feel." In 2022, however, Verstappen stated that he appreciates both sides and is "half-half at the end of the day". He competed in Formula One for more than a season before obtaining a road driving licence on his 18th birthday. Verstappen moved to Monaco the day after, in October 2015, and has lived there since and has said it
12798-503: The driver , intended to be used in competition at Formula One racing events. The regulations governing the cars are unique to the championship and specify that cars must be constructed by the racing teams themselves, though the design and manufacture can be outsourced. Formula One drivers experience peak cornering forces of up to six lateral g. Modern-day Formula One cars are constructed from composites of carbon fibre and similar ultra-lightweight materials. The minimum weight permissible
12960-414: The driver to adjust the toe of the front wheels to optimise mechanical grip by pulling or pushing on the steering wheel. DAS allowed the drivers to warm the car's tyres more efficiently by having a zero toe but allows for better cornering ability by using a negative toe, a feature which was of particular significance on circuits with long straights. DAS was removed from the car after the 2020 championship as
13122-414: The driver. Early experiments with movable wings and high mountings led to some spectacular accidents, and for the 1970 season, regulations were introduced to limit the size and location of wings. Having evolved over time, similar rules are still used today. In the late 1960s, Jim Hall of Chaparral, first introduced " ground effect " downforce to auto racing. In the mid-1970s, Lotus engineers found out that
13284-462: The dry weather compounds (generally a harder and softer compound) are brought to each race, plus both wet weather compounds. The harder tyres are more durable but give less grip, and the softer tyres the opposite. In 2009, the slick tyres returned as a part of revisions to the rules for the 2009 season; slicks have no grooves and give up to 18% more contact with the track. In the Bridgestone years,
13446-403: The end of qualifying, dropping him to fifth. Despite both drivers having to deal with gearbox issues which developed during the race, Bottas went on the win the race, the eighth of his career. Hamilton quickly recovered to second place but in the closing laps of the race received a five-second time penalty for causing a collision with Alexander Albon . Hamilton crossed the finish line in second but
13608-497: The end of the race. Verstappen won the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone , having started from fourth. Verstappen clinched second place at the Spanish Grand Prix , after qualifying in third. At the 2020 Belgian Grand Prix , he scored a podium in third place, following his third place on the starting grid. He suffered from two consecutive DNFs at the Italian and Tuscan Grands Prix after which he lost second place in
13770-524: The entire car could be made to act like a giant wing by the creation of an airfoil surface on its underside which would cause air moving relative to the car to push it to the road. Applying another idea of Jim Hall's from his Chaparral 2J sports racer, Gordon Murray designed the Brabham BT46B , which had a radiator fan that also extracted air from the skirted area under the car, creating enormous downforce. After technical challenges from other teams, it
13932-457: The fastest lap of the race. The following race in France brought him second place. In Austria —Red Bull's home track, he started fourth on the grid, passed Kimi Räikkönen before taking advantage of retirement from Valtteri Bottas and a botched pit-stop strategy by Lewis Hamilton, who later had to retire from fourth place, to claim the fourth race victory of his career. In Britain , Verstappen
14094-613: The field before eventually recovering to sixth place. A third-place finish in the United States followed, before Verstappen took the second pole position of his career with a 1:07.508 pole lap time in Brazil . In a chaotic race, he passed Lewis Hamilton for the lead on two occasions before going on to claim his third victory of the season. Verstappen ended the season with a second-place finish in Abu Dhabi . Verstappen finished
14256-412: The first lap allowed Hamilton to take the lead which Verstappen retook during the pit stop phase. Verstappen pitted for a second time from the lead and set after the Mercedes duo, overtaking Hamilton for the lead on lap 52 of 53. He also took the fastest lap point, extending his championship lead to twelve points and achieving the first hat-trick of his career. Verstappen clinched pole position again at
