Formula 1 cars are the world's fastest regulated road-course racing automobiles

F1 cars have evolved through the decades

Formula 1 has continued to evolve since its first race in 1950. Early cars featured front-mounted engines, narrow tires, and speeds of up to 180 mph. In 1958, rear-engine designs, like the Cooper T43, improved handling and balance. The 1960s brought lightweight materials and wings, which enhanced stability by generating downforce. Ground effect designs of the 1970s revolutionized grip and cornering but were banned in 1982 due to safety concerns. By the 1990s, hybrid turbo engines and energy recovery systems emerged, improving performance. Today’s F1 cars integrate advanced aerodynamics and hybrid technology, reaching speeds of over 220 mph.

Why F1 cars don't have cockpits

F1 racing cars go over 200 mph, making fatal crashes inevitable throughout its history. Car models have changed many times to make them safer, but the sport has never adopted a closed cockpit, a perhaps obvious solution to protecting drivers from fast-flying debris. Instead, F1 cars have a halo-shaped top, which helps cool drivers, allow for quick escape, and more. Watch a breakdown here.

F1 drivers today are in peak physical shape

Formula 1 drivers today are in top physical condition, with reaction times on par with Olympic sprinters and strength programs specifically for their neck to withstand the immense g-forces experienced in racing.

Over 120 cameras are used to film a single F1 race

Watching a Formula 1 race today is an immersive experience: Every car has onboard cameras; there are helicopter, drone, and lift shots; nearly every corner has a camera to document drivers jockeying for position; and over 120 cameras are used to film a single race.

What it feels like to crash an F1 car

Crashes are common in Formula 1, but due to improvements in safety measures like the HANS device and the Halo, driver deaths are far less common. But what does it feel like to crash? This video features the world's top drivers talking about specific crashes and their thought process as they head toward the wall at 150 mph.

Grands Prix run March through December at circuits across 5 continents

F1's nine-month season crosses five continents in locations steeped in history and meaning for drivers, teams, and the sport. There are 24 events in 2026, starting in Australia and ending in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

The first official Formula One World Championship race was in 1950

On May 13, 1950, Formula 1 held its first race at Silverstone in the UK. Over 150,000 people, including the British monarch (and future Queen Elizabeth II), turned out to watch the field of 28 cars over the 70-lap race. The race wasn’t very competitive, but it’s still a fascinating artifact to observe.

A list of every F1 team

This FIA interactive lists all 11 Formula 1 teams and is organized by team points during each season. Learn who the drivers are for each team and see what their car looks like. Click into the team and get a profile and history. Each driver has a profile page that includes biographical information and the latest news.

A Netflix docuseries turned the sport into a national obsession

Throughout much of its history, Formula 1 racing was a European sport that failed to ever find a major audience in the US. That changed with the “Drive to Survive,” the Netflix docuseries that premiered in 2019. This analysis from two communications professors unpacks how the series has successfully presented the sport for an American audience and cultivated a dedicated fanbase in the process.

Principals are important pieces of F1 teams

In the Big Four American sports, teams have a head coach to lead the team and a general manager to run the business side. In Formula 1, they have a team principal, who speaks publicly on behalf of the team, manages the team's personnel, and engages with F1's governing body.

Explore NASCAR’s dozens of tracks across the US and Mexico

See detailed information on every track used for NASCAR’s top three divisions. Tracks vary in shape, length, and seating capacity.

The Society of Automotive Engineers sorts self-driving technology into six levels

At level 0, a vehicle cannot intervene on its own, and the driver controls all navigation. At level 3, the car operates autonomously under limited conditions, but a human can still take control. A future level 5 vehicle drives itself and lacks a steering wheel or pedals.

Bill France Sr. founded NASCAR after organizing stock car races

Bill France Sr. was the first person to organize stock car racing in America. By the 1940s, the company he created had changed the sport forever.

Leagues like the Premier League differ from the World Cup

The Premier League and other similar club leagues are professional organizations like the NFL or the NBA, where owners purchase player contracts. World Cup teams, on the other hand, are organized by citizenship.

Some Nike shoes are actually making runners too fast

In 2018, Kenyan runner Eliud Kipchoge lowered the world marathon record to 2:01:39 in a pair of Nike Vaporflys. The unusually thick running shoes sparked controversy around the shoe regulations for professional runners.

Fentanyl is better at crossing the blood-brain barrier than other opioids

Among opioids, fentanyl is uniquely adept at crossing the blood-brain barrier—the brain's security fence against harmful substances. This enables a lightning-fast high. It ends just as quickly, sometimes within minutes (where a heroin high lasts hours), and still results in the same withdrawal symptoms.

