(car accelerating) (upbeat exciting music)
- [Nolan] 10 teams, 20 drivers,
billions of dollars at stake.
For 70 years the world has watched Formula One
to see who will be the best of the best, the world champion.
The driver whose name and nationality
will go down in history.
Drivers from 40 countries have raced in Formula One,
but over half of the champions come from just four countries
and they might not be the first four that come to mind.
So which ones are they?
Why do these countries make champions?
And how does a country with a population the size
of South Carolina, have one
of the greatest championship records
in international motor sports?
Well, you gotta stick around to find out,
this is Wheelhouse.
(upbeat rhythmic music)
Formula One is a truly international series.
Since it began in 1950, there have been teams
from 26 countries, races held in 33 countries
and 767 drivers from 40 different countries.
But among all those drivers,
there have only been 33 world champions.
So where do champions come from?
Do most champions just come
from the countries that produce the most drivers?
Well, let's look there first.
(drumming)
Roughly 65% of all F1 drivers come
from just four countries; Italy, the US,
France and the United Kingdom.
It's not much of a mystery why those four countries
have produced so many F1 competitors.
Take Italy.
It's the home of Ferrari, a team which has never
missed a Formula One season
and has won the Constructor's Championship
a record 15 times.
It's the home of legendary F1 circuits
like Monza, Imola and Mugello.
Nearly 100 F1 drivers have been Italian.
So how many Italian champions are there?
Just two.
And there hasn't been an Italian champion since 1953.
"Wait a minute", I hear you F1 fans crying.
What about the 1978 world champion, Mario Andretti?
He was Italian.
He was, but sometimes the record book
doesn't tell the whole story.
So we've gotta dig a little deeper.
Andretti was born in Italy, but raced as an American.
So what does that mean?
How did Andretti end up racing with the stars and stripes?
Nationality in formula one is whatever's listed
on a driver's FIA super license.
That's the most elite license in racing
and at any given time, there are less than a hundred drivers
in the world who could even qualify for it.
Andretti became a US citizen in 1964
and dual citizens like Andretti can choose
which country they represent.
Because Andretti spent most of his career in the USA,
he continued racing as an American
when he got his super license.
Sorry Italy.
Now, before you wear yourself out, chanting USA, USA,
I have some bad news.
Out of the 158 American F1 drivers only two
became world champions.
But again, the record book, doesn't tell the whole story,
you've gotta dig into the history.
From 1950 to 1960, the Indianapolis 500
was a Formula One championship event,
but 122 of the Americans who raced at Indy
during those years, never entered
another F1 championship race.
Once you know that, America's F1 record starts
to look pretty good actually.
Just 36 Americans have actually competed
for the championship.
That means we've got one champion for every 18 drivers,
a ratio that's not far off
from some of the top countries for champions.
Not too shabby, especially considering
that France, home of Le Mans and the FIA
has had 71 drivers, but just one world champion.
All right, so now you can chant a little if you want.
Sorry France.
So far, we know that three of the top countries
for Formula One drivers, Italy, the USA and France,
have produced just five world champions between them.
So where do these champions come from?
Well, the top spot for both drivers
and champions goes to the United Kingdom.
Over 70 seasons of Formula One,
there have been 164 British drivers
and among the 33 world champions, 10 of them were Brits.
The top spot for champions isn't even a contest.
Second place is a fight for the scraps.
A three-way tie between the countries
with just three champions each.
One of the most successful countries
is the size of New Mexico
but with the climate of Alaska.
It's not an obvious choice for champion country
if you ask me, but they really make it work.
But before we find out which country that is,
let's see why British drivers have been
so successful in Formula One.
(double music beat)
Much like the Italians,
the British have been massively involved
in Formula One from the start.
There has never been a season without a British team,
a British driver, or a British Grand Prix.
British F1 teams have won the Constructor Championship twice
as many times as the second place Italy.
McLaren has participated in every F1 season
since 1966, a streak second only to Italy's Ferrari.
(car engines roaring)
Three of the 2020 F1 teams were British
in McLaren, Williams and Racing Point.
More than any other country and in fact,
Racing Point is gonna be even more British this season,
rebranding themselves as the Aston Martin F1 team.
Looking forward to seeing how Seb does.
What makes the UK in many ways the home of Formula One,
isn't just about the British teams.
Other countries teams like Austria's Red Bull
and America's Haas, maintain facilities in the UK.
Hell, France's Renault F1 cars
are designed and built in England.
