A1 Grand Prix

Sunday, 13 January 2013

A1 Grand Prix 06/07 Onboard Lap at Durban

Pakistan taking part in | A1 grand prix formula 1 motorsports |

A1 Grand Prix Russia Open Final Open right hand camrip bad qualitymp4

One lap at Macau with an A1 Grand Prix car

A1 - Don`t want to lose you again - mgp 2010 Norway

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Australia
Australia ( /əˈstreɪljə/), officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent as well as the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area. Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north; the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east.
For at least 40,000 years before European settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who belonged to one or more of roughly 250 language groups. After discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain in 1770 and settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades; the continent was explored and an additional five self-governing Crown Colonies were established.

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Austria
Austria (ⁱ/ˈɒstriə/ or /ˈɔːstriə/; German: Österreich [ˈøːstɐˌʁaɪç] ( listen)), officially the Republic of Austria (German: Republik Österreich (help·info)), is a landlocked country of roughly 8.47 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The territory of Austria covers 83,855 square kilometres (32,377 sq mi) and has a temperate and alpine climate. Austria's terrain is highly mountainous due to the presence of the Alps; only 32% of the country is below 500 metres (1,640 ft), and its highest point is 3,798 metres (12,461 ft). The majority of the population speak local Austro-Bavarian dialects of German as their native language, and German in its standard form is the country's official language. Other local official languages are Burgenland Croatian, Hungarian and Slovene.
The origins of modern-day Austria date back to the time of the Habsburg dynasty when the vast majority of the country was a part of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Austria became one of the great powers of Europe and, in response to the coronation of Napoleon I as the Emperor of the French, the Austrian Empire was officially proclaimed in 1804. In 1867, the Austrian Empire was reformed into Austria-Hungary.

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Autódromo do Estoril
The Autódromo do Estoril (officially, Autódromo Fernanda Pires da Silva) is a motorsport race track in Portugal, owned by state-run holding management company Parpública. Its length is 4.182 km (2.599 mi). It was the home of the Formula One Portuguese Grand Prix from 1984 to 1996.
Its first years saw many national races, as well as an occasional Formula 2 race. However, the course soon fell into disrepair due to the owning company having been taken over by the state between 1975–78, and a significant redevelopment effort was needed before international motorsport returned in 1984.
Estoril became a popular event on the F1 calendar, the setting for many well-known moments including Niki Lauda winning the 1984 championship, his third and final, from McLaren team mate Alain Prost by just half a point by finishing second to Prost at the 1984 Portuguese Grand Prix. Three times world champion Ayrton Senna's first F1 win in 1985, Nigel Mansell's notorious black flag incident and subsequent collision with Senna in 1989, Jacques Villeneuve's overtaking Michael Schumacher around the outside of the final turn in 1996, and Riccardo Patrese's being launched airborne in a near-backward flip after colliding with Gerhard Berger on the main straight in 1992.

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Belgium
Belgium (ⁱ/ˈbɛldʒəm/ BEL-jəm), officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO. Belgium covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres (11,787 sq mi), and it has a population of about 11 million people. Straddling the cultural boundary between Germanic and Latin Europe, Belgium is home to two main linguistic groups, the Dutch-speakers, mostly Flemish (about 60%), and the French-speakers, mostly Walloons (about 40%), plus a small group of German-speakers. Belgium's two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia. The Brussels-Capital Region, officially bilingual, is a mostly French-speaking enclave within the Flemish Region. A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in the political history and a complex system of government.

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Brands Hatch
Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit near Swanley 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. The name of the circuit may derive from the Gaelic Brondehach (bron meaning "wooded slope" and hach meaning "forest entrance").
Brands Hatch offers two layout configurations: the shorter "Indy" layout (1.198 miles) is located entirely within a natural amphitheatre offering spectators views of almost all of the shorter configuration from wherever they watch. The longer "Grand Prix" layout (2.301 miles) played host to some spectacular Formula One racing over the years; events such as Jo Siffert's duel with Chris Amon in 1968 and future World Champion Nigel Mansell's first win in 1985. Noise restrictions and the proximity of local residents to the Grand Prix loop mean that the number of race meetings held on the extended circuit are limited to just a few per year (usually for higher-profile series such as the BTCC and the WTCC).

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Brazil
Brazil ⁱ/brəˈzɪl/ (Portuguese: Brasil, IPA: [bɾaˈziw]), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: República Federativa do Brasil, listen (help·info)), 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. It is the only Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas and the largest lusophone country in the world.
Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of 7,491 km (4,655 mi). It is bordered on the north by Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and the French overseas region of French Guiana; on the northwest by Colombia; on the west by Bolivia and Peru; on the southwest by Argentina and Paraguay and on the south by Uruguay. Numerous archipelagos form part of Brazilian territory, such as Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, Saint Peter and Paul Rocks, and Trindade and Martim Vaz. It borders all other South American countries except Ecuador and Chile.
Brazil was a colony of Portugal from the landing of Pedro Álvares Cabral in 1500 until 1815, when it was elevated to the rank of kingdom and the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves was formed. The colonial bond was in fact broken in 1808, when the capital of the Portuguese colonial empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, after Napoleon invaded Portugal.Independence was achieved in 1822 with the formation of the Empire of Brazil, a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system. The country became a presidential republic in 1889, when a military coup d'état proclaimed the Republic, although the bicameral legislature, now called Congress, dates back to the ratification of the first constitution in 1824. Its current Constitution, formulated in 1988, defines Brazil as a Federal Republic. The Federation is formed by the union of the Federal District, the 26 States, and the 5,564 Municipalities.

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Canada
Canada ( /ˈkænədə/) is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean. Spanning over 9,900,000 km² (3,800,000 sq mi), Canada is the world's second-largest country by total area, and its common border with the United States is the longest land border in the world.
The land that is now Canada has been inhabited for millennia by various Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French colonial expeditions explored, and later settled, along the region's Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years' War. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces. This began an accretion of provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy; the Canada Act 1982 severed the vestiges of legal dependence on Britain.

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China
China (ⁱ/ˈtʃaɪnə/; Chinese: 中国; pinyin: Zhōngguó; see also Names of China), officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is the world's most-populous country, with a population of over 1.3 billion. Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometres, the East Asian state is the world's second-largest country by land area, and the third- or fourth-largest in total area, depending on the definition of total area.
The People's Republic of China is a single-party state governed by the Communist Party of China. It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four directly controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and two mostly self-governing special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau). Its capital city is Beijing. The PRC also claims Taiwan—which is controlled by the Republic of China (ROC), a separate political entity—as its 23rd province, a claim controversial due to the complex political status of Taiwan and the unresolved Chinese Civil War. The PRC government denies the legitimacy of the ROC.

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Curitiba
Curitiba (Tupi: "Pine Nut Land", Portuguese pronunciation: [kuɾiˈtibɐ] or [kuɾiˈtʃibɐ]) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Paraná. The city's population numbers approximately 1.75 million people, making it the 8th most populous in the country, and the largest in the Brazil's South Region. Its metropolitan area, called Curitiba Metropolitan Area (Região Metropolitana de Curitiba, in Portuguese), comprises 26 municipalities with a total population of over 3.2 million (IBGE estimate in 2010), the seventh most populous in the country.
Curitiba is an important cultural, political and economic centre in the country and in Latin America. The city sits on a plateau at 932 metres (3,058 ft) above sea level. It is located 105 kilometres (65 mi) west of the sea port of Paranaguá and is served by the Afonso Pena International and Bacacheri airports. The city hosts the Federal University of Paraná, established in 1912, one year before electric streetcars were first deployed.
Curitiba's rapid expansion was based on the cattle trade, the city being located half-way between the cattle breeding country to the south and the markets to the north. Waves of European immigrants started arriving after 1850, mainly Germans, Italians, Poles and Ukrainians, contributing to the economic and cultural development of the city. Nowadays, only smaller numbers of foreign immigrants arrive, mainly from Middle Eastern and others Latin American countries, but there is a substantial inward flow of Brazilians from other states of the country (approximately half the population of Curitiba was not born in the city).

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Cyprus
Cyprus ⁱ/ˈsaɪprəs/ (Greek: Κύπρος, Kýpros, IPA: [ˈcipɾos]; Turkish: Kıbrıs, IPA: [ˈkɯbɾɯs]), officially the Republic of Cyprus (Greek: Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία, Kypriakī́ Dīmokratía, IPA: [cipɾiaˈci ðimokɾaˈtia]; Turkish: Kıbrıs Cumhuriyeti, IPA: [ˈkɯbɾɯs dʒumhuɾijeˈti]), is an island country in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria, Lebanon, northwest of Israel and north of Egypt. Cyprus is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and the Republic of Cyprus is a member state of the European Union.
The earliest known human activity on the island dates back to around the 10th millennium BC. Archaeological remains from this period include the well-preserved Neolithic village of Khirokitia, which has been declared a World Heritage Site with an "enhanced protection" status in the event of armed conflict by UNESCO, along with the archaeological sites of Paphos and the Painted Churches of the Troodos Region. Cyprus is home to some of the oldest water wells in the world.

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Czech Republic
The Czech Republic (ⁱ/ˈtʃɛk/ CHEK;Czech: Česká republika, pronounced [ˈtʃɛskaː ˈrɛpuˌblɪka] ( listen), short form Česko Czech pronunciation: [ˈtʃɛskɔ]) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the north, Germany to the west, Austria to the south and Slovakia to the east. Its capital and largest city, with 1.3 million inhabitants, is Prague.
It is a pluralist multi-party parliamentary representative democracy, a member of the European Union, NATO, the OECD, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Visegrád Group.
The Czech state, formerly known as Bohemia, was formed in the late 9th century as a small duchy around Prague, at that time under dominance of the powerful Great Moravian Empire (which reached its greatest territorial extent during the reign of Svatopluk I from the House of Mojmír). After the fall of the Empire in 907, the centre of power was transferred from Moravia to Bohemia, under the Přemyslids. During the rule of Přemyslid dukes/kings and their successors, the Luxembourgs, the country reached its greatest territorial extent (13th–14th century). Life in the country was significantly affected by the Hussite wars, during which it faced economic embargo and crusades from all over Europe. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the Crown of Bohemia was gradually integrated into the Habsburg monarchy as one of its three principal parts alongside the Archduchy of Austria and the Kingdom of Hungary. The Bohemian Revolt (1618–20) led to the further centralization of the monarchy including forced recatholization and Germanization. During radical reforms in the 18th century the Bohemian Crown was even de facto abolished (1749). In the 19th century the Czech lands became the industrial powerhouse of the monarchy and the core of the Republic of Czechoslovakia which was formed in 1918, following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire after World War I.

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Dubai
Dubai (/duːˈbaɪ/ doo-BY; Arabic: دبيّ‎ Dubeii; IPA: [du'beii]) is an emirate within the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A city within the emirate is also named Dubai. The emirate is located south east 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. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are the only two emirates to have veto power over critical matters of national importance in the country's legislature. Dubai City is located on the emirate's northern coastline.
The earliest mention of Dubai is in 1095, and the earliest settlement known as Dubai town dates from 1799. Dubai was formally established in 1833 by Sheikh Maktoum bin Buti al Maktoum when he persuaded 800 members of the Bani Yas tribe, living in what is now part of Saudi Arabia, to follow him to the Dubai Creek by the Al Abu Falasa clan of Bani Yas. It remained under clan control when the United Kingdom assumed the protection of Dubai in 1892. Its geographical location made it an important trading hub and by the beginning of the 20th century, it was an important port.

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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 available for use. The venue hosted the December 2005 A1 Grand Prix and the FIA GT Championship from 2004 to 2006. The Dubai Autodrome was the location of the Fast Forward task during Season 15 for the hit reality TV show The Amazing Race. The record of track at the longest configuration was held by Kamui Kobayashi (DAMS) 1:41.220 in GP2 Asia car. The circuit was designed by Clive Bowen of Apex Circuit Design.
Since 2006 the Autodrome has been home to the Dubai 24 Hour, a sports car and touring car automobile endurance race open to both professional and semi-professional teams.
These are the courses with access to the pit area
Grand Prix course
Club Course
International Course
National Course
Hill Handling Course

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Ferrari
Coordinates: 44°31′57″N 10°51′51″E / 44.532447°N 10.864137°E / 44.532447; 10.864137
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. Throughout its history, the company has been noted for its continued participation in racing, especially in Formula One, where it has had great success. Ferrari road cars are generally seen as a symbol of luxury and wealth.
Enzo Ferrari wasn't initially interested in the idea of producing road cars when he formed Scuderia Ferrari (literally "Ferrari Stable", and usually used to mean "Team Ferrari", it is correctly pronounced [skudeˈriːa]) in 1928 as a sponsor for amateur drivers headquartered in Modena. Ferrari prepared, and successfully raced, various drivers in Alfa Romeo cars until 1938, when he was hired by Alfa Romeo to head their motor racing department.

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Finland
Coordinates: 65°N 27°E / 65°N 027°E / 65; 027
Finland ⁱ/ˈfɪnlənd/ ( Finnish: Suomi; Swedish: Finland (help·info)), officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.
Around 5.4 million people reside in Finland, with the majority concentrated in the southern region. It is the eighth largest country in Europe in terms of area and the most sparsely populated country in the European Union. Finland is a parliamentary republic with a central government based in Helsinki and local governments in 336 municipalities, and an autonomous region of the Åland Islands. About one million residents live in the Greater Helsinki area, which consists of Helsinki, Espoo, Kauniainen and Vantaa, and a third of the country's GDP is produced there. Other larger cities include Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Jyväskylä, Lahti and Kuopio.

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France
France (English ⁱ/ˈfræns/ FRANSS or /ˈfrɑːns/ FRAHNSS; French: [fʁɑ̃s] ( listen)), officially the French Republic (French: République française [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is often referred to as l’Hexagone ("The Hexagon") because of the geometric shape of its territory. It is the largest western European country and it possesses the second-largest exclusive economic zone in the world, covering 11,035,000 km² (4,260,000 sq mi), just behind that of the United States (11,351,000 km² / 4,383,000 sq mi).
Over the past 500 years, France has been a major power with strong cultural, economic, military and political influence in Europe and around the world. During the 17th and 18th centuries, France colonised great parts of North America and Southeast Asia; during the 19th and early 20th centuries, France built the second largest colonial empire of the time, including large portions of North, West and Central Africa, Southeast Asia, and many Caribbean and Pacific Islands.

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Germany
Germany (ⁱ/ˈdʒɜrməni/), officially the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland, pronounced [ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant] ( listen)), is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km² and has a largely temperate seasonal climate. With 81.8 million inhabitants, it is the most populous member state and the largest economy in the European Union. It is one of the major political powers of the European continent and a technological leader in many fields.
A region named Germania, inhabited by several Germanic peoples, was documented before AD 100. During the Migration Period, the Germanic tribes expanded southward, and established successor kingdoms throughout much of Europe. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation while southern and western parts remained dominated by Roman Catholic denominations, with the two factions clashing in the Thirty Years' War, marking the beginning of the Catholic–Protestant divide that has characterized German society ever since. Occupied during the Napoleonic Wars, the rise of Pan-Germanism inside the German Confederation resulted in the unification of most of the German states into the German Empire in 1871 which was Prussian dominated. After the German Revolution of 1918–1919 and the subsequent military surrender in World War I, the Empire was replaced by the Weimar Republic in 1918, and partitioned in the Treaty of Versailles. Amidst the Great Depression, the Third Reich was proclaimed in 1933. The latter period was marked by Fascism and World War II. After 1945, Germany was divided by allied occupation, and evolved into two states, East Germany and West Germany. In 1990 Germany was reunified.

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Greece
Greece ⁱ/ˈɡriːs/ (Greek: Ελλάδα, Ellada, IPA: [eˈlaða] ( listen) historically in Katharevousa and Ancient Greek: Ἑλλάς, Hellas, IPA: [eˈlas] and [helːás] respectively), officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία, Elliniki Dimokratia, IPA: [eliniˈci ðimokraˈtia]), is a country in Southern Europe, politically considered part of Western Europe.Athens is the capital and the largest city in the country (its urban area also including Piraeus). The population of the country is around 11 million.
Greece has land borders with Albania, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the east. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of mainland Greece, the Ionian Sea to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km (8,498 mi) in length, featuring a vast number of islands (approximately 1,400, of which 227 are inhabited), including Crete, the Dodecanese, the Cyclades, and the Ionian Islands among others. Eighty percent of Greece consists of mountains, of which Mount Olympus is the highest at 2,917 m (9,570 ft).

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Hungary
Hungary ⁱ/ˈhʌŋɡəri/ (Hungarian: Magyarország [ˈmɒɟɒrorsaːɡ] ( listen)) is a country, which is located in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The country's capital, and largest city, is Budapest. Hungary is a member of the European Union, NATO, the OECD, the Visegrád Group, and is a Schengen state. The official language is Hungarian, also known as Magyar, which is part of the Finno-Ugric group and is the most widely spoken non-Indo-European language in Europe.
Following a Celt (after c. 450 BC) and a Roman (AD 9 - c. 430) period, the foundation of Hungary was laid in the late 9th century by the Hungarian prince Árpád, whose great-grandson Saint Stephen I was crowned with a crown sent by the pope from Rome in 1000 AD. The Kingdom of Hungary lasted for 946 years, and at various points was regarded as one of the cultural centres of the Western world. After about 150 years of partial Ottoman occupation (1541–1699), Hungary was integrated into the Habsburg Monarchy, and later constituted half of the Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy (1867–1918).

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India
India (ⁱ/ˈɪndiə/), officially the Republic of India (Bhārat Gaṇarājya), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west;China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Burma and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; in addition, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.
Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history. Four of the world's major religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism—originated here, whereas Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived in the 1st millennium CE and also helped shape the region's diverse culture. Gradually annexed by and brought under the administration of the British East India Company from the early 18th century and administered directly by the United Kingdom from the mid-19th century, India became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by non-violent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi.

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Indonesia
Indonesia (ⁱ/ˌɪndəˈniːʒə/ IN-də-NEE-zhə or /ˌɪndoʊˈniːziə/ IN-doh-NEE-zee-ə), officially the Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian: Republik Indonesia Indonesian pronunciation: [rɛpʊblɪk ɪndɔnɛsɪa]), is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 17,508 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an elected legislature and president. The nation's capital city is Jakarta. The country shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Malaysia. Other neighboring countries include Singapore, Philippines, Australia, and the Indian territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Indonesia is a founding member of ASEAN and a member of the G-20 major economies. The Indonesian economy is the world's 17th largest economy by nominal GDP.
The Indonesian archipelago has been an important trade region since at least the 7th century, when Srivijaya and then later Majapahit traded with China and India. Local rulers gradually absorbed foreign cultural, religious and political models from the early centuries CE, and Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms flourished. Indonesian history has been influenced by foreign powers drawn to its natural resources. Muslim traders brought Islam, and European powers brought Christianity and fought one another to monopolize trade in the Spice Islands of Maluku during the Age of Discovery. Following three and a half centuries of Dutch colonialism, Indonesia secured its independence after World War II. Indonesia's history has since been turbulent, with challenges posed by natural disasters, corruption, separatism, a democratization process, and periods of rapid economic change.

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Italy
Italy ⁱ/ˈɪtəli/ (Italian: Italia [iˈtaːlja]), officially the Italian Republic or the Republic of Italy (Italian: Repubblica italiana), is a unitary parliamentary republic in south-central Europe. To the north, it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia along the Alps. To the south, it consists of the entirety of the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Sardinia–the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea–and many other smaller islands. The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within Italy, while Campione d'Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland. The territory of Italy covers some 301,338 km² (116,347 sq mi) and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. With 60.6 million inhabitants, it is the fifth most populous country in Europe, and the 23rd most populous in the world.
Rome, the capital of Italy, was for centuries a political and religious centre of Western civilisation as the capital of the Roman Empire and site of the Holy See. After the decline of the Roman Empire, Italy endured numerous invasions by foreign peoples, from Germanic tribes such as the Lombards and Ostrogoths, to the Byzantines and later, the Normans, among others. Centuries later, Italy became the birthplace of Maritime republics and the Renaissance, an immensely fruitful intellectual movement that would prove to be integral in shaping the subsequent course of European thought.

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Japan
Japan ⁱ/dʒəˈpæn/ (Japanese: 日本 Nihon or Nippon; formally 日本国 Nippon-koku or Nihon-koku, literally the State of Japan) is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan is sometimes referred to as the "Land of the Rising Sun".
Japan is an archipelago of 6,852 islands. The four largest islands are Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū and Shikoku, together accounting for ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area. Japan has the world's tenth-largest population, with over 127 million people. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the de facto capital city of Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 30 million residents.
Archaeological research indicates that people lived in Japan as early as the Upper Paleolithic period. The first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other nations followed by long periods of isolation has characterized Japan's history. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, victory in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War and World War I allowed Japan to expand its empire during a period of increasing militarism. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since adopting its revised constitution in 1947, Japan has maintained a unitary constitutional monarchy with an emperor and an elected parliament called the Diet.

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Kent
Kent /ˈkɛnt/ is a county in South East England, and 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 Medway. Kent has a nominal border with France halfway through the Channel Tunnel. Maidstone is its county town and historically Rochester and Canterbury have been accorded city status, though only the latter still holds it.
Kent's location between London and the continental Europe has led to its being in the front line of several conflicts, including the Battle of Britain during World War II. East Kent was known as Hell Fire Corner during the conflict. England has relied on the county's ports to provide warships through much of the past 800 years; the Cinque Ports in the 12th–14th centuries and Chatham Dockyard in the 16th–20th centuries were of particular importance to the country's security. France can be seen clearly in fine weather from Folkestone, and the iconic White Cliffs of Dover.

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Lebanon
Lebanon (ⁱ/ˈlɛbənɒn/ or /ˈlɛbənən/; Arabic: لبنان‎ Libnān or Lubnān, Lebanese Arabic: [lɪbˈneːn]), officially the Lebanese Republic (Arabic: الجمهورية اللبنانية‎ al-Jumhūrīyah al-Libnānīyah, Lebanese Arabic: [elˈʒʊmhuːɾɪjje l.ˈlɪbneːnɪjje]), is a country in the East Mediterranean. It is bordered by Syria to the north and east, and Israel to the south. Lebanon's location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian hinterland has dictated its rich history, and shaped a cultural identity of religious and ethnic diversity.
The earliest evidence of civilization in Lebanon dates back more than 7,000 years—predating recorded history. Lebanon was the home of the Phoenicians, a maritime culture that flourished for nearly 2,500 years (3000–539 BC). Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, the five provinces that comprise modern Lebanon were mandated to France. The French expanded the borders of Mount Lebanon, which was mostly populated by Maronite Catholics and Druze, to include more Muslims. Lebanon gained independence in 1943, and established a unique political system, known as confessionalism, a power-sharing mechanism based on religious communities – Bechara El Khoury who became independent Lebanon's first President and Riad El-Solh, who became Lebanon's first prime minister, are considered the founders of the modern Republic of Lebanon and are national heroes for having led the country's independence. French troops withdrew from Lebanon in 1946.

