Business News Formula 1 | Page 29

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A BMW Sauber P86 V8 engine, which powered their 2006 F1.06.

* the World Championship was not always exclusively composed of Formula One events:

  • The World Championship was originally established as the "World Championship for Drivers", i.e., without the term "Formula One" in the title. It only officially became the Formula One World Championship in 1981.

  • From 1950 to 1960, the Indianapolis 500 counted towards the World Championship. This race was run to AAA/USAC regulations, rather than to Formula One regulations. Only one of the world championship regulars, Alberto Ascari in 1952, competed at Indianapolis during this period.

  • From 1952 to 1953, all races counting towards the World Championship (except the Indianapolis 500) were run to Formula Two regulations. Formula One was not "changed to Formula Two" during this period; the Formula One regulations remained the same, and numerous Formula One races were staged during this time.

    • The distinction is most relevant when considering career summaries and "all time lists". For example, in the List of Formula One drivers, Clemente Biondetti is shown with 1 race against his name. Biondetti actually competed in four Formula One races in 1950, but only one of these counted for the World Championship. Similarly, several Indy 500 winners technically won their first world championship race, though most record books choose to ignore this and instead only record regular participants.

    The most recent example of a "Formula One race" not being a "World Championship race" very nearly occurred at the 2005 United States Grand Prix. 14 of the 20 drivers ended up not racing due to

    problems with their Michelin tyres, and the failure to find a suitable solution to the problem left 9 of the ten teams in agreement about hosting a non championship race. It was only because of Ferrari's refusal to go with these plans that this alternative failed to take place, although it was stated that Mosley had informed Mr Martin, the FIA's most senior representative in the USA, that if any kind of non-championship race was run, or any alteration made to the circuit, the US Grand Prix, and indeed, all FIA-regulated motorsport in the US, would be under threat". On the same day that Stoddart's version of events was published, the FIA issued a statement denying that Mosley had made the reported threat or that any such conversation had taken place.