F1 is a very fast car race. It is one of the most popular sports in the world. The drivers go at over 300 kilometers an hour every race. But F1 cars didn't always go so fast.
In 1895, the first F1 race began in France. During that race, it took the drivers 48 hours to finish 580 kilometers. In 1901, the best drivers had an average(平均) speed of 100 kilometers an hour. Modern grand prix(奖品) F1 racing began in 1950 in Britain. "Grand prix" is French. It means "large prize". Today, 12 teams and 24 drivers race to get points. There are races at different tracks(路线) all over the world from March to October every year. There are also F2 and F3 racing. But the cars are slower and less high-tech.
During a F1 race, drivers have to make several stops to change tyres(轮胎) and put more petrol in their cars. A team of people do these tasks together to make the stops short. Some people lift the car up, others change the tyres. While this person works on the tyres, another person puts petrol in the car and a different person cleans the driver's helmet. One more person talks to the driver about how to win. It's amazing that all those people finish it in just a few seconds!
During 100-meter races, people count the players' speed by 1/100th(0. 01) of a second, for example 10.81 seconds.
In the world of car racing, however, the race has to be timed to 1/1000th (0. 001) of a second. That is 50 times faster than the time for a blink(眨眼).
F1 cars look very colorful. First, cars of different teams have different colors. Then there are a lot of advertisements on the cars.