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London
London ⁱ/ˈlʌndən/ 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 founding by the Romans, who named it Londinium. London's ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its square-mile mediaeval boundaries. Since at least the 19th century, the name London has also referred to the metropolis developed around this core. The bulk of this conurbation forms the London region and the Greater London administrative area, governed by the elected Mayor of London and the London Assembly.
London is a leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism and transport all contributing to its prominence. It is the world's leading financial centre alongside New York City and has the fifth-largest city GDP in the world (and the largest in Europe). London has been described as a world cultural capital. It was the world's most visited city during 2011 and London Heathrow is the world's busiest airport by number of international passengers. London's 43 universities form the largest concentration of higher education in Europe. In 2012 London will become the first city to host the modern Summer Olympic Games three times.

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Luxembourg
Luxembourg (ⁱ/ˈlʌksəmbɜrɡ/ LUKS-əm-burg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (Luxembourgish: Groussherzogtum Lëtzebuerg, French: Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, German: Großherzogtum Luxemburg, Dutch: Groothertogdom Luxemburg), is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland ("good country") in the south. Luxembourg has a population of over half a million people in an area of approximately 2,586 square kilometres (998 sq mi). A representative democracy with a constitutional monarch, it is ruled by a grand duke. It is now the world's only remaining sovereign grand duchy. The country has a highly developed economy, with the world's highest GDP (nominal) per capita according to the IMF. Its historic and strategic importance dates back to its founding as a Roman era fortress site and Frankish count's castle site in the Early Middle Ages. It was an important bastion along the Spanish Road when Spain was the principal European power influencing the whole western hemisphere and beyond in the 16th–17th centuries.

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Malaysia
Malaysia (ⁱ/məˈleɪʒə/ mə-LAY-zhə or ⁱ/məˈleɪsiə/ mə-LAY-see-ə) is a federal constitutional monarchy in Southeast Asia. It consists of thirteen states and three federal territories and has a total landmass of 329,847 square kilometres (127,350 sq mi) separated by the South China Sea into two similarly sized regions, Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo. Land borders are shared with Thailand, Indonesia, and Brunei, and maritime borders exist with Singapore, Vietnam, and the Philippines. The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. In 2010 the population exceeded 27.5 million, with over 20 million living on the Peninsula.
Malaysia has its origins in the Malay Kingdoms present in the area which, from the 18th century, became subject to the British Empire. The first British territories were known as the Straits Settlements, whose establishment was followed by the Malay kingdoms becoming British protectorates. The territories on Peninsular Malaysia were first unified as the Malayan Union in 1946. Malaya was restructured as the Federation of Malaya in 1948, and achieved independence on 31 August 1957. Malaya united with Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore on 16 September 1963, with si being added to give the new country the name Malaysia. However, less than two years later in 1965, Singapore was expelled from the federation. Since independence, Malaysia has had one of the best economic records in Asia, with GDP growing an average 6.5% for almost 50 years. The economy has traditionally been fuelled by its natural resources, but is expanding in the sectors of science, tourism, commerce and medical tourism.

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Malta
Malta ⁱ/ˈmɒltə/, officially known as the Republic of Malta (Maltese: Repubblika ta' Malta), is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, 80 km (50 mi) south of Sicily, 284 km (176 mi) east of Tunisia and 333 km (207 mi) north of Libya, with Gibraltar 1,755 km (1,091 mi) to the west and Alexandria 1,508 km (937 mi) to the east. Malta covers just over 316 km² (122 sq mi) in land area, making it one of the world's smallest states. It is also one of the most densely populated countries worldwide. The de facto capital city of Malta is Valletta; the largest town, Birkirkara. The main island comprises many towns, which together form one Larger Urban Zone (LUZ) with a population of 368,250 according to Eurostat. The country has two official languages, Maltese (constitutionally the national language) and English.
Throughout history, Malta's location has given it great strategic importance, and a succession of powers including the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans, Aragonese, Habsburg Spain, Knights of St John, French and the British ruled the islands. Malta gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1964 and became a republic in 1974, whilst retaining membership in the Commonwealth of Nations. Malta was admitted to the United Nations in 1964 and to the European Union in 2004. Malta is also party to the Schengen Agreement and in 2008 it became part of the eurozone.

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Masaryk Circuit
The Masaryk circuit (Czech: Masarykův okruh) or Masarykring, now referred to as the Brno Circuit, refers to two motorsport race tracks located close to the city of Brno, Czech Republic The original street circuit was made up of public roads, and at its longest measured nearly 19 miles (31 km). In the 1930s, events such as the Masaryk Grand Prix attracted top teams and drivers.
Racing on the roads ended after 1986, when the current permanent circuit was opened within the bounds of the original roads. The annual MotoGP Grand Prix of the Czech Republic is the circuit’s most important event. The World Touring Car Championship, Formula Two, FIA GT1 and the Superbike World Championship also race at the circuit.
The track is named after the first president of Czechoslovakia, Tomáš Masaryk.
The Czech Republic Motorcycle Grand Prix has always been more of a promoter event than a profit-raiser in itself. The contract was prolonged until 2013, although tobacco advertising has been banned since 2007.
The original layout ran anti-clockwise on approximately 31 km (19 mi) of public roads west of Brno, including the villages of Bosonohy and Žebětín. From 1930 to 1937, the Masaryk Grand Prix attracted some of the top drivers and teams.

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Mexico
Mexico (ⁱ/ˈmɛksɨkoʊ/; Spanish: México, IPA: [ˈmexiko] ( listen)), officially the United Mexican States (Spanish: Estados Unidos Mexicanos (help·info)), is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States of America; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Covering almost two million square kilometres (over 760,000 sq mi), Mexico is the fifth largest country in the Americas by total area and the thirteenth largest independent nation in the world. With an estimated population of over 113 million, it is the eleventh most populous country and the most populous Spanish-speaking country. Mexico is a federation comprising thirty-one states and a Federal District, the capital city.
In Pre-Columbian Mexico many cultures matured into advanced civilizations such as the Olmec, the Toltec, the Teotihuacan, the Zapotec, the Maya and the Aztec before the first contact with Europeans. In 1521, Spain conquered and colonized the territory from its base in México-Tenochtitlan, which was administered as the Viceroyalty of New Spain. This territory would eventually become Mexico as the colony's independence was recognized in 1821. The post-independence period was characterized by economic instability, the Mexican-American War and territorial cession to the United States, a civil war, two empires and a domestic dictatorship. The latter led to the Mexican Revolution in 1910, which culminated with the promulgation of the 1917 Constitution and the emergence of the country's current political system. Elections held in July 2000 marked the first time that an opposition party won the presidency from the Institutional Revolutionary Party.

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Monaco
Monaco ⁱ/ˈmɒnəkoʊ/, officially the Principality of Monaco (French: Principauté de Monaco; Monégasque: Principatu de Múnegu; Italian: Principato di Monaco; Occitan: Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city state, located on the French Riviera in Western Europe. Bordered by France on three sides, with one side bordering the Mediterranean Sea, its center is about 16 km (9.9 mi) from Italy, and is only 15 km (9.3 mi) north east of Nice, France. It has an area of 1.98 km² (0.76 sq mi), and a population of 35,986, making Monaco the second smallest and the most densely populated country in the world. Monaco has a land border of only 4.4 km (2.7 mi), a coastline of 4.1 km (2.5 mi), and a width that varies between 1.7 km (1.1 mi) and 349 metres (382 yards). The highest point in the country is a narrow pathway named Chemin des Révoires on the slopes of Mont Agel, in the Les Révoires district, which is 161 metres (528 feet) above sea level. Monaco's most populated Quartier is Monte Carlo, and the most populated Ward is Larvotto/Bas Moulins. After a recent expansion of Port Hercules, Monaco's total area is 2.05 km² (0.79 sq mi), with new plans to extend the district of Fontvieille, with land reclaimed from the Mediterranean Sea.

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Netherlands
The Netherlands (ⁱ/ˈnɛðərləndz/; Dutch: Nederland [ˈneːdə(r)lɑnt] or [ˈneɪ̯də(r)lɑnt] ( listen); West Frisian: Nederlân; Papiamento: Hulanda) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with some islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders with Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom. It is a parliamentary democracy organised as a unitary state. The country capital is Amsterdam and the seat of government is The Hague. The Netherlands in its entirety is often referred to as Holland, although North and South Holland are actually only two of its twelve provinces (a case of pars pro toto; see terminology of "the Netherlands").

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New Zealand
New Zealand (Māori: Aotearoa) is an island country located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses ‒ that of the North and South Islands ‒ as well as numerous smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres (900 mi) east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres (600 mi) south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. Because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans.
During its long isolation, New Zealand developed a distinctive biodiversity of both animal and plant life. Most notable are the large number of unique bird species, many of which became extinct after the arrival of humans and introduced mammals. With a mild maritime climate, the land was mostly covered in forest. The country's varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions caused by the Pacific and Indo-Australian Plates clashing beneath the earth's surface.

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Nigeria
Nigeria ⁱ/naɪˈdʒɪəriə/, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in the north. Its coast in the south lies on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean. The three largest and most influential ethnic groups in Nigeria are the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.
In terms of religion Nigeria is roughly split half and half between Muslims in the North and Christians in the South; a very small minority practice traditional religion. Since 2002 there have been a spate of clashes, particularly in the North of the country, between government forces and the Islamists Boko Haram, militant jihadists who seek to establish sharia law.
The people of Nigeria have an extensive history. Archaeological evidence shows that human habitation of the area dates back to at least 9000 BCE. The area around the Benue and Cross River is thought to be the original homeland of the Bantu migrants who spread across most of central and southern Africa in waves between the 1st millennium BC and the 2nd millennium.

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Pakistan
Pakistan (ⁱ/ˈpækɨstæn/ or ⁱ/pɑːkiˈstɑːn/; Urdu: پاکستان) (Urdu pronunciation: [paːkɪˈst̪aːn] ( listen)), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (Urdu: اسلامی جمہوریۂ پاکستان), is a sovereign country in South Asia. It sits at the crossroads of the strategically important regions of South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046-kilometre (650 mi) coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by India to the east, Afghanistan to the west and north, Iran to the southwest and China in the far northeast. It is separated from Tajikistan by Afghanistan's narrow Wakhan Corridor in the north, and it shares a marine border with Oman.
The territory of modern Pakistan was the site of several ancient cultures, including the Neolithic Mehrgarh and the Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilisation, and has undergone invasions or settlements by Hindu, Persian, Indo-Greek, Islamic, Turco-Mongol, Afghan and Sikh cultures. Thus the area has been ruled by numerous empires and dynasties, including the Indian Mauryan Empire, the Persian Achaemenid Empire, the Arab Umayyad Caliphate, the Mongol Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Durrani Empire, the Sikh Empire and the British Empire. As a result of the Pakistan Movement led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and India's struggle for independence, Pakistan was created in 1947 as an independent nation for Muslims from the regions in the east and west of India where there was a Muslim majority. Initially a dominion, Pakistan adopted a new constitution in 1956, becoming an Islamic republic. A civil war in 1971 resulted in the secession of East Pakistan as the new country of Bangladesh.

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Poland
Poland ⁱ/ˈpoʊlənd/ (Polish: Polska), officially the Republic of Poland (Polish: Rzeczpospolita Polska; Kashubian: Pòlskô Repùblika; Silesian: Polsko Republika), is a country in Central Europe, bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north. The total area of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres (120,726 sq mi), making it the 69th largest country in the world and the 9th largest in Europe. Poland has a population of over 38 million people, which makes it the 34th most populous country in the world and the sixth most populous member of the European Union, being its most populous post-communist member. Poland is a unitary state made up of 16 voivodeships. Poland is a member of the European Union, NATO, the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), European Economic Area, International Energy Agency, Council of Europe, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, International Atomic Energy Agency, G6, Council of the Baltic Sea States, Visegrád Group, Weimar Triangle and Schengen Agreement.

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Portugal
Portugal ⁱ/ˈpɔrtʃʉɡəl/ (Portuguese: Portugal, IPA: [puɾtuˈɣaɫ]), officially the Portuguese Republic (Portuguese: República Portuguesa) is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula . Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira are part of Portugal. The country is named after its second largest city, Porto, whose Latin name was Portus Cale.
The land within the borders of the current Portuguese Republic has been continuously settled since prehistoric times: occupied by Celts like the Gallaeci and the Lusitanians, integrated into the Roman Republic and later settled by Germanic peoples such as the Suebi, Swabians, Vandals and the Visigoths. In the 8th century most of the Iberian Peninsula was conquered by Moorish invaders professing Islam, which were later expelled by the Knights Templar under the Order of Christ. During the Christian Reconquista, Portugal established itself as an independent kingdom from León in 1139, claiming to be the oldest European nation state.

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Republic of Ireland
Ireland (/ˈaɪərlənd/ or /ˈɑrlənd/; Irish: Éire, pronounced [ˈeːɾʲə] ( listen)) is a sovereign state in Europe occupying about five-sixths of the island of Ireland. Its capital is Dublin. The population of the state was 4.59 million in 2011. It is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy, with an elected president serving as head of state. In the 1937 constitution, the name of the state is given as simply "Ireland". The Constitution of Ireland (Article 4) and the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 provides that the "Republic of Ireland" (Irish: Poblacht na hÉireann) is "the description of the state".
Ireland is a member of the European Union, the Council of Europe, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organisation and the United Nations. A developed country with the seventh highest Human Development Index, Ireland is also highly ranked for press freedom, economic freedom and democracy and political freedom.
The modern Irish state was established in 1922 as the Irish Free State, a dominion within the British Empire, following the Anglo-Irish Treaty which brought an end to the Irish War of Independence. The partition of Ireland had already been provided for in previous British legislation in 1921 in response to opposition to Irish Home Rule or independence by Unionists, who formed a majority in the north-eastern part of the country. Six of the nine counties in the northern province of Ulster were established under that legislation as Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom, with which the Irish state shares its only land border. The state is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the Celtic Sea to the south, St George's Channel to the south east, and the Irish Sea to the east.

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Russia
Russia ⁱ/ˈrʌʃə/ or /ˈrʊʃə/ (Russian: Россия, tr. Rossiya; IPA: [rɐˈsʲijə] ( listen)), also officially known as the Russian Federation (Russian: Российская Федерация, tr. Rossiyskaya Federatsiya; IPA: [rɐˈsʲijskəjə fʲɪdʲɪˈratsɨjə] ( listen)), is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland (both via Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It also has maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, and the US state of Alaska by the Bering Strait. At 17,075,400 square kilometres (6,592,800 sq mi), Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than one eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area. Russia is also the eighth most populous nation with 143 million people. It extends across the whole of northern Asia and 40% of Europe, spanning nine time zones and incorporating a wide range of environments and landforms. Russia has the world's largest reserves of mineral and energy resources and is the largest producer of oil and natural gas globally. Russia has the world's largest forest reserves and its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's fresh water.

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Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the largest city proper by population in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities of the PRC, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010. It is a global city, with influence in commerce, culture, finance, media, fashion, technology, and transport. It is a major financial center and the busiest container port in the world.
Located in the Yangtze River Delta in eastern China, Shanghai sits at the mouth of the Yangtze River in the middle portion of the Chinese coast. The municipality borders Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces to the west, and is bounded to the east by the East China Sea.
Once a fishing and textiles town, Shanghai grew in importance in the 19th century due to European recognition of its favorable port location and economic potential. The city was one of several opened to foreign trade following the British victory over China in the first opium war and the subsequent 1842 Treaty of Nanking which allowed the establishment of the Shanghai International Settlement. The city then flourished as a center of commerce between east and west, and became the undisputed financial hub of the Asia Pacific in the 1930s. However, with the Communist Party takeover of the mainland in 1949, the city's international influence declined. In the 1990s, the economic reforms introduced by Deng Xiaoping resulted in an intense re-development of the city, aiding the return of finance and foreign investment to the city.

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Singapore
Singapore (ⁱ/ˈsɪŋəpɔər/ SI-ngə-pohr), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, 137 kilometres (85 mi) north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the Singapore Strait to its south. Singapore is highly urbanised but almost half of the country is covered by greenery. More land is being created for development through land reclamation.

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Slovenia
Slovenia (ⁱ/sloʊˈviːniə/ sloh-VEE-nee-ə, Slovene: Slovenija), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Republika Slovenija, [reˈpublika sloˈveːnija]) is a Slavic nation state, situated in South-Central Europe, at the crossroad of main European cultural and trade routes. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Croatia to the south and southeast, and Hungary to the northeast. It covers 20,273 square kilometres (7,827 sq mi) and has a population of 2.05 million. It is a parliamentary republic, member of the European Union and NATO. Relative to its geography, history, economy, culture, and language, it is a very diverse country distinguished by a transitional character. It is characterised by a high economic and social level. Its capital and largest city is Ljubljana.
The territory of Slovenia is mainly hilly or mountainous and has an exceptionally high landscape and biological diversity and a mosaic structure, which are a result of natural attributes and the long-lasting presence of humans. Four major European geographic units interweave here: the Alps, the Dinaric Alps, the Mediterranean, with a small portion of coastline along the Adriatic Sea, and the Pannonian Plain. The climate is temperate and significantly influenced by the variety of territory, with a strong interaction of the continental climate, the sub-Mediterranean climate and Alpine climate across most of the country. The country is one of the water-richest in Europe, with a dense river network, a rich aquifer system, and significant karstic underground watercourses. Over half of the territory is covered by forest.

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South Africa
Coordinates: 30°S 25°E / 30°S 25°E / -30; 25
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of Africa. It is divided into nine provinces and has 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline. To the north of the country lie the neighbouring territories of Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe; to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland; while Lesotho is an enclave surrounded by South African territory.
South Africa is multi-ethnic and has diverse cultures and languages. Eleven official languages are recognised in the constitution. Two of these languages are of European origin: South African English and Afrikaans, a language which originated mainly from Dutch that is spoken by the majority of white and Coloured South Africans. Though English is commonly used in public and commercial life, it is only the fifth most-spoken home language. All ethnic and language groups have political representation in the country's constitutional democracy comprising a parliamentary republic; unlike most parliamentary republics, the positions of head of state and head of government are merged in a parliament-dependent President.

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South Korea
South Korea ( listen), officially the Republic of Korea (Hangul: 대한민국; Hanja: 大韓民國; Daehan Minguk listen), is a sovereign state in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. The name "Korea" is derived from Goryeo, a dynasty which ruled in the Middle Ages (an initial "G" in Korean is pronounced like an English "K").
Its neighbors are China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the Korea Strait to the south. South Korea lies in the north temperate zone with a predominantly mountainous terrain. It covers a total area of 99,392 square kilometers and has a population of almost 50 million. The capital and largest city is Seoul, with a population of 9,794,304.
Archaeological findings show that the Korean Peninsula was occupied by the Lower Paleolithic period.Korean history begins with the founding of Gojoseon in 2333 BC by the legendary Dan-gun. Following the unification of the Three Kingdoms of Korea under Silla 668 AD, Korea went through the Goryeo Dynasty and Joseon Dynasty as one nation until the end of the Korean Empire in 1910, when it was annexed by Japan. After liberation and occupation by Soviet and U.S. forces at the end of World War II, the nation was divided into North and South Korea. The latter was established in 1948 as a democracy, though political turmoil and times of military rule and martial law characterized much of the period until the foundation of the Sixth Republic in 1987.

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Spain
Spain (ⁱ/ˈspeɪn/ SPAYN; Spanish: España, pronounced: [esˈpaɲa] ( listen)), officially the Kingdom of Spain (Spanish: Reino de España), is a sovereign state and a member of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Its mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar; to the north and north east by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the northwest and west by the Atlantic Ocean and Portugal.
Spanish territory also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the African coast, and two autonomous cities in North Africa, Ceuta and Melilla, that border Morocco. Furthermore, the town of Llívia is a Spanish exclave situated inside French territory. With an area of 504,030 square kilometres (194,610 sq mi), it is the second largest country in Western Europe and the European Union after France, and the fourth largest country in Europe after Russia, Ukraine and France.

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Sweden
Sweden (ⁱ/ˈswiːdən/ SWEE-dən; Swedish: Sverige [ˈsværjɛ] ( listen)), officially the Kingdom of Sweden (Swedish: Konungariket Sverige (help·info)), is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland, and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Øresund.
At 450,295 square kilometres (173,860 sq mi), Sweden is the third largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of about 9.4 million. Sweden has a low population density of 21 inhabitants per square kilometre (54 /sq mi) with the population mostly concentrated to the southern half of the country. About 85% of the population live in urban areas. Sweden's capital city is Stockholm, which is also the largest city.
Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages. In the 17th century, the country expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire. The empire grew to be one of the great powers of Europe in the 17th and early 18th century. Most of the conquered territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were lost during the 18th and 19th centuries. The eastern half of Sweden, present-day Finland, was lost to Russia in 1809. The last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Sweden by military means forced Norway into a personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, practicing "non-participation in military alliances during peacetime and neutrality during wartime". However, Sweden has been a member of the European Union since 1 January 1995 and is a member of the OECD.

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Switzerland
Switzerland (German: die Schweiz[ˈʃvaɪts]; French: Suisse [sɥis(ə)]; Italian: Svizzera [ˈzvit͡sːɛra]; Romansh: Svizra [ˈʒviːtsrɐ] or [ˈʒviːtsʁːɐ]), in its full name the Swiss Confederation (Latin: Confoederatio Helvetica, hence its abbreviation CH), is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western Europe, where it is bordered by Germany to the north, France to the west, Italy to the south, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east.
Switzerland is a landlocked country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km² (15,940 sq mi). While the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory, the Swiss population of approximately 8 million people is concentrated mostly on the Plateau, where the largest cities are to be found. Among them are the two global cities and economic centres of Zurich and Geneva.
The Swiss Confederation has a long history of armed neutrality—it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815—and did not join the United Nations until 2002. It pursues, however, an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. Switzerland is also the birthplace of the Red Cross and home to a large number of international organizations, including the second largest UN office. On the European level, it is a founding member of the European Free Trade Association and is part of the Schengen Area – although it is notably not a member of the European Union, nor the European Economic Area.

