The Geography of Formula One

Friday 28 September 2012

Thursday 27 September 2012

All about formula one

Formula one is also known as FIA formula one world championship. It is the highest,

classiest single seater auto racing. The 'formula' part in formula one means the set of rules and regulations enlisted to drivers and teams. Each race gives a driver a chance to gain as much points as they can to try and increase their chances to become world champion. Every win gives you a total of 25 points, there is a huge difference between first and second with second having a total of 18 points making the drivers push extra hard for that first place. The order than follows from 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and tenth place finishing with a point. Every point that a team wins adds them one million euro to their budget so the driver is not the onloy one who mainly benefits from a race win. In 1970 bernie eccelstone became incontrol of formula one's commercial rights, turning the sport into the billion dollar buisness it is today. The formula one season consists of a series of races, which are called grand prixs. The current formula one season holds a total of 20 races which include an amazing return to the american side of formula one, when after a long while away America has finally decided to host a formula one grand prix in Austin, Texas.
Formula one cars achieve very high speeds of up to 350 km p/h this was before the change in the V10 engine to the V8 inflicted by the FIA in 2010. Formula one cars are very dependant on electronics. There are a total of twelve teams in a formula one race meaning there are a total of 24 drivers. Due to high expenditures made my teams it normally leaves them bankrupt or bought out, this mainly happens to the smaller teams such. Strong, reliable, fast teams like Mclaren or Ferrari stay with formula one for a long period of time as they have the finance to keep themselves running and they are also the popular teams and one of the reasons why people watch formula one in the first place. SO if a popular team leaves formula one than so does the viewers and fans of that team, therefore it is unlikely for a very strong team to just sell out or go bankrupt.
Formula one is set on BBC throughout the entire weekend in which its on. Most grand prixs tend to happen once every two weeks except for the grand prixs that are very close to each other ( ex. japan and korea ) or if there is a holiday.

Monday 24 September 2012

Singapore grand prix

History of singapore grand prix:

The singapore grand prix finally signed a five year contract with Bernie Eccelstone to take part in the formula one event. It was introduced in may 2007. In 2008 Singapore had the honour of hosting the first circuit to be held at night and Fernando Alonso also had the honour to become the first winnrer of the cicuit in his off pace F1 renault car. He also holds the highest amound of victories with two wins in 2008, and 2010. 2012 marked the fifth singapore grand prix and it was won by sebastion vetal who also had pole position for that race.

About singapore grand prix:

Since 2008 Singapore has hosted the marina bay circuit. The latest singapore grand prix was held on the 23rd of september 2012. Actually the first practice session of the grand prix is being held as i am writing. The circuit name is called the Marina Bay Street Circuit. The singapore grand prix is one of the only three circuits that are held in a regular street, Alongside the catalunyan grand prix and Monte Carlo Grand prix. The circuit length is 5.1 km. The entire race has a total of 61 laps which makes the total distance of the race 309km. Raikonnen currently holds the record for the fastest lap recorded in the singapore circuit. He did a 1.45.559 in his scuderia ferrari.

DID YOU KNOW:

Singapore is so spotless that it is illegal to buy gum due to the high temptation of littering in the streets.
Singapore is one of the 20 smallest countries in the world but is second on the charts as the most densely populated country in the world after monaco.
Though there is no scientific explanation for this, but singapore has the highest number of child births in october than any other month in the year.
The world's first Zoo ' The night safari' is located in singapore.
The offical meaning of singapore is lion city

ABOUT SINGAPORE CIRCUIT:

The singapore circuit is known to have many charactersitics which hold the records in formula one, other than being the first country to host a formula one grand prix in the dark. First of all singapore has the longest pit stop times known in formula one history having to spend an average of 26 seconds for each pit stop. Another thing is that singapore has the slowest turn in all of the circuits in formula one at turn three of the circuit. Another thing is that singapore has been known to have a safety car every year. There has never been a time where the singapore was held without a safety car coming out. Infact the latest singapore event was held yesterday and two safety cars where deployed. Ohne for the HRT car for Narain Karthikeyan and the other one was for the collision between the Mercedes car of Micheal Shumacher and the torro rosso of jean eric vergne. The final point that im going to make is that the singapore grand prix is the longest grand prix known to formula one history. The lastest singapore grand prix was so long that it had to be changed from being counted from laps to time. Sebastion vettel finished first with a whole total time of 2:00:46. He reached the two hour mark which is the maximum amount of time a race should be held, due to safety reasons. Drivers have been complaining about this since 2008. Therefore what should have been a 61 lap race ended up at 59 laps, as the two safety cars and the general long race track put the formula one singapore race past the two hour mark.

Monday 17 September 2012

Latest formula one grand at Belguim grand prix SPA

Friday 14 September 2012

German grand prix (HOCKENHEIM)

HISTORY OF GERMAN GRAND PRIX:

The Hockenheim circuit was built and ready to go in 1939 as a test track for mercedez bens.When the war started construction for the circuit was held. After world war two ended, germany was banned from any international event. Therefore the first formula one german grand prix took place in 1951. The first winner of the german grand prix was alberto ascari in his V12 ferrari car. The first hockenheim was held in 1970 and it was won by jochen rindt in his lotus- ford. 2012 marked the 45th german grand prix race and the 30th Hockenheim grand prix race, which was won by fernando alonso who also secured a pole position in qualifing. Rudolf caracciola currently holds the record for the most times winning a german grand prix. Rudolf has all together six victories with micheal shumacher second in the standings with four. Kimi Raoikonnen currently holds the record for the Fastest lap, He set the record in his west mclaren mercedez in 2004 achieving this world record at lap 10 of the race. Unfortunatly Kimi was unable to finish the race due to a crash that put him out of the race.

