10 crazy things that have happened in Formula One you may have missed

Formula One is the pinnacle of motor racing and has been since its arrival post-World War Two. Formula One satisfies its audience with not just speed, but with the look of fantastic race cars and its beautiful backdrop, which has been a part of this sporting spectacle since its inception. 

With Season seven of Drive to Survive on Netflix coming out March seventh, more and more new fans are introduced to this incredible sport every time a new season comes out, so here are ten crazy things that have happened in Formula one you may have missed.

1. Max Verstappen is Formula One’s youngest driver  

Max Verstappen is the youngest driver to get a seat in the sports’ history. 

The four-time Drivers World Champion, started out in the sport at a team called Torro Rosso (now known as Visa Cash App RB) in 2015 at the young age of 17 years and 166 days old, after his race start at the Australian Grand Prix. 

Verstappen won his debut race after being promoted to Red Bull at the Spanish Grand Prix in 2016, which made him the youngest F1 driver to win a race. 

A decade later he has become a four-time world champion and has 63 race wins under his belt. 

2. The six wheeled F1 car 

In 1976 Ken Tyrrell pulled off one of the biggest surprises in F1 history by designing and building a Formula One car with six wheels, four at the front and two at the rear.  

The theory of having a smaller frontal area was defeated by the standard of the large rear wheels that F1 cars had during this period. However, this still remains as one of the most interesting looking F1 cars the sport has seen. 

What’s even crazier is that it won the Swedish Grand Prix in 1977, with both cars finishing first and second.

3. Why the halo was invented 

In 2014 Jules Bianchi (Charles Leclerc’s Godfather) was racing at a seriously wet Suzuka Circuit, he lost control of his Marussia and crashed into a mobile crane, he later died in hospital nine months later due to the serious head and spinal injuries he had sustained. 

In his honour the No.17 was retired. 

The halo was introduced in 2018 but was controversial during the time of its introduction.  

The halo has now saved countless lives due to its structure and the strength it can withstand in high impact crashes, such as Zhou Guanyu at the British Grand Prix in 2022 and Charles Leclerc at the Belgian Grand prix in 2018. 

4. The halo is extraordinarily strong 

The halo is one of the most important things in F1 when it comes to safety and the protection of the drivers. The halo due to its Design can withstand 15 times the static load of a Formula One car. The halo can also withstand a 20kg wheel travelling at 140mph.  

It is also strong enough to hold a double-decker bus on top of it without breaking its structure.

5. An F1 car can drive upside down 

Due to the raw nature of an F1 car, it can create enough downforce to theoretically drive upside down at around 150mph. 

With F1 bringing background effect in the 2022 regulations it means that the floor of the car is closer to the track underneath them, increasing downforce. 

6. F1 drivers lose a lot of weight during a race  

During an F1 race, the drivers lose 3kg of weight due to the high intensity of G’s that they go up against, in extreme cases while cornering a driver can hit 5.5 G’s, that the same as a fighter pilot may experience while flying a jet! 

An F1 car gets incredibly hot, the exhaust temperature alone could melt aluminum. The absurd heat of the cockpit means the car becomes a sauna, with temperatures reaching around 40 degrees Celsius.   

7. This F1 driver made this unlucky number lucky

Pastor Maldonado used the No.13 on his car, which is deemed an unlucky number, however, this number was not so unlucky for Maldonado! in 2013 he went on to beat Spaniard Fernando Alonso to secure his one and only win, at the Spanish Grand Prix in his Williams after putting it on Pole.  

The last time the No.13 was used in F1 before Maldonado was in 1963 by Moises Solana and in 1976 by Divina Galica.  

8. Ayrton Senna’s throttle technique 

Senna had an unusual throttle technique which set him apart from his rivals, Senna would continuously stab at the throttle while cornering to ensure the car was on the ‘limit,’ rather than a smooth continuous acceleration. 

 This meant that the ‘revs’ were high at all time during cornering, making the car more sharp when on the exit of the corner.

9. Nico Rosberg and his 2016 title 

Rosberg won his one and only drivers’ Championship in 2016, after just clinching it from three-time world champion and teammate at the time Sir Lewis Hamilton.  

He surprisingly retired just days later! and when asked why he retired, he said he had reached the “pinnacle” of his career.  He was the first reigning Champion to retire since Alian Prost in 1993. 

Hamilton did everything he could in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to stop Rosberg from winning the title. They both had a fiery relationship throughout the 2016 season, which kickstarted after a crash in the Spanish Grand Prix, which took both out of the race. 

He won a Drivers Championship but lost his lifelong racing best friend in the process.  

10. The six car race   

This happened in 2005 at the Indianapolis Grand Prix, when teams could choose their own tire supplier. This was between Michelin and Bridgestone, however, the Michelin runners quickly realised that their tires could not hack the circuit. 

The teams using Michelin requested changes to turn 13 of the circuit, a high-speed corner, but none of the teams could come to a compromise.  This meant all the Michelin runners pitted on the race’s formation lap, leaving only Bridgestone runners on the starting grid! 

By 2007 all the cars on the grid only used Bridgestone,  

In 2011 F1 switched to the Italian tire supplier Pirelli, which they still use now. 

This calamity of the race led to one of the most iconic photos taken in motorsport with Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello going neck and neck across the finish line.