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TV3 Ireland
TV3 is a free-to-air commercial television network in Ireland. Launched on 20 September 1998 it was Ireland's first commercial broadcaster. The channel is operated by TV3 Group owned by Tullamore Beta Limited a subsidiary of Doughty Hanson & Co. TV3 competes with the Irish national broadcaster's RTÉ ONE for the title of Ireland's most watched television channel.
The TV3 Group was established in January 2009. The network operates TV3 and its sister channel 3e and its online service tv3.ie. The networks studios is located at Ballymount, Dublin. TV3 was initially the first channel from the network launched in 1998. The network expanded in 2008 when TV3 purchased rival channel Channel 6 and rebranded the channel in January 2009 as 3e. In November 2008, tv3.ie website was rebranded, with the intention to develop it into an entertainment portal. Catch up facilities, as well as exclusive content is available for TV3 programming as are news, weather, sport and entertainment updates. In October 2011, 3Player a video-on-demand service was launched.

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Ukraine
Ukraine (ⁱ/juːˈkreɪn/ yew-KRAYN; Ukrainian: Україна, transliterated: Ukrayina, [ukrɑˈjinɑ]; Russian: Украина; Crimean Tatar: Ukraina) is a country in Central and Eastern Europe. Ukraine borders the Russian Federation to the east and northeast, Belarus to the northwest, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the west, Romania and Moldova to the southwest, and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south and southeast, respectively. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after the Russian Federation.
According to a popular and well established theory, the medieval state of Kievan Rus was established by the Varangians in the 9th century as the first historically recorded East Slavic state which emerged as a powerful nation in the Middle Ages until it disintegrated in the 12th century. By the middle of the 14th century, Ukrainian territories were under the rule of three external powers—the Golden Horde, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Kingdom of Poland. After the Great Northern War (1700–1721) Ukraine was divided between a number of regional powers and, by the 19th century, the largest part of Ukraine was integrated into the Russian Empire with the rest under Austro-Hungarian control. A chaotic period of incessant warfare ensued, with several internationally recognized attempts at independence from 1917 to 1921, following World War I and the Russian Civil War. Ukraine emerged from its own civil war, and on December 30, 1922 Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic became one of the founding republics of the Soviet Union. The Ukrainian SSR's territory was enlarged westward during the civil war shortly before, and after World War II, and further south in 1954 with the Crimea transfer. In 1945, the Ukrainian SSR became one of the founding members of the United Nations.

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United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK, or Britain) is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of continental Europe. The country includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea.
The United Kingdom is a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system, with its seat of government in the capital city of London. It is a country in its own right and consists of four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. There are three devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff, the capitals of Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Associated with the UK, but not constitutionally part of it, are three Crown Dependencies. The United Kingdom has fourteen overseas territories. These are remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in 1922, encompassed almost a quarter of the world's land surface and was the largest empire in history. British influence can still be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former territories.

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United States
The United States of America (commonly abbreviated to the United States, the U.S., the USA, America, and the States) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west, across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Pacific and Caribbean.
At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km²) and with over 312 million people, the United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area, and the third largest by both land area and population. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The U.S. economy is the world's largest national economy, with an estimated 2011 GDP of $15.1 trillion (22% of nominal global GDP and over 19% of global GDP at purchasing-power parity). Per capita income is the world's sixth-highest.

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Česká televize
Česká televize (Czech pronunciation: [tʃɛskaː tɛlɛvɪzɛ], Czech abbreviation ČT, "Czech Television") is the public television broadcaster in the Czech Republic, broadcasting four channels.
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 the war. Research continued after the war. The first trial television broadcast was shown in 1948 at the MEVRO International Radio Exhibition in Prague. A trial television broadcast from Studio Prague started on May 1, 1953, and on February 25, 1954 it was declared regular. Soon, additional studios were established: in Ostrava on December 31, 1955, in Bratislava on November 3, 1956, in Brno on July 6, 1961, and in Košice on February 25, 1962. 1970 - launching of a second channel 1973 - colour broadcasting on the second channel 1975 - colour broadcasting on the first channel
Czech Television was established as of January 1, 1992, based on the Czech Television Act (Act No. 483/1991 Coll.) as a television service for the citizens of the Czech Republic. On January 1, 1993, a new concept of channels broadcast by Czech Television was introduced, which were renamed to CT1 (formerly CTV), CT2 (formerly F1), and CT3 (formerly OK3). On February 3, 1994, Czech Television freed one of the nationwide broadcast channels in accordance with the law; starting February 4, 1994 Czech Television was left with two channels - CT1 and CT2. 2005 - launching of news channel CT24 2006 - launching of sports channel CT4 SPORT

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Adam Carroll
Adam Carroll (born 26 October 1983) 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. He has also raced for Team Ireland in A1 Grand Prix, winning the series in 2009.
In 2010, Carroll made two appearances in the Izod IndyCar Series racing for Andretti Autosport just missing out on two full seasons due to a sponsor pulling out.
Carroll, who was born in Portadown, Northern Ireland, started his career in 1993 competing in karting events. He continued in karting until 1998. After winning the Elf LA FILIERE SCHOLARSHIP in 1999 he moved on to British Formula Ford, winning the Winter Series and taking 3rd in the festival. Then British Formula Ford competition in 2001, before successfully making the move to British Formula Three B-Class in 2002 with the Sweeney team. Despite driving year-old cars, Carroll was always an outright front runner and he dominated the class winning the title with a record points tally.

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Adrian Sutil
Adrian Sutil (German pronunciation: [ˈadɾjan zuˈtil]; born 11 January 1983 in Starnberg, West Germany) is a German Formula One racing driver.
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 (75 kilograms) and is 6 feet (183 centimeters) tall. A talented pianist, Sutil started karting at 14 before moving up to Swiss Formula Ford 1800 in 2002. He won all ten rounds of the season from pole and added five wins in the Formula Masters Austria championship. Sutil speaks fluent German, English, Spanish and a little Italian. He is friends with fellow German driver Nico Rosberg.
When Sutil moved up to the Formula BMW ADAC championship in 2003 he finished in sixth place in the series, but with no wins. The following season he stepped up to the Formula 3 Euroseries with Colin Kolles' team. Although he scored only twice, the connection he made with Kolles would prove useful in the future. He moved to the ASM team at the final round of the year.

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Alex Yoong
Alexander Charles Yoong Loong (simplified Chinese: 熊龙; traditional Chinese: 熊龍; pinyin: Xióng Lóng, (born July 20, 1976 in Kuala Lumpur), is a Malaysian race car driver of European and Asian parentage. His mother, Joanna Bean, is from England. His father, Hanifah Yoong Yin Fah (熊英華), a Malaysian Chinese, is a former racer and manager of the Shah Alam circuit between 1988 and 1998. Yoong married Arriana Teoh, who was Miss Malaysia World 1997 in 2002 and has a son, Alister, born in 2003.
His early racing career started in saloon cars in 1992 when he was 16. He then went on to win the first ever single seater race held in China - the Formula Asia International race - in the streets of Zhuhai in 1994. He won the 1995 Malaysian Formula Asia championship and was the runner up in the same year's Formula Asia International championship with multiple wins and podium positions. The European campaign started with the British Formula Renault in 1996 and 1997, then two partially completed British Formula Three seasons in 1998 and 1999 due to the Asian financial crisis. He had a podium second in Brands Hatch's Formula Three race in 1998 and was often in the top five.

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Alexandre Prémat
Alexandre Prémat (born 5 April 1982 in Juvisy-sur-Orge, Essonne) is a French race car driver.
Prémat started his motorsport career in karting at the age of 10. In 1998 the French driver became champion in «Ile-de-France». In 2000 he finished as runner-up in 125cc ICC European Championship.
He continued karting until 2000 when he moved up to French Formula Campus, a common starting point for Formula drivers from France.
He quickly moved up to French Formula Renault in 2001, and after familiarising himself with the series, won the title in 2002. In 2002 he also raced in part of the Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup.
With the merger of several national Formula Three championships in 2003, Prémat moved to the resultant Formula Three Euroseries, driving for the ASM team with Olivier Pla, another driver who raced in the inaugural GP2 season. He stayed there for the 2004 season, also winning the prestigious Macau Grand Prix and Marlboro Masters non-championship races.
This earned him a drive in the 2005 GP2 Series, for ART Grand Prix, the team ran by Nicolas Todt. He was behind team-mate Nico Rosberg, but was the highest-place second driver in the championship. Alex remained, alongside the young British driver Lewis Hamilton for 2006, though he was overshadowed, as he finished third whilst Hamilton took the honours.

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Austria
Austria (ⁱ/ˈɒstriə/ or /ˈɔːstriə/; German: Österreich [ˈøːstɐˌʁaɪç] ( listen)), officially the Republic of Austria (German: Republik Österreich (help·info)), is a landlocked country of roughly 8.47 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The territory of Austria covers 83,855 square kilometres (32,377 sq mi) and has a temperate and alpine climate. Austria's terrain is highly mountainous due to the presence of the Alps; only 32% of the country is below 500 metres (1,640 ft), and its highest point is 3,798 metres (12,461 ft). The majority of the population speak local Austro-Bavarian dialects of German as their native language, and German in its standard form is the country's official language. Other local official languages are Burgenland Croatian, Hungarian and Slovene.
The origins of modern-day Austria date back to the time of the Habsburg dynasty when the vast majority of the country was a part of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Austria became one of the great powers of Europe and, in response to the coronation of Napoleon I as the Emperor of the French, the Austrian Empire was officially proclaimed in 1804. In 1867, the Austrian Empire was reformed into Austria-Hungary.

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Brian Menell
Brian Menell is a South African businessman with interests in Mining, Oil and Gas and Energy Infrastructure.
He is the Chief Executive Officer of the Kemet Group, which invests in and manages mining and other natural resource projects across the African continent, and advises certain African governments on resource policy and major transactions. He also serves as Chief Executive of Tinco Investments Limited and is a Director of Shore Gold Inc. Menell was previously a principal and Executive Director of Anglovaal Mining (Pty) Ltd., with extensive precious metal, base metal, ferrous metal and diamond interests across Southern Africa. Prior to joining his family controlled Anglovaal Group, he worked for the De Beers Group in London, Antwerp and Windhoek. In 2004 he became a founding partner and Executive Director of the A1 Grand Prix auto racing series. He is a former Chairman of Energem Resources Inc. and a former Chairman of First Africa Oil Plc.
His grandfather, Slip Menell,was the co-founder in 1932 of the Anglovaal Group, one of South Africa's largest diversified mining and industrial groups of companies. His father was the noted philanthropist and businessman, Clive Menell, who died in 1996. Brian Menell and his brother Rick retained control of Anglovaal Mining until its sale in 2001 to create the largest South African empowerment controlled company, African Rainbow Minerals.

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Bruno Junqueira
Bruno Junqueira (born November 4, 1976 in Belo Horizonte) 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.
Junqueira started racing karts in Brazil and dominated Formula Three Sudamericana before moving to Formula 3000. He tested for the Williams Formula One team for many years, and came close to landing a race drive in 2000, losing out to Jenson Button. He rebounded from this setback, winning that year's International Formula 3000 Championship.
In 2001 Junqueira joined the CART Championship Car series driving for Chip Ganassi Racing where he had immediate success, capturing a win in his 14th race and finished second in points with two wins the following year. In 2003 Ganassi left to the rival Indy Racing League and Junqueira joined Newman/Haas Racing, the top team remaining in what was now the Champ Car World Series. He captured series runner up honors in both 2003 and 2004, capturing two wins in each of those seasons. He also drove in the Indianapolis 500 four times for both Ganassi and Newman/Haas in one-off appearances. In 2002, he qualified for the pole position, and he twice finished 5th in the race.

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Bryan Herta
Bryan John Herta (born May 23, 1970 in Warren, Michigan) is an American race car driver. He currently runs his own team, Bryan Herta Autosport in the Firestone Indy Lights Series. His team won the 2011 Indianapolis 500 with driver Dan Wheldon.
Herta enjoyed considerable success in the lower formulae, winning the Barber Formula Ford and Barber Saab series championships, and dominating the 1993 Indy Lights championship with Tasman Motorsports.
He graduated to IndyCar racing in 1994 with team owner A. J. Foyt, where he had several promising races before suffering a season-ending injury at Toronto.
In 1995, Herta was hired to drive for Chip Ganassi Racing. Despite a pole at Phoenix, the association was unsuccessful, with Herta managing only a 20th place in the series standings while his teammate Jimmy Vasser finished 8th. Even so, Herta landed a top ride with Team Rahal for the 1996 season.
During the next few years, Herta developed a reputation for his prowess on road courses, especially at Laguna Seca. In 1996, he was the leader until the last lap, when Alex Zanardi made the spectacular pass through the "Corkscrew" chicane and took the victory. Herta, who rarely qualified below the first row at Laguna Seca, finally won two events on the twisty road course in 1998 and 1999. At the height of Herta's career, fan interest in the Shell-sponsored driver was dubbed by team owner David Letterman as "Hertamania."

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Buddy Rice
Buddy Rice (born January 31, 1976) 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.
Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Buddy Rice is the son of a former drag racer. Rice's grandfather was from Indianapolis and passed on his interest in racing to Rice's father. Rice saw his first race when he was six years old. He started racing in go-karts when he was 11. Rice played baseball in high school in Phoenix, Arizona, and attracted the attention of college and professional scouts. However, both Rice and his father decided he would pursue a career in racing instead.
Rice's professional career began in 1996, when he drove in one U.S. F2000 event; he finished eighth after starting second. He also drove in the Dodge Shelby Pro Series, winning from the pole at Las Vegas, Nevada.
In 1997, Rice drove in F2000 for Lynx Racing/DSTP Motorsports, finishing fourth in points and winning at Phoenix. He also won the 1997 Valvoline Team USA Scholarship, where he represented the United States in Europe’s Nations Cup.

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Charlie Kimball
Charlie Kimball (born February 20, 1985 in Chertsey, England) is an Anglo-American racecar driver currently competing in the IZOD IndyCar Series with Chip Ganassi Racing.
Kimball's single-seater career started in 2002 when he took part in the American Formula Dodge national championship, finishing the season in 10th place overall. He also won three races in the SCCA Formula Ford series. For 2003 he moved up to Formula Ford U.S., finishing third overall with two race wins and seven podium finishes. He also contested the UK Formula Ford winter series, taking one race win to finish third overall.
In 2004, he competed in the full UK Formula Ford championship for Team JLR, taking two race wins and eleven podiums on his way to fourth in the championship. In the end-of-season Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch he finished in eighth place. His performances earned him a drive with front runners Carlin Motorsport in the 2005 British Formula Three Championship, where he took five race wins to finish an impressive second behind team-mate Álvaro Parente. He also finished 12th in the Marlboro Masters at Zandvoort, but failed to finish the season-ending Macau Grand Prix.

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Christian Fittipaldi
Christian Fittipaldi (born January 18, 1971 in São Paulo, Brazil) is a Brazilian racing driver who has competed in various forms of motorsport including Formula One, Champ Car and NASCAR. Named after the less known Brazilian driver Christian "Bino" Heinz (killed at Le Mans in 1963), he was a highly rated young racing driver in the early 1990s, and participated in 43 Formula One Grand Prix for Minardi and Footwork between 1992 and 1994.
He is the son of former Grand Prix driver and team owner Wilson Fittipaldi, and the nephew of two-time Formula One Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi.
Fittipaldi graduated to Formula One following a Formula 3000 championship winning season in 1991. Opportunities to test and impress were limited at Minardi though, and despite a number of points scoring positions early in 1993, Christian fell out with the team management and was dropped with two GPs to go. He had a final attempt at F1 in the 1994 season driving for the Footwork team, scoring two 4th places. Disillusioned with GP racing however, Fittipaldi moved to America to race where he has been ever since. He scored a total of 12 F1 championship points.

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Christian Vietoris
Christian Vietoris (born April 1, 1989 in Gerolstein, Rhineland-Palatinate) is a German racing driver, currently driving in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters for HWA Team. Vietoris is also a part of the revitalized Mercedes-Benz Junior Team, together with Robert Wickens and Roberto Merhi. Vietoris made his debut in the DTM in 2011, driving for Persson Motorsport, before being promoted to HWA for the 2012 DTM season.
Vietoris started his career through karting, the most common entry point and all racing drivers, in 1994. Nine years after starting his karting career, the young German was the national Junior Kart champion and a year later came second Western German Karting Championship.
In 2005, Vietoris moved up to Formula BMW ADAC with Eifelland Racing. Vietoris finished his first FBMW campaign sixteenth in the Drivers' Championship with fifteen points, sharing his position with fellow German Dominik Wasem.
In 2006, Vietoris moved to Josef Kaufmann Racing, where he won the Drivers' Championship with 277 points and taking nine race wins, his nearest rival being Finland's Mika Mäki. As well as his German FBMW title, Vietoris won the Formula BMW World Final, ahead of other FBMW champions such as Robert Wickens, the 2006 US FBMW champion, and the British Formula BMW champion, Niall Breen, winning himself a test for the BMW Sauber F1 team.

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Darren Manning
Darren Manning (born 30 April 1975 in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, England) is a motor racing driver, most recently racing in the IRL IndyCar Series for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.
Darren began his racing career at the age of 10, competing in British and International karting events. In 1992, he took part in the Brands Hatch Formula First Winter Series, finishing second after recording two wins. His SpeedSport team took him in 1993 to race in the Formula Vauxhall championship again recording 2 victories en route to a second place finish in the championship. He was also a finalist for the McLaren Autosport Young Driver of the Year award. He continued in Formula Vauxhall in 1994 and 1995 and moved up to Formula 3 in 1996 and 1997. Budget constraints meant that he only raced a limited F3 schedule in 1998, but he did achieve two wins including at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix support race.
In 1999 Darren won the All-Japan Formula Three championship, and was the first driver to achieve the "perfect victory" at the Macau Grand Prix since Ayrton Senna by winning from pole position, leading every lap and setting a lap record. He also tested with the Williams F1 team. In 2000 he began working for the BAR Honda F1 team as a test driver while also racing in the FIA International Formula 3000 championship for Arden Team Russia.

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Filipe Albuquerque
Filipe Miguel Delgadinho Albuquerque (born June 13, 1985 in Coimbra) is a Portuguese race car driver, currently driving in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters.
Filipe Albuquerque started his motor racing career in karting in 1993, "I started karting as a joke, but it quickly became more and more serious" Albuquerque recalled, "It's really hard to get sponsorship to go racing. Without Red Bull I would probably be at home studying" he added. The young Portuguese driver went onto win two national karting titles before moving up to Spanish Formula Three with the help of Red Bull. But later, Albuquerque was moved up to the Formula Renault, "a driver was fired from Red Bull" The Portuguese commented, "and I was told I would do the Renault 2.0-litre race in Zolder." Albuquerque was the fastest driver for the team during the race and so became the permanent replacement and was also called into the Formula Renault German series.
Albuquerque finished sixth in the Spanish Formula Three championship, fifth in the Formula Renault Eurocup and third in the Formula Renault Germany series, finishing as a highest positioned rookie in all three championships. In 2006, Albuquerque raced in two championships, the Formula Renault Eurocup championship and the North European Formula Renault championship, where he won the Drivers' title in both series.

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Franck Montagny
Franck Montagny (born 5 January 1978 in Feurs, Loire) is a French motor racing driver. He briefly raced for the Super Aguri Formula One team in 2006.
Montagny started racing karts there in 1988, winning the cadet class in the French Karting Championship in 1992, and the National 1 class the following year.
He made his debut in cars in 1994, aged 16, promptly winning the French Renault Campus championship. The next two years were spent in Formula Renault, with finishes in fourth (the highest-finishing rookie that year) and sixth (despite missing half the season with multiple fractures obtained in an accident at Le Mans) respectively, before transferring up to French Formula Three in 1997 with the La Filière Martini team, debuting with another fourth place championship finish.
Montagny had a breakthrough year in Formula Three in 1998, including a pole position at the Spa-Francorchamps race ahead of much more experienced drivers including Mark Webber, Luciano Burti, Enrique Bernoldi and Peter Dumbreck. He repeated the feat in the Zandvoort Masters in Holland later that year, beating then German Formula Three champion Nick Heidfeld. He consistently outpaced long-time team-mate Sébastien Bourdais and ended the season with 10 wins from 22 races, including 12 pole positions, finishing the championship as runner-up behind David Saelens.

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Giorgio Mondini
Giorgio Mondini (Born July 19, 1980) is an Automobile racing driver from Geneva, Switzerland.
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. In 2003 he achieved 7th place, and in 2004 became champion with three wins, three pole positions and a total of eight podiums. In 2005 he competed in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series with Eurointernational before moving to GP2 with David Price Racing. He also tests for the Swiss A1GP team.
In December 2005, Giorgio enjoyed his first taste of Formula One when he got behind the wheel of a Renault R25 as a reward for winning the Formula Renault V6 series. Then on February 3, 2006, MF1 Racing announced that Mondini would be competing as their third driver for nine of the 18 races.
On February 20, 2011 Mondini tested a F1 car for Hispania Racing in Barcelona.
* Includes points scored by other A1 Team Switzerland drivers

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Graham Rahal
Graham Rahal (born January 4, 1989 in Columbus, Ohio) 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.
In 2005, he won the Formula Atlantic class at the SCCA Runoffs and finished fourth in Star Mazda Series standings. He drove in the last two rounds of the 2005–2006 A1 Grand Prix season for A1 Team Lebanon as he is of Lebanese descent. He moved to a full-time ride in the Champ Car Atlantic Series in 2006, where he won five races and finished second in the season standings. He also drove in the Indy Pro Series event on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in conjunction with the United States Grand Prix and finished second. SpeedTV reported in August 2006 that Graham would drive for Newman/Haas Racing in the Champ Car World Series in 2007.
On January 27 Rahal drove in the 24 Hours of Daytona. One of four drivers of the Southard Motorsports Lexus Riley, the car ran into early troubles and finished 62nd out of 70 entries. On March 18, he drove in the 12 Hours of Sebring American LeMans Series race for his father's Rahal Letterman Racing team. He drove a Porsche 911 GT3-RSR with two other drivers, finishing 6th in the GT2 class and 15th overall.

wn.com/Graham_Rahal
Hideki Noda
Hideki Noda (野田英樹, Noda Hideki^?, born March 7, 1969 in Osaka, Japan) 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. In 1995, he joined Simtek as a test driver, hoping to get some races in. However, the Kobe earthquake and the folding of the Simtek team ended his brief career.
A year later, Noda went to America and raced in the Indy Lights and became the only Japanese driver to win a CART-sanctioned event. After a few years in America, Noda moved back to Japan, where he drove a Team Cerumo Toyota Supra with Hironori Takeuchi. In the annual non-championship All-Star event at Aida, Noda and Takeuchi were forced out with mechanical problems. In 1999 he joined the Esso Tiger Team Le Mans under Koichiro Mori, again to drive a Toyota Supra, ex-Australian V8 Supercar driver Wayne Gardner. The highlight of their season was a win at Fuji. With 33 points they were equal 17th in the series.