The FCS is Division I’s second tier with its own playoff system

The Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) features 128 Division I programs that offer fewer scholarships than the FBS. Instead of bowl games, the FCS crowns its champion through a 24-team playoff each season.

The United States currently ranks number one for countries that enable the most financial secrecy

Financial secrecy refers to complex systems that make it easy for people and companies to hide assets. High levels of financial secrecy are associated with illegal activity, like drug trafficking and money laundering. Lax regulations around reporting who owns trusts, real estate, and businesses impact the United States' global financial secrecy ranking.

Hydroplaning occurs when a vehicle's tires lose traction on wet roads

Water depth must be over 0.1 inches, and vehicle speed must exceed 50 mph for hydroplaning to occur. Tire wear, size, and tread patterns affect the likelihood of hydroplaning, which is more common for all-wheel drive vehicles.

Data suggests fossil fuels are the dirtiest and most dangerous energy sources

Although all energy sources have trade-offs, fossil fuels emit the most greenhouse gases per unit of energy and have the highest rate of accidents. Low-carbon energy sources—including nuclear power—have the lowest death rates and fewest adverse climatic effects.

Chess can be played at lightning-fast or classical speeds

Time controls shape how the game is played—from bullet matches under three minutes, to blitz games under 10, to classical contests lasting over an hour. Each format demands different skills, from rapid intuition to deep calculation.

Hurricanes are classified according to their maximum sustained wind speed

The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale is a rating system that organizes hurricanes into one of five categories. Categories three and higher are classified as major hurricanes, but all categories can produce deadly storm surges and rain-induced floods.

A taxonomy of restaurant types

What's the difference between "fast food" and "fast casual"? Is there any real difference between a "diner" and a "family style restaurant"? This guide from DoorDash explores the industry's fine distinctions, along with some deeper dives into specific enterprises that found success.

Fiat money is a currency with no intrinsic, tangible value

Unlike the gold standard, where a nation's currency is linked to the value of gold, fiat money gets its power from the public's trust in its value.

Open-end and closed-end funds differ in how they create and distribute shares

Open-end funds are able to create new shares on a daily basis, while closed-end funds have a set number of shares. This impacts the way shares are traded on the open market, and the way they’re priced.

How fusion—which releases energy when two lighter atoms combine to form a heavier atom—differs from fission

See this overview of the firework rules across all 50 states, ranging from a complete ban on non-professional fireworks in Massachusetts to states with more lax rules like Indiana.

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

When you complete a CAPTCHA on a website to prove you are human, you may be unknowingly training algorithms for self-driving cars, whose systems require training data to help identify crosswalks, bicycles, and other outdoor objects.

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.

The deadliest aspect of volcanic eruptions is often not lava, but pyroclastic flows—avalanches of ash, gas, and rock that can move more than half the speed of sound.

The US dollar is the most widely circulated currency in the world, and is involved in nearly 90% of global transactions

The American Society of Civil Engineers' infrastructure report card gave the US a C in 2025, its highest grade since the project launched in 1998.

Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' is infamous for having some of the highest industrial pollution, toxic air emissions, and cancer risks in the US.

Ebola is a filovirus, meaning it resembles a thread under a microscope, though it sometimes twists and can resemble a bowl of spaghetti.

Power lines are dotted with large, brightly colored balls to improve the visibility of these thin wires to helicopters and small planes and help prevent potential crashes.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps is independent of Iran's regular army and is one of the most powerful and influential military-political organizations in the Middle East.

The US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who'd accidentally scored on his own net.

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

All rainbows are 'raincircles' caused by water droplets separating white sunlight into a spectrum of colors, but Earth's surface blocks the bottom half of the circle from our line of sight.

Double world record holder Hunter Ewen helped conquer his fear of balloons, called globophobia, by training to win Guinness World Record titles for balloon inflation.

Frank Lloyd Wright's houses are historically hard to sell because they're old, subject to local landmark commissions, and often unfashionable

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

Waves off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal, can reach over 100 feet and are caused by the area's deep underwater canyon geography

Corals are themselves not coral reefs—the term refers to the tiny marine invertebrates that build the rigid reef.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is the largest ground war in Europe since World War II in terms of casualties, forces mobilized, and displacement of civilians.

The rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson centered on federalism—the question of how much power the federal government should hold relative to the states.

Take a 3D tour of the Hajj, Islam's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, undertaken by over 1.5 million Muslims.

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

Explore a list of the 100 best novels of all time, compiled by some of the world's best living writers, including Salman Rushdie, Stephen King, and Jennifer Egan.