14418-446: The following car. Thus, for the 2022 season , the FIA made technical changes to the aerodynamic characteristics of the cars to reduce the amount of this 'dirty air' and allow for easier overtaking. Front wing, side pods, and rear wing have all been redesigned to redirect aerodynamic turbulence upwards, and larger tyres with 18-inch wheels were adopted in an effort to limit disruptive vortices generated by their rotation. The driver has
14580-411: The front wing. The cars underwent major changes in 2017, allowing wider front and rear wings, and wider tyres . Throughout much of the turbo-hybrid era, drivers have noted that following closely behind other cars, particularly when attempting to overtake, has been made considerably more difficult by large amounts of turbulence or 'dirty air' from the leading car reducing the aerodynamic performance of
14742-471: The fuel they are providing for a race. At any time, FIA inspectors can request a sample from the fueling rig to compare the "fingerprint" of what is in the car during the race with what was submitted. The teams usually abide by this rule, but in 1997, Mika Häkkinen was stripped of his third-place finish at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium after the FIA determined that his fuel was not the correct formula, as well as in 1976, both McLaren and Penske cars were forced to
14904-479: The grid behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen and held those positions during the race. The W11 was featured as a playable vehicle in F1 2020 , F1 2021 , Real Racing 3 and CSR2 . ( key ) Italics indicate factory team. Formula One car A Formula One car or F1 car is a single-seat, open-cockpit, open-wheel formula racing car with substantial front and rear wings, and an engine positioned behind
15066-553: The grid. Verstappen did not compete and did not set a lap time in qualifying, therefore teammate Ricciardo pressed home Red Bull's advantage at the track by taking pole position and the race win. Verstappen managed to salvage two points by finishing ninth place, overtaking six cars on track. Team principal Christian Horner commented on Verstappen's start of the season, saying he "needed to stop making these mistakes" and that he could "learn from his teammate", while Helmut Marko , head of driver development at Red Bull, said that Verstappen
15228-705: The high-speed circuits such as the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (Canadian GP) and the Autodromo Nazionale Monza (Italian GP). This contrasts with 1.0 g to 1.5 g (10 to 15 m/s ) for sports cars (the Bugatti Veyron is claimed to be able to brake at 1.3 g). An F1 car can brake from 200 km/h (124 mph) to a complete stop in just 2.9 seconds, using only 65 metres (213 ft). Currently Brembo along with its sister brand AP Racing and Hitco are
15390-475: The intake manifold of the engine. This high-speed air is pressurised and hence is compressed due to the Ram Effect. This high-pressure air, when supplied to the engine, boosts its power. Also, the air supplied to it is highly turbulent since it passes above the driver's helmet. The airbox absorbs this turbulent air, preventing it from disturbing the laminar airflow along with other parts. The second advantage of
15552-490: The largest points deficit in Formula One history in the former and breaking numerous records across both seasons. He secured his fourth consecutive title in 2024 after winning eight Grands Prix, including a widely acclaimed wet-weather performance in São Paulo . As of the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix , Verstappen has achieved 62 race wins, 40 pole positions, 33 fastest laps and 111 podiums in Formula One. In addition to being
15714-499: The later stages of the race to take his first Formula One victory. By doing so he displaced Sebastian Vettel as the youngest driver ever to win a Formula One Grand Prix at the age of 18 years and 228 days. In his first eight races with Red Bull, he achieved six top-five finishes, including four podiums. During the Belgian Grand Prix , Verstappen collided with Räikkönen at the first corner, pushed Vettel, Räikkönen and Pérez wide at Les Combes , and aggressively blocked Räikkönen on
15876-409: The lead of the race with three laps to go. This marked the first Honda-powered race victory since the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix . In Britain , Verstappen, running in third place, was hit from behind during an overtake attempt by Sebastian Vettel and spun into the gravel. Verstappen was able to continue and crossed the line in fifth place. The wet and chaotic German Grand Prix began similarly to
16038-412: The line. At the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix , Mercedes were once again unchallenged in qualifying as Bottas led Mercedes to another front-row lockout by edging Hamilton for pole position by only .063 seconds with Hülkenberg a further 0.8 seconds back. Mercedes struggled with race pace due to high temperatures causing excessive tyre wear and blistering. As a result, Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen
