Formula One - Unknown Facts

• Formula One, abbreviated to F1, is the highest class of open wheeled auto car racing defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motor sport's world governing body.
• Formual one racing is considered to be one of the worlds most expensive sporting event.
  The first Formula One World Championship was won by Italian Giuseppe Farina in his Alfa Romeo in 1950.
• Each car is assigned a number. The previous season's World Drivers' Champion is designated number 1, with his team-mate given number 2. Numbers are then assigned according to each team's position in the previous season's World Constructors' Championship. However the number 13 has not been used since 1976, before which it was occasionally assigned at the discretion of individual race organisers.
• F1 car is made up of 80,000 components, if it were assembled 99.9% correctly, it would still start the race with 80 things wrong!
• When all of these are meticulously put together after about 2-weeks of work, it can produce more than 750 hp and reach rpm’s higher than 20,000!
• When an F1 driver hits the brakes on his car he experiences retardation or deceleration comparable to a regular car driving through a BRICK wall at 300kmph!!! F1 car can go from 0 to 160 kph AND back to 0 in FOUR seconds!!!!!!!
• F1 car engines last only for about 2 hours of racing mostly before blowing up on the other hand we expect our engines to last us for a decent 20yrs on an average and they quite faithfully DO.... that’s the extent to which the engines r pushed to perform...
• An average F1 driver looses about 4kgs of weight after just one race due to the prolonged exposure to high G forces and temperatures for little over an hour (Yeah that’s right!!!)
• At 550kg a F1 car is less than half the weight of a Mini.
• To give you an idea of just how important aerodynamic design and added down force can be, small planes can take off at slower speeds than F1 cars travel on the track.
  Without aerodynamic down force, high-performance racing cars have sufficient power to produce wheel spin and loss of control at 160 kph. They usually race at over 300 kph.
  In a street course race like the Monaco grand prix, the down force provides enough suction to lift manhole covers. Before the race the entire manhole covers on the streets have to be welded down to prevent this from happening!
• The refueler s used in F1 can supply 12 liters of fuel per second. This means it would take just 4 seconds to fill the tank of an average 50-liter family car. They use the same refueling rigs used on US military helicopters today.
• TOP F1 pit crews can refuel and change tyres in around 3 seconds.
  During the race the tyres lose weight! Each tyre loses about 0.5 kg in weight due to wear.
  Normal tyres last 60 000 - 100 000 km. Racing tyres are designed to last 90 - 120 km.
• A dry-weather F1 tyre reaches peak operating performance (best 20grip) when tread temperature is between 900C and 1200C. (Water boils at 100C remember) At top speed, F1 tyres rotate 50 times a second.
• The fit in the cockpit is so tight that the steering wheel must be removed for the driver to get in or out of the car.A small latch behind the wheel releases it from the column.
• Levers or paddles for changing gear are located on the back of the wheel. So no gear stick! The clutch levers are also on the steering wheel, located below the gear paddles.
• Normal tires last 60,000 - 100,000 km. Racing tires are designed to last 90 - 120 km.
  Racecar tyres don't have air in them like normal car tyres. Most racing tyres have nitrogen in the tyres because nitrogen has a more consistent pressure compared to normal air. Air typically contains varying amounts of water vapor in it, which affects its expansion and contraction as a function of temperature, making the tyre pressure unpredictable.
• Formula 1 cars have over a kilometer of cable, linked to about 100 sensors and actuators which monitor and control many parts of the car.
• ’Automatic’ gearboxes are prohibited by the FIA. However, all the cars are equipped with semi-automatic gearboxes where to change gear, the driver no longer has to activate the clutch pedal at the same time as the gear lever. He simply presses a button on the side of his steering wheel.
• So drivers no longer has to take his hand off the steering wheel also and such a electro-hydraulic device allows the driver to change gear in one or two hundredths of a second.
  The rapid changes possible with semi-automatic gearboxes mean that transmissions with a greater number of ratios (six or seven) can be installed. On circuits with a large number of bends, the drivers only use four or five ratios.
• Reverse gear is obligatory, but must not be used in the pit-lane.
• No specials fuels are used – only Unleaded/‘Green’ Petrol - similar to that available at our roadside filling stations. It has to comply with the strictest EEC standards concerning pollution.
• Speed limits are strictly followed. In pit lanes, speed limit is either 80 or 120 kph (50 or 75 mph), depending on the circuit and the configuration of the pit lane. If drivers exceed this penalty will be paid by drivers!
• The F1 world championship season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix, held usually on purpose-built closed circuits. The results of each race are combined to determine two annual world championships, one for Drivers' Champions and one for Constructors.
• Michael Schumacher holds the record for having won the most Drivers' Championships (seven) and Ferrari holds the record for having won the most Constructors' Championships (fifteen).
• Jochen Rindt became the only posthumous World Champion after a fatal accident at the 1970 Italian Grand Prix.
• In March 2007 F1 Racing published its annual estimates of spending by Formula One teams. The total spending of all eleven teams in 2006 was estimated at $2.9 billion.

Why manhole covers are round shaped?

For some one who doesn’t know what is Manhole cover, then, it’s a covering over the manholes, which can be removed and fitted easily. Any one could see them wherever the underground drainage passes near by your house or road.
Now the question is, why these manhole covers are round shaped!!! When I googled the shape of manhole covers, its mostly in round in shape. Also have got some images of the Rectangle and triangle shaped covers! But mostly in round shaped. There are many theories revolving around! Lets see some glimpses of that!
1) Manhole covers are round because the manholes are round.
2) Only round manhole covers will not fall in to the man hole
3)Heavy, round manhole covers are easier for one person to move by rolling.
4) You also don't have to "align" a manhole cover to its hole. Any orientation of the cover will do this.
5) Round manhole covers are easier to manufacture.§ Animals dig round holes, so it natural for humans too to do the same.
6) If any other shapes of sharp corners are followed then the sharp corners will pop up and have a possibility of hurting the car tires and humans!
7) The tunnels are pipes so its easier to go with the whole theme or circularity
8) If you stress test an a circle you will find that the circle dissipates the stress more evently at all points.
8) When you heat metals, they expand. Assume that you choose any shape other than circle, when they expand you can not know which parts becomes longer than other parts. But with circles they expand (almost) uniformly. So even with expanding they are easier to remove and put back in. So when they expand they do not get stuck.
9) Circular man holes are easy to dig. Hence covers are also round.

So this means manholes are one of the few things in the universe that are absolutely goof proof. Now it time to know one more fact about these manholes cover. This question in one which was asked in Microsoft’s Interview. So don’t try to ignore. It may also fetch u a job in some other company too!! Good Luck friends!!!