PERSONAL INTEREST - FORMULA 1
I have long been interested and entertained by the racing series commonly referred to as “F1” and thus, did review its officially sanctioned website “Formula1.com”, in terms of its overall web design and technical specifications.
The series title itself, "Formula 1" - more commonly referred to as "F1", indicates that it is intended to be the very highest class of the single-seat, open-wheel auto racing "formula" - the set of rules and regulations which all participants and cars must meet. As such, F1 stands at the absolute pinnacle of motor sports as the most technologically advanced and intensely competitive of any auto racing formula in the world.
The F1 World Championship season consists of a series of races, known as "Grand Prix", held on Race Circuits that are either purpose-built "road courses" or closed-city "street courses". The results of each race are combined to determine the (2) annual F1 World Champions for Constructors and Drivers. The first World Champion for Drivers was crowned in 1950 -- with a World Championship for Constructors established later, in 1958. The 2005 F1 season was comprised by a total of (19) Grand Prix races held on (5) different continents -- which were contested by (10) sanctioned Constructors, with each race team fielding (2) cars piloted by their "Number 1" and "Number 2" Drivers.
Moreover, each Grand Prix is a massive spectacle celebrated by each host nation -and- a television event with millions of people watching in more than 200 countries. While Europe still remains the traditional centre and leading market for F1 its scope continues to expand since Grand Prix races are held all over the world -- with new races in Bahrain, China, Malaysia, and Turkey since 1999. Today, F1 stands as the world's most expensive sport, its economic effect so significant that its financial and political battles are widely observed. The high profile and popularity of F1 makes it an obvious merchandising environment, which leads to very high investments from sponsors -- translating into extremely high multi-million dollar budgets for the Constructor race teams.
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F1 cars carry some of the most exotic engineering known to humanity. Each car is made of about 9,000 different components. The body and chassis are made from carbon fiber, which when compared to steel, is four times stiffer and five times stronger. The carbon fiber steering wheel alone costs $120,000. An F1 car has about one-and-a-half kilometers of wire, integrating the data from some 120 sensors that glean information such as the angle of the rear wing, the brake temperature, the oil pressure and the tire pressure. These vital statistics are constantly relayed back to the crew in the pits.
At full blast, an F-1 car’s fuel pump delivers petrol faster than water flows out of a kitchen tap. F1 cars use aerodynamics to generate, at full speed, a down-force of 2.5 times its own dry-weight -- so that at 100 Mph (160 Km/h) an F1 car can generate its own weight in down-force to theoretically enable it to drive upside down upon the roof of a tunnel. F1 cars can corner around a bend at 5Gs - enough to stop you from breathing. Such G-forces suddenly make a typical Driver's head weigh 55 lbs (25 kg) and their body weighs over 1540 lbs (700 kg) -or- a third-of-a-ton.
Consequently, an F1 Driver needs supreme concentration to ignore the G-forces and maintain their focus for the hour-or-so that it takes to cover the 190 miles (305 kilometers) of a typical Grand Prix. Drivers pilot these fascinating vehicles at speeds up to 225 Mph (360 Km/h), while semi-reclining in a monocoque tub made from ultra expensive carbon-fiber/honeycomb-composite, with their backsides only a few inches off the road.
And following in the “slipstream” of the F-1 car is the domestic car. Many of its features (Disc Brakes, Turbo-Chargers, advanced Tire technology, and sophisticated Valve Trains) were spin-offs from Formula 1 cars.
However, the same lofty mantle at the very forefront of auto racing technology is not reciprocated by the “Formula1.com” official series website, in terms of web design and technical specifications.
Indeed, the official website of Formula 1 is , at first glance, a bit of an archaic place to visit. There is some information there that is hard to find elsewhere or in as timely fashion, but the design itself is not particularly exciting and has a lot to be desired, when you consider that this website represents a multi-billion dollar, international sports-conglomerate. In turn, considering the highly technical and design orientated sport that Formula 1 is, it seems odd for the official website to appear somewhat simplistic, and uninspired.
Before the most recent website design revamp, the site appeared to be more technically advanced than it does now, but was somewhat cold, and too austere. Yet, it still does provide all the basic and most recent information a visitor may be looking for somewhere on the Home Page, while the Navigation format is very simple and intuitive.
The website has a multitude of News and official Team Press Releases that are immediately accessible. The exhaustive Archive section allows visitors to browse through articles dating back to 2003, and race results information dating back to the 1950s. In addition, there are hundreds of pictures and other event images to look through, and given the official status of the website, there are many behind the scenes shots available that can not be seen anywhere else. A visitor can search for their favorite Driver, browse by Grand Prix, or click through the years from 2002 to the present day. There are also pictures of testing and launches, plus other F1 events.
Moreover, there are many technically advanced features available, such as “live timing”, for the Free Practice, Qualifying, and Grand Prix, that visitors can watch live on the internet. The drivers are listed with whoever is fastest or in the lead at the top, and then in descending order down the page. As the laps are done, the page automatically updates with the new information as Drivers swap positions on track. Such up to the minute information serves to greatly enhance both a visitors satisfaction with the website and Formula 1 viewing, itself.
Consequently, I consider “Formula1.com” to be something of a triumph of “substance” over “style” as its content value far outweighs its level of technical design or presentation
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