A1 Grand Prix - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

A1 Grand Prix (A1GP) was a 'single make' open-wheel auto racing

Auto racing

Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of cars for competition. It is one of the world's most watched televised sports.-The beginning of racing:...

series. It was unique in its field in that competitors solely represented their nation

Nation

A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...

as opposed to themselves or a team, the usual format in most formula racing

Formula racing

Formula racing is a term that refers to various forms of open wheeled single seater motorsport. Its origin lies in the nomenclature that was adopted by the FIA for all of its post-World War II single seater regulations, or formulae. The best known of these formulæ are Formula One, Formula Two, and...

series. As such, it was often promoted as the "World Cup of Motorsport". The series was ratified by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA)

Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile

The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile is a non-profit association established as the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users...

and races were held in the traditional Formula One off-season, the northern hemisphere winter. The nation-based A1GP concept was founded by Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum

Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum

His Highness Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum is a member of Dubai's ruling family. He is a second cousin once removed of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the current ruler of Dubai...

of Dubai

Dubai

Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...

, initially in 2003. After a successful first season of A1GP, it was announced on 29 September 2006 that Maktoum was to sell his position as Chairman & Director of A1GP. The transfer of his share in the organisation of A1 Grand Prix to RAB Capital was finalized in December 2006. Tony Teixeira

Tony Teixeira

António Teixeira is a South African businessman. He was born in Portugal but emigrated to South Africa, later naturalizing himself. He lived and studied in Nigel, and later dropped out of school to work at SASOL mining company , later he moved to the transport industry...

took control of the series in 2006, leading it to liquidation by 2009. However unconfirmed reports have emerged that a rescue package has emerged and with the chassis and other cars still in the hands of the administrator a possible resurrection plan having been created for the 2011-2012 season.

History

The nation-based A1GP concept was founded by Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum

Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum

His Highness Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum is a member of Dubai's ruling family. He is a second cousin once removed of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the current ruler of Dubai...

of Dubai

Dubai

, initially in 2003. Once the series had received the backing of the FIA, a management structure including new executive directors Brian Menell

Brian Menell

Brian Menell is a South African businessman with interests in mining, oil, gas, precious metals, diamonds, energy infrastructure and wine.-Early life:...

and Tony Teixeira

Tony Teixeira

were appointed to oversee the sale of franchises for the operation of international teams. Thirty franchises were made available; twenty-three of them were restricted to specified nations, while the other seven were opened to tender for nations that had not been initially targeted.

First season

Twenty-five of the franchises were purchased in time for the 2005–06 A1 Grand Prix season, which began on 25 September 2005 with the A1 Grand Prix of Nations Great Britain at the Brands Hatch

Brands Hatch

Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit near West Kingsdown in Kent, England. First used as a dirt track motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently holds many British and international racing events...

circuit in Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

, United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. The first season was planned for 12 rounds (24 races, with two each weekend); however the cancellation of a race scheduled for Curitiba

Curitiba

Curitiba is the capital of the Brazilian state of Paraná. It is the largest city with the biggest economy of both Paraná and southern Brazil. The population of Curitiba numbers approximately 1.75 million people and the latest GDP figures for the city surpass US$61 billion according to...

, Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

in January 2006 reduced this number to 11. Nelson Piquet, Jr. won the inaugural race of the series for A1 Team Brazil

A1 Team Brazil

A1 Team Brazil is the Brazilian team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.- Management :The seat holder for A1 Team Brazil is the former Formula One World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi. Since 2005, Brazilian footballer Ronaldo has been the co-owner of A1 Team Brazil. The team principal is...

. Their winning form was not to continue. Wins at Estoril

Estoril

Estoril is a seaside resort and civil parish of the Portuguese municipality of Cascais, Lisboa District. The Estoril coast is close to Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. It starts in Carcavelos, 15 kilometres from Lisbon, and stretches as far as Guincho, often known as Costa de Estoril-Sintra or...

and Malaysia

Sepang International Circuit

The Sepang International Circuit is a racing circuit in Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia. It is located near Kuala Lumpur International Airport, approximately 60 km south of the capital city Kuala Lumpur. It is the venue used for the Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix, A1 Grand Prix as well as the...

saw A1 Team France

A1 Team France

A1 Team France is the French team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. The team were the A1 Grand Prix champions for the inaugural season, 2005-06.- Management :A1 Team France's owner is Jean-Paul Driot...

build up a sizeable gap. By the start of the winter break, France had run away with the lead with A1 Team Switzerland

A1 Team Switzerland

A1 Team Switzerland is the Swiss team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. The team were the A1 Grand Prix champions for the third season, 2007-08.-History:...

28 points behind. At the final race of the season in Shanghai

Shanghai

Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

, A1 Team France were crowned the first-ever A1 Grand Prix world champions with 172 points. Switzerland were second with 121 points and A1 Team Great Britain

A1 Team Great Britain

A1 Team Great Britain is the British team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.- Management :A1 Team Great Britain was one of the first six seat holders in the series announced, with chairman John Surtees hosting the event...

third with 97 points.

Katherine Legge

Katherine Legge

Katherine Legge is a British auto racing driver, formerly racing in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters.-Early racing and Atlantics:Prior to joining the Toyota Atlantic series, she raced in several developmental open-wheel series in Britain, including Formula Three, Formula Renault and Formula Ford....

was the first woman to drive A1 Grand Prix cars

A1 Grand Prix cars

The A1 Grand Prix car was a vehicle designed to compete in the A1 Grand Prix. The car was standardised for every team to provide a level playing field for competing nations. It was designed to reduce the volume of "dirty air", allowing drivers to close in on the car in front, encouraging...

during test session in December 2005 on Dubai Autodrome

Dubai Autodrome

The Dubai Autodrome is an F.I.A. sanctioned 5.39 km motorsports circuit located in Dubailand, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.Opened in October 2004 with the final round of the 2004 Formula Renault V6 Eurocup season, Dubai Autodrome was the first part of the Dubai Motor City development that was...

Second season

Changes were made for the 2006–07 season to race durations and distances to improve the spectacle for attendees and TV viewers. The 2006–07 schedule was released on 7 July 2006, with the first race at Circuit Park Zandvoort

Circuit Park Zandvoort

Circuit Park Zandvoort is a motorsport race track located in Burgemeester van Alphenstraat 108, 2041 KP in the dunes north of the town of Zandvoort, in the Netherlands, near the North Sea coast line.- History :...

on 1 October 2006, and the last race at Brands Hatch on 29 April 2007. New teams Team Singapore

A1 Team Singapore

A1 Team Singapore is the A1 Grand Prix national team representing Singapore. Singapore took part in this competition for the first time in its history in October 2006. Christian Murchison, Denis Lian and Hafiz Koh were the original drivers for the team...

and Team Greece

A1 Team Greece

The A1 Team Greece was the Greek team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.- Owners :A1 Team Greece owner was Stathis Basios...

joined the competition but Team Turkey failed to secure funding for the season. Team Austria

A1 Team Austria

The A1 Team Austria is the Austrian team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. It was involved only in the first A1 Grand Prix season.- Owners :A1 Team Austria seat holder is Lauda Motorsport Management.- Drivers :...

