Why is Formula 1 called Formula 1?

It was from 1950, when the International Automobile Federation (FIA) created the World Championship of Pilots, that the name Formula 1 happened to be official denomination. Before that, there were hundreds of Grand Prix races, but there was no formal tournament and champion.

The definition of "formula" car, however, was born along with car racing. After the first tests with the existing cars, still in the last century, it is thought to relieve the weight to gain speed. Then the "superfluous" weights began to be removed, among them the fenders and stirrups. The second step was to eliminate the mechanic from the car, who participated in the race sitting next to the pilot. The monopostos, or formulas, appeared in tube form and with the exposed wheels, affectionately baptized of "charutinhos" in Brazil.

The paint and decoration of a Formula 1 car weigh four kilos. Before Lotus signed a sponsorship agreement (with the Gold Leaf cigarettes in 1968), the cars were painted in the colors of the country of origin - the team or the driver. The Italian cars were red; The French, blue; The English, green; And the Brazilians, yellow with central green belt. And the Germans? Before the war, Mercedes and Auto Union cars were white. In a race of the 30s, Mercedes introduced new cars, which weighed a few pounds more than the competitors. The mechanics took everything that was possible, but the cars were still two and a half pounds more. Disheartened, the crew chief, Alfred Neubauer, saw a mechanic touching up the paint on the cars and had the brilliant idea. He had all the white paint brushed off. The cars went to the scale and weighed three pounds less. From then on, Mercedes (and also Auto Union) adopted the silver, which became the official color of the German cars.