ABOUT HOCKENHEIM CIRCUIT:

The 2012 german grand prix was held on the 22nd of july. The Hockenheim circuit has a total of 67 laps with a circuit length of 4.5 km and a total race distance of 306km. Hockenheim is located in the upper rhine valley. Another small city Hockenheim only houses a total of 21,000 people. Their currency is euro as they were the founders of the european union in 1951- 1958 along with Belguim, Italy, France, Luxemberg and the Netherlands.

DID YOU KNOW :

Did you know that Frankfurt is commonly ranked among the top ten best cities of the world.
Germans are the second largest beer consumers in the world after Ireland ( ofcourse )
31 percent of the country has been kept with forests and woodlands, That is the reason why germany is known to be as the economically friendly country of europe.
The first printed book was in german
German in the third most commonly taught language in the world.

WEATHER:

Most of Germany is a temperate seasonal climate. Winters are often mild and summers are commonly cool as temperatures reach to 30oC and even higher. Rainfall occurs nearly all year round but especially in the summer. The East side on the other hand has a more continental climate which include cold windy climates during the winter and warm, sunny climates in the summer. I presume that long dry periods do happen quite frequently during the summer.

Thursday 13 September 2012

Monaco Grand Prix

HISTORY OF MONACO GRAND PRIX :

This grand prix is The most special circuit from the entire formula one event. This is where a driver dreams to take a victory. This circuit requires a high level of concentration and attention having to be aware of your entire surrounding in every corner. This circuit was introduced in 1929 and it was won by William Grover. But the circuit did have some alterations to it in 2004 due to the high level of crashes and near fatal deaths. Damon hill has been crowned the title mr.monaco as he is beileved to be the most competetive driver of the monaco circuit. Both Hill and Shumacher have five victories to their name but it is Senna who holds the record with six victories. Mclaren also hold the record for the highest finishes in terms of the constructors with a total of 15 victories.

The last monaco grand prix was held in 2012 and the event took place on the 27th of may. The circuit name is orginally called circuit de monaco. There are 78 laps in this circuit. The race distance is about 270km while the circuit lenth is 3.5km. The fastest lap record is currently held by Micheal Shumacher doing a 1.14.439 in 2004 while driving with ferrari.

ABOUT MONACO:

The Monaco grand prix takes place in a little city called monte carlo.With a population of no more than 30,000 people monte carlo is known to be as one of the most expensive cities in the world. If you have the cash nothing beats the glamour of monte carlo itself with over so many things and activities available, it is the most fonded grand prix for both the drivers and the fans. The closer the hotel is to the tracks the more expensive it is. Most hotels are booked for months in advance. The languages mainly spoken at monte carlo would be English, Italian and French. Other than Formula one Monte carlo also hosts European poker tours and boxing bouts. It also hold the indianapolis 500 and the 24 hours of le mans. Monaco's weather is a mediterean climate with cloudless, clear sunny skies in the summer and mild winters. Monaco is famous for having 300 days of sunny weather every year. With temperatures in the mid 60s and 70s, People remain sun tanning until the end of october.
Monaco's religion consists of mainly christians. 90 percent of the 30,000 are christians. The roman catholic faith in monaco plays an important role in most of the festivals that are held in monaco. Monaco citizens religious beilef regarding to death and after life is based on the teaching of roman catholicism.

Monday 10 September 2012

Chinese grand prix

HISTORY OF THE CHINESE GRAND PRIX

The shanghai international circuit was designed to be THE race circuit of the generation. This circuit is considered to the chinese as the gateway to the world of formula one.The shanghai international circuit was introduced in 2004 and still takes debut in formula one till this very day. 2012 marked the eighth time china hosted the shanghair international circuit. The 2012 shanghai internation circuit led nico rosberg to take his first pole position and continue on to win his first race, which made this circuit a little more special to one more person. Lewis hamilton has the highest amount of wins here in shanghai with two victories as the track was only introduced eight years ago.

ABOUT SHANGHAI CIRCUIT :

Since 2004 the chinese grand prix has been held at the shanghai international circuit. Its latest race date took place on the 15th of april 2012. The circuit has 56 laps is 5.4km in length. The total race distance is roughly 300 km. The fastest lap record is currently held my micheal shumacher with a 1.32.238. That record took place in 2004 the first year the shanghai circuit was introduced.

ABOUT SHANGHAI :

Shanghai is the largest city in terms of population with a total population of over 21 million in 2010. Shanghai is a major global city partaking in media, fashion, technology and much more. Shanghai is also known as the busiest container port in the world which is why it is very huge in term of finance. Shanghai is located in easter china and sits in the middle of the chinese coast. Their currency in Yuan and the citizens speak both cantonese and mandarin chinese. Their religion include christianity, Islam, Buddahism and Taoism.

Year	Pop.	±%
1953	6,204,400	—
1964	10,816,500	+74.3%
1982	11,859,700	+9.6%
1990	13,341,900	+12.5%
2000	16,407,700	+23.0%
2010	23,019,200	+40.3%

This is a population chart of shanghai which shows the increase in population over the last 57 years.

WEATHER :

The average temperature reaches to about 16.5 degrees. Shanghai receives about 2,000 hours of sunshine per year. The hottest temperature ever recorded was 40.2 .oC and the lowest was -12.1oC. Even though nightime temperatures drop below freezing point during the winter there are only one or two days of snowfall per annum.

This chart shows the recorded temperature and rainfall throughout the year in shanghai.

This chart shows the recorded time of sunlight per month for the entire year. The graph also shows a slightly more detalied analysis of an average rain percipitation monthly per annum.