Below are some fun and mind-boggling facts I gathered to give you a glimpse of why Formula 1 is considered the pinnacle of Motorsport:
1- Formula 1 cars are made up of 80,000 components, if they were assembled 99.9% correctly; they would still start the race with 80 things wrong.
2- A Formula 1 car’s cockpit is so tight that it requires the driver to remove the steering wheel in order to get in or out of it.
3- The drivers will typically change gear up to 2,800 times per Grand Prix. At circuits like Monaco, this number can increase to 4,000 times.
4- Normal road car tyres last 60,000 to 100,000km. F1 tyres are designed to last 90 to 120km.
5- When a Formula 1 driver hits the brakes, he experiences deceleration forces comparable to a regular car driving through a brick wall at 300km/h.
6- Formula 1 brake discs can exceed temperatures of 1,000°C.
7- During a race, the average temperature in the cockpit will reach 50 °C.
8- Once a Formula 1 car is traveling over 160 km/h, it can generate enough downforce to equal its own weight, which means it can actually hold itself to the ceiling of a tunnel and drive upside down.
9- In a street course race like the Monaco, the downforce provides enough suction to lift drain covers. Before the race all of the manhole covers on the streets have to be welded down to prevent this from happening.
10- A Formula 1 driver burns an average of 600 calories per grand prix and loses four kilograms in weight due to prolonged exposure to high G-forces and temperatures.
11- There hasn’t been a number 13 Formula 1 car since 1976 due to wide belief that the number is bad luck.
12- The refueling hose used in F1 can supply 12 liters of fuel per second. This means it would take just 4 seconds to fill the tank of an average 50 liter family car.