Talk:Aston Butterworth

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Terminology

Aston-Butterworth was never a Formula One constructor - it was an F2 constructor at a time when all races counting towards the World Championship (other than the Indy 500) were run to F2. (Arguably this is a problem with the category name!). (This will also apply to various other F2 constructors whose cars appeared only the World Championship in 1952-3). Pete Fenelon 15:52, 8 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

More precisely, I'd say that it is a problem with general understanding of the term "Formula One". For a very long time (judging by terminology used in some of my older Motor Sport magazines, this dates back to even the late 1950s) The FIA World Championship and Formula One have been near-synonymous. Certainly Alberto Ascari is often cited (as on Wikipedia) as one of only two Italian Formula One World Champions, except that his two victories came in the two F2 years! If you are referring to a specific set of rules and statutes, then the distinctions between F1 and F2 during the early 1950s are obvious. However, if you regard F1 as being a rather less defined "top tier of international motorsport", then arguably the 1952 and 1953 WCs still fall into this category. The latter view was even given legal backing during FOM's recent attempts to trademark the term "Formula One", which failed as the court ruled that the term was already generic. "Formula One" records and statistics routinely include 1952 and 1953, and even in historic racing circles (who you would have assumed knew better) I have seen a car referred to as a "1952 HWM Formula One car", when it was actually F2. Wikipedia has a principal of "common names" (in other words, we are not here to sit, Canute-like, to roll back the tide of misunderstanding). The differences are noted in the right places, but to insist upon absolute terminological precision just risks confusing non-specialsts who come looking for details of the 1952 and '53 "Formula One" seasons. Remember, we are a general-interest encyclopedia, so all content must be accessible to those with little or no knowledge of the intricacies of the WDC history. Pyrop e 21:55, 8 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]