The all conquering Mercedes team
has been based just north of London
since their return to F1 in 2010.
Basically Great Britain is to Formula One
what North Carolina is to NASCAR.
Ferrari might wanna argue,
but the story of Formula One
is dominated by the British.
And we haven't even talked about the drivers yet.
The list of British F1 champions includes legendary drivers
like Nigel Mansell, James Hunt,
Jenson Button and Jackie Stewart.
British champions have taken home the title
a combined 20 times.
Seven of those titles belong
to the most successful current driver,
Lewis Hamilton, and his career isn't even over yet.
His career's far from over, I hope.
At this point though, with such a commanding lead,
another British championship is almost irrelevant
but like the USA, the record book
doesn't tell the whole story of Great Britain's F1 success
because you can't tell the story of Lewis Hamilton
without talking about Germany.
Hamilton won his first championship in 2008
driving a McLaren, but that car
had a German engine from Mercedes.
With his second championship in 2012,
he was now driving for Mercedes
and interrupted the four year championship streak
of German driver, Sebastian Vettel.
Hamilton's next six championships were with Mercedes,
the team that has won the Constructors Championship
every year since 2014,
and the only year Hamilton didn't win the championship,
it went to his Mercedes teammate, German, Nico Rosberg.
Hamilton's seventh world championship in 2020
tied the record of yet another German, Michael Schumacher,
who still holds the record
for most consecutive championships with five in a row.
Although perhaps only until next year.
That's three German champions, which puts Germany
in that three-way tie for second place.
So why has Germany produced F1 champions?
Well, if the story of Formula One is dominated
by the British, the story of the car
is dominated by Germany.
After all, it was the German Carl Benz
who invented the automobile in 1885.
Along with Mercedes, Germany is the home
of Audi, BMW and Porsche.
It's where you'll find the Autobahn
and the Nürburgring, where the first German Grand Prix
was held in Formula One.
It's no surprise then, that when Mercedes showed up
to their first Formula One season in 1954
they were firing on all cylinders, taking home
the Constructors Championship two years in a row.
Admittedly, Mercedes did have a bit of a slump after that,
not winning it again until nearly 60 years later in 2014,
but they've won it every year since then.
The success of the German drivers has been similar to that
of Mercedes, a bit of a late start, but boy
was it something once they got going.
There have been 52 German drivers, but no champions
until Michael Schumacher in 1994.
The title has come home to Germany 12 times
since Schumacher's first championship,
more than any other country in the same period.
Schumacher went on to win a total of seven titles.
Sebastian Vettel got four from 2010 to 2014
and he's still racing, so you never know.
We'll see what happens.
The third German champion, Nico Rosberg
is the only driver to take a championship
away from Hamilton, which is no small feat.
Once more though, the record book
isn't giving us the whole story.
Like Mario Andretti, Rosberg is also a dual citizen.
If his FIA super license listed his other nationality,
the top countries for F1 champions
would be completely different.
Germany wouldn't be second anymore.
They'd be tied for fourth.
And that mystery country, the happiest country
in the world, would be all by itself in second place.
But before we reveal the home of Nico Rosberg's dad
and possibly the most successful country
in international racing, let's take a look
at the other country with three formula one champions.
It's a country that couldn't be more different
from Germany and that's Brazil.
(upbeat fast music)
Brazil doesn't have an Autobahn or a Nürburgring.
They don't have Germany's massive car industry connection
to automotive history or high-performance car culture.
But Brazil has the strongest connection to Formula One
of any country outside of Europe.
And that's partly because Brazilians love sports.
Soccer is practically a second religion,
but also because they love to cheer
for Brazilian heroes and see them shine on the world stage.
Motor sports in Brazil may not be as accessible
as it is in other countries,
but all it takes is one rising star
and the whole of Brazil is gonna lift them up.
Brazil's obsession with Formula One got started
when future champion Emerson Fittipaldi
scored the first ever Grand Prix victory
for a Brazilian in 1970.
That began a 47 year streak
of 32 Brazilian drivers in Formula One.
In 1972, the year Fittipaldi won his first championship,
the inaugural Brazilian Grand Prix was held
and it has been a part of every F1 season since,
except 2020, when it was one of the many races
that was sadly canceled due to COVID.
I really did miss Interlagos.
That race has long been an important event
on the F1 calendar, but in Brazil, Formula One is more
about national heroes than their home Grand Prix.
And one of their biggest Brazilian heroes
of all time is Ayrton Senna.
Senna was mentored by Fittipaldi and is absolutely one
of the biggest legends in Formula One.