, Team Japan

A1 Team Japan

The A1 Team Japan was the Japanese team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. It no longer competes as the league was forced into bankruptcy.- Owners :A1 Team Japan current seat holder is unknown, held by a corporate conglomeration...

, Team Portugal

A1 Team Portugal

A1 Team Portugal is the Portuguese team for A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.- Management :The A1 Team Portugal team owners were the well known football player, Luís Figo, and coach Carlos Queiroz...

and Team Russia

A1 Team Russia

The A1 Team Russia is the defunct Russian team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.-Owners:A1 Team Russia owner was Svetlana Strelnikova...

did not return for the second season. However after securing funding Team Portugal competed in the final four rounds of the second season in South Africa, Mexico, China and Britain. Team Germany won it with 128 points, 35 points lead ahead of Team New Zealand.

On 29 September, Sheikh Maktoum announced he was resigning his position as chairman and chief executive of the series, seeking to have his place taken by increased shareholder interests.

Maktoum announced his intended resignation in September and his exit from the organisation was confirmed in December.

Fourth season

The 2008–09 season was the first season in which the new "Powered by Ferrari" A1GP car was used. According to 2007-08 champion Neel Jani, 90% of teams in the paddock warned Teixeira ahead of time that this car change was untimely and an inefficient use of funds. Rule changes included shorter qualifying sessions, a pit-stop during the now longer Sprint Race, removal of limits on Friday test drivers, and reduced Sprint Race points scoring.

Fifth season

The opening round of the season, scheduled as part of the already well established Nikon SuperGP race meeting, was canceled five days before practice was due to begin. With cars and series infrastructure still tied up in London and no comment forthcoming from A1GP, organisers in Australia were forced to announce the series would not appear at what had been a high profile addition to the A1 Grand Prix calendar. The event was underwritten by the Queensland state government

Government of Queensland

The Government of Queensland is commonly known as the "Queensland Government".The form of the Government of Queensland is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1859, although it has been amended many times since then...

, who have mentioned the possibility of taking legal recourse against A1 Grand Prix.

The series was thrown into further doubt as more races were cancelled, with an announcement made on 5 November 2009 stating that the races in China and Malaysia would not be taking place.
The last race that was to be held in the season, the Dutch round, was switched for Superleague Formula

Superleague Formula

Superleague Formula is an open wheel single seater motor racing formula, which started in 2008, at Donington Park in the United Kingdom. The league introduced team sponsorship by association football clubs. It goes by the saying 'The Beautiful Race: Football at 300 km/h'. By 2011 the link with...

. This put an end to the hopes the season would start and also put the future of the series in doubt.

Champions

Season	Champion	Second	Third
2005–06	France A1 Team France A1 Team France is the French team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. The team were the A1 Grand Prix champions for the inaugural season, 2005-06.- Management :A1 Team France's owner is Jean-Paul Driot... (Alexandre Prémat Alexandre Prémat Alexandre Prémat is a French race car driver.-Career:-Karting & French Formula Renault Campus:... /Nicolas Lapierre Nicolas Lapierre Nicolas Lapierre is a French race car driver born in Thonon-les-Bains, France. He raced in the first three seasons of the GP2 Series.-Early career:... )	Switzerland A1 Team Switzerland A1 Team Switzerland is the Swiss team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. The team were the A1 Grand Prix champions for the third season, 2007-08.-History:... (Neel Jani Neel Jani Neel Jani is a Swiss race car driver of Indian origin. He has achieved his greatest success driving for A1 Team Switzerland in A1 Grand Prix, helping them win the 2007-2008 title and finishing runner-up in 2005-06 and 2008-09. He has been also a GP2 Series race-winner and Formula One tester... /Giorgio Mondini Giorgio Mondini Giorgio Mondini is an Automobile racing driver from Geneva, Switzerland.-Career:Mondini began his competitive racing career at the age of 21, when he came 26th in the Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup series. In 2002 he made his way up to 17th place, before moving on to Formula Renault V6 Eurocup... )	Great Britain A1 Team Great Britain A1 Team Great Britain is the British team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.- Management :A1 Team Great Britain was one of the first six seat holders in the series announced, with chairman John Surtees hosting the event... (Robbie Kerr Robbie Kerr Robert "Robbie" Kerr is a British race car driver from England.-Early career:In 2002 he became the British Formula Three Champion for Alan Docking Racing with 306 points ahead of Australian racing driver James Courtney.Following an abortive attempt at International Formula 3000 in 2003, Kerr did... /Darren Manning Darren Manning Darren Manning is a motor racing driver, most recently racing in the IRL IndyCar Series for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.-Early career:... )
2006–07	Germany A1 Team Germany A1 Team Germany was the German team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. The team were the A1 Grand Prix champions for the second season, 2006-07. They were run by the English Super Nova Racing team until the end of 2007-08... (Nico Hülkenberg/Christian Vietoris Christian Vietoris Christian Vietoris is a German racing driver.-Karting:Vietoris started his career through karting, the most common entry point and all racing drivers, in 1994... )	New Zealand A1 Team New Zealand A1 Team New Zealand is the New Zealand team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.- Management :The team was formed by and is owned by prominent Auckland businessman Colin Giltrap, well known for this car dealerships. The team is managed by Kiwi Bob McMurray who retired last year after... (Matt Halliday Matt Halliday Matthew Halliday is a motor racing driver from New Zealand.-Formula Racing:His formula racing career has involved various single seater series in New Zealand, Australia, Europe and the United States... /Jonny Reid Jonny Reid Jonathan Ross Reid, more commonly known as Jonny Reid, is a New Zealand racing driver. Reid comes from a well-known New Zealand racing family. Both his grandfather and his father were known kiwi racers. His father, Clayton Reid, was a New Zealand champion in karting... )	Great Britain A1 Team Great Britain A1 Team Great Britain is the British team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.- Management :A1 Team Great Britain was one of the first six seat holders in the series announced, with chairman John Surtees hosting the event... (Darren Manning Darren Manning Darren Manning is a motor racing driver, most recently racing in the IRL IndyCar Series for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.-Early career:... /Robbie Kerr Robbie Kerr Robert "Robbie" Kerr is a British race car driver from England.-Early career:In 2002 he became the British Formula Three Champion for Alan Docking Racing with 306 points ahead of Australian racing driver James Courtney.Following an abortive attempt at International Formula 3000 in 2003, Kerr did... /Oliver Jarvis Oliver Jarvis Oliver Jarvis is a racing driver.- Racing career :Oliver was first introduced to motorsport from an early age when his father Carl was competing in Formula Ford 1600... )
2007–08	Switzerland A1 Team Switzerland A1 Team Switzerland is the Swiss team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. The team were the A1 Grand Prix champions for the third season, 2007-08.-History:... (Neel Jani Neel Jani Neel Jani is a Swiss race car driver of Indian origin. He has achieved his greatest success driving for A1 Team Switzerland in A1 Grand Prix, helping them win the 2007-2008 title and finishing runner-up in 2005-06 and 2008-09. He has been also a GP2 Series race-winner and Formula One tester... )	New Zealand A1 Team New Zealand A1 Team New Zealand is the New Zealand team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.- Management :The team was formed by and is owned by prominent Auckland businessman Colin Giltrap, well known for this car dealerships. The team is managed by Kiwi Bob McMurray who retired last year after... (Jonny Reid Jonny Reid Jonathan Ross Reid, more commonly known as Jonny Reid, is a New Zealand racing driver. Reid comes from a well-known New Zealand racing family. Both his grandfather and his father were known kiwi racers. His father, Clayton Reid, was a New Zealand champion in karting... )	Great Britain A1 Team Great Britain A1 Team Great Britain is the British team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.- Management :A1 Team Great Britain was one of the first six seat holders in the series announced, with chairman John Surtees hosting the event... (Oliver Jarvis Oliver Jarvis Oliver Jarvis is a racing driver.- Racing career :Oliver was first introduced to motorsport from an early age when his father Carl was competing in Formula Ford 1600... /Robbie Kerr Robbie Kerr Robert "Robbie" Kerr is a British race car driver from England.-Early career:In 2002 he became the British Formula Three Champion for Alan Docking Racing with 306 points ahead of Australian racing driver James Courtney.Following an abortive attempt at International Formula 3000 in 2003, Kerr did... )
2008–09	Ireland A1 Team Ireland A1 Team Ireland is the Irish team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. The team were the A1 Grand Prix champions for the fourth season, 2008-09.- The Team :... (Adam Carroll Adam Carroll Adam Carroll is a Northern Irish racing driver. He currently races in the GP2 Series for Super Nova and in Auto GP for Campos Racing, making his debut with pole position at Donington Park... )	Switzerland A1 Team Switzerland A1 Team Switzerland is the Swiss team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. The team were the A1 Grand Prix champions for the third season, 2007-08.-History:... (Neel Jani Neel Jani Neel Jani is a Swiss race car driver of Indian origin. He has achieved his greatest success driving for A1 Team Switzerland in A1 Grand Prix, helping them win the 2007-2008 title and finishing runner-up in 2005-06 and 2008-09. He has been also a GP2 Series race-winner and Formula One tester... )	Portugal A1 Team Portugal A1 Team Portugal is the Portuguese team for A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.- Management :The A1 Team Portugal team owners were the well known football player, Luís Figo, and coach Carlos Queiroz... (Filipe Albuquerque Filipe Albuquerque Filipe Miguel Delgadinho Albuquerque is a Portuguese race car driver, currently driving in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters.- Career :... )
2009–10	season cancelled