16200-471: The livery change, saying he wanted the team to show its support for the cause through more than just social media posts, which led to the idea to adopt a new livery and launch a drive to improve diversity within the team. At the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix , Bottas qualified on pole position . Hamilton initially qualified in second place but prior to the race, he received a three-place grid penalty for failing to slow down sufficiently for yellow flags at
16362-411: The many reasons that Mercedes dominated the season early was due to the placement of the turbocharger's compressor at one side of the engine and the turbine at the other; both were then linked by a shaft travelling through the vee of the engine. The benefit was that air was not traveling through as much pipework, in turn reducing turbo lag and increasing the efficiency of the car. In addition, it meant that
16524-425: The maximum amount of downforce for the minimal amount of drag. The primary wings mounted on the front and rear are fitted with different profiles depending on the downforce requirements of a particular track. Tight, slow circuits like Monaco require very aggressive wing profiles – cars run two separate 'blades' of 'elements' on the rear wings (two is the maximum permitted). In contrast, high-speed circuits like Monza see
16686-415: The middle of the car to prevent the cars from running low enough to contact the track surface; this skid block is measured before and after a race. Should the plank be less than 9 mm thick after the race, the car is disqualified. The 2022 rule change allowed for teams to utilise venturi tunnels to create much more ground effect than previous seasons allowed. This change, along with a vast simplification of
16848-466: The most interesting change, however, was the introduction of 'moveable aerodynamics', with the driver able to make limited adjustments to the front wing from the cockpit during a race. The new DRS (Drag Reduction System) rear wing system, introduced in 2011 usurped the former system. This too allows drivers to make adjustments, but the system's availability is electronically governed – originally it could be used at any time in practice and qualifying (unless
17010-407: The next race, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix , Verstappen qualified third with teammate Sergio Pérez second, marking the first time he was out-qualified by a teammate since the 2019 Italian Grand Prix . At the race start, Verstappen was able to pass both Pérez and pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton to take the lead. He remained in the lead after the first round of pit stops as well as the restart, following
17172-589: The nose is raised above the centre of the front aerofoil, allowing its entire width to provide downforce. The front and rear wings are highly sculpted and extremely fine 'tuned', along with the rest of the body such as the turning vanes beneath the nose, bargeboards , sidepods, underbody, and the rear diffuser . They also feature aerodynamic appendages that direct the airflow. Such an extreme level of aerodynamic development means that an F1 car produces much more downforce than any other open-wheel formula; Indycars, for example, produce downforce equal to their weight (that is,
17334-472: The opening laps before Verstappen took the lead by way of a faster pitstop. Verstappen would comfortably hold the lead until lap 46 when he suffered a tyre failure causing him to crash at high speed and retire. A mistake by Hamilton on the restart dropped him to last place, meaning Verstappen maintained his championship lead. Verstappen took pole for the French Grand Prix . Verstappen's mistake on
17496-454: The opening race of the season in Australia , but during the race made several radio calls to his team due to frustration at being behind Sainz on track before Verstappen's Toro Rosso came into contact with his teammate's car whilst attempting to pass him with three laps to go, and he eventually finished tenth. Verstappen enjoyed a more successful weekend at the following race in Bahrain , finishing sixth to score Toro Rosso's first-ever points at
17658-500: The opportunity to drive for Red Bull Racing." After qualifying fourth for the Spanish Grand Prix, Verstappen rose to second behind teammate Daniel Ricciardo on the opening lap after Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg crashed out of the race. Verstappen took the race lead as he was placed on a two-stop rather than the same three-stop strategy as Ricciardo, and he held off Ferrari 's Kimi Räikkönen in