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James Hinchcliffe
James Hinchcliffe (born December 5, 1986) is a Canadian race car driver from Oakville, Ontario currently competing in the IndyCar Series. On January 10th, 2012 it was announced that Hinchcliffe would succeed Danica Patrick as the driver of the #27 Go Daddy.com car for Andretti Autosport.
After karting, he started his open-wheel career in 2003, when he finished 3rd in Bridgestone Racing Academy F2000 series. Next year he was top rookie in Formula BMW USA, winning three races. In 2005, he raced in the Star Mazda Series, finishing 3rd overall with three wins. In 2006 he moved to the Champ Car Atlantic Series series with Forsythe Racing. He won one race at Portland and scored two other podiums, but was only able to finish 10th in the overall standings.
He then joined A1 Team Canada in A1 Grand Prix. He finished 8th in the sprint race and 13th in the feature in his first race at Zandvoort, then had a stunning weekend in Brno. He scored 2nd in the sprint race at the Czech round and led the feature for the majority of the race, but clashed with eventual winner Alex Yoong dropped him down to 5th. He raced next at the Beijing round, finishing 4th in the sprint race and 10th in the feature (which he could have won but for a team pitstop strategy error), and then returned after two races out at the New Zealand round, where he finished 6th in both races.

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Jonny Reid
Jonathan Ross Reid, more commonly known as Jonny Reid, (born 18 October 1983 in Auckland) 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. Reid presents himself as a "fine kiwi gentleman" and says that "racing is the sole love of his life".
Like so many others, Reid started racing in karting at the very young age of 8. In 1996, Reid won his first title, the New Zealand North Island Championship in the rookie class. In 1997, he went on to win the North Island Championship in the Junior Class. In 1998, he won the North Island Championship again. However, this time in the Junior Intercontinental Class. In 1999, Reid won his first New Zealand Championship in Junior Stock which was preceded by wins in the Pro series.
In 2002, Reid won the New Zealand Formula Ford Festival for the second year in a row, the New Zealand Championship and the New Zealand Grand Prix. With the aid of Andrew Neale and John Crawford, Reid achieved his goal of winning the prestigious Motorsport New Zealand's Steel Trophy for his dedication, skill, an excellent level of professionalism and sportsmanlike attitude.

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Jos Verstappen
Johannes Franciscus "Jos" Verstappen (born 4 March 1972 in Montfort) 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. Prior to his F1 début in 1994, he was also the German Formula Three champion and Masters of Formula Three winner in 1993.
Verstappen began karting at the age of 8, and was participating in national competitions not long after. In 1984 he became Dutch junior champion. He remained successful, and won two European titles and a large number of international races in 1989.
At the end of 1991 he made the transition to car racing. He drove in Formula Opel Lotus, a class in which identical cars compete against each other. He won the European championship in his first year, and got an offer to drive in Formula Three with Van Amersfoort Racing, who also developed other drivers such as Christijan Albers, Tom Coronel and Bas Leinders. During that European winter season, he raced in New Zealand Formula Atlantic. Subsequently, in German Formula Three, he won several international competitions, including the 1993 Marlboro Masters and the German Formula 3 championship.

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Karun Chandhok
Karun Chandhok (Hindi: करुण चंडोक; born January 19, 1984 in Madras) is an Indian racing driver, who competed for Hispania Racing in Formula One in 2010. Before this, he drove in the GP2 Series for three years, winning two races.
Prior to his time in GP2, Chandhok won the Formula Asia championship in 2001 and was the inaugural Formula Asia V6 by Renault champion in 2006.
In 2000, Chandhok was Indian National Racing Champion winning seven out of ten races in the Formula Maruti series. He scored Pole position and fastest lap in all ten races. In 2001 Chandhok was the Formula 2000 Asia champion, becoming the youngest ever Asian Formula Champion, driving for Team India Racing.
Chandhok tested with British Formula 3 champion team Carlin Motorsport in 2001. He raced in the National class in 2002, driving for T-Sport, finishing sixth in class. He stayed with T-Sport in the National Class for 2003, and finished third in the final class standings, behind champion Ernesto Viso and runner-up Steven Kane. In 2004 Chandhok stepped up to the main British Formula 3 class with T-Sport, and finished 14th in the standings.

wn.com/Karun_Chandhok
Katherine Legge
Katherine Legge ( /ˈlɛɡ/ LEG; born 12 July 1980 in Guildford, Surrey, UK) is a British auto racing driver. As of 2012^[update], she races in the IndyCar Series with Dragon Racing.
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. In 2000 she was the first woman to achieve a pole in a Zetec race. In 2001 she beat Kimi Räikkönen's lap record and achieved a pole, and she was the first woman to receive the BRDC's "Rising Star" accolade. She received the 2005 RACER Magazine "Most Promising Road Racer of The Year" award, a title that had been awarded every year since 2002 to A. J. Allmendinger. Other drivers that have won the award include Räikkönen, Jenson Button, Cristiano da Matta, Alex Barron, Giancarlo Fisichella, Greg Moore, and Gil de Ferran.
In November 2005, Legge became the first woman to test a Formula One car since Sarah Fisher in 2002. on the second and third days (22 and 23 November) of the Minardi team's final testing session at Vallelunga near Rome. After she crashed after 2 laps on her first run on the track, it was decided to postpone the test until the following day, on which she completed 27 laps with a best lap time of 1 min 21.176 sec. She was also the first woman to test an A1 Grand Prix car, on 9–11 December 2005 with A1 Team Great Britain.

wn.com/Katherine_Legge
Marco Andretti
Marco Michael Andretti (born March 13, 1987) is an 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. In his rookie year, he finished second in the 2006 Indianapolis 500 in the second closest finish in the race's history.
Andretti won eight races in the 2003 Barber Formula Dodge Eastern Championship, and was champion in the Barber National and Southern class the following year.
Still barely out of high school, he raced in the Star Mazda series in 2005 and also made six starts in the Indy Pro Series. He won three times (at St. Petersburg, Liberty Challenge, and Sonoma) and finished 10th in points despite only starting half the races.
Motorsports journalist Gordon Kirby suggested at the Champ Car finale in Mexico City that the youngest Andretti would be replacing Dan Wheldon in his #26 Jim Beam Dallara-Honda for 2006 with Michael Andretti coming out of retirement to run a fifth car for his Andretti Green Racing team at the Indianapolis 500. Though a novel proposition to some, it was later confirmed in a December 15 press conference that he would move up to the Indy Racing League full time as the youngest driver in series history and would trade sponsors (New York Stock Exchange and Motorola) with Dario Franchitti as Andretti was not old enough to run an alcohol-sponsored car.

wn.com/Marco_Andretti
Matt Halliday
Matthew Halliday (born 14 July 1979 in Auckland) is a motor racing driver from New Zealand.
Halliday's formula racing career has involved various single seater series in New Zealand, Australia, Europe and the United States. Following two seasons in the Formula Holden category contesting the Australian Drivers' Championship in 1999 and 2000, he moved to the United States and ran in both the Indy Lights and Toyota Atlantic series in 2001. In 2002 he moved to the Infiniti Pro Series but was injured after two races. He finished 3rd and 4th in the inaugural A1 Grand Prix races at Brands Hatch in 2005 went on to have a very successful season with A1 Team New Zealand. He ran the first three races of the 2007 Champ Car World Series season for Conquest Racing however his sponsorship ended after 3 races and he was replaced by Jan Heylen. He was to drive for Team Australia in the 2008 Champ Car season but this didn't happen with the merger in to the IndyCar Series.
Halliday has been a regular in Carrera Cup racing in his native New Zealand with the odd season in the Australian Carrera Cup Championship and also the Porsche Supercup. Along with this he has races in the Australian V8 Supercars as an endurance driver since 2004.

wn.com/Matt_Halliday
Max Papis
Massimiliano "Max" Papis (born October 3, 1969 in Como, Italy) 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. He currently drives the #9 Geico Toyota Tundra for Germain Racing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
After a spell as the Lotus team's test driver in 1994, Papis replaced Gianni Morbidelli in the Footwork team for seven races in the middle of the 1995 Formula One season, as he brought valuable sponsorship to the cash-strapped outfit. Despite being a race-winner in Formula 3000, he often struggled with the unfamiliar car, and was occasionally outpaced by his much-maligned team-mate, Taki Inoue. He also proved to be an unlucky driver, suffering a spectacular puncture and suspension failure on his début race at Silverstone due to clipping the pit lane wall after a tire change, being left on the grid at Hockenheim due to a transmission failure, and spinning on dust and oil kicked up by David Coulthard at the Ascari Chicane on the first lap of the Italian GP, causing a pile-up and a restart. However, he only missed out on a point in the restarted race when he was overtaken by Jean-Christophe Bouillon's Sauber on the last lap. When Morbidelli returned, Papis was out of a drive and headed to America for 1996.

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Narain Karthikeyan
Kumar Ram Narain Karthikeyan (Tamil: குமார் ராம் நாராயண் கார்த்திகேயன்; born 14 January 1977, in Madras) 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 2005 with the Jordan team, and was a Williams F1 test driver in 2006 and 2007. Like several other former F1 drivers, Karthikeyan moved to stock car racing and drove the #60 Safe Auto Insurance Company Toyota Tundra for Wyler Racing in the 2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. In 2011 he returned to F1 with the HRT team, and has again signed with them for the 2012 season.

wn.com/Narain_Karthikeyan
Nation
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, 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 (for example the inhabitants of a sovereign state) irrespective of their ethnic make-up. In international relations, nation can refer to a country or sovereign state. The word nation can more specifically refer to people of North American Indians, such as the Cherokee Nation that prefer this term over the contested term tribe.
According to Joseph Stalin writing in 1913 in Marxism and the National Question: "a nation is not a racial or tribal, but a historically constituted community of people;" "a nation is not a casual or ephemeral conglomeration, but a stable community of people;" "a common language is one of the characteristic features of a nation;" "a nation is formed only as a result of lengthy and systematic intercourse, as a result of people living together generation after generation;" "a common territory is one of the characteristic features of a nation;" "a common economic life, economic cohesion, is one of the characteristic features of a nation;" "a common psychological make-up, which manifests itself in a common culture, is one of the characteristic features of a nation;" "A nation is a historically constituted, stable community of people, formed on the basis of a common language, territory, economic life, and psychological make-up manifested in a common culture." According to Stalin, this would exclude Jews as they have no common territory.

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Neel Jani
Neel Jani (born 8 December 1983 in Rorschach, Switzerland) 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. Jani currently competes in sports car racing with Rebellion Racing's LMP1 Lola-Toyota.
Jani's career started in karting in 1998 where he stayed for two years before moving up to Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup in 2001. In the same year, he also raced some races in Italian Formula Renault. He stayed in both for 2002, again only racing part of the Italian Formula Renault season. In 2003, he moved to Formula Renault V6 Eurocup, driving for the Jenzer team. In that year, he finished second by only four points in the championship with Jenzer Motorsport. In 2004, he again raced in the Formula Renault V6 Eurocup but changed team, running with the French team DAMS, stating in the Swiss press, "This year, it is win or nothing."^{[citation needed]} He finished fourth in the championship that year, while his old team, Jenzer Motorsport finished second with their rookie driver Ryan Sharp.

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Nico Hülkenberg
Nicolas "Nico" Hülkenberg (German pronunciation: [ˈniːko ˈhʏlkənbɛɐ̯k], born 19 August 1987 in Emmerich am Rhein, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany) is a German professional racing driver. He was the 2009 champion of the GP2 Series, and is a previous champion of both the Formula 3 Euro Series and A1 Grand Prix, as part of A1 Team Germany. He is one of three drivers since 2005 to win the GP2 series championship in his debut season, the others being Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
Hülkenberg raced in Formula One in 2010 with the Williams team. Despite winning the first pole position for Williams in over 5 years he was not retained for 2011, and joined Force India as a test and reserve driver. He was promoted to a race seat with the team for the 2012 season, joining Paul di Resta.
Hülkenberg made his karting debut in 1997, at the age of 10. In 2002 he was German Junior Karting Champion and the following year he won the German Kart Championship.
Hülkenberg was previously managed by Willi Weber, the long-time manager of Michael Schumacher. Weber has gone on record saying that Hülkenberg would be ready for Formula One by 2008. He has also praised Hülkenberg as an "unbelievable talent" and says he reminds him of Schumacher as a young driver. He also stated that he nicknamed him "The Hulk", after the fictional superhero, in reference to Hülkenberg changing his personality whilst at the wheel. As of 2011, Hülkenberg and Weber have split.

wn.com/Nico_Hülkenberg
Nicolas Lapierre
Nicolas Lapierre (born 2 April 1984) is a French race car driver born in Thonon-les-Bains, France. He raced in the first three seasons of the GP2 Series.
Lapierre started his career in 1993 in karting, finishing 3rd in the French championship in 1996, 6th in the European Championships in 1997 and reaching the finals of the European Junior Championship in 1998 before moving to French Formula Renault in 1999. He stayed there for 2000 and 2001, 2001 also seeing two races in Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup. He again raced in French Formula Renault in 2002, also driving a full season of 2000 Eurocup and some races of French Formula Three (most of them being in the main class, although he drove two races in the B-Class also).
2003 saw Lapierre's real break, though, with a move to Formula Three Euroseries with the Signature team, but more notably a win in the Macau Grand Prix. He stayed in the Euroseries for 2004, also driving two races of British Formula Three.
With his reputuation increasing and his talent proven, Lapierre was rewarded for his Euroseries performances with a drive in GP2 Series for current champions Arden Motorsport. He partnered with Heikki Kovalainen.

wn.com/Nicolas_Lapierre
Oliver Jarvis
Oliver Jarvis (born 9 January 1984 in Burwell, Cambridgeshire) is a racing driver.
He was educated at The King's School, Ely.
Oliver was first introduced to motorsport from an early age when his father Carl was competing in Formula Ford 1600. Keen to try it for himself, and at just six years old, Oliver enjoyed his first motorcross competition, albeit then two wheels not four.
At the age of eight, Oliver made the transition to race karts. During his 10 years in karts, he achieved notable success in British and European events, as well as in World Karting as one of Tony Kart's Works driver.
Oliver moved from European Karting when he was 18 to the highly competitive British single seater car championships racing in the Formula Ford category for two successful seasons before moving up to Formula Renault.
2005 proved to be an outstanding year of achievements for Oliver when he became the 2005 Formula Renault UK Champion having gained 5 wins, 7 podiums, 4 pole positions and 3 ELF /Atol Driver of the Day Awards. He was also awarded BRDC Rising Star status.

wn.com/Oliver_Jarvis
Patrick Carpentier
Patrick Carpentier (born August 13, 1971) 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 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He drove a number of races for Latitude 43 Motorsports during the 2010 season.
In 2005 Patrick drove for the Red Bull-sponsored team run by Eddie Cheever in the Indy Racing League. Prior to this he spent nearly a decade in the rival Champ Car series with Bettenhausen as a rookie, but subsequently in the team owned by Gerry Forsythe. In his early years he was prone to missing races through injuries, some of which originated off-track.
His first Champ Car victory came in 2001 at Michigan and he then took third in the championship in 2002. Patrick was 5th overall in a disappointing 2003 season (compared to title-winning team-mate Paul Tracy). This weakened his position within the team and he was briefly fired in 2004, later being reinstated in a third team car, allegedly because of his marketing popularity in his homeland. (Team boss Gerry Forsythe was also a part-owner of the series.)

wn.com/Patrick_Carpentier
Patrick Friesacher
Patrick Friesacher (born September 26, 1980 in Wolfsberg) is an Austrian racing driver who drove for the Minardi Formula One team during the first half of the 2005 season.
Friesacher began Kart racing at an early age. In 1998, he moved to the French Formula Campus series, finishing third in the season. In 1999, Friesacher advanced to the French Formula 3 'B' class, before moving to the German Formula 3 series in 2000.
In 2001, Friesacher jumped to Formula 3000, where he scored three top-six finishes for the Red Bull Junior team. He stayed with Red Bull throughout the next two years, winning a race at the Hungaroring in 2003 after recovering from a broken arm sustained during a race earlier in the season. Later that year, he joined the Super Nova squad; in 2004, he won another race (again in Hungary), this time for the Coloni team.
In November 2004, Friesacher tested for Minardi at the Misano circuit in Italy, impressing team principal Paul Stoddart. On February 14, 2005, he signed a one-year deal to race alongside Christijan Albers, another former Formula 3000 driver and F1 rookie. ITV's Martin Brundle noted during his debut race that he felt Patrick had never looked like a potential F1 driver.

wn.com/Patrick_Friesacher
Ralph Firman
Ralph David Firman Jr. (born 20 May 1975 in Norwich, Norfolk, England) is an English-born racing driver who races under Irish citizenship (his mother Angela is from Ireland) and an Irish-issued racing licence. Earlier in his career he raced under a British licence. His father, Ralph Firman Sr., co-founded the Van Diemen racecar constructor with Ross Ambrose, father of NASCAR racer Marcos, then more recently founded RFR. He is married to Aldís Kristín Árnadóttir, an Icelandic UK-educated lawyer. Ralph's sister, Natasha, is also a racing driver.
Educated at Gresham's School between 1988 and 1993, Firman went straight into motor racing on leaving school. Despite leading much of the 1995 British F3 championship, he lost the title at the final round to Oliver Gavin. However, he continued in the championship in 1996 and captured the title at his second attempt.
Firman won the prestigious Macau Grand Prix in 1996 under controversial circumstances. At the end of round 1, Firman finished ahead of German Formula 3 champion Jarno Trulli. In round 2, he was overtaken by Trulli on the last lap. Firman was running with a broken front wing. Just as Jarno Trulli was on the way to victory, Firman crashed at the hairpin corner, blocked the track and caused a red flag. The race officials counted the results to the previous lap when Firman was ahead of Trulli, thus giving him the win.

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Raphael Matos
Raphael Matos (born August 28, 1981) 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. He lives in Miami.
Matos came to the United States in 2002 after karting in Brazil and began competing in Skip Barber Formula Dodge, winning the championship in 2003.. In 2004, he moved up to the Star Mazda Series and in 2005 he won the Star Mazda championship. In 2006 he moved up the Champ Car Atlantic Championship Series where he drove for the Sierra Sierra team and captured one victory on his way to 4th place in the points standings.
He also competed in 4 Indy Pro Series races for Guthrie Racing and swept the two races held in March at St. Petersburg, Florida. During the fall he was named a driver for A1 Team Brazil in the A1 Grand Prix series and made his debut at the series' race in Beijing in the 2006-2007 season. He raced a Lola B07/40-Mazda in the 2007 12 Hours of Sebring and the 2007 Petit Le Mans.

wn.com/Raphael_Matos
Robbie Kerr
Robert "Robbie" Kerr (born 26 September 1979 in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire) is a British race car driver from England.
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 not race again until 2004 when he raced in the Formula Renault V6 Eurocup. At the opening round at Monza Kerr had earned pole position but mechanical problems forced him out. He eventually won a race at the last race of the season in Valencia. He had not led the race until he took the lead on the last lap.
Kerr has also raced in the Le Mans Endurance Series. In one of the most impressive debuts the series has seen he raced at Silverstone in a Zytek 04S P1 and was partnered by American Chris Dyson. He took pole position from the Audi R8s of Allan McNish and Johnny Herbert by more than 1.6 seconds. Kerr eventually finished 4th but set the fastest lap of the race.

wn.com/Robbie_Kerr
Robert Doornbos
Robert Michael Doornbos ( pronunciation (help·info)) (born 23 September 1981 in Rotterdam, Netherlands) 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 World Series. He competed in the Superleague Formula racing series in 2008, and drove for the Netherlands team in A1 Grand Prix's 2008-2009 season. In 2009, Doornbos competed in the IndyCar Series. He began the season with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, but switched to HVM Racing after the race in Kentucky Speedway.
Doornbos' first sport was tennis, and he competed at semi-professional national level in the Netherlands. His interest in motorsport grew after he was invited to the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix as a guest of WilliamsF1. It was 1997 Formula One Champion Jacques Villeneuve who suggested that he should go for a series such as Formula Ford, as he was too big and too old to race karts. He gave up tennis and focused on racing, joining the JR racing team for the 1999 Opel Lotus UK Winter series. He had a successful season, finishing second in the championship after taking four pole positions, four fastest laps and four wins. In 2000, he competed in the Formula Ford Zetec Benelux series, finishing 2nd in the Belgian championship and 5th overall with one pole, three fastest laps and six podiums.

wn.com/Robert_Doornbos
Ryan Briscoe
Ryan Briscoe (born 24 September 1981 in Sydney) 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. He attended Trinity Grammar School in Summer Hill, Sydney, Australia.
He is married to ESPN motorsport reporter, Nicole Briscoe (née Manske) whom he wedded in 2009.
Like many auto racing drivers, he started his career in karting, first racing in 1993. After winning Australian, North American and Italian championships, he moved to Formula Renault in 2000. He won the Italian Championship in 2001 (winning 5 races) and finished 4th running a limited schedule in the Eurocup (with 2 wins in 6 races). In 2002, he became test driver for the Toyota Formula One constructor. He started that year racing in the Formula 3000 series, but struggled and left his ride after 7 races. He finished the year in the German Formula 3 series, taking 3 podiums in the last 6 rounds. He won the Formula Three Euroseries in 2003 (winning 8 races in the process). He became the Toyota F1 team's 'third' driver (i.e., drove the team's test car on Fridays at Grands Prix) for the last third of the 2004 season, after previous third driver Ricardo Zonta was called up to replace Cristiano da Matta.

wn.com/Ryan_Briscoe
Scott Speed
Scott Andrew Speed (born January 24, 1983) 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. Speed has currently turned his career towards stock car racing; specifically NASCAR, where he has driven for Red Bull Racing Team and Whitney Motorsports in the Sprint Cup Series. In 2012 he will be driving a limited schedule for Leavine Family Racing.
Speed currently resides in Mt. Holly, NC, where he lives with his wife Amanda. On October 4, 2011, Scott and Amanda welcomed their first child together, a daughter named Juliet.
His brother Alex currently races karts in America and is a 3 time Stars of Karting champion and a 3 time SKUSA Supernationals winner.
Speed's career started at the age of 10 in karting, his stint there lasting from 1993 until 2001, winning the SKUSA Super Pro Title for JM Racing driving a Tony Kart Swedetech Honda in 2000 2 IKF Grand Nationals driving a 6 year old kart, and 3 IKF regional titles. He also won the 2002 Rock Island GP in 125cc Shifter Karts. He moved up to Formula series in 2001, competing in US Formula Russell and becoming champion. He drove in both the US Barber Formula Dodge and US Star Mazda Series followed in 2002, although he failed to win either title, and in 2003 the American drove for the ADR team in British Formula Three after winning the Red Bull Driver Search programme. During that year he fell ill with ulcerative colitis, a form of inflammatory bowel disease, and was forced to return to the United States for treatment.