Teams

Each A1 Grand Prix team represented a nation. Drivers must have the same nationality as the team they drove for. The team car should also represent the country. The team owner, principal and crew, however, did not need to have the same nationality as the team.

Twenty-nine nations started one race in A1GP – as in the table below:

Participating countries
Africa	Americas	Asia	Europe	Oceania
South Africa A1 Team South Africa A1 Team South Africa is the South African team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.- Management :A1 Team South Africa owner is Tokyo Sexwale. The Chief Executive Officer of the team is Dana Cooper and the technical and sporting manager is Mike Carroll...	Brazil A1 Team Brazil A1 Team Brazil is the Brazilian team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.- Management :The seat holder for A1 Team Brazil is the former Formula One World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi. Since 2005, Brazilian footballer Ronaldo has been the co-owner of A1 Team Brazil. The team principal is... Canada A1 Team Canada A1 Team Canada is the Canadian team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.- Management :A1 Team Canada's previous seat holder was Jay Laski... Mexico A1 Team Mexico A1 Team Mexico is the Mexican team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.- Management :A1 Team Memek sico owners are Juan Cortina and Julio Jáuregui.... USA A1 Team USA A1 Team USA is the American team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.- Management :Owner Rick Weidinger became interested in A1 Team USA and the A1 Grand Prix series when national franchises were being bid for the new series. Along with minority partners and friends Rusty Lewis and...	China A1 Team China A1 Team China is the Chinese team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.-Management:The seat holder A1 Team China is Liu Yu... India A1 Team India A1 Team India is the Indian team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.- Management :The seatholder for Team India is former Formula One driver Narain Karthikeyan.... Indonesia A1 Team Indonesia A1 Team Indonesia is the Indonesian team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.- Management :A1 Team Indonesia has been operating since January 2008 by Performance Racing, which provide technical and race services. Its team now is managed by Bobby Issazadhe and helped by their new race... Japan A1 Team Japan The A1 Team Japan was the Japanese team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. It no longer competes as the league was forced into bankruptcy.- Owners :A1 Team Japan current seat holder is unknown, held by a corporate conglomeration... Korea A1 Team Korea A1 Team Korea is the South Korean racing team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.- Management :Jung-Yong Kim of Omnibus Investment is the seat holder, with Good EMG supporting the project... Lebanon A1 Team Lebanon A1 Team Lebanon is the Lebanese team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.- Management :A1 Team Lebanon's owner is Tameem Auchi.- History :Daniel Morad became the race driver for A1 Team Lebanon for the 2008-09 season... Malaysia A1 Team Malaysia A1 Team Malaysia is the Malaysian team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.- Management :A1 Team Malaysia is operated by A1 Team Sdn. Bhd... Pakistan A1 Team Pakistan A1 Team Pakistan is the Pakistani team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.- Management :In 2008/2009 season, the team is being run by Team Craft, bringing a high level of knowledge and expertise to A1 Team Pakistan.... Singapore A1 Team Singapore A1 Team Singapore is the A1 Grand Prix national team representing Singapore. Singapore took part in this competition for the first time in its history in October 2006. Christian Murchison, Denis Lian and Hafiz Koh were the original drivers for the team...	Austria A1 Team Austria The A1 Team Austria is the Austrian team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. It was involved only in the first A1 Grand Prix season.- Owners :A1 Team Austria seat holder is Lauda Motorsport Management.- Drivers :... Czech Republic A1 Team Czech Republic A1 Team Czech Republic is the defunct Czech team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. Although no official announcement was made, the team's flag icon was removed from the A1GP website, and they do not appear in the 2008-09 season results page.... France A1 Team France A1 Team France is the French team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. The team were the A1 Grand Prix champions for the inaugural season, 2005-06.- Management :A1 Team France's owner is Jean-Paul Driot... Germany A1 Team Germany A1 Team Germany was the German team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. The team were the A1 Grand Prix champions for the second season, 2006-07. They were run by the English Super Nova Racing team until the end of 2007-08... Great Britain A1 Team Great Britain A1 Team Great Britain is the British team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.- Management :A1 Team Great Britain was one of the first six seat holders in the series announced, with chairman John Surtees hosting the event... Greece A1 Team Greece The A1 Team Greece was the Greek team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.- Owners :A1 Team Greece owner was Stathis Basios... Ireland A1 Team Ireland A1 Team Ireland is the Irish team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. The team were the A1 Grand Prix champions for the fourth season, 2008-09.- The Team :... Italy A1 Team Italy A1 Team Italy is the Italian team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.- 2008-09 season :Drivers: Edoardo Piscopo, Fabio Onidi... Monaco A1 Team Monaco A1 Team Monaco is the Monegasque team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.- Management :On 29 August 2008, it was announced that A1 Team Monaco will be competing in season four... Netherlands Portugal A1 Team Portugal A1 Team Portugal is the Portuguese team for A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.- Management :The A1 Team Portugal team owners were the well known football player, Luís Figo, and coach Carlos Queiroz... Russia A1 Team Russia The A1 Team Russia is the defunct Russian team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.-Owners:A1 Team Russia owner was Svetlana Strelnikova... Switzerland A1 Team Switzerland A1 Team Switzerland is the Swiss team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. The team were the A1 Grand Prix champions for the third season, 2007-08.-History:...	Australia A1 Team Australia A1 Team Australia is the Australian team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.- Management :The team chairman is former-Formula One world champion Alan Jones, backed by general manager and former NASCAR driver Peter Nolan... New Zealand A1 Team New Zealand A1 Team New Zealand is the New Zealand team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.- Management :The team was formed by and is owned by prominent Auckland businessman Colin Giltrap, well known for this car dealerships. The team is managed by Kiwi Bob McMurray who retired last year after...
bold represents an active team in the 2008–09 season

Drivers

Notable drivers

Drivers who have also raced in Formula One

Formula One

Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...