17820-460: The outsides subsequently creating greater downforce. Tests were held on the Red Bull front wing and the FIA could find no way that the wing was breaking any regulation. Since the start of the 2011 season, cars have been allowed to run with an adjustable rear wing, more commonly known as DRS (drag reduction system), a system to combat the problem of turbulent air when overtaking. On the straights of
17982-442: The over body aerodynamics, was done with the intention of creating closer racing by reducing the vortices created by the complex wings. A substantial amount of downforce is provided by using a rear diffuser which rises from the undertray at the rear axle to the actual rear of the bodywork. F1 regulations heavily limited the use of ground effect until the 2022 rule change, which are a highly efficient means of creating downforce with
18144-419: The overall rankings. During the first practice session at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix , Verstappen replaced Jean-Éric Vergne as part of his preparation for a full-time seat at Toro Rosso in the 2015 season. Aged 17 years and three days, Verstappen was the youngest person in history to participate in a Formula One race weekend. In August 2014, Verstappen joined the Red Bull Junior Team after testing
18306-467: The pace of the W11 was apparent when Mercedes easily took a 1–2 in qualifying, with Hamilton and Bottas outqualifying their nearest competitor, third-placed Lance Stroll , by 0.8 seconds. Hamilton took pole, 0.1 seconds ahead of Bottas. Hamilton would go on to win the race for his second consecutive win and eighth overall at the Hungaroring equalling the record for most wins at one venue. Bottas made
18468-484: The penalty demoted him to fourth place. Hamilton took pole position at the rain-affected qualifying session for the Styrian Grand Prix , over 1.2 seconds clear of nearest rival Max Verstappen . Hamilton led most of the race and took the W11's second consecutive victory, whilst Bottas overtook Verstappen in the closing laps to finish second, having started fourth on the grid. At the Hungarian Grand Prix ,
18630-409: The period when teams were limited to a specific volume of fuel during a race, exotic high-density fuel blends were used which were actually more dense than water, since the energy content of a fuel depends on its mass density. To make sure that the teams and fuel suppliers are not violating the fuel regulations, the FIA requires Elf, Shell, Mobil, Petronas, and the other fuel teams to submit a sample of
18792-500: The period; however, development had led to these engines producing between 730 and 750 kW (980 and 1,000 hp), and the cars reaching top speeds of 375 km/h (233 mph) (Jacques Villeneuve with Sauber-Ferrari) on the Monza circuit. Teams started to use exotic alloys in the late 1990s, leading to the FIA banning the use of exotic materials in engine construction, with only aluminium, titanium and iron alloys being allowed for
18954-513: The pistons, cylinders, connecting rods and crankshafts. The FIA has continually enforced material and design restrictions to limit power. Even with the restrictions, the V10s in the 2005 season were reputed to develop 730 kW (980 hp), power levels not seen since before the ban on turbo-charged engines in 1989. The lesser funded teams (the former Minardi team spent less than 50 million, while Ferrari spent hundreds of millions of euros
19116-616: The qualifying session at the Mexican Grand Prix , Verstappen revealed that a mechanical problem with his Red Bull under braking cost him any chance of becoming the youngest-ever Formula One pole-sitter. As a result, Ricciardo beat Verstappen to pole position by just 0.026 seconds. Verstappen had a better start than Ricciardo and took the lead of the race into the first corner, overtaking the fast-starting Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton. Verstappen earned his fifth career win in Mexico. He
19278-432: The race being suspended on lap 33. Rival Hamilton finished second, reducing his championship lead over Verstappen to one point. In the following Portuguese Grand Prix , Verstappen finished second after a long battle with Lewis Hamilton. At the Spanish Grand Prix , the battle between Verstappen and Hamilton continued, with Hamilton employing a faster two-stop strategy versus Verstappen's one-stop race. This provided Hamilton
19440-459: The race in Austria for Verstappen, as a poor start caused him to fall behind. However, he would inherit the lead midway through the race after a crash by race leader Hamilton. Verstappen would go on to extend his lead after the track began to dry, claiming his second victory of the season. In Hungary , he claimed the first pole position of his career and led most of the race before being passed in