Along with his three championships,
he holds numerous records, including winning the most
prestigious Grand Prix of all, Monaco, five years in a row.
During his life Senna achieved near godlike status
among the people of Brazil and following his tragic death
at 1994's Grand Prix of Imola, Brazilian interest
in Formula One waned.
When there are other successful drivers
that interest returns, but F1 has yet
to achieve the same popularity it had
during the Senna years, unsurprisingly really.
Many Brazilians believe there can never be
a greater driver and for them Formula One ended
with Senna's death.
With their passion for sport, sense of community
and love of international competition,
it makes sense that Brazil is on this list.
The UK and Germany also make sense because
of their close associations with Formula One
and enthusiasm for everything automotive.
But the last country in this video is probably better known
for bands with names like Ensiferum, Omnium Gatherum,
Insomnium, all kinds of ums, not race car drivers.
For this last one, we've gotta dig
into the geography, culture and people to understand why
(drum roll)
Finland makes racing champions.
Some of you might struggle to find Finland on a map.
I know I do.
So here's how I remember.
Finland is the bulbous Scandinavian nation that hangs out
behind Europe's dangler, that's Norway and Sweden.
And just like the geography suggests,
the Finns have a lot of balls.
What I'm crudely calling balls, the Finns call "sisu".
They'll tell you there's no perfect translation
for this uniquely Finnish kind of courage.
F1 champion Mika Häkkinen said that sisu
is what gives Finns the courage to break late,
get on throttle early and carve every apex
as close as possible.
But sisu also means not letting emotions take control.
It's maintaining focus and rational perseverance
when the odds are against you.
It makes sense that sisu would be an asset in Formula One.
Most drivers in an F1 season will I never win a race
but they're still expected to give it their all.
Maybe sisu prepares Finnish drivers to succeed
even when the odds are, they're destined to lose.
The thing is, Finnish drivers seem to lose less
than any other country in Formula One.
Sure, they've only got three world champions
but there have only been nine Finns
in the whole history of F1.
That's insane, quite frankly.
No other country even comes close
to that rate of success.
So is it all just sisu?
Well, another F1 champion Kimi Räikkönen says
that all Finns excel at driving, because quote,
"The roads and long winters,
you really have to be a good driver to survive in Finland.
It is always slippery and bumpy."
Many Finnish roads are gravel
and even the paved ones spend a bunch
of the year covered in ice.
To get an ordinary driver's license,
Finns have to take a test on a slippery road course
which is basically a wet skid pad,
and to pass they have to know how to power slide.
This is awesome.
Finns even set up elaborate ice circuits on frozen lakes
each winter, where anyone can bring any car
and take a spin, so to speak.
For Finns it seems, driving at the limit, is just driving.
Finns will also tell you that driving fast is just
in their blood and maybe they're right.
The first ever F1 champion Keke Rosberg
was the father of German F1 champion, Nico Rosberg.
Nico even had a Finnish racing license,
switching to a German license just two years
before his debut in F1.
If Nico hadn't switched,
Finland would have four champions and would be all alone
in that number two spot.
So Finnish racing success is built on harsh winters,
sisu and maybe even a little genetics.
Brazil makes F1 champions
because they wanna beat the world
in sport and often do.
Germany because they're possibly
the most car obsessed country in the world
and the UK, because they're the spiritual
and oftentimes actual home of Formula One.
The UK is currently secure
in their number one spot for F1 champions.
But second place is still a race.
If Valtteri Bottas manages to move out
from Hamilton's shadow this season,
Finland would finally get its fourth champion
and be all by itself behind the UK.
But for 2021 German, Mick Schumacher,
Michael Schumacher's son, will be racing
at Formula One as well.
Brazil's current best hope is Emerson Fittipaldi's grandson,
Pietro, a reserve driver with Haas and you know what,
it would be great to see a Brazilian driver return
to the Formula One grid.
I'm sure Brazil would also agree.
These kinds of battles are one
of the greatest parts of Formula One's 70 year run.
Even if Hamilton wins it all again this year
which he probably will, there's always next year.
And there's always an international lineup
of potential future heroes.
We just need to hurry up and get an American on the grid.
So when Hamilton retires,
Mercedes call me.
I've got a 2100 I rating.
That's actually pretty bad.
Thank you for watching Wheelhouse.
I love, love, love doing F1 stuff on here.
So if you wanna see more, let me know in the comments.
We got a spicy one coming up for ya,
I think you'll like it.
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