Tuesday Fact

With the start of the Formula 1 season being this past weekend, I think it would be a good time to go over a few details about this particular brand of motorsport.

                                                                                                                                                              

• The Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps in 1997 became the very first Formula 1 race to start behind the pace car due to wet weather conditions that would of proved to have been difficult if they had started with a normal standing start.
• In a street course race, like the Monaco Grand Prix, the downforce that can be generated by a Formula 1 car can create enough suction to lift manhole covers. Before the race weekend starts, the covers have to be welded down to prevent this from happening.
• Infiniti Red Bull Racing can trace its origins back to Steward Grand Prix and Jaguar Racing, but with the rebranding to Red Bull, the team did not score a win until the 2009 season at the Chinese Grand Prix after securing the team's first pole position as well. The team has secured four Drivers' Championships and Constructors' Championships, 57 pole positions and 47 race victories since. 
• On June 12, 2011, The Canadian Grand Prix in Montréal became the longest grand prix in Formula 1 history. It took 4 hrs 4 mins and 39 secs to complete after the race had be suspended for approximately two hours due to heavy rain.
• The longest circuit ever used in a Formula 1 race was not the world renowned Nordschleife circuit at Nürburgring at 14.2 miles (22.8 kilometers), but it was the Pescara Circuit near Pescara, Italy. It was a temporary racing circuit that was 16.032 miles (25.8 kilometers) in length. The course was only used one time in 1957 and won by Stirling Moss.
• Niki Lauda won the 1984 Drivers' Championship by .5 points over McLaren teammate Alain Prost. This is the smallest winning margin in Formula 1 history.
• Jochen Rindt is the only driver to win the Drivers' Championship posthumously in 1970.
• Andrea de Cesaris holds records for most consecutive retirements (18, 1985-86 seasons), most consecutive retirements in a single season (12, 1987 season) and number of retirements in one season (14, 1987 season). Of the 208 starts de Cesaris had, he retired from 136 of them.
• In the first 11 seasons of Formula 1, the Indianapolis 500 counted towards the championship standings. The 2009 season was the first season to not have a race held in North America.