19602-491: The race start, building up a large lead throughout the race. In the dying stages of the Grand Prix, Bottas and Hamilton both suffered tyre delaminations on laps 50 and 52 respectively, which caused Bottas to come into the pits which made him drop to 11th place. Hamilton was forced to limp home with his delaminated tyre over the entire final lap, and the gap to second place shrank from 30 to about 6 seconds as Hamilton crossed
19764-572: The race, Verstappen pushed the Force India driver, for which he was given two days of "public service" as a penalty by the FIA. He then finished his season with another podium as he finished third in Abu Dhabi. Verstappen ended the season in fourth place in the championship with 249 points, claiming two wins, eleven podium finishes, and two fastest laps. In 2019 Red Bull switched from Renault to Honda power units. After Ricciardo moved to
19926-511: The race. A late puncture then cost Russell a potential podium and he finished ninth with the fastest lap. Bottas finished the race in eighth, having poor performance and old tyres at the end of the race. Hamilton returned for the season finale having performed a series of negative coronavirus tests ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix alongside Bottas, meaning Russell returned to Williams. The Mercedes drivers took second and third on
20088-562: The race. Verstappen controlled the race from the front on the way to victory. Hamilton (who qualified seventh) finished seventh, though claiming an extra championship point by setting the fastest race lap. The result enabled Verstappen to take the lead in the Drivers' Championship for the first time in his career, by a margin of four points over Hamilton. At the Azerbaijan Grand Prix , Verstappen qualified third behind Leclerc and Hamilton. Verstappen and Hamilton passed Leclerc in
20250-470: The rear of the Italian Grand Prix after the octane number of the mixture was found to be too high. The 2009 season saw the re-introduction of slick tyres replacing the grooved tyres used from 1998 to 2008 . Tyres can be no wider than 405 mm (15.9 in) at the rear, front tyre width expanded from 245 mm to 305 mm for the 2017 season. Unlike the fuel, the tyres bear only
20412-576: The reception of the DRS system has differed among drivers, fans, and specialists. Early designs linked wings directly to the suspension, but several accidents led to rules stating that wings must be fixed rigidly to the chassis. The cars' aerodynamics are designed to provide maximum downforce with a minimum of drag ; every part of the bodywork is designed with this aim in mind. Like most open-wheel cars they feature large front and rear aerofoils , but they are far more developed than American open-wheel racers, which depend more on suspension tuning; for instance,
20574-421: The region of 2 – 3 ms . In order to keep costs low in Formula One, gearboxes must last five consecutive events, and since 2015, gearbox ratios will be fixed for each season (for 2014 they could be changed only once). Changing a gearbox before the allowed time will cause a penalty of five places drop on the starting grid for the first event that the new gearbox is used. Aerodynamics has become key to success in
20736-413: The retirement. At the 2020 Hungarian Grand Prix , he crashed in wet conditions during the formation lap while he was on his way to the starting grid, but he was able to drive the car back to the grid where his mechanics fixed the suspension of the car in the short time that was left before the start of the race. After the repairs, Verstappen progressed from seventh place on the grid to second place by
20898-568: The rules prohibiting ground effects . The F1 cars for the 2009 season came under much questioning due to the design of the rear diffusers of the Williams, Toyota and the Brawn GP cars raced by Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, dubbed double diffusers . Appeals from many of the teams were heard by the FIA, which met in Paris, before the 2009 Chinese Grand Prix , and the use of such diffusers
21060-734: The same category. In 2006, he repeated his success. In 2007, Verstappen graduated to the Rotax Max Mini Max class and won the Rotax Max Challenge Belgium and the Dutch Championship in that category. In 2008, racing in a CRG kart entered by his father, Verstappen won the Belgian Cadet Championship, as well as the Rotax Max Challenge Belgium and Benelux Karting Series in Mini Max class. In 2009, Verstappen joined Pex Racing,
21222-405: The same principle as aircraft wings but are configured to cause a downward force rather than an upward one. A modern Formula One car is capable of developing 6 Gs of lateral cornering force due to aerodynamic downforce. The aerodynamic downforce allowing this is typically greater than the weight of the car. That means that, theoretically, at high speeds, they could drive on the upside-down surface of
