F1 is to the automotive world as Haute couture is to fashion world. They are both based in spectacle, and no expense is spared by the big names to hire top talent and equip them with the best staff and resources available. They both exist to push the limits of human creativity and skill, bringing worldwide admiration for those who are able to rise to the top. This great Shell commercial gives a glimpse into the history and allure of the sport by featuring a series of Ferrari F1 cars through the ages.

Similar to soccer, F1 is practically unknown in the US, but wildly popular everywhere else in the world. The worldwide television audience for the 2010 season was 527M (compared to 111M for the Superbowl). The Ferrari team’s top driver Fernando Alonzo makes $42M a season. Europe’s largest bank, Santander, pays $57M to have their logo displayed on the iconic red race cars. Nicole Sherzinger of Pussycat Dolls fame is dating Lewis Hamilton, the 2008 world champion, and can usually be found in the pit garage during races, cheering him on whole-heartedly. The Monaco Grand Prix stop on the tour has been run since 1929, and maintains it’s reputation as motor sport’s most glamorous event; complete with celebrities, yachts, and royalty handing out trophies.

Today’s F1 cars are a marvel of design and engineering: beautiful to watch and mind-boggling complex. This season has been dominated by last year’s champion Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull Racing team. The young German driver’s winning RB-7 car was designed by Andrian Newey, the only designer to have won F1 titles with three different teams. No wonder Red Bull is happy to pay his $10M salary.

Today’s F1 cars use a 4-stroke V8, naturally-aspirated engine. They rev up to 18,000 RPM’s, in comparison to a normal car with around 8,000 RPM’s. What this means is that the overall capacity and size of the engine is not that impressive, but it’s performance is off the charts. A recent innovation being incorporated into the cars now is a system (KERS) that recovers the energy generated during heavy braking, stores it in batteries, and uses it to ‘boost’ the car an extra 80hp. If you have driven a hybrid car you should be familiar with this concept.

There are two main functions of the all-important aerodynamics; to minimize drag and turbulence, and the creation of downforce. Downforce pushes the car down towards the ground, which allows the car to take corners at a faster speed than it would otherwise. An F1 car can generate up to 3.5 times it’s own weight in downforce, which means in theory the car could drive upside-down or along a wall, sideways. Gears are changed with semi-automatic paddles on the back of the steering wheel. This type of gear-shifting has become popular with consumer-level ‘performance’ cars since they allow you to keep both hands on the wheel at all times. Besides lightning-quick reflexes and killer instincts, a race-car driver must posses endurance and stamina. A fast corner can generate 3.5g of sideways force, putting their necks under severe strain. This great video from BBC Sports helps convey the incredible complexity of an F1 race car:

In the US you can watch the next race on Fox Sports or Speed. The BBC does a superior job of covering the sport, but it’s not available here. For more, check out the Formula 1 Official Website and the new Ayrton Senna documentary. And starting next year, Austin, Texas is going to be a stop on the F1 world tour. Just make sure you keep any comments you have about fossil fuels or carbon footprints to yourself.

There are many different aspects of Formula 1 that attract various types of people. Obviously, it’s heaven for gear-heads and speed-freaks. But there are the courageous young race-car drivers and their not-so private lives, the billionaires who finance it all, the engineering geniuses who build the cars, and the honest thrill of wheel-to-wheel racing on summer weekends.