wn.com/Scott_Speed
Sergio Pérez
Sergio Pérez Mendoza (born January 26, 1990 in Guadalajara, Jalisco), also known as "Checo" Pérez, is a Mexican racing driver currently racing for Sauber in the 2012 Formula One season. Pérez, who currently resides in Schindellegi, Switzerland, is the younger brother of former champion NASCAR Corona Series driver Antonio Pérez and is also a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy. He also took his first Formula One podium at the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix.
Pérez competed in the United States-based Skip Barber National Championship in 2004. Driving for a team sponsored by Mexican telecommunications company Telmex, he finished eleventh in the championship.
Pérez moved to Europe for 2005 to compete in the German Formula BMW ADAC series. He finished fourteenth in the championship, driving for Team Rosberg, and improved to sixth position the following year.
In the 2006–07 A1 Grand Prix season, Pérez took part in a single round of the championship for A1 Team Mexico. He was the third-youngest driver to take part in the series.

wn.com/Sergio_Pérez
Sébastien Buemi
Sébastien Olivier Buemi (born 31 October 1988 in Aigle, Vaud) is a Swiss racing driver, who formerly competed for Scuderia Toro Rosso in Formula One. Buemi is currently a reserve driver for Scuderia Toro Rosso's sister team, Red Bull Racing, as well as being a member of Toyota's 24 Hours of Le Mans squad.
After graduating from karting, Buemi spent 2004 and 2005 in German Formula BMW, finishing third and second in the championship respectively. He was also runner up in the 2005 FBMW World Final.
Following a single race in Spanish Formula Three in 2005, Buemi moved up to the Formula Three Euroseries for 2006, finishing 12th in the championship, ceding 11th place to Charlie Kimball on countback. He remained in the series for 2007, and finished second in the championship, behind Romain Grosjean. He has also competed in the special Masters of Formula 3 and Macau Grand Prix races.
For the 2006–07 A1 Grand Prix season, Buemi shared driving duties for A1 Team Switzerland with Neel Jani and Marcel Fässler. The team finished eighth in the championship.

wn.com/Sébastien_Buemi
Tomas Scheckter
Tomas Scheckter (born September 21, 1980) is a South African racing driver.
Scheckter was born in Monte Carlo to 1979 Formula One World Champion Jody Scheckter and his first wife Pamela. Scheckter started racing karts in South Africa at the age of 11 and it did not take long for the young driver to reach the podium. He had his first taste of a major championship as a teenager when he captured the South African Kart Championship in 1995. In 1996 he ventured on to the main circuit in the South African Formula Vee series and soon after he was in the South African Formula Ford Series where he posted two wins.
He had proven his speed in South African motorsports and was then off to Europe the following year where he entered the British Formula Vauxhall Junior series where he raced against the likes of Antônio Pizzonia and Takuma Sato. Scheckter earned third in the championship with one victory and one pole. He was also named series Rookie of the Year.
In 1999, Scheckter won the Formula Opel Euroseries championship with a record eight victories and eight poles, and in the process broke all the winning records previously set by Mika Häkkinen, Rubens Barrichello, and David Coulthard. That success landed him a drive that same year in the last two races of the Formula Nissan championship which Fernando Alonso had dominated that whole season. Even though Scheckter was with a new team for this brief stint in Formula Nissan, he captured a win, two poles and a second place position.

wn.com/Tomas_Scheckter
Tomáš Enge
Tomáš Enge (Czech pronunciation: [ˈtomaːʃ ˈɛŋɡɛ]) (born 11 September 1976 in Liberec) is a motor racing driver from the Czech Republic, who has competed in many classes of motorsport, including three races in Formula One.
He started his career at the age of 16, entering a Ford Fiesta he bought with his own money in the Czechoslovakian Ford Fiesta Cup. He participated in the final three races of the 2001 F1 season, debuting on 16 September at the Italian Grand Prix. Enge was brought in as a replacement for Luciano Burti after the latter's crash in the Belgian race, becoming his country's first F1 driver. The Prost team folded before the start of the 2002 season, leaving Enge without a drive.
He obtained his F1 break using the sponsorship from the local Coca-Cola subsidiary, which had also funded the Nordic Racing F3000 team he raced for that year. He finished 3rd in the 2001 standings despite missing the final race, and was stripped of the 2002 title due to a positive marijuana test. He returned to F3000 in 2004, and then headed to America for 2005, driving for Panther Racing in the IRL, with modest success. Among his 17 career IRL starts was his rookie start in the 2005 Indianapolis 500. He then drove for Team Czech Republic in the 2005-2006 A1GP season. Enge has also been a frequent driver for Prodrive's sportscar teams, driving both their Ferrari 550 Maranellos and Aston Martin DBR9s in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2006 he was driver of the #007 Aston Martin Racing entry in the American Le Mans Series, but for 2007 will switch to the Petersen/White Lightning Ferrari F430.

wn.com/Tomáš_Enge
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. He is the owner and CEO of the oil, diamonds and gold trading company Energem.
Tony Teixeira took over the A1 Grand Prix series in 2006; it went into liquidation by 2009.
Trading of Energem stock has been suspended in both Toronto and London since June 2009, and filings with the London Stock Exchange indicate that US$54 million of its debt is related to A1GP, and Energem shareholders and A1GP had been promised payment of the $54 million would be made on July 16, 2009, a promise that has been broken and remade and broken again on August 6, September 11, September 22, October 22, December 9, and December 31, 2009, and again in January 2010, twice, both times with a promise of an additional $9.5 million in interest.
Tony Teixeira made a personal pledge that he would donate $50,000 to charity if A1GP did not turn up for their scheduled 2009 Gold Coast race. This pledge has not been honoured.

wn.com/Tony_Teixeira
Vitantonio Liuzzi
Vitantonio "Tonio" Liuzzi (born 6 August 1981) is an Italian race driver who formerly raced in Formula One for the Red Bull, HRT, Force India and Toro Rosso teams. He has homes in Lugano, Switzerland and Pescara, Italy.
Born in Locorotondo, BA, Apulia, Liuzzi, like many auto racing drivers, began his career in kart racing (at age 9). He won the 1993 Italian Karting Championship, and in 1995 took second in the Karting World Championship and placed fifth in the European Championship. He won the Karting World Championship in 2001. He beat Formula One champion Michael Schumacher at Kerpen, Schumacher's 'home' track.
Liuzzi then moved to cars, finishing second in the 2001 German Formula Renault Championship. Racing in the German Formula Three Championship, however, he scored only ninth place. That same year he did win the San Marino International F3 race and had test drives for the Coloni Formula 3000 team and Williams, the Formula One constructor. Red Bull hired Liuzzi for the 2003 F3000 season, in which he finished fourth. He moved to the Arden team for the following F3000 season, where he won seven of the ten races, securing the title with one race left.

wn.com/Vitantonio_Liuzzi
Vitor Meira
Vitor Meira (born March 27, 1977 in Brasília, Brazil) is an auto racing driver currently competing in the IndyCar Series. He has twice finished second in the Indianapolis 500.
After participating in an open test for Panther Racing at Texas Motor Speedway in 2002, he made his IndyCar debut with Team Menard on August 11, 2002 at Kentucky Speedway. A little over a month later, Vitor won his first career pole at Texas Motor Speedway after just four starts, and finished in third place.
In 2003, Meira ran his first start of the year for Team Menard at the Indianapolis 500, where he finished 12th as a rookie. Meira then ran the next seven races in the #2 Johns Manville powered Dallara Chevrolet, until a practice crash at Kentucky Speedway sidelined him for the next three races. After recovering from his wrist injury he suffered at Kentucky, Vitor ran the final two races of the season.
In 2004, Meira missed the first two races of the season before a race-by-race deal was presented to Meira by Rahal-Letterman Racing. After Vitor's disappointing finish of 17th in Indy Japan 300, where he suffered a clutch problem, he ran the rest of the season in the #17 G-Force sponsored by Centrix Financial. At The Milwaukee Mile, on July 25, 2004, Meira earned his second career pole.

wn.com/Vitor_Meira
Will Power
William Steven Power (born 1 March 1981 in Toowoomba, Queensland) is an Australian motorsport driver, who currently competes in the IndyCar Series, driving for Team Penske.
Power, son of open wheel racer Bob Power, started his career in Queensland driving a Datsun 1200 at Morgan Park Raceway, Warwick as well as at Carnel Raceway, Stanthorpe. In 1999 Power began driving an ageing family owned Swift SC92F in the Queensland Formula Ford Championship, winning races in a sporadic campaign. In 2000 Power ran a full campaign leading to his first title in the Swift while simultaneously racing a late model Spectrum 07 on the Australian Formula Ford Championship, finishing a promising seventh. Still running a small family oriented team in 2001, Power upgraded to a Stealth RF95, a Western Australian modification of a 1995 Van Diemen. Power finished second in the series behind the factory supported Van Diemen driver, Will Davison.
After three years of Formula Ford racing, Power moved into Formula Holden, racing for the Graham Watson owned Ralt Australia team driving a Reynard 94D.Power swept all before him in Formula Holden, winning the title by over 50 points from Stewart McColl, claiming the 2002 Australian Drivers' Championship by winning 7 times and achieving 3 pole positions.

wn.com/Will_Power

A1 gp A1gp A1 grand prix Presentation

A1gp presentation by many famous faces...

published: 20 Sep 2006

author: medbelhadj

A1 GP - Doughnuts

Nicolas Hülkenberg & Robbie Kerr give the crowd a show after finishing 1st & 2nd in the A1...

published: 29 Apr 2007

author: f0rmula1fan

A1 Grand Prix Crash Compilation

A1 Grand Prix Crash Compilation. Music: It`s my life (Jon Bon Jovi) and The saints are com...

published: 08 Jul 2009

author: michieliosios

A1 GP Malaysia Funny Start Crash

A funny crash that happened in the A1 GP series in 2007 or 2008....

published: 22 Mar 2011

author: MrBv256

First Time A1 GP Team India "Narain Karthikeyan" Win The Race

This is the first time A1 GP Team India with the driver Narain Karthikeyan win the race!...

published: 02 Apr 2011

author: MacGeraldo

A1 Grand Prix 06/07 Onboard Lap at Durban

Onboard Lap at Durban Street Circuit in Durban, South Africa with a A1 Grand Prix Car from...

published: 10 May 2010

author: Manolo88og

Toyota HiLux Heroes @ A1 Grand Prix

Toyota HiLux Heroes precision driving team. Performance on main straight at A1 Grand Prix,...

published: 06 Feb 2008

author: EliteMotorsportGroup

Pakistan taking part in | A1 grand prix formula 1 motorsports |

Pakistan taking part in A1 grand prix motor racing championship Thumbs up for all those Pa...

published: 06 Oct 2009

author: TheRisingPakistan

A1 Grand Prix Russia Open Final Open right hand camrip bad qualitymp4

...

published: 28 Jul 2012

author: Kashtanultra

A1 Grand Prix Zandvoort

How a man becomes a hero over night. Check www.f1cast.nl for the special episode about the...

published: 02 Oct 2006

author: Maurice Zondag

One lap at Macau with an A1 Grand Prix car

Footage of a demo run by A1 Team China (driver: Cheng Congfu) on Macau's Guia Circuit (Nov...

published: 17 Nov 2007

author: LuHu2

A1 - Don`t want to lose you again - mgp 2010 Norway

a1- dont wanna lose you again from norway`s mgp 2010 . studio version , HQ ! a1 got to the...

published: 05 Feb 2010

author: ThwStudMuffin

A1 World Armwrestling Grand Prix 2012

...

published: 16 Aug 2012

author: TheNurlan555

F1 A1-Ring 2002 - GP - Jacques Villeneuve Battle Through The Field!

One of the best F1 races of Jacques Villeneuve. He was up to 3rd or 4th place before his e...

published: 17 Mar 2012

author: Finnishdude107

ADGP 2012 Round One TAS - Wrap up

Hello all, sorry i took my sweet ass time, but at least this one is a killer! Had a fantas...

published: 15 May 2012

author: Scott Mitchell

The London Grand Prix by Santander

Santander inspire thoughts of a Formula 1™ street race in London. — with Jenson Button and...

published: 29 Jun 2012

author: INK

Macau Grand Prix Formula 3 2010

FEEL FREE TO DOWNLOAD THE HD SOURCE FILE. This video is an homage to the F3 drivers who c...

published: 23 Nov 2010

author: Toze Soares

A1 Grand Prix Fashion Show Durban

Supercine Productions...

published: 30 Jun 2008

author: Lee Jackson

A1gp promo

a1gp promo video...

published: 25 Feb 2007

author: sennahj

A1 gp A1gp A1 grand prix Presentation

A1gp presentation by many famous faces...

published: 25 Feb 2007

author: sennahj

A1GP Jos Verstappen wins race in last lap

A1GP Jos Verstappen wins race in last lap...

published: 25 Feb 2007

author: sennahj

Verstappen wins A1GP race

Verstappen goes on to win the feature race of the South African A1GP, after spinning out o...

published: 25 Feb 2007

author: sennahj

A1GP podion Durban

verstappen 1st place...

published: 25 Feb 2007

author: sennahj

Ho-Pin Tung overtaking Jeroen Bleekemolen A1GP

Ho-Pin Tung driving for Team China, A1GP Round.7 overtaking Jeroen Bleekemolen....

published: 27 Jan 2008

author: sennahj

ADGP 2012 Round One TAS - Wrap up

Hello all, sorry i took my sweet ass time, but at least this one is a killer! Had a fantas...

published: 15 May 2012

author: Scott Mitchell

The London Grand Prix by Santander

Santander inspire thoughts of a Formula 1™ street race in London. — with Jenson Button and...

published: 29 Jun 2012

author: INK

Macau Grand Prix Formula 3 2010

FEEL FREE TO DOWNLOAD THE HD SOURCE FILE. This video is an homage to the F3 drivers who c...

published: 23 Nov 2010

author: Toze Soares

A1 Grand Prix Fashion Show Durban

Supercine Productions...

published: 30 Jun 2008

author: Lee Jackson

A1 grand prix zandvoort

mooie koe LOL :L...

published: 04 Jun 2007

author: 19jimbo87

A1 grand prix zandvoort

Echt wel vet...

published: 04 Jun 2007

author: 19jimbo87

A1 grand prix zandvoort

Daar doe je het voor...

published: 04 Jun 2007

author: 19jimbo87

a1 grand prix start

naast de race was er ook nog ander entertaiment...

published: 04 Jun 2007

author: 19jimbo87

A1 gp spijkertje

spijker op zandvoort...

published: 04 Jun 2007

author: 19jimbo87

a1 grand prix start met duwen

lol...

published: 04 Jun 2007

author: 19jimbo87

ADGP 2012 Round One TAS - Wrap up

Hello all, sorry i took my sweet ass time, but at least this one is a killer! Had a fantas...

published: 15 May 2012

author: Scott Mitchell

The London Grand Prix by Santander

Santander inspire thoughts of a Formula 1™ street race in London. — with Jenson Button and...

published: 29 Jun 2012

author: INK

Macau Grand Prix Formula 3 2010

FEEL FREE TO DOWNLOAD THE HD SOURCE FILE. This video is an homage to the F3 drivers who c...

published: 23 Nov 2010

author: Toze Soares

A1 Grand Prix Fashion Show Durban

Supercine Productions...

published: 30 Jun 2008

author: Lee Jackson

A1 Grand Prix

the end...

published: 30 Oct 2006

author: meta3000

A1 Grand Prix

Yellow flag...

published: 30 Oct 2006

author: meta3000

A1 Grand Prix

loud and hard...

published: 30 Oct 2006

author: meta3000

A1 Grand Prix

Looking at the pit street by the A1 in Zandvoort 2006...

published: 30 Oct 2006

author: meta3000

A1 Grand Prix

Pit In...

published: 30 Oct 2006

author: meta3000

ADGP 2012 Round One TAS - Wrap up

Hello all, sorry i took my sweet ass time, but at least this one is a killer! Had a fantas...

published: 15 May 2012

author: Scott Mitchell

The London Grand Prix by Santander

Santander inspire thoughts of a Formula 1™ street race in London. — with Jenson Button and...

published: 29 Jun 2012

author: INK

Macau Grand Prix Formula 3 2010

FEEL FREE TO DOWNLOAD THE HD SOURCE FILE. This video is an homage to the F3 drivers who c...

published: 23 Nov 2010

author: Toze Soares

A1 Grand Prix Fashion Show Durban

Supercine Productions...

published: 30 Jun 2008

author: Lee Jackson

rFactor - A1GP 2010 Bonus car

A tribute to Ayrton Senna. Both Williams cars will be included in the mod....

published: 22 Jun 2011

author: PieLighter

rFactor - A1GP 2010 Team Lebanon @ Sakhir

Onboard with Daniel Morad. Possibly the first motorsport Bahrain has seen for a while, and...

published: 17 Jun 2011

author: PieLighter

rFactor - A1GP 2010 new cars 3

New updates. New Cars: Hungary - Zsolt Baumgartner Romania - Michael Herck Venezuela - Jo...

published: 12 Jun 2011

author: PieLighter

rFactor - A1GP 2010 New cars 2

Some new cars, and a quick flash of the bonus car. :) New cars: Czech Republic - Jarek Jan...

published: 31 May 2011

author: PieLighter

rFactor - A1GP 2010 Team Spain @ Catalunya

Onboard with Daniel Pedrosa....

published: 19 May 2011

author: PieLighter

rFactor - A1GP 2010 Team Belgium @ Spa

Onboard with Jerome d'Ambrosio. Video includes: -Onboard lap (a bit scrappy) -Tyre cha...

published: 17 May 2011

author: PieLighter

rFactor - A1GP 2010 new cars

Showcasing some of the new cars in A1GP 2010, as well as changes to old ones. New Cars: D...

published: 14 May 2011

author: PieLighter

rFactor - A1GP 2010 Team Canada @ Montreal with tyre changes

Onboard with Sean McIntosh. This video also demonstrates a new functionality I've been wor...

published: 04 May 2011

author: PieLighter

rFactor - A1GP 2010 Team Austria @ A1 Ring

Onboard with Christian Klien. Includes a poorly-handled spin, the result of trying to acce...

published: 23 Apr 2011

author: PieLighter

rFactor - A1GP 2010 Team Russia @ Imola

Onboard with Mikail Aleshin....

published: 22 Apr 2011

author: PieLighter

rFactor - A1GP 2010 mod menu

Using xUI, I show all of the cars in the A1GP mod. Someone from my forum is doing Team Kor...

published: 19 Apr 2011

author: PieLighter

rFactor - A1GP 2010 mod intro

The intro video for my A1GP 2010 mod. :)...

published: 15 Apr 2011

author: PieLighter

rFactor - A1GP 2010 Team Italy @ Mugello

Onboard with Tonio Liuzzi. Excuse my driving, they were my first laps on this track, I've ...

published: 11 Apr 2011

author: PieLighter

rFactor - A1GP 2010 Team Germany @ Hockenheim

Onboard with Michael Ammermuller....

published: 08 Apr 2011

author: PieLighter

ADGP 2012 Round One TAS - Wrap up

Hello all, sorry i took my sweet ass time, but at least this one is a killer! Had a fantas...

published: 15 May 2012

author: Scott Mitchell

The London Grand Prix by Santander

Santander inspire thoughts of a Formula 1™ street race in London. — with Jenson Button and...

published: 29 Jun 2012

author: INK

Macau Grand Prix Formula 3 2010

FEEL FREE TO DOWNLOAD THE HD SOURCE FILE. This video is an homage to the F3 drivers who c...

published: 23 Nov 2010

author: Toze Soares

A1 Grand Prix Fashion Show Durban

Supercine Productions...

published: 30 Jun 2008

author: Lee Jackson

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photo: AP / Mohamed Sheikh Nor

File - Al-Shabaab fighters display weapons as they conduct military exercises in northern Mogadishu, Somalia,Thursday, Oct. 21, 2010.

French secret service hostage and soldiers killed in Somali rescue mission

The Guardian

12 Jan 2013

Helicopter raid fails to rescue agent 'Denis Allex' from Islamist group al-Shabaab, as French combat pilot killed in Mali. French secret service hostage 'Denis Allex' pictured in Somalia in October 2012. Photograph. SITE Monitoring Service/AFP/Getty Images. A French hostage and two French soldiers have been killed during a failed secret service rescue mission in Somalia ... The group said it had also captured a wounded French commando ... ....(size: 4.7Kb)

photo: AP / Alexandre Meneghini

In this Oct. 24, 2012 photo, soldiers stop to check a car as they patrol in a convoy near the town of El Alcalde in Michoacan state, Mexico. Knights Templar, a quasi-religious drug cartel that controls the area and most of the state, monitors the movements of the military and police around the clock.

Mexico to compensate drug-violence victims

Al Jazeera

10 Jan 2013

Mexican has enacted a law that will ensure that the victims and relatives of crime are compensated with payments and social services from the state. The law, enacted by President Enrique Pena Nieto on Wednesday, comprises the creation of a fund to pay relatives up to $70,000 in compensation for an innocent victim killed in attacks by drug gangs ... “There are thousands of people who have suffered the ravages of violence ... Share ... ....(size: 18.3Kb)

photo: AP / Jacques Brinon

Kurdish activists gather outside a building where three Kurdish women were shot dead, in Paris, Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013. Police say three Kurdish women have been shot dead at a pro-Kurdish centre in Paris in what the French interior minister is calling an execution.

Three Kurdish women shot dead in Paris

The Times of India

10 Jan 2013

PARIS. Three Kurdish women, including one of the founders of a militant group battling Turkish troops since 1984, were "executed" at a Kurdish center in Paris, the interior minister said on Thursday. Turkey's Anadolu news agency identified one of the victims as Sakine Cansiz, a founding member of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK ... He called it a "totally intolerable act." ... ....(size: 1.7Kb)

photo: AP / Arshad Butt

Pakistani police officers and local residents gather at the site of a bomb blast that targeted paramilitary soldiers in a commercial area in Quetta, Pakistan, killing at least 12 people and wounding more than 40 others, according to police, Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013.

Bombings kill 115 in Pakistan

Newsday

11 Jan 2013

QUETTA, Pakistan -- A series of bombings killed 115 people in Pakistan yesterday, including 81 who died in a sectarian attack on a billiard hall in the southwest city of Quetta, officials said. The blasts punctuated one of the deadliest days in recent years in Pakistan, where the government faces a bloody insurgency by militants in the northwest and Baluch militants in the southwest ... No group claimed responsibility for the attack.. . .....(size: 7.7Kb)

photo: AP / Remy de la Mauviniere

One of the three bodies of the killed Kurdish women is taken out of the building in Paris, Thursday Jan. 10, 2012.

