If you want to follow Formula One racing, there are a few essential things you need to know, like when the races take place, who the drivers are, and what race numbers they carry with them throughout their career.It is also really useful to know what the warning flag colors mean when you see them waved at the side of the track, and how the current crop of racers compare to some of the most successful competitors of the past.

Ever since its inaugural season in 1950, Formula One — also known as F1 — has captured the attention of fast car fans across the globe. And for good reason: the prestigious series of races, held internationally on both custom circuit courses and closed public roads, features the fastest open-wheel, single-seat race cars in the world.

If you're a newcomer to NASCAR, learning some basics — like the differences between the NASCAR series and what the flags signal during a race — will have you talking like a race pro in no time. And if you're heading to a NASCAR race, know what items to take (and not to take) so your day at the track is fun and safe.

Pit stops are one of the most tense and exciting features of a Grand Prix or other formula one auto race. In fact, auto races are frequently won and lost because of the pit stops and pit crews. In just a few seconds a huge number of actions are carried out by a Formula One pit crew. Here they are broken down: A second-by-second look at the pit stop Pit-stop actions explained Pre-programming: Once the strategists have agreed on when the driver is to make a pit stop and the intended duration of the next stint, the driver's fuel rig is programmed to deliver the precise amount of fuel required.

You may not think of stock-car racing as a team sport — racing certainly seems like an individual sport, considering all the attention a driver gets. But while a driver is arguably the most important part of a race team, he isn't the only reason a team wins or loses. Dozens of people work on a race team and contribute to the performance of a car every weekend.

We all like to think that driving a racing car flat-out would be easy, but it isn't, even if you have heaps of talent. A modern-day Formula One driver has to work very hard if he's going to win a race. Sometimes drivers work 15 hours a day at the racetrack and then spend their nights thinking about how to do it even better.

In racing terms, "formula" implies a pure racing car, a single-seater with open wheels — a format largely unconnected with, and unrecognisable from, road cars. Formula One implies that this is the ultimate in formula racing. "Formula" One and the baby formulas that came later The reason why the sport is called "Formula" One is rooted in history.

One of the most obvious strategies in NASCAR racing is to pass as many cars as you can by coming up on either the right or left side of the car in front (see Figure 1). But passing during a race isn't like driving around a slow car on the highway. Even if the driver is trying to pass someone on the straight, wide part of the track, it may be difficult because that driver doesn't want anyone to pass him.

From the early years of the Formula One world championship, it became obvious that improvements to safety would not just depend on the design of cars and circuits. Racing drivers began to realize that if they wore long-sleeved tops, protective helmets and goggles then they were less likely to hurt themselves in accidents.