Sébastien Buemi

Sébastien Olivier Buemi is a Swiss racing driver, who competes for Scuderia Toro Rosso in Formula One.-Formula BMW:...

(2009–2011) Karun Chandhok (2010–2011) Robert Doornbos

Robert Doornbos

Robert Michael Doornbos is a Dutch racing driver. He has been test and third driver for the Jordan and Red Bull Racing Formula One teams, as well as driving for Minardi and Red Bull Racing in 2005 and 2006. Doornbos then drove for Minardi Team USA in the 2007 and final season of the Champ Car...

(2005–2006) Tomáš Enge

Tomáš Enge

Tomáš Enge is a motor racing driver from the Czech Republic, who has competed in many classes of motorsport, including three races in Formula One.-Career:...

(2001) Ralph Firman

Ralph Firman

Ralph David Firman Jr. is an English-born racing driver who races under Irish citizenship and an Irish-issued racing licence. Earlier in his career he raced under a British licence...

(2003) Christian Fittipaldi

Christian Fittipaldi

Christian Fittipaldi is a Brazilian racing driver who has competed in various forms of motorsport including Formula One, Champ Car and NASCAR...

(1992–1994) Patrick Friesacher

Patrick Friesacher

Patrick Friesacher is an Austrian racing driver who drove for the Minardi Formula One team during the first half of the 2005 season.-Early career:...

(2005) Nico Hülkenberg (2010) Narain Karthikeyan

Narain Karthikeyan

Kumar Ram Narain Karthikeyan , is the first Formula One motor racing driver from India. He has previously competed in A1GP, and the Le Mans Series. He made his Formula One debut in with the Jordan team, and was a WilliamsF1 test driver in and...

(2005, 2011) Vitantonio Liuzzi

Vitantonio Liuzzi

Vitantonio "Tonio" Liuzzi is an Italian race driver who is currently racing in Formula One for the HRT F1 Team. He has homes in Lugano, Switzerland and Pescara, Italy.-Karting:...

(2006–2007, 2009–2011) Franck Montagny

Franck Montagny

Franck Montagny is a French motor racing driver. He briefly raced for the Super Aguri Formula One team in 2006.-Early career:...

(2006) Hideki Noda

Hideki Noda

is a racing driver from Japan. He participated in 3 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting in the 1994 European Grand Prix, but did not score any championship points. He replaced Yannick Dalmas in the Larrousse car for the last 3 Grands Prix of the season, but failed to finish in any of the three races....

(1994) Max Papis

Max Papis

Massimiliano "Max" Papis is a racing driver who has competed in several top-level motorsports events such as Le Mans 24 Hours, Formula One and Champ Car. He has three Champ Car victories. He is the son-in-law of Emerson Fittipaldi. His son's godfather is fellow Italian Alex Zanardi...

(1995) Sergio Pérez

Sergio Pérez

Sergio Pérez Mendoza , also known as "Checo" Pérez, is a Mexican racing driver of Spanish descent, currently racing for Sauber in the 2011 Formula One season...

(2011) Nelson Piquet, Jr. (2008–2009) Scott Speed

Scott Speed

Scott Andrew Speed is an American race car driver. Formerly a driver for the Scuderia Toro Rosso F1 team, he made his Formula One race debut at the 2006 Bahrain Grand Prix; becoming the first American to race in F1 since Michael Andretti in 1993...

(2006–2007) Adrian Sutil

Adrian Sutil

-Biography:Sutil is the son of professional musicians Monika, a German, and Jorge, a Uruguayan. He has two brothers named Daniel and Raphael. He weighs 165 pounds and is 6 feet tall. A talented pianist, Sutil started karting at 14 before moving up to Swiss Formula Ford 1800 in 2002...

(2007–2011) Jos Verstappen

Jos Verstappen

Johannes Franciscus "Jos" Verstappen nicknamed "Jos the Boss" is a Dutch racing driver. He is the most successful Dutch Formula One driver, and has also won races in A1 Grand Prix and Le Mans Series LMP2 races...

(1994–2003) Alex Yoong

Alex Yoong

Alexander Charles Yoong Loong , is a Malaysian race car driver of European and Asian parentage. His mother, Joanna Bean, is from England. His father, Hanifah Yoong Yin Fah , a Malaysian Chinese, is a former racer and manager of the Shah Alam circuit between 1988 and 1998...

(2001–2002)>

Drivers who have also raced in the IndyCar Series

IndyCar Series

The IZOD IndyCar Series is the premier level of American open wheel racing. The current championship, founded by Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony George, began in 1996 as a competitor to CART known as the Indy Racing League . Citing CART's increasing reliance on expensive machinery and...

Marco Andretti

Marco Michael Andretti is an Italian American auto racing driver who drives the #26 car for Andretti Autosport in the IndyCar Series. He is the son of 1991 IndyCar World Series champion Michael Andretti and the grandson of racing legend Mario Andretti...

(2006–2011) Ryan Briscoe

Ryan Briscoe

Ryan Briscoe is an Australian auto racing driver who has raced open wheel and sports cars in Europe and America.In addition to his native English, Briscoe speaks Italian and French...

(2005–2011) Patrick Carpentier

Patrick Carpentier

Patrick Carpentier is a retired Canadian race car driver. He is best known for his career in the Champ Car World Series and the IndyCar Series. In 2009, Patrick shared the #36 of Tommy Baldwin Racing with Mike Skinner and ran Michael Waltrip's #55 Toyota Camry in the road course races in the...

(2005, 2011) Adam Carroll

Adam Carroll

Adam Carroll is a Northern Irish racing driver. He currently races in the GP2 Series for Super Nova and in Auto GP for Campos Racing, making his debut with pole position at Donington Park...

(2010) Robert Doornbos

Robert Doornbos

(2009) Tomáš Enge

Tomáš Enge

Tomáš Enge is a motor racing driver from the Czech Republic, who has competed in many classes of motorsport, including three races in Formula One.-Career:...

(2004–2006) Bryan Herta

Bryan Herta

Bryan John Herta is an American race car driver. He currently runs his own team, Bryan Herta Autosport in the Firestone Indy Lights Series...