Kurdish assassination mystery grips Paris

France24

11 Jan 2013

The executions of three Kurdish women in Paris have sparked questions over the motives for the high-level assassinations. FRANCE 24 asks Kendal Nezan, president of the Kurdish Institute in Paris, for his views on the mysterious murders. By Ségolène ALLEMANDOU (text).   ... Sakine Cansiz, Fidan Dogan and Leyla Soylemez were found shot dead inside the Kurdish Institute of Paris. Screen grab of Firatnews ... France 24 ... Kendel Nezan ... FRANCE 24 ... ....(size: 9.7Kb)

timeline:
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001

Should Formula One Look To Latin America?

Formula1 FanCast

14 Nov 2012

With Sergio Perez, the first Mexican Grand Prix driver since Hector Rebaque in 1981, improving with every race this season his country seem keen to revisit the sport ... Single-seater Championship A1 Grand Prix planned to run a race at the Mexican circuit in 2009 with three chicanes implemented at the same corner, before the event was eventually cancelled....(size: 3.4Kb)

Narain, Karun team up for Race of the Champions

The Hindu

06 Nov 2012

It may be a race promoter’s dream to put Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok, India’s only F1 drivers in the same team against some of the best in the business and provide everyone with similar cars ... Last time, it was the A1 Grand Prix ... Narain said the idea of fielding an Indian team in the event, after the successful conduct of the F1 Grand Prix for two years, had the possibilities of being a commercial success as well....(size: 2.2Kb)

In Top Gear

Indian Express

19 Oct 2012

Khardung-La Pass, in Ladakh region wraps around the mountains, winds up and touches the highest point in the world ... Crazy is how Jani describes the adventure which will be featured on Discovery Turbos Khardunga-La ... Driving since the age of 16, Jani 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 ... ......(size: 1.9Kb)

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes confirms multi-year deal with Sergio Perez (McLaren Group Limited)

noodls

28 Sep 2012

After two seasons, he quickly graduated through A1 Grand Prix, and completed two seasons of British Formula 3 (he was the National Class winner in 2007 with 14 race victories, and won four races and finished fourth in the Championship Class in 2008) and GP2, initially contesting the GP2 Asia series in 2008 before spending two seasons in the principal GP2 category in 2009 and 2010....(size: 10.7Kb)

Chinese driver to make F1 history at Italian GP

CNN

06 Sep 2012

HRT's Chinese test driver Ma Qing Hua will take the wheel in practice for Sunday's Italian Grand Prix. (CNN) -- F1 history will be made in Friday's first practice at the Italian Grand Prix when Ma Qing Hua ... He has previously competed in Formula Renault, A1 Grand Prix and Formula Three as well as winning last year's Chinese Touring Car Championship....(size: 1.9Kb)

HRT's Qing Hua to make official F1™ debut in Monza practice

noodls

05 Sep 2012

In the last months I've been with the team at Grands Prix I've also learned a lot from the engineers and my team mates, who have shared information and their experience, which will be very useful ... Qing Hua has previously competed in international championships such as Formula Renault, A1 Grand Prix, Formula Three and Superleague, and last year won the 2011 Chinese touring car title....(size: 4.2Kb)

Billy cart competition anything but the pits

Sydney Morning Herald

14 Aug 2012

THE DIARY. EASTERN Creek Raceway has hosted the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, the V8 Supercars, the A1 Grand Prix and more. But when the cars roll out of pit lane this morning, it is unlikely they'll be reaching quite the same speeds. Instead of multiple horsepower, it will be single kid power at work for the seventh annual Kids Design Challenge, the state's premier billy cart race ... ''The students are divided into four teams....(size: 2.8Kb)

Qing Hua becomes first Chinese to drive an F1 car

IBN Live

14 Jul 2012

Ma Qing Hua has become the first Chinese-born driver to test in Formula One, completing 82 laps of the British Grand Prix circuit at Silverstone for HRT ... The Chinese touring car champion last year, Ma has previously competed in Formula Renault, A1 Grand Prix, Formula Three and Superleague....(size: 1.4Kb)

First Chinese driver makes F1 test

Japan Times

14 Jul 2012

The Chinese touring car champion last year, Ma has previously competed in Formula Renault, A1 Grand Prix, Formula Three, and Superleague....(size: 0.8Kb)

FORMULA ONE: China's Ma makes F1 history

New Straits/Business Times

14 Jul 2012

... Grand Prix, for the HRT team during a young drivers' test with a best time of 1 minute 37.829 seconds ... Ma, last year's Chinese Touring Car champion, had previously competed in Formula Renault, A1 Grand Prix, Formula Three and Superleague....(size: 1.2Kb)

First Chinese-born driver tests in Formula One

Houston Chronicle

13 Jul 2012

... test in Formula One, completing 82 laps of the British Grand Prix circuit at Silverstone for HRT ... The Chinese touring car champion last year, Ma has previously competed in Formula Renault, A1 Grand Prix, Formula Three, and Superleague....(size: 1.2Kb)

First Chinese-born driver tests in F1

Independent online (SA)

13 Jul 2012

... Prix circuit at Silverstone for Hispania ... The Chinese touring car champion in 2011, Ma has previously competed in Formula Renault, A1 Grand Prix, Formula Three, and Superleague....(size: 1.0Kb)

Sports Digest: Lawmakers furious over China-made U.S. Olympic uniform

Austin American Statesman

13 Jul 2012

Olympics. Lawmakers furious over China-made uniform. Republicans and Democrats railed about the U.S. Olympic Committee's decision to dress the U.S ... workers desperate for jobs ... NHL ... Cycling ... Ma Qing Hua became the first Chinese-born driver to test in Formula One, completing 82 laps of the British Grand Prix circuit at Silverstone, England, for HRT. Ma has previously competed in Formula Renault, A1 Grand Prix, Formula Three, and Superleague ... ....(size: 7.4Kb)

timeline:
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001

A1 Grand Prix
250px
Category	Single seaters
Country or region	International
Inaugural season	2005
Folded	2010
Drivers	35
Teams	21
Constructors	Ferrari
Engine suppliers	Ferrari
Last Teams' champion	A1 Team Ireland (2008/09)

A1 Grand Prix
Lists and statistics
Seasons/champions Teams · Drivers Circuits · Records
Related articles
A1 Grand Prix car Pointscoring systems Racing flags

A1 Grand Prix (A1GP) was a 'single make' open-wheel auto racing series. It was unique in its field in that competitors solely represented their nation as opposed to themselves or a team, the usual format in most formula racing 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) and races were held in the traditional Formula One off-season, the northern hemisphere winter.^[1] The nation-based A1GP concept was founded by Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum of Dubai, initially in 2003.^[2] 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.^[3] The transfer of his share in the organisation of A1 Grand Prix to RAB Capital was finalized in December 2006. Tony Teixeira took control of the series in 2006, leading it to liquidation by 2009.^[4] There are currently plans to revive the series.^[5]

History [link]

The nation-based A1GP concept was founded by Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum of Dubai, initially in 2003.^[2] Once the series had received the backing of the FIA, a management structure including new executive directors Brian Menell and 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 [link]

Main article: 2005–06 A1 Grand Prix 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 circuit in Kent, United Kingdom. The first season was planned for 12 rounds (24 races, with two each weekend); however the cancellation of a race scheduled for Curitiba, Brazil in January 2006 reduced this number to 11. Nelson Piquet, Jr. won the inaugural race of the series for A1 Team Brazil. Their winning form was not to continue. Wins at Estoril and Malaysia saw A1 Team France build up a sizeable gap. By the start of the winter break, France had run away with the lead with A1 Team Switzerland 28 points behind. At the final race of the season in Shanghai, 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 third with 97 points.^[6]

Katherine Legge was the first woman to drive A1 Grand Prix cars during test session in December 2005 on Dubai Autodrome.^[7]

Second season [link]

Main article: 2006–07 A1 Grand Prix season

Changes were made for the 2006–07 season to race durations and distances to improve the spectacle for attendees and TV viewers.^[8] The 2006–07 schedule was released on 7 July 2006, with the first race at Circuit Park Zandvoort on 1 October 2006, and the last race at Brands Hatch on 29 April 2007. New teams Team Singapore and Team Greece joined the competition but Team Turkey failed to secure funding for the season. Team Austria, Team Japan, Team Portugal and Team Russia 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.

“

I am happy that I have built the series with fans in mind. I feel like I have fulfilled my promise to them by bringing A1GP from concept to reality and am confident that the World Cup of Motorsport will go from strength to strength. Having devoted all my efforts to making A1GP the success it is today, this transaction will allow me to devote more time to my Dubai International Holding Company which currently manages a substantial portfolio of assets and new ventures and which continues to actively pursue other significant investment opportunities.

”

Maktoum announced his intended resignation in September and his exit from the organisation was confirmed in December.^[9]^[10]

Third season [link]

Main article: 2007–08 A1 Grand Prix season

Fourth season [link]

Main article: 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix 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.^[11] 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.^[12]

Fifth season [link]

Main article: 2009–10 A1 Grand Prix season

The opening round of the season, scheduled as part of the already well established Nikon SuperGP race meeting, was cancelled 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.^[13] The event was underwritten by the Queensland state government, who have mentioned the possibility of taking legal recourse against A1 Grand Prix.^[14]

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.^[15] The last race that was to be held in the season, the Dutch round, was switched for Superleague Formula. This put an end to the hopes the season would start and also put the future of the series in doubt.

Champions [link]

Main article: List of A1 Grand Prix seasons

Season	Champion	Second	Third
2005–06	France (Alexandre Prémat/Nicolas Lapierre)	Switzerland (Neel Jani/Giorgio Mondini)	Great Britain (Robbie Kerr/Darren Manning)
2006–07	Germany (Nico Hülkenberg/Christian Vietoris)	New Zealand (Matt Halliday/Jonny Reid)	Great Britain (Darren Manning/Robbie Kerr/Oliver Jarvis)
2007–08	Switzerland (Neel Jani)	New Zealand (Jonny Reid)	Great Britain (Oliver Jarvis/Robbie Kerr)
2008–09	Ireland (Adam Carroll)	Switzerland (Neel Jani)	Portugal (Filipe Albuquerque)
2009–10	season cancelled

Teams [link]

Main article: List of A1 Grand Prix 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:

A world map showing the distribution of A1 GP teams in the last season (red) and who also took part in one or more of the earlier seasons (blue)

Participating countries
Africa	Americas	Asia	Europe	Oceania
South Africa	Brazil Canada Mexico USA	China India Indonesia Japan Korea Lebanon Malaysia Pakistan Singapore	Austria Czech Republic France Germany Great Britain Greece Ireland Italy Monaco Netherlands Portugal Russia Switzerland	Australia New Zealand
bold represents an active team in the 2008–09 season

Drivers [link]

Mexico, New Zealand and Malaysia competing during the first-ever race weekend at Brands Hatch

Main article: List of A1 Grand Prix drivers

Notable drivers [link]

Drivers who have also raced in Formula One

Sébastien Buemi (2009–2011)
Karun Chandhok (2010–2011)
Robert Doornbos (2005–2006)
Tomáš Enge (2001)
Ralph Firman (2003)
Christian Fittipaldi (1992–1994)
Patrick Friesacher (2005)
Nico Hülkenberg (2010, 2012)
Narain Karthikeyan (2005, 2011–2012)
Vitantonio Liuzzi (2006–2007, 2009–2011)
Franck Montagny (2006)
Hideki Noda (1994)
Max Papis (1995)
Sergio Pérez (2011–2012)
Nelson Piquet, Jr. (2008–2009)
Scott Speed (2006–2007)
Adrian Sutil (2007–2011)
Jos Verstappen (1994–2003)
Alex Yoong (2001–2002)

Drivers who have also raced in the IndyCar Series

Marco Andretti (2006–2012)
Ryan Briscoe (2005–2012)
Patrick Carpentier (2005, 2011)
Adam Carroll (2010)
Robert Doornbos (2009)
Tomáš Enge (2004–2006)
Bryan Herta (2003–2006)
J. R. Hildebrand (2011–2012)
James Hinchcliffe (2011–2012)
Ryan Hunter-Reay (2007–2012)
Bruno Junqueira (2008, 2011)
Charlie Kimball (2011–2012)
Darren Manning (2004–2009)
Raphael Matos (2009–2011)
Vitor Meira (2002–2011)
Franck Montagny (2009)
Will Power (2008–2012)
Graham Rahal (2008–2012)
Buddy Rice (2002–2008, 2011)
Tomas Scheckter (2002–2011)
Scott Speed (2011)
Ho-Pin Tung (2011)

Race weekend [link]

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 tires, and two sets of wet weather treaded tires 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 [link]

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.^[12] 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 [link]

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, and its duration was a maximum of 24 minutes plus one additional lap.^[12] Additionally, each team had to make one mandatory pit stop between laps four and eight.^[12] 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^[16]

Feature race [link]

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, 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 [link]

Each team had to complete three compulsory pit stops over the course of the race weekend – one during the Sprint Race, and two during the Feature Race.^[12] 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 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 had the fastest pit crew of all teams.^[17]

Scoring [link]

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.^[12] 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 [link]

File:A1GP Ferrari car.jpg

The "Powered by Ferrari" A1 Grand Prix car in global livery

Main article: A1 Grand Prix car

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 based on the Formula One Ferrari F2004 chassis, riding on control slick tires from Michelin. The 4.5-litre Ferrari/Maserati V8 engine was capable of delivering up to 600 brake horsepower (450 kW) in PowerBoost mode – a mechanism to provide short bursts of increased power to create additional overtaking opportunities and action throughout the race.

Broadcasters [link]

Richard Dorfman was the A1GP's director of broadcasting. All broadcaster information is correct for the 2008–09 season.^[18]

Country / Region	Network	Language	Period
World	a1gp.com Gillette World Sport	English	2006–07 onwards 2008–09
Africa	SABC NT1	English French	2007–08 onwards 2008–09
Asia	ESPN Star Sports	English	2007–08 onwards
Australia	Fox Sports Nine Network	English	2007–08 onwards 2008–09
Austria	Premiere	German	Before 2008–09
Bosnia and Herzegovina	OBN	Bosnian	Before 2008–09
Belgium	NT1	French	2008–09
Belgium	EXQI Sport	Dutch	2008–09
Brazil	Rede TV	Portuguese	2008–09
Canada	Setanta Speed Channel	English	2008–09 Before 2008–09
China	CCTV-5 Beijing TV Guangdong TV Shanghai TV	Chinese	Before 2008–09
Czech Republic	Česká televize	Czech	Before 2008–09
Finland	Nelonen Sport	Finnish	2007–08 onwards
France	NT1 Eurosport France	French	2008–09 2005–06 to 2007–08
Germany	Premiere	German	2005–08
Greece Cyprus	Supersport ERT (Greece only, Highlights only)	Greek	2007–08 onwards 2008–09
Hungary	Hálózat TV	Hungarian	Before 2008–09
Indonesia	GlobalTV	Indonesian English	Before 2009–10
India	Zee Sports TEN Sports	Hindi English	2008–09
Ireland	TV3 Sky Sports	English	2007–08 onwards 2005–06 onwards
Italy	Sky Sport Rai Sport Più	Italian	Before 2008 2008–09
Latin and Central America	Speed Latin America	Spanish	2007–08 onwards
Lebanon	LBC	Arabic	2008–09
Luxembourg	NT1	French	2008–09
Malaysia	RTM	Malaysian	2007–08 onwards
Malta	Melita		2008–09
Mexico	Televisa Sports	Spanish	2007–08 onwards
Middle East	Al Jazeera	Arabic	Before 2008–09
Monaco	NT1	French	2008–09
Nigeria	Hi TV		2008–09
Netherlands	RTL7	Dutch	2007–08 onwards
New Zealand	TV3	English	2007–08 onwards
Pakistan	GEO Super	Urdu	2008–09
Poland	Polsat	Polish	Before 2008–09
Portugal	Sport TV		2008–09
Russia	RTR Sport (Highlights only)		2008–09
Slovenia	TV3	Slovene	Before 2008–09
South Africa	SABC	English	2007–08 onwards
Spain	Sogecable	Spanish	2007–08 onwards
Sweden	Viasat Motor	Swedish	2008–09
Switzerland	NT1 Schweizer Fernsehen Premiere	French German German	2008–09 2008–09 Before 2008–09
Ukraine	Poverkhnost TV	Ukrainian	2007–08 onwards
United Kingdom	Sky Sports Five (highlights only)	English	2005–06 to 2010–11^[19]
United States	Setanta America One (Post-season replays) Speed Channel	English	2008–09 2008–09 Before 2008–09

Controversy [link]

2006 A1 Grand Prix incident [link]

Main article: 2006–07 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Beijing, China

The first Chinese round of the 2006–07 A1GP took place on the streets of Beijing. 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 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 [link]

Chairman Tony Teixeira announced that Italian manufacturer Ferrari 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.^[20] 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.^[21]

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 $240 million USD loss for the initial season, and yet RAB Capital paid $200 million to the exiting 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.^[22] 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.^[23] 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,^[24] 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.^[25]

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.^[26]

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 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.^[27]

But with A1GP failing to show up to their season five events, notably dishonouring 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 in London,^[28] 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.^[29]

A1 Team USA Holdings LLC which financed the American entry in A1 has surfaced with a $4.5 million judgement from a US court against Teixeira, Lyndhurst Holdings, and A1 Holdings.^[30]

A1 Team Netherlands was officially declared bankrupt by the court in The Hague.^[31]

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.^[32]

While the A1GP liquidators were apparently selling all intellectual property rights along with cars,^[33] 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,^[34] and the liquidators are seeking £10 million for the assets.^[35]

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.^[36]

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 rumoured 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 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.^[37]

In Early 2011, rumours surfaced of A1GP's potential return with a new name. The series was to be called A10 World Series, 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.^[38] However, as of December 2011 there has been no such return or further indications of a return.

References [link]

^ What is A1 Grand Prix? A1GP official website
^ ^a ^b A1GP History a1gp.com
^ Official A1GP Press Release
^ "Series in doubt after liquidation,", crash.net, 30 June 2009
^ "A1GP set for revival" gpupdate.net, 28 Apil 2012
^ "A1 Grand Prix results for 2005–06". Autosport. http://www.autosport.com/results.php?s=201&y=2005&c=1.
^ Katherine Legge to Test A1GP racerchicks.com
^ "A1 Grand Prix makes plans for the 2006–07 season", A1GP official website, 14 June 2006
^ "A1GP and Sheikh Maktoum bid farewell" A1GP official website, 29 September 2006
^ "Sheikh Maktoum Exits A1GP In Deal With RAB Capital" A1GP official website, 10 December 2006
^ Roman Wittemeier. "Jani trauert der A1GP-Serie nach". http://www.motorsport-total.com/formelsport/news/2010/06/Jani_trauert_der_A1GP-Serie_nach_10062401.html. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f a1gp.com. "Rule changes for new season". http://www.a1gp.com/News/NewsArticle.aspx?newsId=41852. Retrieved 11 August 2008.
^ Mival, Al (17 October 2009). "V8 Supercars to replace scrapped event as A1GP cars fail to show". Courier Mail. Archived from the original on 20 October 2009. http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26222254-10389,00.html. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
^ Greg Stolz and David Murray (17 October 2009). "A1GP race cars still in UK as Gold Coast event in limbo". Courier Mail. Archived from the original on 12 November 2009. http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26220533-3102,00.html. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
^ Vince Pettit (5 November 2009). "A1GP – The final nail in the coffin?". thecheckeredflag.co.uk. Archived from the original on 16 November 2009. http://www.thecheckeredflag.co.uk/2009/11/a1gp-the-final-nail-in-the-coffin. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
^ "New points system for 2008/09". a1gp.com. 29 September 2008. Archived from the original on 1 October 2008. http://www.a1gp.com/News/NewsArticle.aspx?newsId=41949. Retrieved 29 September 2008.
^ a1gp.com. "Who were the pit stop kings?". http://www.a1gp.com/News/NewsArticle.aspx?newsId=41731. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
^ "Where to watch A1GP this season". a1gp.com. 22 September 2008. Archived from the original on 23 September 2008. http://www.a1gp.com/News/NewsArticle.aspx?newsId=42064. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
^ Sky Sports and Five renew in GBR a1gp.com (26 August 2008 )
^ "Ferrari joins A1GP", A1GP official website, 11 October 2007
^ "Kiwis warned: Black Beauty on last laps". Stuff.co.nz. 18 January 2009. http://www.stuff.co.nz/4822498a13275.html. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
^ Spinning Their Wheels --- Lack of Sponsor Interest Plagues Hedge-Fund Bet On Racing's 'World Cup'" The Wall Street Journal, 24 April 2007
^ "RAB Tries to Halt Redemptions After Loss on Racing Investment ", Bloomberg, 10 September 2008
^ "A1GP Boss Denies Financial woes", Goldcoast, 17 November 2008
^ A1 GP (Team GBR) Administration – Company in charge of running British motor racing Team GBR in the A1GP international tournament Insolvency News, 25 March 2009
^ Harrington, Ben (27 June 2009). "British A1 Grand Prix arm stalls". London: The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/5664677/British-A1-Grand-Prix-arm-stalls.html. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
^ "A1GP.com". A1 Grand Prix. 25 September 2009. http://www.a1gp.com/News/NewsArticle.aspx?newsId=44488&langCode=EN&teamId=1. Retrieved 26 September 2009.
^ Freeman, Glenn (ed.) (14 January 2010). "Pit & Paddock: Future hangs on court decision". Autosport 199 (2): p. 23.
^ "A1GP to be sold". autoweek.com. Autoweek. 28 January 2010. http://www.autoweek.com/article/20100128/MOTORSPORTS/100129928. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
^ "A1 Team USA awarded $4.5m", pitpass.com, 28 January 2010
^ "A1 Team Netherlands officially bankrupt", autosport.nl, 17 February 2010
^ "Battered RAB Capital to auction prize fund", ft.com, 24 February 2010
^ "A1GP goes into liquidation, but seeking buyers", accountancyage.com, 26 February 2010
^ "GoIndustry DoveBid A1GP Sale", go-dove.com
^ Watkins, Gary (ed.) (2010-04-01). "Pit & Paddock: £10 million tag put on A1". Autosport 200 (1): p. 24.
^ http://www.italiaracing.net/notizia.asp?id=26850&cat=34
^ Autosport. http://www.autosport.com/news/grapevine.php/id/85015.
^ Autosport. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89003.

