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That trail of sparks beneath a Formula 1 car is one of the most dramatic sights in racing - especially under the floodlights at night events. The answer: titanium blocks on the underside of the car scrape the track surface when the car runs close to the ground, burning off tiny particles that glow white-hot at racing speeds.

Formula 1's commercial rights are owned by Liberty Media Corporation, an American media company that bought them in 2017 for approximately $4.4 billion. The FIA remains the sport's independent governing body and sets the technical and sporting regulations, while Liberty Media operates F1 through its Formula One Group subsidiary.

F1 broadcasts vary by country: F1 TV Pro streams every session worldwide, Sky Sports holds UK rights, ESPN covers the US, and Canal+ serves France. Most markets also carry a handful of free-to-air races.

Audi officially enters Formula 1 in 2026 as a full factory team, racing as the Revolut Audi F1 Team. Using the acquired Sauber Group as its race base in Hinwil, the squad will be powered by a new engine built in Neuburg, Germany - the first fully German-built F1 powertrain in more than a decade.

The 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship begins with the Australian Grand Prix on March 6-8, 2026. This season marks a new era for F1, with major technical rule changes, new sustainable fuels, and a 24-race calendar.

Formula 1's World Championship officially launched in 1950, but the sport's roots reach back to the European Grand Prix races of the 1920s and 1930s. Those pre-war events established the cars, the circuits, and the competitive culture that the FIA formalized into a unified global series after World War II.