(2003–2006) J. R. Hildebrand

J. R. Hildebrand

John R. Hildebrand Jr. is an American race car driver. He currently competes in the IZOD IndyCar Series; driving the #4 National Guard car for Panther Racing. Hildebrand's nickname is Captain America...

(2011) James Hinchcliffe

James Hinchcliffe

James Hinchcliffe is a Canadian race car driver from Oakville, Ontario currently competing in the IndyCar Series.-Early racing:...

(2011) Ryan Hunter-Reay

Ryan Hunter-Reay

Ryan Hunter-Reay is a professional American race car driver best known as the only driver to have won races in each of North America's top open wheel formulas, CART the ChampCar World Series and the IndyCar Series...

(2007–2011) Bruno Junqueira

Bruno Junqueira

Bruno Junqueira is a Brazilian race car driver that most recently competed in the IRL IndyCar Series. He is a former Formula 3000 champion and three-time runner-up in the Champ Car World Series.-Early career:...

(2008, 2011) Charlie Kimball

Charlie Kimball

Charlie Kimball is an Anglo-American racecar driver currently competing in the IZOD IndyCar Series with Chip Ganassi Racing.-2002–2005:...

(2011) Darren Manning

Darren Manning

Darren Manning is a motor racing driver, most recently racing in the IRL IndyCar Series for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.-Early career:...

(2004–2009) Raphael Matos

Raphael Matos

Raphael Matos is a Brazilian racing driver from Belo Horizonte. He currently participates in the IZOD IndyCar Series for AFS Racing. He was the 2008 Firestone Indy Lights Series champion and the 2007 Champ Car Atlantic Series champion...

(2009–2011) Vitor Meira

Vitor Meira

Vitor Meira is an auto racing driver currently competing in the IndyCar Series. He has twice finished second in the Indianapolis 500....

(2002–2011) Franck Montagny

Franck Montagny

Franck Montagny is a French motor racing driver. He briefly raced for the Super Aguri Formula One team in 2006.-Early career:...

(2009) Will Power

Will Power

William Steven Power is an Australian motorsport driver, who currently competes in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series, driving for Team Penske.-Australian Racing:...

(2008–2011) Graham Rahal

Graham Rahal

Graham Rahal is an American race car driver. He currently participates in the IZOD IndyCar Series. He is the son of 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal.-Early racing:...

(2008–2011) Buddy Rice

Buddy Rice

Buddy Rice is an American racecar driver. He is best known for winning the 2004 Indianapolis 500 while driving for Rahal Letterman Racing, and the 2009 24 Hours of Daytona for Brumos Racing.-Early career:...

(2002–2008, 2011) Tomas Scheckter

Tomas Scheckter

Tomas Scheckter is a South African racing driver, born in Monte Carlo. He is the son of 1979 Formula One World Champion Jody Scheckter.-Early years:...

(2002–2011) Scott Speed

Scott Speed

(2011) Ho-Pin Tung

Ho-Pin Tung

Ho-Pin Tung is a Chinese-Dutch auto-racing driver who races with a Chinese license.-Career:Tung started kart racing in the Netherlands in 1997 before graduating to single-seaters. He won the 2003 Formula BMW Asia series and was rewarded with a test drive with the Williams F1 team.In 2004 he joined...

(2011)

Race weekend

A1 Grands Prix of Nations took place over a three-day period, from Friday to Sunday. The teams were given five sets of dry weather slick tire

Slick tire

A slick tyre is a type of tyre that has no tread pattern, used mostly in auto racing. The first production "slick tyre" was developed by a company called M&H Tires in the early 1950s for use in drag racing...

s, and two sets of wet weather treaded tires

Tread

The tread of a tire or track refers to the rubber on its circumference that makes contact with the road. As tires are used, the tread is worn off, limiting its effectiveness in providing traction. A worn tire tread can often be retreaded. The word tread is often used incorrectly to refer to the...

per weekend. However, if the weather was extreme, the team could be given more wet weather tires at the expense of the slick tires. The race weekend started with two one-hour practice sessions held on the Friday, and then another on the Saturday morning. A two-hour qualifying session took place on Saturday afternoon, and two races took place on Sunday. Primarily, the three practice sessions were for car setup and track familiarisation before the official competition began with Saturday qualifying. Three different drivers could participate in the three practice sessions; the driver elected for qualifying or for one of the races was required to have taken part in at least one such practice session.

Qualifying

A1 Grand Prix used a unique qualifying format, which began at 14:00 local time on the Saturday of the race weekend, to determine the grid lineup for Sunday's races, the Sprint Race and the Main Race. The qualifying period was split into four, ten-minute sessions. Each car was permitted three laps per session, including the laps required for leaving the pits, and for re-entering it. This allowed one lap to set a competitive time. There was a five minute break between sessions, which added up to a total of 55 minutes for qualifying. The grid for the Sprint Race was set based on the cars' fastest time from either the first or the second session. The grid for the Feature Race was determined the same way, but using sessions three and four. However, if there was a red flag due to an accident on the circuit, the timing to the end of qualifying continued to run.

Sprint race

The Sprint Race used the grid determined in sessions one and two of the previous day's qualifying session, and was held in the early afternoon. The race began from a rolling start

Rolling start

A rolling start is one of two modes of initiating or restarting an auto race; the other mode is the standing start. In a rolling start, the cars are ordered on the track and are led on a certain number of laps at a pre-determined safe speed by the safety car or pace car...

, and its duration was a maximum of 24 minutes plus one additional lap. Additionally, each team had to make one mandatory pit stop between laps four and eight. Drivers were permitted four uses of PowerBoost during the Sprint Race.

Points and prize money for 2008–09
Pos.	Points		Prize
Pos.	Sprint	Feature	Sprint	Feature
1	10	15	$100,000	$200,000
2	8	12	$70,000	$130,000
3	6	10	$50,000	$100,000
4	5	8	$35,000	$75,000
5	4	6	$30,000	$50,000
6	3	5	$20,000	$40,000
7	2	4	$15,000	$25,000
8	1	3	$10,000	$20,000
9		2	$7,000	$13,000
10		1	$3,000	$7,000
Fast lap	1	1
Only the best 9 race weekends count

Feature race

The Feature Race used the grid determined in sessions three and four of the previous day's qualifying session, and was held mid-afternoon. The race began from a standing start

Standing start

A standing start is a type of start in auto racing events, in which cars are stationary when the race begins. In a standing start, cars are completely still when a green signal is given to start the race, often preceded by a set of lights...

, and was a race of approximately 180 kilometres, with a maximum time limit of 69 minutes plus one lap. Teams had to make two mandatory pit stops during the Feature Race, one between laps eight and sixteen, and another during a pit window, which was not announced until the first window has closed. Drivers were permitted eight uses of PowerBoost during the Feature Race.

