By Luke Wagner

Formula One is a sport where 20 drivers and 10 teams compete on 24 different tracks. The first F1 race was in 1950 on a British track called Silverstone. For the first few decades of the sport, deaths were fairly common, but because of new rules and regulations, and development by teams, nobody has died on the track since 1994. (There was one other death, Jules Bianchi, in 2015, but he died some months after the crash due to his injuries). 

Over the years, teams and drivers have pushed the limits of their cars and bodies to continually improve both performance and safety. They have made cars faster, safer, and more efficient, improving every year. These are among the F1 racing locations and upcoming races: Brazil (one of the longest pit lanes in F1), Las Vegas (by famous hotels and casinos), Qatar (built in less than one year), and finally Abu Dhabi (the most expensive F1 track to build, costing $1.8 billion CAD). There’s even a track in Montreal, named after a great Canadian F1 driver, Gilles Villeneuve.

The current F1 season is a little more than halfway complete and it has already been full of exciting and unexpected news for next season. First, there was the shocking news that Lewis Hamilton will be joining Ferrari next season (after being with Mercedes for 11 seasons). When asked why he said that he “just needed a change of environment”. Next there is the uncertain future of Daniel Ricciardo (a driver for Red Bull). At 35 years old, he has lots of experience but has not been performing great this season. He is 13th in the driver’s championship with 12 points. Points are awarded to the top ten drivers each race. The first place finisher gets 25 points, and it goes down irregularly from there to just one point for the 10th place driver. Riccardo may lose his spot to Sergio Perez or Liam Lawson (a new driver) on the Red Bull team in 2025 due to his underperformance. Finally, Carlos Sainz, who has raced for Ferrari for many years, has signed with Williams for the next season (after Lewis Hamilton displaced him by signing with Ferrari). 

Another racer to watch out for is Lando Norris (a driver for Mclaren). So far this season, especially in the last few races, he has been performing very well. The point gap between Norris and Verstappen is narrowing every race, so it will be close to see who wins the driver’s championship. Only 52 points separate the two, and with 4 races left, it is truly anyone’s win. The last race, Mexico, had an unexpected result, with Max Verstappen finishing at a paltry (for him) 6th, Carlos Sainz winning the race, and Lando Norris taking second place after an error from Charles Leclerc (a driver for Ferrari).  

In conclusion, this F1 series has been very entertaining so far, and I can’t wait to see what the last races will bring.