I want to set the record straight on a number of inaccuracies that the FIA, motorsport publications and the media have been feeding you about Formula 1.
Regardless of what you have read, 2010 was the 30th season of the Formula One World Championship. The 1950 to 1980 seasons were technically a different championship and Indy 500 results/stats 1950 to 1960 have nothing do with F1 or Grand Prix racing at all. This isn't anything to do with bias, or interpretation or a crazy conspiracy theory that I've convinced myself is true, nor have I got it wrong. It's to do with hard facts.
Here's a prime example of utter wrongness on Formula 1's official site:
This week marks the 60th anniversary of the very first race of the inaugural Formula One World Championship.
A comprehensive article written by myself can be found here explaining the situation:
http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk/?p=556However if you don't like reading, here's a summary:
[spoiler]- The World Championship was called the FIA World Championship for Drivers.
Nothing in the rules (or the title) stipulated that F1 cars had to be entered into the races and this was the case up to 1981. Read the rules of the era and you'll see "MAXIMUM Engine capacity", meaning, providing the weights and dimensions were right, you could run F2 or even F3 cars in Grand Prix.
- Beginning in the early-1920s, the FIA (or AIACR as they were originally known) released a list once a year of what they considered to be the most long established, historically important and internationally recognised races and called them Grandes Épreuves (meaning "Big/Important Events"). The chosen Grandes Épreuves of 1950 were all included on the World Championship calendar that year. Grandes Épreuves didn't have to be Grand Prix races and they didn't even have to be a race run under F1 rules.
- The Indianapolis 500 was originally appointed America's Grande Épreuve way back in 1923 and - noticing that all World Championship races in 1950 were held in Europe - someone in the AAA (the governing body that sanctioned the Indy 500) said they had to include the Indy 500, one of the world's "biggest motor racing events", in order to be a true World Championship. Between 1952 and 1960, Grand Prix and Indy car rules barely overlapped, so while Grand Prix cars could be entered, they would have been completely outclassed and Indy roadsters couldn't be entered in F1 races at all, they were completely ineligible. 4 of the 11 Indy 500s were held so close to Grand Prix, it was physically impossible to enter all races in the season.
So, considering the 1950-1960 championships consisted of Grande Épreuve and not F1 races and the Indy 500 was not a Grand Prix and Indy cars could not be entered into F1 races and F1 cars were totally unsuitable for Indy, you CANNOT VALIDLY QUOTE INDY 500 STATISTICS IN THE CONTEXT OF FORMULA 1 OR GRAND PRIX RACING AT ALL. This just isn't open for interpretation!
- F1 was NOT run under F2 rules in 1952 and 1953, it's akin to saying "a football match held under rugby rules" - totally contradictory! Alberto Ascari was never a double Formula 1 world champion because there was no F1 championship. The 1952 and 1953 World Championship for Drivers was run under Formula 2 rules only. Quote statistics from the 1950 and 1954 championships in the same context, but not anything after 1980![/spoiler]
Comments, questions and discussion is/are very much welcome.
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