21384-603: The same regulation as the 2006 season. However, for the 2009 season, drivers were allowed to use a maximum of 8 engines per head over the season, meaning that a couple of engines had to last three race weekends. This method of limiting engine costs also increased the importance of tactics, since the teams had to choose in which races to employ a new or an already-used engine. As of the 2014 season, all F1 cars have been equipped with turbocharged 1.6 L V6 engines. Turbochargers had previously been banned since 1989. This change may give an improvement of up to 29% fuel efficiency. One of
21546-499: The same season, and the first to do so in both the primary direct-drive and gearbox classes. By winning the 2013 KZ World Championship at Varennes-sur-Allier , beating Charles Leclerc to the title, Verstappen became the youngest-ever driver to win the gearbox World Championship. Further adding to his accolades in 2013, Verstappen also finished third at the KF World Championship despite being disqualified for
21708-509: The season. In Italy , he did not set a time during qualifying after his car lost power in Q1, but he was already required to start from the back of the grid due to an engine component penalty. After damaging his front wing on the first lap, he recovered to finish the race in eighth place. Third and fourth-place finishes followed in Singapore and Russia respectively. After suffering damage in
21870-520: The series at Homestead–Miami Speedway after beating Nicholas Latifi by 0.004 seconds. Following his single-seater debut in the inaugural Florida Winter Series, Verstappen drove in the FIA European Formula 3 Championship for Van Amersfoort Racing . Aged 16, Verstappen scored a record six consecutive victories in the series, and a record ten victories in total, along with eight retirements and one DNS (did not start); placing third in
22032-431: The sport, and teams spend tens of millions of dollars on research and development in the field each year. The aerodynamic designer has two primary concerns: the creation of downforce, to help push the car's tyres onto the track and improve cornering forces, and minimising drag caused by turbulence that slows the car. Several teams started to experiment with the now familiar wings in the late 1960s. Racecar wings operate on
22194-587: The steering wheel. The last F1 car fitted with a conventional manual gearbox , the Forti FG01 , raced in 1995 . A modern F1 clutch is a multi-plate carbon design with a diameter of less than 100 mm (3.9 in), weighing less than 1 kg (2.2 lb) and handling around 540 kW (720 hp). As of the 2009 race season, all teams are using seamless-shift transmissions , which allow almost instantaneous changing of gears with minimum loss of drive. Shift times for modern Formula One cars are in
22356-523: The system was banned for 2021 . The design of the rear suspension was changed from that used in the previous car with the goal of reducing understeer. Following the postponement of the season and the growing worldwide support for the Black Lives Matter movement, it was announced in late June the W11 would feature black as the primary colour instead of the traditional silver that was present on its predecessors. Driver Lewis Hamilton prompted
22518-450: The team for an eighth and a fourth season, respectively. 2020 Williams Racing driver and Mercedes protégé George Russell also drove for the team at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix after Hamilton was forced to miss that event having tested positive for SARS-2-coronavirus . The car was planned to make its competitive debut at the 2020 Australian Grand Prix , but this was delayed when the race was cancelled and at least seven upcoming events on
22680-534: The team to fine-tune the weight distribution of the car to suit individual circuits. The 2006 Formula One season saw the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) introduce a then-new engine formula, which mandated cars to be powered by 2.4 L naturally aspirated engines in the V8 engine configuration, with no more than four valves per cylinder. Further technical restrictions, such as
22842-525: The track at the Junção corner late in the race. The race stewards did not share Vettel's view and decided that no reprimand was warranted. During the first 14 races of the 2017 season, Verstappen suffered seven retirements, four due to mechanical issues, and three due to first lap collisions in Spain , Austria and Singapore . Of the races he finished, however, he claimed a third place in China , and in another five races he finished fourth or fifth. From