Pit stop

Each team had to complete three compulsory pit stop

Pit stop

In motorsports, a pit stop is where a racing vehicle stops in the pits during a race for refuelling, new tires, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, or any combination of the above...

s over the course of the race weekend – one during the Sprint Race, and two during the Feature Race. During the pit stop, all four tires on the car had to be changed. A total of 8 mechanics could be used during the stop, however, only 4 were allowed to 'touch the car', none of which (save the so-called "lollipop man" that directed the car into its pit) could be present in the pit lane before the car came to a complete halt. Refuelling was also not permitted; infringements of these rules or of the pit-lane speed limit

Speed limit

Road speed limits are used in most countries to regulate the speed of road vehicles. Speed limits may define maximum , minimum or no speed limit and are normally indicated using a traffic sign...

resulted in the imposition of a drive-through penalty.

At the end of Season 3, A1GP released the results of the season's pit stop times. Although having never won a race, A1 Team Australia

A1 Team Australia

A1 Team Australia is the Australian team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.- Management :The team chairman is former-Formula One world champion Alan Jones, backed by general manager and former NASCAR driver Peter Nolan...

had the fastest pit crew of all teams.

Scoring

Unlike almost all other forms of auto racing, drivers did not score points individually; instead the points they earn were ascribed to their national team. This means that teams could change drivers between rounds, which was often necessary because some drivers had commitments in other formulae, and still accumulate points to their score.

Points were awarded for the first ten places but the amounts changed during the series' run: 15 for the winner, 12 for second place, 10 for third place, 8 for fourth place, 6 for fifth place, 5 for sixth place, and so on with 4, 3, 2, and one point for tenth place. Points were awarded in a different way for the Sprint Race: 10 for the winner, counting down 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 point for eighth place. In addition, one point was awarded to the team that set the fastest single lap time in either the Sprint or Main Race. Cash prizes were also awarded.

Chassis and engines

The A1GP formula provided a single "spec" car for each team. Each car was mechanically identical, built with many technical restrictions designed to limit performance, reduce running costs, and prevent any one or number of teams gaining an advantage through better equipment. This regulation provided a level playing field in which driver skill and team effort should become the primary factor for success.

Specifically, the cars had a carbon fibre monocoque with an aluminium honeycomb core chassis

Chassis

A chassis consists of an internal framework that supports a man-made object. It is analogous to an animal's skeleton. An example of a chassis is the underpart of a motor vehicle, consisting of the frame with the wheels and machinery.- Vehicles :In the case of vehicles, the term chassis means the...

based on the Formula One

Formula One

Ferrari F2004

The Ferrari F2004 is a championship-winning Formula One racecar, designed by Rory Byrne, Ross Brawn and Aldo Costa for the 2004 Formula One season...

chassis, riding on control slick tire

Slick tire

s from Michelin

Michelin

Michelin is a tyre manufacturer based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne région of France. It is one of the two largest tyre manufacturers in the world along with Bridgestone. In addition to the Michelin brand, it also owns the BFGoodrich, Kleber, Riken, Kormoran and Uniroyal tyre brands...

. The 4.5-litre Ferrari/Maserati

Ferrari/Maserati engine

-Shared specifications:The Ferrari/Maserati architecture displaces between 4.2 L and 6.3 L, producing between and in street-legal configuration, and up to in track configuration...

V8 engine was capable of delivering up to 600 bhp in PowerBoost mode – a mechanism to provide short bursts of increased power to create additional overtaking opportunities and action throughout the race.

Broadcasters

Richard Dorfman was the A1GP's director of broadcasting.
All broadcaster information is correct for the 2008–09 season.

