How about all of the technical stuff though...
For example, why does each car only get 5 of each item in the power unit for 19 races. They get 5 engines, 5 MGU-Ks, 5 MGU-Hs, 5 energy stores, 5 control electronics, and 5 turbochargers. I believe they are also limited in the amount of tires they are allowed to use. Is this to test the reliability of the parts in the cars or is this just something arbitrary the head honcho came up with?
This basically puts all teams at an even playing field. That way the big money earners of the sport(Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, etc) don't outclass the people in the back that never place in the top 10. If the top teams get careless with their cars and push too hard in the early races then they'll risk having no back-up parts at the end of the season.
Some tracks put WAY more strain on the engines and brakes than others. Singapore is a night race that's very brake heavy and then there are tracks like Silverstone that have pretty much 0 braking for 80% of the track and those can strain the engines.
When it comes to the DRS (Drag Reduction System), why is it only allowed to be used on certain areas of the track?
DRS is only used on the straights. That way they have enough room and time to break because the DRS gives them a 10+ MPH speed gain.
In the most recent Australian GP, right from the start, before the first turn, one driver, Kobayashi, lost control of his car and took out another driver, Massa, from the race. Does Massa get any kind of compensation for someone else's mistake or is it just his tough luck? Does the team of Kobayashi have to pay the team of Massa for damages?
As far as I know it's pretty much tough luck for your race results. Both teams get 0 points toward the 3 different championships. I don't believe there's a penalty given to the team unless the driver did an unsafe block or pass. Then they will get fined based on the severity of the crashes they caused. First corner crashes are kind of common so I doubt anyone gets a penalty on the first lap.
The last Grand Prix is in Abu Dhabi. Is this just another race to get points, or is this considered the championship race? If this sin;t the championship race, is there one or is the champion based on who has accrued the most circuit point over 19 races?
ALL races are important because the more points your team has, the more money the FIA gives the teams to go toward R&D or parts. There's no championship race because if someone is dominating for most of the season, then technically they could win the DRIVER'S championship before the last 4 races even happen. But again, ALL races are important because there's also the Constructor's Championship and I believe Team Championship. If a team is consistently scoring in the top 10 they can win the Constructor's and Team Championships but lose the driver's championship.
Going back to the Kobayashi incident, he will probably getting penalty points tacked on to his license. What does this mean at the end of the season? Say he end up with 52 points after Abu Dhabi and over the course of the 19 races he has 3 penalty points. Does his total point count become 49 or what?
Haven't heard anything about driver's getting penalty points for crashing. They just get a Retirement and score 0 points as far as I know. Teams hate DNF's(Did Not Finish) because it means only one of their drivers could have scored them points rather than both.
Why does each team get to race two cars? Why is there a third driver on each team, the test driver?
This would be the Team aspect for the Team Championship. Each team designates a #1 driver and a #2 driver. Team's are kind of my favorite aspect because technically the #2 driver is supposed to be a support role but there have been times when that was disregarded by the driver because they had a desire to win themselves. Third driver is the reserve in case someone gets sick or something.
^This is what got me into F1. It was the very first race I watched and man was it awesome to see.
Let's look at the Mercedes team. There are two main drivers, Rosberg and Hamilton. They are both running in the same car, the W05. Is Rosberg's car tuned and set up a little differently than Hamilton's to suit his needs, whatever those may be?
They do have different setups based on the driver's style I believe. Or if the team wants to test a new setup, they usually give it to the secondary driver. Not to mention they try out setups to test for next year. On one driver they'll give more back wing for downforce and better cornering and on the other they'll have a smaller wing for more top speed.
Speaking of the needs of drivers, what are the different racing styles? Which driving styles have historically been better than others? have there been any truly reckless drivers?
Only been watching since 2010 but you can definitely see the different styles. Some drivers will push when their team tells them to slow down(Vettel and current 4 time champion in a row) while others will do as their told.
Sergio Perez was a VERY aggressive driver last season. Look out for him this year because I think he's changed to a different team as a #1 driver rather than a #2.
Why is Lotus considered the one of the worst teams right now? What's wrong with Ferrari?
It's only been one race, too early to tell who the good teams are. All the teams are experimenting with new front end setups and engines. Lotus is considered the worst right now because BOTH of their drivers retired/DNF the 1st race due to failures or crashes.
I didn't see anything wrong with Ferrari. Both drivers finished in the top 10 which gained them valuable points.
I don't really have the answers for the last questions. Haven't checked into the rules. Everything I learned was from watching the qualifying events and races while listening to the commentators explaining stuff.