Full beans

     The world of motorsport has something for everyone. Whether it’s NASCAR, MotoGP, IndyCar, or Formula 1, there is always something to feed the need for speed. My great-grandpa raced on dirt tracks alongside my uncle, and he had an affinity for NASCAR. Every time we visited him, we watched whatever race was on, and I would admire the model cars he had displayed on his wall. If there was a race nearby while we were visiting, he would take us. Now, I watch a different form of racing.

     Formula 1 is a sport consisting of fast cars, competitive teams, and insane amounts of money. The first race of the season is always in Melbourne, Australia, and races are always on weekends. Before the drivers race, they go through three practices on Fridays and qualifying on Saturdays. During practice, the teams test setups and familiarize themselves with the track. Qualifying determines where the drivers start for the race itself (aka the grid order). The goal is to achieve the pole position, the number one spot on the grid. Qualifying is split into three parts: Q1, Q2, and Q3. During Q1, all twenty drivers compete for the fastest lap time. Those in the bottom five are eliminated and will start at the back of the grid. These drivers usually don’t do well in the actual race. The remaining fifteen go on to repeat the process in Q2, and five more drivers are eliminated and will start in the middle of the grid. In Q3, the top ten drivers battle for pole position. Once the grid order is out of the way, the teams prep for Sunday, race day.

     Year after year, ten teams and twenty drivers compete for a championship title. They race at twenty-four different circuits in 21 countries and five continents. At the start of the season, each team has a budget that can be used to construct and fine-tune its two cars. Teams at the top of the food chain, such as Ferrari, Mercedes, and Red Bull, have more money and can keep a strong hold on podiums and championships. Even teams in the midfield, like McLaren and Haas, still have sufficient funds and can be a real threat to the top teams. McLaren has claimed a podium in all 2025 races thus far and, fingers crossed, will continue this streak. Then, there are those at the bottom: Williams, Racing Bulls, Alpine, and Kick Sauber. These cars are almost always at a disadvantage due to small budgets. Teams receive money from winning the Constructors’ Championship, making sponsorship deals, and investments from car companies. According to Sports Illustrated, Red Bull began a five-year partnership with Oracle, a technology firm, in 2022. This deal earned the team $300 million to improve their car. However, Red Bull’s spending was capped at $135 million for the 2025 season. On the other hand, Williams will gain a lot less despite a new, shiny deal with a big software company. An article from Black Book Motorsport stated that Williams’s recent partnership with Atlassian will earn them about $35 million.

     One of the most exciting aspects of Formula 1 has got to be the behind-the-scenes politics of it all. The tense relationships between the drivers and team principals thrive on and off the track. Historically, the rivalry between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, two fantastic drivers, had taken the world of F1 by storm. The seed was planted in 1988 when Senna joined McLaren and became Prost’s teammate. According to the Formula 1 website, Senna and Prost had agreed on one condition for the 1989 San Marino Grand Prix: No racing each other after passing turn 1. Senna’s pole position allowed him to get a better start and take an early lead. Things changed after Gerhard Berger crashed into the barriers and the race stopped. Once it restarted, Prost had the lead over Senna, but when they approached turn one, Senna went back on his word and overtook Prost after the first corner, claiming that since he had started in the lead, he had already beaten Prost. Senna and Prost duked it out for two out of the five years that Senna was with McLaren before Prost moved to Ferrari in 1990. Senna signed with Williams for the 1994 season, which took a deadly turn. An article from Formula 1 stated that on May 1, 1994, Ayrton Senna veered off the track unexpectedly at the Tamburello corner during the San Marino Grand Prix and collided with the barrier. Senna sustained a skull fracture that sadly ended his life. After many more fatal crashes, especially Jules Bianchi’s, researchers and engineers worked to improve the safety of the cars, including the Halo, which wraps around the car’s cockpit and protects the driver’s head.

     If anyone is looking for a high-thrill sport with fast cars and somewhat whiny grown men, then Formula 1 is the best sport that I can recommend. There is a lot that can go wrong, but when teams are successful, it’s all worth it in the end. It’s one of my favorite sports to watch, and I hope that I inspire others to begin watching.