Country / Region	Network	Language	Period
World World World is a common name for the whole of human civilization, specifically human experience, history, or the human condition in general, worldwide, i.e. anywhere on Earth....	a1gp.com Gillette World Sport	English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...	2006–07 onwards 2008–09
Africa Africa Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...	SABC South African Broadcasting Corporation The South African Broadcasting Corporation is the state-owned broadcaster in South Africa and provides 18 radio stations as well as 3 television broadcasts to the general public.-Early years:Radio broadcasting began in South Africa in 1923... NT1 NT1 (television) NT1 is a French television network. It is available through digital terrestrial television in France. It is a subsidiary of TF1 Group....	English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... French French language French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...	2007–08 onwards 2008–09
Asia Asia Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...	ESPN Star Sports ESPN Star Sports ESPN Star Sports is a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and News Corporation...	English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...	2007–08 onwards
	Fox Sports Fox Sports (Australia) Fox Sports is an Australia group of sports channels. They are owned by the Premier Media Group, which is in turn owned by News Corporation, and Consolidated Media Holdings. Its main competitors are ESPN, which has little local content and the free-to-air digital channel One HD... Nine Network Nine Network The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...	English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...	2007–08 onwards 2008–09
	Premiere Premiere (pay television network) Sky Deutschland AG, branded as Sky, is a German media company which operates the first pay television platform in Germany and Austria, offering several channels of digital content via satellite and cable....	German German language German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....	Before 2008–09
	OBN Televizija OBN Televizija OBN is a local television network broadcasting a TV channel in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Headquarters of this TV is in Sarajevo, Pofalići neighborhood....	Bosnian Bosnian language Bosnian is a South Slavic language, spoken by Bosniaks. As a standardized form of the Shtokavian dialect, it is one of the three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina....	Before 2008–09
	NT1 NT1 (television) NT1 is a French television network. It is available through digital terrestrial television in France. It is a subsidiary of TF1 Group....	French French language French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...	2008–09
	EXQI Sport	Dutch Dutch language Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...	2008–09
	Rede TV	Portuguese Portuguese language Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...	2008–09
	Setanta Setanta Sports North America Setanta Sports USA was a premium television channel launched in 2005 by the Irish sports broadcaster Setanta Sports to offer live and tape-delayed mainstream sports events in the United States and Caribbean.... Speed Channel SPEED Channel Speed , is a cable and satellite television network broadcast to various parts of North America, but primarily the United States...	English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...	2008–09 Before 2008–09
	CCTV-5 CCTV-5 CCTV-5 , also known as the Sports Channel, part of the China Central Television family of networks, is the main sports broadcaster in the People's Republic of China. CCTV-5 began broadcasting on 1 January 1995... Beijing TV Guangdong TV Guangdong TV Guangdong Television is a television network owned by Southern Media Corporation in Guangzhou, Guangdong province in China. Guangdong TV is the oldest television station in Guangdong province, based in Guangzhou, near the Guangzhou TV Station. The station covers Guangdong and Guangxi provinces... Shanghai TV	Chinese Chinese language The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...	Before 2008–09
	Česká televize Ceská televize Česká televize is the public television broadcaster in the Czech Republic, broadcasting four channels.- Czechoslovak Television :Television in Czechoslovakia started to take its first steps before World War II. However, before visible results could be achieved, all activities were interrupted by...	Czech Czech language Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...	Before 2008–09
	Nelonen Sport	Finnish Finnish language Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...	2007–08 onwards
	NT1 NT1 (television) NT1 is a French television network. It is available through digital terrestrial television in France. It is a subsidiary of TF1 Group.... Eurosport France Eurosport Eurosport is a pan-European television sport network operated by French broadcaster TF1 Group. The network of channels are available in 59 countries, in 20 different languages providing viewers with European and international sporting events...	French French language French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...	2008–09 2005–06 to 2007–08
	Premiere Premiere (pay television network) Sky Deutschland AG, branded as Sky, is a German media company which operates the first pay television platform in Germany and Austria, offering several channels of digital content via satellite and cable....	German German language German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....	2005–08
	Supersport Supersport SuperSport is a South African group of television channels owned by Naspers and carried on the DStv satellite platform. It is the leading sports provider in South Africa and Africa. It also provides sports coverage in many other African countries.... ERT Elliniki Radiofonia Tileorasi The Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation is the Greek state-owned public radio and television broadcasting corporation. It is a member of EBU.Since 70's ERT is part of the Eurovision Song Contest, organized by EBU... (Greece only, Highlights only)	Greek Greek language Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...	2007–08 onwards 2008–09
	Hálózat TV Hálózat TV Hálózat TV is a private television broadcasting company in Hungary. Hálózat TV was founded in Budapest in 2004....	Hungarian Hungarian language Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....	Before 2008–09
	GlobalTV Global TV (Indonesia) Global TV is an Indonesian private television station based in West Jakarta. It is established in early January 1, 1998 and first went on air on January 1, 2001 with MTV programming....	Indonesian Indonesian language Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesian is a normative form of the Riau Islands dialect of Malay, an Austronesian language which has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries.... English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...	Before 2009–10
	Zee Sports Zee Sports TEN Action+ is a 24-hour sports channel dedicated to Football. The channel is owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises owned Taj Television India which is part of the Essel Group. Ten Action+ is the third channel launched by the network after TEN Sports and TEN Cricket... TEN Sports TEN Sports TEN SPORTS is a sports channel, widely broadcast in Asia. Its key programming includes Cricket, Football and sports-entertainment shows viz. WWE. Ten Sports was launched on April 1, 2002, and became the world's premier sports channel for South Asians, reaching over 55 million homes across the Arab...	Hindi Hindi Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi... English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...	2008–09
	TV3 TV3 Ireland TV3 is a free-to-air commercial television network in the Republic of Ireland. Launched on 20 September 1998 it was Ireland's first commercial broadcaster. The channel is owned by TV3 Group a subsidiary of Doughty Hanson & Co.-The TV3 Group:... Sky Sports Sky Sports Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...	English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...	2007–08 onwards 2005–06 onwards
	Sky Sport Rai Sport Più Rai Sport Più Rai Sport 1 is an Italian sports TV channel, launched in 1999 by the state-owned RAI television network. It broadcast Italian and international sports events in Italy on DTT channel 57 on Mux Rai B...	Italian Italian language Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...	Before 2008 2008–09
Latin Latin America Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area... and Central America Central America Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...	Speed Latin America	Spanish Spanish language Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...	2007–08 onwards
	LBC Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation The Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation , widely known as LBC, is the first private television station in Lebanon. It went global in 1996 when it launched its satellite channel LBC Al-Fadha'iya Al-Lubnaniya covering the Arab World. It now has several channels covering Europe, America, Australia, and...	Arabic Arabic language Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...	2008–09
	NT1 NT1 (television) NT1 is a French television network. It is available through digital terrestrial television in France. It is a subsidiary of TF1 Group....	French French language French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...	2008–09
	RTM Radio Televisyen Malaysia The Department of Broadcasting, Malaysia, DBA Radio Televisyen Malaysia , is a Malaysian state-owned public broadcaster. It owns and operates a number of radio and television stations in Malaysia, based in Kuala Lumpur...	Malaysian Malaysian language Malaysian or Standard Malay is the official language of Malaysia and a standardized form of the Malay language of the Austronesian family. It is over 80% cognate with Indonesian and is spoken natively by over 10 million people...	2007–08 onwards
	Melita		2008–09
	Televisa Sports Televisa Televisa is a Mexican multimedia conglomerate, the largest mass media company in Latin America and in the Spanish-speaking world. It is a major international entertainment business, with much of its programming airing in the United States on Univision, with which it has an exclusive contract...	Spanish Spanish language Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...	2007–08 onwards
Middle East Middle East The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...	Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Al Jazeera is an independent broadcaster owned by the state of Qatar through the Qatar Media Corporation and headquartered in Doha, Qatar...	Arabic Arabic language Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...	Before 2008–09
	NT1 NT1 (television) NT1 is a French television network. It is available through digital terrestrial television in France. It is a subsidiary of TF1 Group....	French French language French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...	2008–09
	Hi TV		2008–09
	RTL7	Dutch Dutch language Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...	2007–08 onwards
	TV3 TV3 (New Zealand) TV3 is a New Zealand commercial television network, owned by MediaWorks New Zealand. Launched on 26 November 1989, the first private television network in New Zealand...	English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...	2007–08 onwards
	GEO Super GEO Super Geo Super is the first 24-hour Pakistani channel dedicated to the world of sports. It belongs to Independent Media Corporation, owner of the Jang Group of Newspapers.-Launch:...	Urdu Urdu Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...	2008–09
	Polsat Polsat Polsat is Poland's second biggest television channel, founded on December 5, 1992 and owned by Zygmunt Solorz-Żak.Polsat belongs to the Polsat Group , which also owns other channels:Polsat HDPolsat 2 InternationalPolsat NewsTV Biznes...	Polish Polish language Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...	Before 2008–09
	Sport TV Sport TV SportTV is the brand name for a group of seven Portuguese sports-oriented television channels. SportTV is the dominant subscription television sports brand in Portugal. The first channel, then known as only SportTV, was launched on 16 September 1998 and is produced by ZON Multimédia and...		2008–09
	RTR Sport Russia TV Channel Rossiya 1 is a state-owned Russian television channel founded in 1991. It belongs to the All-Russia State Television and Radio Company .... (Highlights only)		2008–09
	TV3 TV3 Slovenia TV3 is a television channel in Slovenia owned by Modern Times Group . The channel was also known as Prva TV from 1 November 2004 to 1 October 2006....	Slovene	Before 2008–09
	SABC South African Broadcasting Corporation The South African Broadcasting Corporation is the state-owned broadcaster in South Africa and provides 18 radio stations as well as 3 television broadcasts to the general public.-Early years:Radio broadcasting began in South Africa in 1923...	English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...	2007–08 onwards
	Sogecable Sogecable PRISA Televisión, S.A.U is the leading pay TV company in Spain, created in 1989 and controlled by PRISA. It was the first company to introduce interactive systems and specially Digital Television in Spain...	Spanish Spanish language Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...	2007–08 onwards
	Viasat Motor Viasat Motor Viasat Motor is a Scandinavian Motor sports channel that launched on 17 October 2008.Events broadcast on the channel include Formula One, NASCAR, GP2, WRC and MotoGP.-External links:* *...	Swedish Swedish language Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...	2008–09
	NT1 NT1 (television) NT1 is a French television network. It is available through digital terrestrial television in France. It is a subsidiary of TF1 Group.... Schweizer Fernsehen Schweizer Fernsehen Schweizer Fernsehen is the German language division of SRG SSR, in charge of production and distribution of television programmes in German for German-speaking Switzerland... Premiere Premiere (pay television network) Sky Deutschland AG, branded as Sky, is a German media company which operates the first pay television platform in Germany and Austria, offering several channels of digital content via satellite and cable....	French French language French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts... German German language German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union.... German German language German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....	2008–09 2008–09 Before 2008–09
	Poverkhnost TV	Ukrainian Ukrainian language Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....	2007–08 onwards
	Sky Sports Sky Sports Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland... Five (highlights only)	English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...	2005–06 to 2010–11
	Setanta Setanta Sports North America Setanta Sports USA was a premium television channel launched in 2005 by the Irish sports broadcaster Setanta Sports to offer live and tape-delayed mainstream sports events in the United States and Caribbean.... America One America One America One is an over-the-air television network in the United States. The network serves over 170 LPTV, Class A, Full Power, Cable and Satellite affiliate stations... (Post-season replays) Speed Channel SPEED Channel Speed , is a cable and satellite television network broadcast to various parts of North America, but primarily the United States...	English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...	2008–09 2008–09 Before 2008–09

2006 A1 Grand Prix incident

The first Chinese round of the 2006–07 A1GP took place on the streets of Beijing

Beijing International Streetcircuit

Beijing International Streetcircuit is a street circuit in Yizhuang, a suburb 10 miles to the south-east of central Beijing. It was first used on the weekend of November 10-12 2006 for the third round of the A1GP...

