Why one of the world's most popular sports is permanently banned from the Olympics

The Olympics bring together some of the world's most popular sports for over two weeks of competition every four years - but one sport is banned from being included.

The likes of athletics, swimming, diving, gymnastics and cycling are all staple diets of the Olympics, while new additions such as skateboarding and BMX riding have been received positively by viewers.

Football has been included on the Olympic schedule since 1900 - women's football has been in every edition since 1996 - while other sports like rugby, tennis, golf and cricket are all part of the 2028 schedule.

But one sporting discipline that has never featured at the Olympics is motorsport - and in particular, Formula 1.

F1 would be harder to justify as an Olympic sport compared to others, given that the cars have competitive differences, and a switch to having 20 cars with stock parts would be unfeasible.

But there is a specific reason previously contained within the Olympic charter for why motorsports are banned from the Games.

It read: "Sports, disciplines or events in which performance depends essentially on mechanical propulsion are not acceptable."

The rule is listed as Rule 47.4.2 in the Charter, although has been removed in recent years.

In 2012, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) formerly recognised the FIA, F1's governing body, and in the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics, electric karting was featured as a demonstration sport.

The purpose of the electric karting event was to push it towards becoming part of the schedule for Paris 2024. But that was ultimately not to be the case.

Motor racing was contested at the 1900 Olympics in Paris.

The events were largely contested as point-to-point races behind Paris and Toulouse, with manufacturers listed as entrants.

Data surrounding the winners of all 14 races is not available as most results were not publicly recorded, and the races have never been deemed as official by the IOC. Drivers were awarded medals.

One race was won by Renault founder Louis Renault, who was - you guessed it - driving a Renault.

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F1 drivers themselves are largely against the idea of the sport becoming part of the Olympics, with Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen among those voices.

Verstappen said last month: "It's too car-related. [Drivers] didn't grow up in that Olympic environment - I don't think we belong at the Olympic stage.

"And that's fine, because we have our own championship which I think is really well received."

And Fernando Alonso pointed out the car-related issues when he said: "I think it's quite unlikely because we have the machine with us.

"Even if you try to organise a go-kart race with exactly the same go-karts, it will never be exactly the same, probably.

"It is a very unique sport."