23004-507: The tyre surface conforms to the road surface as closely as possible). Since the start of the 2007 season, F1 has had a sole tyre supplier. From 2007 to 2010, this was Bridgestone, but 2011 saw the reintroduction of Pirelli into the sport, following the departure of Bridgestone. Seven compounds of F1 tyre exist; 5 are dry weather compounds (labeled C1 through C5) while 2 are wet compounds (intermediates for damp surfaces with no standing water and full wets for surfaces with standing water). Three of
23166-405: The vast amounts of heat produced by the engine and brakes. In recent years, most Formula One teams have tried to emulate Ferrari's 'narrow waist' design, where the rear of the car is made as narrow and low as possible. This reduces drag and maximises the amount of air available to the rear wing. The 'barge boards' fitted to the sides of cars have also helped to shape the flow of the air and minimise
23328-407: The vertical end-plates fitted to wings to prevent vortices forming to the diffuser plates mounted low at the back, which helps to re-equalise pressure of the faster-flowing air that has passed under the car and would otherwise create a low-pressure 'balloon' dragging at the back. Despite this, designers can't make their cars too 'slippery', as a good supply of airflow has to be ensured to help dissipate
23490-404: The wing, thus reducing drag and allowing higher top speeds. However, this also reduces downforce so it is normally used on long straight track sections or sections which do not require high downforce. The system was introduced to promote more overtaking, and is often the reason for overtaking on straights or at the end of straights where overtaking is encouraged in the following corner(s). However,
23652-686: The words "retard" and "mongol" in response to the clash. Verstappen admitted following the session that the word choices he used were "not correct". The Mongolian government and the Mongol identity asked Verstappen to apologise for the comments; the Mongolian government also urged the FIA to take action on the comments he made. Verstappen finished the 2020 season in third place in the championship with 214 points. He claimed two race victories, eleven podium finishes, one pole position, and three fastest laps. At
23814-415: The youngest Grand Prix winner, he holds several Formula One records , including the most wins in a season (19), the most podium finishes in a season (21), the most consecutive wins (10), and the most consecutive pole positions (8, shared with Ayrton Senna ). Verstappen is set to remain at Red Bull until at least the end of the 2028 season. Verstappen was listed in the 2024 issue of Time as one of
23976-470: Was "too impatient". Verstappen now lay in sixth place in the championship with 35 points, only three points ahead of Fernando Alonso in the McLaren, and 37 points behind his teammate in third, who had taken two wins in the first six races. In Canada , Verstappen topped all three practice sessions and qualified third, two-tenths off Sebastian Vettel in pole position. He eventually finished third and set
24138-516: Was able to take the lead of the race and win. This was the first time in 2020 that Mercedes failed to win a race. At the Spanish Grand Prix , Mercedes continued their dominance in qualifying with Hamilton leading a fourth consecutive front-row lockout, qualifying 0.059 seconds faster than Bottas who was over 0.7 seconds faster than third-placed Verstappen. Hamilton took the win in the race itself, leading every lap and coming home over 24 seconds clear of Verstappen in second. Furthermore, Hamilton also set
24300-581: Was appointed an Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau in recognition of his racing achievements. Verstappen has been dating Kelly Piquet since October 2020. Verstappen started racing in karts at the age of four and competing in championships at the age of seven. In 2005 he competed in the Mini Junior championship of his home province of Limburg , Belgium and won the VAS Championship in
24462-428: Was declared as legal. Brawn GP boss Ross Brawn claimed the double diffuser design as "an innovative approach of an existing idea". These were subsequently banned for the 2011 season. Another controversy of the 2010 and 2011 seasons was the front wing of the Red Bull cars. Several teams protested claiming the wing was breaking regulations. Footage from high-speed sections of circuits showed the Red Bull front wing bending on
24624-429: Was deemed illegal. He won his third Formula One race at the Mexican Grand Prix , after passing Sebastian Vettel on the opening lap. In the first six races of the 2018 season, Verstappen had been involved in at least one incident in each race. In Australia , he qualified fourth but fell behind Kevin Magnussen at the start. In his attempts to retake the position he ran wide multiple times and damaged his car, with
