At first I believed I was dreaming, then I believed I was time shifting between alternate realities. Only to realise I wasn’t dreaming nor hopping between alternate realities. What I’m talking about? The fact that the current FIA Formula One Championship as we know it only exists since 1981. The trigger came a few weeks ago when I was discussing with a friend the history and the creation of the current Formula One championship. He didn’t believe me that it was not that long ago when it was only known as Championnat du Monde de Conducteurs. Simply translated to F1 Championship.
It may sounds a bit of the same to you so let me try to explain it. In the 1920s and the 1930s, the Grand Prix racing became serious business. With manufacturer and drivers exploring the edges of what was technically possible. It was more common to experiment with different type of engines, chassis’s and so on. Around that time the first steps were taken to somewhat regularize the sport. While everywhere around the globe races were held, the Formula One originates from the European Motor Racing Championship. What they did in the 1920s and 1930s was to bring in a set of rules that all the participants (Drivers/Teams) had to follow.
While the sport was flourishing in the 1930s, the second world war would end the momentum. At that time teams like Auto Union and Alfa Romeo were dominating the tracks. Only weeks after the war officially ended the first races were held again on street circuits with pre-war Grand Prix cars. Somehow, many managed to stay hidden during the war. The first post-war Grand Prix Season was not an organised championship. However, during the season the Formula One criteria was developed by the CSI (Commission Sportive Internationale) to be deployed for the 1947 season. The 1946 III Gran Premio del Valentino race (Turin Grand Prix) had the premier to be the first race held under the new Formula One criteria.
The new criteria would become effectively the 1st of January 1947. While at that time it was called the new International Formula it would soon be called the Formula A before it eventually became the Formula One. Back in the late 1940s, the Formula Two was known as the Formula B. While the Formula Three, for a short while, was also known as the Formula C, this only changed after the 500cc class was officially seen as the Formula Three.
It would take another three years before we would see the introduction of the Championnat du Monde des Conducteurs. This was the drivers’ championship, and introduced as a response to the in 1949 introduced Motorcycle World Championships. In the fall of 1949, the CSI made the Championnat du Monde des Conducteurs a concrete plan, ready to be introduced in 1950. This is the year most of us see as the start of the Formula One championship. This is questionable and I believe it was 1947. However, that is a discussion for another time. The Championship for drivers would stay on its own until 1958 when the International Cup for F1 Manufacturers was introduced.
You could say that for centuries there were two main championships in the Formula One. The Championnat du Monde des Conducteurs and the International Cup for Manufacturers. This would continue until Max Mosley and Bernie Ecclestone started to gain more power in the Formula One. It started with Bernie Ecclstone purchasing the Brabham team in 1971 it gained him a seat in Formula One Constructors’ Association, in 1978 he became the chairman of the group. From there on his power grip became stronger and stronger. It basically was the start of the FISA-FOCA war. Which already started in the 1960s. The FISA-FOCA war is explained perfect in the article how the FOCA became the new FIA from Mattijs Diepraam.
It is that same conflict that was one of the reasons that in 1981 the FIA Formula One Championship was introduced. Both the Championnat du Monde des Conducteurs and the International Cup for Manufacturers were now in one league. This meant that every team had to lodge entries for the entire championship. While previously it used to be rather on individual races. That year the FIA also introduced the intellectual rights to the chassis by team that entered the circus.