External links [link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: A1 Grand Prix

Official website at the Wayback Machine (archived November 11, 2006)

v t e A1 Grand Prix teams

Teams	Australia Austria Brazil Canada China Czech Republic France Greece Germany Great Britain India Indonesia Ireland Italy Japan Korea Lebanon Malaysia Mexico Monaco Netherlands New Zealand Pakistan Portugal Russia Singapore South Africa Switzerland USA

v t e A1 Grand Prix races

2005–06	Great Britain Germany Portugal Australia Malaysia United Arab Emirates South Africa Indonesia Mexico USA China

2006–07	Netherlands Czech Republic Beijing, China Malaysia Indonesia New Zealand Australia South Africa Mexico Shanghai, China Great Britain

2007–08	Netherlands Czech Republic Malaysia Zhuhai, China New Zealand Australia South Africa Mexico Shanghai, China Great Britain

2008–09	Netherlands China Malaysia New Zealand South Africa Portugal Great Britain Cancelled Italy Indonesia Mexico

v t e A1 Grand Prix circuits

Circuits	Algarve Beijing Brands Hatch Brno Chengdu Dubai Durban Eastern Creek Estoril Kyalami Laguna Seca Lausitz Mexico City Monterrey Sentul Sepang Shanghai Taupo Zandvoort Zhuhai

v t e Classes of Auto racing

Formula racing	F1 F2 F3 F4 Formula Car Challenge Formula Atlantic Formula First Formula Ford Formula Junior Formula Libre Formula Nippon IndyCar FCJ FJ1600 F500 Formula SAE BriSCA F1 V8 Hotstox Supermodified Sprint car racing

Defunct Formula racing	F3000 F4000 F5000 Atlantic Championship Formula Mondial Formula Dream Formula Holden/Formula Brabham Formula Pacific IFM EuroBOSS

One-make formulae	GP2 GP3 Formula Abarth Formula BMW Formula C Formula Car Challenge Formula Continental FF1600 FF2000 Formula LGB Swift Hyundai Formula Maruti Formula Mazda Formula Monza Formula Nissan Formula Renault Formula Rolon Formula Super Vee Formula Suzuki Kei Sport Formula Suzuki Hayabusa Formula Toyota Formula Vee Indy Lights Auto GP Star Mazda SRF China Formula Grand Prix

Defunct one-make formulae	A1GP Superleague Formula Formula Asia Barber Pro FC Euro Series Formula Opel/Vauxhall FPA Formula V6 Asia GPM Formula König Formula RUS

Karting	KF3 KF2 KF1 KZ2 KZ1 Superkart/Formula E

Touring car racing	Group F Group G Group H Super 2000 Diesel 2000 Super Touring Super Production V8 Supercar DTM NGTC TC2000

Defunct Touring car racing	Group 1 Group 2 Group 5 Group A Group C Group E Group N (FIA) Group N (Australia) Group S Group SE Group SP Appendix J Class 1 Class 2 BTC-T Superstar V8Star

Stock car racing	Sprint Cup Nationwide Truck ARCA Late model Super Stock Street Stock IMCA Sport Compact Legends Hot Rods Brasil AUSCAR Turismo Carretera

Rallying	WRC Super 1600 Super 2000 Group N

Defunct Rallying	Group 1 Group 2 Group 4 Group A Group B Group S

Sports cars	DP Group 4 Group 5 Group 6 Group 7 Group C Group CN IMSA GTP Camel Light LMP LMPC S2000 Clubmans GC GC-21 Group A Sports Cars

Drag racing	Top Fuel Funny Car Pro Stock Top Alcohol Pro Modified Pro RWD Pro FWD All Motor Super Comp/Quick Rod Street Stock Top Doorslammer

Off-road racing	Trophy Truck Truggy Dune buggy Baja Bug Formula Offroad

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Look up Grand Prix in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Grand Prix (French pronunciation: [ɡʁɑ̃pʁi], meaning "Grand Prize"; plural Grands Prix) may refer to:

1 Competitions
2 Awards
3 Entertainment and arts
4 Video games
5 Other uses

Competitions [link]

Grand Prix (snooker), a former name of the World Open
Six-red World Grand Prix, a former name of the Sangsom Six-red World Championship
IAAF Grand Prix Final, an athletics competitions replaced by the IAAF World Athletics Final
Grand Prix de Futsal, international futsal competition
Grand Prix gliding
Grand Prix tennis circuit
ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating
FIVB World Grand Prix
World Grand Prix (darts)
Grand Prix (Magic: The Gathering)
Aero GP, flying competition
IAAF Super Grand Prix, a series of athletics meetings held until 2009
Some of the meetings in the series that succeeded the IAAF Super Grand Prix

Racing [link]

Grand Prix motor racing, form of racing that has evolved into Formula One racing
- List of Formula One Grands Prix
- Formula One
Grand Prix motorcycle Road Racing, known commonly as MotoGP after its premier class.
- List of Grand Prix motorcycle races
Grand Prix Chantal Biya, a road bicycle racing event
U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross, a cyclo-cross bicycle racing series
Grand Prix Masters
A1 Grand Prix
D1 Grand Prix
Speedway Grand Prix (motorcycle speedway)

Chess [link]

Equestrianism [link]

Grand Prix (horse race), the original name of the Prix Gladiateur, a horse race in France
Nakayama Grand Prix, original name of the Arima Kinen horse race in Japan
Grand Prix Dressage
Grand Prix show jumping

Combat sports [link]

K-1 World Grand Prix, K-1's annual kickboxing World Grand Prix tournaments
Strikeforce Grand Prix, the name for a competition run by Strikeforce
Pride Grand Prix, the name for a series of tournaments held by Pride
DREAM Grand Prix, the name for DREAM's various mixed martial arts Grand Prix tournaments
IFL Grand Prix, the name for International Fight League's various mixed martial arts Grand Prix tournaments

Awards [link]

Grand Prix (Cannes Film Festival)
Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, annual literary award for French and international crime fiction
Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême, a comics award
Prix Saint-Michel, another comics award
Grand Prix at International Film Festival Bratislava

Entertainment and arts [link]

Eurovision Song Contest (originally named Grand Prix d'Eurovision de la Chanson)
*Melodi Grand Prix - Norwegian selection for Eurovision
- Dansk Melodi Grand Prix - Danish selection for Eurovision
Grand Prix (album), by Teenage Fanclub
Grand Prix (1934 film), a British film
Grand Prix (1966 film), a 1966 film about Formula One motor racing
Grand Prix (2010 film), a South Korean film
"Grand Prix" (CSI: Miami), seventh episode from second season of CSI: Miami
Grand Prix (band), a hard rock and AOR band from the early 1980s

Video games [link]

F-1 Sensation, the Japanese/European version of the cancelled NES game Grand Prix
Formula One Grand Prix (video game)
- Grand Prix 2
- Grand Prix 3
- Grand Prix 4
Grand Prix (video game) by Activision
Grand Prix Challenge, by Atari
Grand Prix Circuit (video game), by Accolade
Grand Prix Legends (1967 season)
A gameplay mode in all seven Mario Kart games

Other uses [link]

Pontiac Grand Prix, an automobile formerly manufactured by General Motors
Grand Prix (drinks), a line of soft drinks sold in Canada by Dominion Stores in the 1960s

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title.
If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

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Narain Karthikeyan
Formula One World Championship career
Karthikeyan at the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix.
Born	(1977-01-14) 14 January 1977 (age 35)
Nationality	Indian
2012 team	HRT-Cosworth
2012 car #	23
Races	34 (32 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	5
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First race	2005 Australian Grand Prix
Last race	2012 Monaco Grand Prix
2011 position	26th (0 pts)

Awards

2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Most Popular Driver

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career

9 race(s) run over 1 year(s)

2010 position

30th

First race

2010 Kroger 250 - (Martinsville)

Last race

2010 Mountain Dew 250 - Talladega

Wins	Top tens	Poles
0	0	0

24 Hours of Le Mans career
Participating years	2009
Teams	Kolles
Best finish	7th in LMP1 (2009)
Class wins	0

Kumar Ram Narain Karthikeyan (Tamil: குமார் ராம் நாராயண் கார்த்திகேயன்; born 14 January 1977, in Madras)^[1] is the first Formula One motor racing driver from India.^[2] He has previously competed in A1GP, and the Le Mans Series. He made his Formula One debut in 2005 with the Jordan team, and was a Williams F1 test driver in 2006 and 2007. Like several other former F1 drivers, Karthikeyan moved to stock car racing and drove the #60 Safe Auto Insurance Company Toyota Tundra for Wyler Racing in the 2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. In 2011 he returned to F1 with the HRT team, and has again signed with them for the 2012 season.

1 Early career
2 Formula One career
3 Other Events and Races
4 Racing record
5 References
6 External links

Early career [link]

Karthikeyan was born in Madras, Tamil Nadu. Karthikeyan did his schooling at Stanes Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School in Coimbatore. He belongs to PSG Family in Coimbatore. His father Mr.G.R Karthikeyan has been "Managing Trustee" of PSG and Sons Charities which runs PSG industrial Institute, PSG Polytechnic College,PSG College of Arts and Science, PSG College of Technology, PSG Institute of Medical science and Research, PSG Hospitals, PSG Institute of Management etc.Narain Karthikeyan also runs Karthikeya Spinning Mills LTD and a wind energy sector and many other companies in Coimbatore. Karthikeyan's interest in motorsport began at an early age, as his father was a former Indian national rally champion winning South India Rally seven times. He is also related to the late S. Karivardhan, India's most famous racing driver until Karthikeyan came along. With the ambition of becoming India's first Formula One driver, Karthikeyan finished on the podium in his first ever race, at Sriperumpudur in a Formula Maruti (a.k.a.FISSME). He then went onto the Elf Winfield Racing School in France, showing his talent by becoming a semi-finalist in the Pilote Elf Competition for Formula Renault cars in 1992. He returned to India to race in Formula Maruti for the 1993 season, and in the same year, he also competed in the Formula Vauxhall Junior championship in Great Britain. This gave him valuable experience in European racing, and he was keen to return for the following year.

In 1994, he returned to the UK, racing in the Formula Ford Zetec series as the number two works Vector driver for the Foundation Racing team. The highlight of the season was a podium finish in a support race for the Portuguese Grand Prix held at Estoril. Karthikeyan also took part in the British Formula Ford Winter Series, and became the first Indian to win any championship in Europe.

In 1995, Karthikeyan graduated to the Formula Asia Championship for just four races. However, he showed pace immediately and was able to finish second in the race at Shah Alam, Malaysia. In 1996, he had a full season in the series and became the first Indian and the first Asian to win the Formula Asia International series. He moved back to Britain in 1997 to compete in the British Formula Opel Championship with the Nemesis Motorsport team, taking a pole position and win at Donington Park and finishing sixth in the overall points standings.

In 1998, Karthikeyan made his debut in the British Formula Three Championship with the Carlin Motorsport team. Competing in only 10 rounds, he managed two third place finishes in the final two races of the season, at Spa-Francorchamps and Silverstone, to finish 12th overall. He continued in the championship for 1999, finishing on the podium five times, including two wins at Brands Hatch. His season also included two pole positions, three fastest laps and two lap records, helping him to sixth in the championship. He also competed in the Macau Grand Prix, qualifying in sixth position and finishing sixth in the second race. Continuing his drive in the British F3 Championship in 2000, he finished fourth overall in the standings, and also took pole position and fastest laps in the Macau Grand Prix. He also won both the International F3 race at Spa-Francorchamps and the Korea Super Prix.

Karthikeyan started 2001 in the Formula Nippon F3000 Championship, finishing the year amongst the top ten. In the same year, he became the first Indian to ever drive a Formula One car, testing for the Jaguar Racing team at Silverstone on 14 June. Impressed with his performance, he was then offered a test drive in the Jordan-Honda EJ11 at Silverstone in September. Karthikeyan again tested for Jordan, at Mugello in Italy on 5 October, finishing just half a second off the pace off Jordan's lead driver Jean Alesi.

In 2002, he moved into the Telefonica World Series with Team Tata RC Motorsport, taking a pole position and setting the fastest non-Formula One lap time at the Interlagos Circuit in Brazil. Continuing in the renamed Superfund Word Series in 2003, Karthikeyan won two races and took three other podium positions on his way to fourth overall in the championship. These results earned him another Formula One test drive, this time with the Minardi team. He was offered a race drive for the 2004 season, but was unable to raise the necessary sponsorship funds to seal the deal. During the year, he married Pavarna.

He continued in the Nissan World Series, renamed "World Series by Nissan", in 2004, taking wins in Valencia, Spain and Magny-Cours, France.

Teams: Carlin Motorsport, RC Motorsport, Team Impul, Williams F1 Team, Jordan Toyota

Championships: British Formula 3, Formula Nippon, Formula Nissan (now merged as Formula Renault)

Formula One career [link]

Karthikeyan locking his brakes during qualifying at the 2005 United States Grand Prix

On 1 February 2005, Karthikeyan announced that he had signed the preliminary deal with Jordan Formula One team and said that he would be their main driver for the 2005 Formula One season, thus making him India's first Formula One racing driver. His partner was the Portuguese driver, Tiago Monteiro. Karthikeyan completed the necessary testing distance of 300 km in an F1 car in order to gain his superlicence at the Silverstone Circuit on 10 February.

In his first race, the Australian Grand Prix, Karthikeyan qualified in 12th position. After a poor start which saw him drop to 18th place by the end of the first lap, Karthikeyan finished in 15th, two laps behind winner Giancarlo Fisichella. He achieved his first points in the 2005 United States Grand Prix under farcical circumstances as all but three teams pulled out due to an argument over tyre safety. Karthikeyan finished fourth, finishing ahead of the two Minardi drivers but behind team mate Monteiro. Apart from the USGP, Karthikeyan's highest finish was 11th place. In the 2005 Japanese Grand Prix free practice, he was fastest for a long period of time and eventually qualified 11th. At the 2005 Chinese Grand Prix he qualified in 15th place, very close in times to many of the top teams. In an unlucky end to his 2005 season, Karthikeyan crashed his Jordan into a wall at the Chinese race, but was unhurt and able to provide an interview afterwards.

Because the Jordan team was taken over and renamed Midland for the 2006 season, the management change prompted some doubt over Karthikeyan's future at the team. Near the end of 2005, Karthikeyan announced he would not be driving for Midland the following year allegedly due to their demand that he pay as much as USD 11.7 million to secure his seat on the team. He mentioned that "anyway, being a test driver in a good car will allow me to showcase my skills better". On 8 December 2005, Karthikeyan tested for Williams at Spain and finished a respectable fifth, outpacing the confirmed Williams second driver, Nico Rosberg in the FW27C chassis, who finished ninth. On 27 January 2006, Williams confirmed Karthikeyan as their fourth driver.^[3] He was to perform testing duties for the team alongside Alexander Wurz who had been confirmed earlier as the team's third driver. He was retained as a reserve test driver for Williams alongside Kazuki Nakajima in 2007.^[4] Karthikeyan said he was blown away by the difference between Formula One's stragglers and a top flight team.^[5]

Karthikeyan driving for Hispania at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Later in 2007, he was linked with the Spyker (previously Jordan) Formula One team after their driver Christijan Albers was fired,^[6] although Sakon Yamamoto got the drive. Due to the withdrawal of support from Tata (Karthikeyan's main sponsor) of Williamsf1, Nakajima was given the lion's share of testing duties and Karthikeyan was sidelined.

When the Spyker F1 team was bought out by Vijay Mallya towards the end of 2007, Karthikeyan had been linked with a drive with the new Force India Formula One team in 2008. However, Karthikeyan did not even get to test for the team. Karthikeyan was also linked to a drive with the Super Aguri team in January 2008, as one of the terms of an Indian consortium investing in the team. The deal was not agreed and he continued to drive for A1 Team India. Karthikeyan was India's only Formula One driver until the 2010 season, when Karun Chandhok signed to drive for the Hispania Racing F1 Team.^[7]

On 6 January 2011, Karthikeyan announced that he would drive for the Hispania team in the 2011 season,^[8] following five years away from active involvement in the championship. Karthikeyan confirmed the deal via his Twitter page, saying it would "be a dream come true to race in front of the home crowd in the Indian GP in October," and adding that the support of financial backers Tata Group had been "instrumental."^[9]

An unfortunate consequence of driving for such an uncompetitive team, along with the increasing reliability of modern Formula 1 cars, meant that Karthikeyan twice set the record for the lowest placed finisher in a Formula 1 event.^[10] The first occurrence was during the Chinese Grand Prix where the single retirement of Jaime Alguersuari meant Karthikeyan finished in 23rd place, after he was overtaken by teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi on the final lap. However, in the European Grand Prix there were no retirements meaning that Karthikeyan once again broke the record by being the 24th car to cross the finish line.

On 30 June 2011, Karthikeyan was replaced by Daniel Ricciardo for the remaining races of the season except the Indian Grand Prix^[11]^[12] but participated in Friday first practice in Germany, Singapore, Japan and Korea.

On 23 October 2011, it was confirmed that Karthikeyan would replace Liuzzi for the Indian Grand Prix.^[13] Karthikeyan was outqualifed by 0.022 secs to qualify 22nd,^[14] however he started 24th and last due to blocking Michael Schumacher in qualifying.^[15] Despite picking up damage in the first lap of the race,^[16] Karthikeyan managed to beat Ricciardo by 31.8 seconds in the race to finish 17th.^[17] Liuzzi returned to replace Karthikeyan ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.^[18]

Karthikeyan driving for HRT at the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix.

On 3 February 2012, it was confirmed that Karthikeyan had again signed for the HRT team for the 2012 season partnering Pedro de la Rosa.^[19] In the Australian Grand Prix, he and teammate Pedro de la Rosa were unable to qualify. In Malaysia, both the HRTs managed to qualify, with Karthikeyan starting 23rd due to a 5-place gear box penalty for Heikki Kovalainen, the start was wet and the HRTs gambled to start the race on full wet tyres, whilst the other cars started on intermediate tyres. As the rain increased that gamble paid off as other cars had to pit for full wets which promoted Karthikeyan to a points-paying tenth place before the safety car then red flag came out for heavy rain. At the re-start, after a few laps more laps behind the safety car, the track was dry enough for intermediate tyres and a few drivers pitted as the safety car came back in, however Karthikeyan stayed out and was as high as 5th place at one point, before McLaren's Jenson Button crashed into him whilst they were racing for position. Karthikeyan suffered damage however, but he pitted for intermediate tyres which dropped him to the back of the field, bar teammate de la Rosa who had a served a drive-through penalty. On lap 47, Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel received a puncture after hitting Karthikeyan's front wing, whilst lapping him and Vettel was forced to pit and replaced the punctured tyre which put Vettel down from 4th place, finishing 11th; Karthikeyan finished the race in 21st, however he was given a 20 second post-race penalty for his part in the collision, which meant Karthikeyan dropped to 22nd and last, behind de la Rosa. Post-race, Vettel and Red Bull boss Christian Horner criticised Karthikeyan's driving, with Vettel calling Karthikeyan an "idiot".^[20] Karthikeyan hit back at Vettel, calling him a "cry-baby".^[21] Later, Kartikeyan decided to call a truce with Vettel, stating his respect for Vettel's abilities and saying "I think we have to deal with it in a mature way and forget about it."^[21]

Other Events and Races [link]

IRL Test [link]

In 2005, Karthikeyan tested an Indy Racing League (IRL) car for Red Bull Cheever Racing team for the Indianapolis 500 race and was offered half a million US dollars as initial fee, but the deal was not completed.^{[citation needed]}

A1 GP [link]

In 2007 season Karthikeyan also drove for A1 Team India. He made his A1 GP debut in New Zealand and he finished 10th in the sprint race and 7th in the Feature Race.^[22]

Karthikeyan competing for A1 Team India at the 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, South Africa.

Karthikeyan won the A1GP of Zhuhai (China) for Team India on 16 December 2007. This was India's first A1GP win.^[23] Karthikeyan is also the first to take pole position for India in the A1GP. He got pole in the feature race in Brands Hatch in 2008. Karthikeyan won two feature races in the 2007-2008 season, including the season finale at Brands Hatch starting from pole position. This helped India finish in the top ten, ahead of such as Australia, Brazil, China and Italy.

The 4th season for Team India was disastrous as the team lost its title sponsor, which resulted in severe financial constraints. On 3 May 2009 A1 Team India finished the season with a podium finish in the Sprint Race at Brands Hatch. Karthikeyan qualified the A1 Team India car in 7th place on the starting grid for the race. The Feature Race ended abruptly for Karthikeyan, as he was taken out by the spinning car of A1 Team China in front of him on the first corner of the first lap.^[24]

The team finished 12th overall in the 2008-09 season.^[25]

The 24 Hours of Le Mans [link]

In the second week of March 2009, Karthikeyan tested for the Kolles Le Mans Team. It was later confirmed that for the 2009 season, he will be partnered by Christijan Albers. Team Kolles - headed by ex-Force India Team Principal Colin Kolles - will be taking part in the championship with two Audi R10 turbo diesel machines. The car boasts a successful racing history with three Le Mans 24h victories and 22 individual race wins to its name. Team Kolles joins the championship for the first time in 2009.^[26]^[27]^[28]

On 11 May 2009, Karthikeyan finished sixth in his first ever Le Mans series race while driving for the Kolles Audi team in the second round of the 2009 championship held at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium.^[29]

On 14 June 2009 Karthikeyan dislocated his shoulder in a fall just before the start of the race. He had come up with strong performances in the practice and the qualifying, and was scheduled to do the opening double stint. At 1:00 am the ACO organisation declared him unsuitable to drive, even though the Audi doctor approved it.^[30]

NASCAR [link]

Karthikeyan made his NASCAR debut at Martinsville Speedway on 27 March 2010 driving in the Kroger 250 Camping World Truck Series for Wyler Racing in the #60 Safe Auto Insurance Company Chevrolet Silverado. Qualifying was rained out and the field set by 2009 owner points, putting the first Indian-born driver to compete in NASCAR in the 11th starting spot. After a slow start and coming to grips with driving a race truck and racing on an American oval short track for the first time, Karthikeyan did manage to put in a very respectable effort and finished on the lead lap in 13th place. Karthikeyan went on to win the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Most Popular Driver Award for the 2010 season which was voted by the fans, becoming the first foreign-born driver to win the award.

Superleague Formula [link]

Narain drove for the PSV team in SLF in 2010. He won the 2nd race at Brands Hatch, Great Britain.