24786-555: Was forced to retire due to an engine failure. However, at the subsequent race in Malaysia , Verstappen qualified sixth and finished the race in seventh place, scoring his first Formula One points aged 17 years, 180 days, breaking the record of the then- youngest driver to score World Championship points . At the 2015 Monaco Grand Prix , Verstappen was involved in a high-speed collision with Romain Grosjean , after clipping
24948-823: Was implemented so that casual fans could better understand the tyre system. Generally, the three dry compounds brought to the track are of consecutive specifications. Disc brakes consist of a rotor and caliper at each wheel. Carbon composite rotors (introduced by the Brabham team in 1976 ) are used instead of steel or cast iron because of their superior frictional, thermal, and anti-warping properties, as well as significant weight savings. These brakes are designed and manufactured to work in extreme temperatures, up to 1,000 degrees Celsius (1800 °F). The driver can control brake force distribution fore and aft to compensate for changes in track conditions or fuel load. Regulations specify this control must be mechanical, not electronic, thus it
25110-457: Was narrowly behind his teammate in the championship due to his own recent resurgence and Ricciardo's unreliability. Verstappen enjoyed a very strong second half of the season, achieving podium finishes in Belgium , Singapore , Japan and the United States , the latter of which he achieved second place having started from 18th on the grid due to a suspension failure in qualifying. Following
25272-447: Was normally around 75 L/100 km (3.8 mpg ‑imp ; 3.1 mpg ‑US ). All cars have the engine located between the driver and the rear axle. The engines are a stressed member in most cars, meaning that the engine is part of the structural support framework, being bolted to the cockpit at the front end, and transmission and rear suspension at the back end. In the 2004 championship, engines were required to last
25434-717: Was not a successful year for him, as he finished 14th in the European Championship and got taken out in the World Cup by Charles Leclerc . In the following year, Verstappen joined the Intrepid Driver Program to race in the KF2 and KZ2 classes. He won the WSK Master Series in the KF2 class, beating the CRG driver Felice Tiene. Verstappen won the South Garda Winter Cup in the KF2 class, beating Dennis Olsen and Antonio Fuoco . He finished sixth in
25596-463: Was not for tax reasons. In November 2020, Verstappen bought a Dassault Falcon 900 EX aircraft from Virgin Galactic . The aircraft is registered PH-DTF and operated by Exxaero. Verstappen is a supporter of FC Barcelona and PSV Eindhoven . Verstappen speaks three languages, Dutch, English and German, the latter of which he learned while karting with Michael Schumacher . In September 2022, he
25758-458: Was plagued by issues, finishing the first practice session early due to a gearbox problem and crashing in the second practice session before retiring from the race due to a brake problem. He would then finish fourth in Germany after strategy errors let a recovering Hamilton get past him as he went on to win the race. Verstappen ended the first half of the season with a retirement in Hungary and
25920-403: Was poised to win the 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix , having overtaken Räikkönen, Vettel, Bottas, and Hamilton. However, he collided with Force India driver Esteban Ocon who was trying to unlap himself on faster tyres. Ocon received a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for the incident. After the collision with Ocon, Verstappen finished in second place behind Hamilton. During an argument with Ocon after
26082-412: Was then taken to Coventry hospital for precautionary checks and further assessment, before eventually being discharged at 22:00 local time on Sunday night. Hamilton would go on to win the race, reducing Verstappen's lead in the championship to eight points. At the next race, the Hungarian Grand Prix , Verstappen's car suffered damage in a multi-car collision on lap 1, where Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas
26244-407: Was withdrawn after a single race. Rule changes then followed to limit the benefits of 'ground effects' – firstly a ban on the skirts used to contain the low-pressure area, later a requirement for a 'stepped floor'. Despite the full-sized wind tunnels and vast computing power used by the aerodynamic departments of most teams, the fundamental principles of Formula One aerodynamics still apply: to create
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