. However, the tight hairpin at the end of the back straight was too tight for the cars to negotiate safely, as it was a 180 degree left turn. Cars were running wide and stopping mid corner; therefore, the sessions were red flagged.

A shorter circuit was created, creating another, less tight hairpin halfway up the straight, bypassing most of the old straight. This corner was still not ideal, as drivers ran wide despite the corner being wider and had to avoid the pitlane entry barrier. It had to suffice, though, as otherwise the race would have been cancelled.

However, another problem arose in qualifying when manhole

Manhole

A manhole is an opening used to gain access to sewers or other underground structures, usually for maintenance.Manhole may also refer to:* Manhole , a metal band from Los Angeles* The Manhole, a computer game...

covers on the roads were coming undone due to the racing cars' high downforce and low ride height. Grid positions were decided based on practice times. Some advertising banners also came loose around the circuit.

It was announced that the races would start behind the safety car, as the first corner was also deemed unsafe.

Both races were uneventful, particularly the Sprint Race, which took place almost entirely behind the safety car after course officials failed to remove a single spun car in a timely fashion.

Future

Chairman Tony Teixeira

Tony Teixeira

announced that Italian manufacturer Ferrari

Ferrari

Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...

will design and build the engines until 2014, and that Ferrari will also be involved in the design of the new chassis for both, however it will not be built by Ferrari. Despite suggestions of a partnership, it was revealed that A1GP is a consumer-customer of Ferrari when Ferrari's parent Fiat sued to impound the new cars as A1GP owed it $2 million for them.

The Ferrari involvement was intended to ease some of the concerns regarding A1GP's ongoing financial viability, the continued input of existing backers, and the platform's ability to attract sponsors. CEO Pete da Silva reported a $

United States dollar

The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

240 million loss for the initial season, and yet RAB Capital paid $200 million to the exiting Dubai

Dubai

founder for his 80% stake; A1GP subsequently failed to make profits or attract significant financing and sponsorship, all as reported in the Wall Street Journal in April 2007. Before the 2008–09 "Powered by Ferrari" season was to begin, RAB Capital announced that its fund invested in A1GP had lost 48% of its value in one year's time, with most of this loss attributed to the A1GP investment that RAB had written down for a third time, this according to Bloomberg. A1 Team Australia boss Alan Jones has since suggested that "it is common knowledge that Mr Teixeira bought RAB Capital out from A1GP" before the current season, yet A1GP prominently displayed RAB Capital branding until A1GP discontinued racing operations in 2009.

The first franchisee of A1GP (A1 Team GBR) was also the first to become insolvent, and an administrator was appointed on 25 March 2009.

A1 Grand Prix Operations Ltd., a subsidiary of A1 Holdings, went into liquidation in June 2009, after cash-flow problems meant the company, which is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the series, was unable to pay its suppliers.

Following doubts that the fifth season would go ahead due to financial constraints and reports that engine suppliers Ferrari would pull out over non-payments, chairman of A1 Grand Prix Tony Teixeira

Tony Teixeira

announced that the series had secured its long-term future, following a financial restructuring. As part of the restructuring, administration has been applied for the previously liquidated A1 Grand Prix Operations Ltd.

But with A1GP failing to show up to their season five events, notably dishonoring bookings at Gold Coast (Queensland, Australia), China, and Malaysia, confidence in the A1GP's organisation was lost. A dispute over the ownership of the series' cars was heard on 18 January 2010 at the High Court of Justice

High Court of Justice

The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...

in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, with a judicial decision on 21 January 2010 ruling that the Administrator, Tim Bramston, had won the case with A1 Holdings. The assets were awarded to A1 Grand Prix Operations and therefore Bramston became the Administrator of them. Bramston said he was trying to secure the best price in liquidation and would not rule out a sale to an entity controlled by Teixeira.

A1 Team USA Holdings LLC which financed the American entry in A1 has surfaced with a $4.5 million judgment from a US court against Teixeira, Lyndhurst Holdings, and A1 Holdings.

A1 Team Netherlands was officially declared bankrupt by the court in The Hague.

RAB Capital's Special Situations fund, which lost its bet on A1GP, missed out on the market recovery of 2009 and its shareholders forced manager RAB to allow the entire fund to be put up for sale through a Dutch auction

Dutch auction

A Dutch auction is a type of auction where the auctioneer begins with a high asking price which is lowered until some participant is willing to accept the auctioneer's price, or a predetermined reserve price is reached. The winning participant pays the last announced price...

.

While the A1GP liquidators were apparently selling all intellectual property rights along with cars, it is unclear if a buyer was also expected to assume franchise agreements and financial obligations, or if the series and its necessary operating entities could be bought free and clear of any and all claims by Teixeira, Lyndhurst, and RAB. The liquidators appointed GoIndustry DoveBid to handle the sale of the assets, and the liquidators are seeking £

Pound sterling

The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

10 million for the assets.

If a revival plan for the series was not been agreed with interested investment parties by its early May 2010 deadline and the A1 Grand Prix assets were put up for auction.

On 5 July 2010 Autosport magazine published in its "rumors & speculation" blog that the series, in one form or another, is planned to be revived for a new 2011–12 season, citing an unidentified source who claims backing from a group of new investors. Also rumored is that the season would constitute 18 countries making up the grid and ten race weekends, spread out either side of Christmas 2011, visiting many of the series' previous venues. The series would also run under a new model, similar to the GP2 Series

GP2 Series

The GP2 Series, GP2 for short, is a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Ecclestone also has the rights to the name GP1...

whereby teams are responsible for finding their own funding instead of relying on Teixeira, to avoid the scenario that ultimately led to A1GP's collapse.

In Early 2011, rumours surfaced of A1GP's potential return with a new name. The series was to be called A10 World Series

A10 World Series

A10 World Series is a proposed new Global Motorsport Series. The series is seen as a reincarnation of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, 2 years after that series folded, with national teams racing against each other, and with drivers from their country racing for them...

, keeping the A1 from A1GP to signify the continuation of the idea. The series is billed as a Global single seater series with 600BHP V10 engines. A source told Autosport magazine that the A10 World Series will use A1GP's idea of pitting countries against each other and that the series would start in October 2011.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.