5 crazy changes between F1's first season in 1950 and the 2022 season

F1, the pinnacle of motorsport as it stands in today's day and age, started from humble backgrounds as it is with most success stories. The sport has now taken over the whole world's interest and pushed it towards racing as a phenomenon and a mainstream sport. It was, however, not always at the cutting edge of technology as it is today.

Born in 1950, with just a handful of teams that fancied racing in the continent of Europe for their own pleasure, F1 has matured into a very different beast 72 years later. The 2022 season sees an evolution of the 'formula' that dictates how a racing car is to be built to allow closer, more exciting racing in the years ahead.

You might have seen Sebastian Vettel, a four-time F1 World Champion, wheel a pre-war Aston Martin TT1, affectionately nicknamed 'The Green Pea', around Circuit Paul Ricard at the French Grand Prix last weekend. The differences between that car of yore and the ones from today showcase the strides made over 70 years of the sport's existence.

The 1922 Aston Martin TT1 is a pre-war racing car that was originally slated to run on the Isle of Man TT, hence its name. It, however, ended up making its debut at the 1922 French Grand Prix, years before F1 was officially recognized as a motorsport series. The car went on to take second place at the Grand Prix de Boulogne a year later at the hands of Marion Agnew after the team faced financial troubles.

This brings us to think of how the sport has evolved over 70 years of its existence, and how the things that were deemed acceptable in 1950, are no longer relevant in the technological and mental battleground that F1 is today.

---

Five crazy changes between the 1950 and 2022 F1 seasons

Here are five things about how the sport evolved between its first season in 1950 and the current 2022 season. It has not only made the sport more fascinating as a whole but has also become a test bed for technologies of the future that trickle down to other industries as well.

#5 Aerodynamics

Aerodynamics is the way the air flows over and under a car that interacts with its body. If air flows over a car in a certain way, it can create lift, which is the force acting against the grip of the tires, making it harder to drive. Cars naturally tend to produce lift, and in the 1950s, drivers only relied on the mechanical grip of the tires to stay on the road and compete for victory.

Comparing that to more than half a century's worth of understanding a car, engineers found a way to make the air act on the body of a car, creating downforce. The simplest way to understand downforce is to imagine an airplane wing working upside down, mounted on a car. Modern F1 machinery relies heavily on under and over floor aerodynamics to pull out the fastest lap times of any car on the planet.

#4 Engine Size/Output

Engines in 1950 consisted of large naturally aspirated units with varying numbers of cylinders from 4 to 12, depending upon the manufacturer. Horsepower ratings for each engine were different, with engines starting as low as 260HP and going up to 300 HP or above.

Powertrains in the 2022 season of F1 include hybrid technology that makes the engines the most thermally efficient on the planet. These include a turbocharged 1.6 liter V6 with hybrid assists known as MGU-K and MGU-H, resulting in a combined power output of around 1000-1200HP.

#3 Tires

F1 tires have come a long way since 1950 when they used to be as wide as bicycle tires and were not designed for racing in mind. The tires were mounted on spoked wheels, which were one of the major areas of failure back then.

Modern tires are developed specifically for the sport with varying compounds and supreme grip that is rivaled by no other tires on the planet.

#2 Pit Stops

Pit stops during the maiden year at the pinnacle of motorsport included amateur to semi-pro mechanics and pit crew members. The pit stops lasted minutes where wheels and tires were changed by a single person, with the driver getting out to help more often than not.

In today's world of multi-million dollar teams, pit stops are choreographed pieces of action where more than 15 people attend a car at once, with the average duration in the 3-second range, involving all four tires changed.

#1 Safety

One of the highlights of the innovation, where F1 has progressed in leaps and bounds since 1950, is the safety of its personnel. In the '50s, the sport was a dangerous place to be, with more than three people losing their lives on average every season until the '70s. Drivers embarked on a race in a car where they sat on or surrounded by fuel tanks with no margin for impact. Track-side safety was unheard of as well.

Today, every aspect of the sport is scrutinized to the maximum, ensuring the utmost safety of the personnel involved in F1, as well as the drivers. The most recent addition to this safety suite came in the form of the 'Halo' on the newer generation of cars.

With the 2022 season of the F1 World Championship well underway, it remains to be seen which team manages to extract the most out of the new regulations introduced this year. Current regulations will remain until 2026 when new power units will be introduced to the sport in a push for it to go green.