Racing record [link]

Career summary [link]

2012: Formula One World Championship HRT, 22nd (0 points)*
2011: Formula One World Championship HRT, 26th (0 points)
2010: Superleague Formula - PSV Eindhoven, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series - Starbeast Motorsports, Wyler Racing
2009: A1GP World championship A1 Team India, 2nd place at British GP at Brands Hatch
2009: 24 Hours of Le Mans and Le Mans Series, Kolles Audi R10 TDI
2008: A1GP World Championship A1 Team India, Winner British GP, Brands Hatch.
2007: A1GP World Championship A1 Team India, Winner Chinese GP
2007: Formula One World Championship Williams F1 Team, Test Driver
2006: Formula One World Championship Williams F1 Team, Test Driver
2005: Formula One World Championship Jordan, 18th (5pts)
2004: Formula Nissan World Series (World Series by Nissan), 6th (TATA RC Motorsport)
2003: Formula Nissan World Series (Superfund Word Series), 4th (Carlin Motorsport)
2002: Formula Nissan World Series (Telefónica World Series), 9th (TATA RC Motorsport)
2001: Formula Nippon, 14th (Team Impul)
2000: British Formula 3, 4th (Stewart)
1999: British Formula 3, 6th (Carlin Motorsport)
1998: British Formula 3, 12th (Carlin Motorsport)
1997: British Formula Vauxhall, 8th
1996: Formula Asia, Champion
1995: Formula Asia (4 races)
1994: British Formula Ford Winter Series, Champion
1993: Indian Formula Maruti + British Formula Vauxhall Junior
1992: ELF Winfield Racing School, Circuit Paul Ricard, France won debut race Pilote Elf Competition for Formula Renault.

^* Season in progress.

Complete Formula One results [link]

(key)

Yr	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	WDC	Points
2005	Jordan Grand Prix	Jordan EJ15	Toyota RVX-05 V10	AUS 15	MAL 11	BHR Ret	SMR 12	ESP 13	MON Ret	EUR 16	CAN Ret	USA 4	FRA 15	GBR Ret	GER 16	HUN 12	TUR 14	ITA 20						18th	5
2005	Jordan Grand Prix	Jordan EJ15B	Toyota RVX-05 V10																BEL 11	BRA 15	JPN 15	CHN Ret		18th	5
2011	Hispania Racing F1 Team	Hispania F111	Cosworth CA2011 V8	AUS DNQ	MAL Ret	CHN 23	TUR 21	ESP 21	MON 17	CAN 17	EUR 24	GBR	GER TD	HUN	BEL	ITA	SIN TD	JPN TD	KOR TD	IND 17	ABU	BRA		26th	0
2012	HRT F1 Team	Hispania F112	Cosworth CA2012 V8	AUS DNQ	MAL 22	CHN 22	BHR 21	ESP Ret	MON 15	CAN	EUR	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	SIN	JPN	KOR	IND	ABU	USA	BRA	22nd*	0*

^* Season in progress.

Complete A1 Grand Prix results [link]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	DC	Points
2006–07	India	NED SPR	NED FEA	CZE SPR	CZE FEA	CHN SPR	CHN FEA	MYS SPR	MYS FEA	IDN SPR	IDN FEA	NZL SPR 10	NZL FEA 7	AUS SPR	AUS FEA	RSA SPR 15	RSA FEA 9	MEX SPR 11	MEX FEA 18	CHN SPR 7	CHN FEA 17	GBR SPR 7	GBR SPR 4	16th	13
2007–08		NED SPR 10	NED FEA Ret	CZE SPR 21	CZE FEA 9	MYS SPR 11	MYS FEA 6	CHN SPR 7	CHN FEA 1	NZL SPR 10	NZL FEA Ret	AUS SPR 11	AUS FEA 11	RSA SPR	RSA FEA	MEX SPR 13	MEX FEA 9	CHN SPR 5	CHN FEA 7	GBR SPR 5	GBR SPR 1			10th	61
2008–09		NED SPR	NED FEA	CHN SPR 10	CHN FEA 10	MYS SPR Ret	MYS FEA Ret	NZL SPR 9	NZL FEA 7	RSA SPR 6	RSA FEA 12	POR SPR 6	POR FEA 11	GBR SPR 2	GBR FEA Ret									12th	19

Superleague Formula [link]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Operator	1			2			3			4			5			6			7			8			9			10			11			12			Position	Points
2010	PSV Eindhoven	Racing for Holland	SIL			ASS			MAG			JAR			NÜR			ZOL			BRH			ADR			POR			ORD			BEI			NAV			16th	288
2010	PSV Eindhoven	Racing for Holland	12	15	X	13	9	X				11	15	X	13	16	X	10	14	X	18	1	X																16th	288

24 Hours of Le Mans results [link]

Year	Class	No	Tyres	Car	Team	Co-Drivers	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2009	LMP1	14	M	Audi R10 TDI Audi TDI 5.5L Turbo V12 (Diesel)	Kolles	Charles Zwolsman, Jr. André Lotterer	369	7th	7th

References [link]

^ "Narain Karthikeyan biography, Hispania Racing". HispaniaF1Team.com. 10 April 2011. http://www.hispaniaf1team.com/en/team/narain-karthikeyan.
^ Pande, Vinayak (2011-03-16). "Didn't want to spend my life thinking what if: Narain Karthikeyan". Hindustan Times (New Delhi: HT Media Limited). http://www.hindustantimes.com/Didn-t-want-to-spend-my-life-thinking-what-if-Narain-Karthikeyan/Article1-673902.aspx. Retrieved 2011-03-15.
^ "Williams Confirms Narain Karthikeyan". NewsOnF1.com. 27 January 2006. http://newsonf1.net/2006/news/01/jan27w.htm. Retrieved 4 May 2006.
^ "Williams retain Karthikeyan for 2007". 28 September 2006. http://www.formula1.com/news/5017.html. Retrieved 28 September 2006. ^{[dead link]}
^ "Karthikeyan 'Blown away' by F1 contrast". F1racing.net. 12 December 2006. http://newsonf1.net/2006/news/01/jan27w.htm. Retrieved 24 October 2006.
^ "Karthikeyan versus Piquet for Spyker". grandprix.com. 10 July 2007. http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns19398.html. Retrieved 12 July 2007.
^ Noble, Jonathan (4 March 2010). "Chandhok announced as HRT driver". autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81842. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
^ Noble, Jonathan (6 January 2011). "Karthikeyan signs race deal with HRT". autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88821. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
^ Weeks, Jimmy (6 January 2011). "KARTHIKEYAN LANDS HISPANIA DRIVE FOR 2011". F1Badger.com (BadgerGP). http://www.f1badger.com/2011/01/karthikeyan-lands-hispania-drive-for-2011/. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
^ "European Grand Prix from the pit lane". BBC. 26 June 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/13921387.stm. Retrieved 26 June 2011.
^ "Hispania confirms Daniel Ricciardo will race for it from Silverstone". Autosport. 30 June 2011. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/92740.
^ "Karthikeyan to race in India for HRT". Formula1.com. 17 September 2011. http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2011/9/12539.html.
^ "Karthikeyan to replace Liuzzi for Indian GP". ManipeF1.com. 23 October 2011. http://www.manipef1.com/news/articles/12708/.
^ "2011 Airtel Formula 1 Grand Prix of India Qualifying Results". Formula1.com. 29 October 2011. http://www.formula1.com/results/season/2011/863/6938/.
^ Elizalde, Pablo (29 October 2011). "Karthikeyan penalised for impeding Schumacher during qualifying". Autosport (Haymarket Publications). http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/95760. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
^ "Karthikeyan proved his worth at the Indian Grand Prix 2011". aaformula1.com. 30 October 2011. http://www.aaformula1.com/2011/10/karthikeyan-proved-his-worth-at-indian.html.
^ "2011 Airtel Formula 1 Grand Prix of India Race (Timing Archive)". Formula1.com. 30 October 2011. http://www.formula1.com/results/season/2011/863/6939/live_timing_popup.html.
^ "Liuzzi braces for ‘tricky’ Yas circuit". Gulfnews.com. 8 November 2011. http://gulfnews.com/sport/motorsport/liuzzi-braces-for-tricky-yas-circuit-1.925642.
^ "Narain Karthikeyan completes HRTs lineup for 2012". HRT F1 Team (HRT F1). 3 February 2012. http://hispaniaracing.com/news.php?nid=622. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
^ "Sebastian Vettel criticises ‘idiot’ backmarker in Malaysian GP". BBC. 26 March 2012. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/17506568. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
^ ^a ^b "Karthikeyan keen to move on from Vettel 'cry baby' comment". BBC. 30 March 2012. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/17550940. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
^ "With change of heart, Narain says yes to A-1". Hindustan Times.com. 16 January 2007. http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1902102,00070011.htm. Retrieved 17 January 2007.
^ http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/159637.html
^ http://www.a1teamindia.in/displayArticle.php?id=107&PHPSESSID=e3c8d397a0a4d6013e7c8dd55a4fe998
^ http://www.a1teamindia.in/inner.php?id=70&tid=4
^ "Karthikeyan invited to Kolles Le Mans test". GPUpdate.net. 4 March 2009. http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/207721/karthikeyan-invited-to-kolles-le-mans-test/. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
^ "Albers signs with Kolles Le Mans team". GPUpdate.net. 1 April 2009. http://www.gpupdate.net/en/le-mans-series-news/209343/albers-signs-with-kolles-le-mans-team/. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
^ http://www.planetlemans.com/2009/03/31/team-kolles-confirms-drivers-and-audi-r10-livery/
^ "Karthikeyan does well to finish 6th". The Telegraph (Calcutta, India). 12 May 2009. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090512/jsp/sports/story_10950591.jsp.
^ http://www.f1technical.net/news/12640

External links [link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Narain Karthikeyan

Official website
Narain Karthikeyan at Racing Reference

Achievements
Preceded by Ricky Carmichael	NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Most Popular Driver 2010	Succeeded by Austin Dillon

HRT F1 Team

Founders: Adrián Campos | José Ramón Carabante
Personnel: Daniele Audetto | Toni Cuquerella | Luis Pérez-Sala

Race drivers: 22. Pedro de la Rosa | 23. Narain Karthikeyan

Test drivers: Dani Clos | Vitantonio Liuzzi

HRT Driver Development: Ma Qing Hua

Formula One cars: F110 | F111 | F112

Teams and drivers competing in the 2012 Formula One season

Red Bull	McLaren	Ferrari	Mercedes	Lotus	Force India
1 Sebastian Vettel 2 Mark Webber	3 Jenson Button 4 Lewis Hamilton	5 Fernando Alonso 6 Felipe Massa	7 Michael Schumacher 8 Nico Rosberg	9 Kimi Räikkönen 10 Romain Grosjean	11 Paul di Resta 12 Nico Hülkenberg‎
Sauber	Toro Rosso	Williams	Caterham	HRT	Marussia
14 Kamui Kobayashi 15 Sergio Pérez	16 Daniel Ricciardo 17 Jean-Éric Vergne	18 Pastor Maldonado 19 Bruno Senna	20 Heikki Kovalainen 21 Vitaly Petrov	22 Pedro de la Rosa 23 Narain Karthikeyan	24 Timo Glock 25 Charles Pic

Persondata
Name	Karthikeyan, Narain
Alternative names
Short description	Indian Formula One racing driver
Date of birth	14 January 1977
Place of birth	Madras, Tamil Nadu, India
Date of death
Place of death

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This article is about the younger Jacques Villeneuve. For his uncle, see Jacques Villeneuve (elder).

Jacques Villeneuve
Formula One World Championship career
Villeneuve at a vintage racing event in 2010
Born	(1971-04-09) April 9, 1971 (age 41) Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec
Nationality	Canadian
Active years	1996–2006
Teams	Williams, BAR, Renault, Sauber, BMW Sauber
Races	165 (164 starts)
Championships	1 (1997)
Wins	11
Podiums	23
Career points	235
Pole positions	13
Fastest laps	9
First race	1996 Australian Grand Prix
First win	1996 European Grand Prix
Last win	1997 Luxembourg Grand Prix
Last race	2006 German Grand Prix

Jacques Villeneuve

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career

First race

2007 UAW-Ford 500 (Talladega)

NASCAR Nationwide Series career

First race

2008 NAPA Auto Parts 200 (Montreal)

Wins	Top tens	Poles
0	4	1

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career

First race

2007 Smith's Las Vegas 350 (Las Vegas)

Last race

2007 Ford 200 (Homestead)

Statistics current as of February 19, 2008.

24 Hours of Le Mans career
Participating years	2007–2008
Teams	Peugeot
Best finish	2nd (2008)
Class wins	0

Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve, OQ (French pronunciation: [ʒɑk vilnœv]) (born April 9, 1971), is a Canadian musician and retired automobile racing driver. He is the son of Formula One driver Gilles Villeneuve, and is the namesake of his uncle (also a racer). Jacques Villeneuve won the 1995 CART Championship, the 1995 Indianapolis 500 and the 1997 Formula One World Championship, making him only the third driver after Mario Andretti and Emerson Fittipaldi to achieve such a feat. To date, no other Canadian has won the Indianapolis 500 or the F1 Drivers' title.

Following two successful years in CART, Villeneuve moved into Formula One with the front running Williams team, alongside Damon Hill. In his debut season, Villeneuve challenged Hill for the title, winning four races and taking the fight to the final round in Japan, where the Canadian retired and Hill won the title. Villeneuve, however, did win the following year's title, this time challenging Michael Schumacher and once again taking it to the final round in Jerez. In the race, the two collided, resulting in Schumacher's retirement and subsequent disqualification from the 1997 World Championship, with Villeneuve going on to take third place in the race, and the overall title.

The last year in which Villeneuve would win a championship level race and finish the season in the top three was 1997. Renault had pulled out of Formula One for 1998 and Villeneuve's Williams team had to fare with less competitive Mecachrome engines. Villeneuve moved to the newly formed British American Racing team in 1999 and stayed there for the next four seasons but, following poor results he was replaced by former British Formula Three Champion Takuma Sato. After a short run with Renault at the end of 2004, Villeneuve moved to the Sauber team for the 2005 season where he was outscored by his less experienced teammate Felipe Massa. The Sauber team were bought out by BMW for the following season and Villeneuve struggled to score points, taking seven points from eleven rounds before suffering an injury in Germany. The Canadian was replaced by Robert Kubica and soon BMW and Villeneuve parted company.

Outside Formula One, Villeneuve has taken on several new careers: in sportscar racing, racing for Peugeot in the 2007 and 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans, jumping to NASCAR in August 2007 and racing as an invited driver in the Argentinian Top Race V6 series, and in music, so far releasing one album titled Private Paradise.

1 Personal and early life
2 Racing career
3 Helmet
4 Music career
5 TV advertisements
6 Motorsport career results
7 See also
8 References
9 External links

Personal and early life [link]

Jacques Villeneuve was born in the Canadian city of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, to aspiring Formula One driver Gilles Villeneuve and his wife Joann. Although Villeneuve was born in Canada, he was in fact raised in Monaco.^[1] Jacques also has two sisters: Melanie and Jessica Villeneuve, the latter being a half sister. Jacques' uncle, Jacques Sr., was also a racing driver and in 1985 at Road America became the first Canadian to win a CART race. When Villeneuve was eleven years old, his father was killed during the qualifying session for the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder following a collision with Jochen Mass.

When not racing, Villeneuve lives between Villars-sur-Ollon, Switzerland and Montreal, Canada. Villeneuve was among the first group inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame. He was also named Canada's Athlete of the Year, receiving the Lou Marsh Trophy in 1995 and 1997. In 1998, he was made an Officer of the National Order of Quebec.

Villeneuve's first girlfriend was Sandrine Gros d'Aillon. They dated until the late 1990s.^[2]^[3]^[4] Villeneuve was also engaged to Australian singer Dannii Minogue in the late 1990s and was once engaged to American ballerina Ellen Green. He married his Parisienne girlfriend Johanna Martinez on May 29, 2006, at a civil ceremony in Switzerland. After the ceremony, it was announced the Villeneuves were expecting a baby in November. Johanna gave birth to a son, Jules, on November 14, 2006. Their second son Jonas was born on December 23, 2007. The couple divorced in July 2009.^[5]

In January 2007, Villeneuve purchased a $3 million home in Westmount in Montreal. His mother was the real estate agent responsible for the sale of the home.^[6] Jacques owned a trendy nightclub and restaurant in Montreal called Newtown, which is the English translation of his French last name ('Ville' means 'Town', and 'Neuve' means 'new'). It is located on Crescent Street. He sold it in 2009.^[7]

Racing career [link]

Early career [link]

In 1984, two years after his father's death, Jacques asked his mother if he could follow his father's footsteps and go motor racing.^[8] His mother, Joann, promised she would allow him to drive a kart if he got good marks in one of his weakest subjects, Mathematics. Villeneuve applied himself at school and soon got the marks he required for his mother to fulfill her promise.^[8] A year later, Joann allowed him to drive a 100 cc kart at a kart track in Imola.^[8] The owners of the track, Luigi and Massimo Buratti, were impressed by the Canadian and after proving himself in a 100 cc machine, he moved up to the 135 cc version before, on the same day, being allowed onto the Grand Prix circuit with a Formula Four car.^[8]

Soon, Villeneuve's uncle, Jacques Sr., enrolled him at the Jim Russell Racing Driver School in Mont Tremblant, Quebec. Villeneuve's course lasted three days and in that time the Canadian demonstrated a great amount of concentration for a boy of his age.^[8] At the end of his course, the young Canadian received his diploma and chief instructor Gilbert Pednault declared Villeneuve as the best student he'd ever seen.^[8] During the summer of 1987, Villeneuve attended a racing school set up by former instructor Richard Spenard. In return for helping in the garage, the Canadian received guidance in terms of race craft as he attempted to hone his skills.^[8] At the age of seventeen, Villeneuve was too young to obtain a racing license in both his native Canada and Italy and so, with help from the Canadian Automotive Federation, got a license from Andorra.^[8]

In 1988, the seventeen year old entered the Alfa Cup and, against former Formula One drivers Johnny Cecotto and Mauro Baldi, finished the two legged race in tenth position.^[9] Two weeks later at Monza, Villeneuve was up against the likes of Riccardo Patrese and Nicola Larini.^[9]

Villeneuve competed in the Italian Formula Three series from 1989 through 1991, but failed to make an impression.^[1] In 1992, he raced in the Japanese Formula Three series, winning three races and placing second in the championship.^[1] Villeneuve soon received an invitation from Craig Pollock to compete as a one–off in the Trois Rivières Formula Atlantic race, Villeneuve finished the race third and Pollock was impressed by Villeneuve, leading him to arrange for the Canadian to race in the North American Toyota Atlantic series for the upcoming season.^[1]

During the 1993 season, Villeneuve took seven pole positions and five race victories from the 15 races.^[1] However, a few crucial driving errors cost the Canadian the series title and so finished his debut season third in the standings.^[1]

CART IndyCar World Series [link]

Villeneuve's 1995 Indianapolis 500-winning car.

His Forsythe-Green team took Villeneuve up a level into the IndyCar championship in 1994. In his first year, Villeneuve came second at that year's Indianapolis 500 and won his first race at Road America, the circuit where his uncle had become the first Canadian to win a CART race nine years before. Villeneuve finished the season in sixth position; 131 points behind champion Al Unser Jr. and also taking the Rookie of the Year award.

Villeneuve started the '95 campaign strongly, winning the first race on the streets of Miami. Along with the win in Miami came three other victories, the most significant of which came at Indianapolis for the Indy 500. Despite a mid–race two lap penalty, Villeneuve fought his way back up through the field to win the race by two seconds over Brazilian Christian Fittipaldi. His performances, as well as his family name, brought him to the attention of Frank Williams, Managerial Director of the Williams Grand Prix team. Williams signed him to his Formula One team for 1996 and Villeneuve began testing the Williams F1 car in 1995 after the IndyCar season. Villeneuve was the last CART IndyCar World Series champion before the 1996 CART/IRL split created two rival series: The Indy Racing League (IRL) and the Champ Car World Series.

Formula One [link]

1996–1998: Williams [link]

Main article: WilliamsF1

Villeneuve driving for the Williams Formula One team at the 1996 Canadian Grand Prix.

Villeneuve driving for Williams at the 1998 Italian Grand Prix.

1996

Villeneuve signed a two year contract with Williams with an option year available to him as well.^[1] Villeneuve impressed during his debut race in Australia, taking pole position and almost won the race. But due to an oil leak Villeneuve was forced to slow down and allow team mate Damon Hill to pass and take victory at the opening round of the Championship, the Canadian however did manage to hold onto second place. It would be another 11 years before another driver finished on the podium on his debut which was Lewis Hamilton during the 2007 Australian Grand Prix.

Villeneuve won his first Formula One race at the fourth round at the Nürburgring despite coming under pressure from the Ferrari of Michael Schumacher. Villeneuve won a further three races, his four race victories still stand as the most in a rookie season (matched by Lewis Hamilton in 2007), and managed to take the title to the final round in Japan. The Canadian and team mate Hill were the only drivers who could win the title, but with a gap of nine points between himself and Hill prior to the final race his chances of winning the title were slim. In the end, Hill won the race while Villeneuve retired on the 37th lap after his right–rear wheel came off.

Having won 4 races in his debut season, Jacques Villeneuve took the record for most wins in his first championship season. He also become the first driver in Formula One history to finish second in his first championship season. Both records were later equaled by Lewis Hamilton in 2007.

1997

Hill was dropped by Williams for 1997, making Villeneuve the team's lead driver. German Heinz-Harald Frentzen was brought into replace Hill. Villeneuve once again challenged for the title, but instead of Hill, the Canadian found himself battling with then double World Champion Michael Schumacher.

Coulthard took the opening race in Australia but Villeneuve took the next two wins in Brazil and Argentina. Five more victories came that season at the Spanish, British, Hungarian, Austrian and Luxembourg Grand Prix. Villeneuve also claimed ten pole positions. His main rival Schumacher had five wins of his own to set up a showdown at the final race of the season.

The title was decided at the final round in Jerez. Villeneuve came out on top and won the World Championship in only his second season, but the race was remembered for a collision between himself and title rival Schumacher. As Villeneuve passed Schumacher at the Dry–Sac corner during the 48th lap, the German turned into the Canadian's car; leaving Villeneuve with a damaged sidepod. Villeneuve recovered however and took third place and the title while Schumacher retired and was disqualified from the Championship.

1998

Villeneuve's career went into sharp decline following his World Championship title. Remaining with Williams in 1998 (and becoming the first Williams driver since Keke Rosberg in 1982 to stay with the team for his title defense), he struggled with an underpowered Mecachrome engine which were basically rebadged Renault V10 engines from the previous season that despite some development had been overtaken in power by both Ferrari and the Mercedes-Benz powered McLaren's and he failed to win a single race (like Hill the previous season), although he did finish on the podium twice in Germany and Hungary. Villeneuve finished fifth in the Drivers' Championship with 21 points, 79 points behind Champion Mika Häkkinen in the McLaren-Mercedes.

1999–2003: BAR [link]

Main article: British American Racing

Villeneuve driving for BAR in the team's first season, at the 1999 Canadian Grand Prix.

Villeneuve in 2002.

Villeneuve driving for BAR at the 2003 United States Grand Prix. Villeneuve retired from the race ten laps from the finish with an engine problem.

1999

In 1999, Villeneuve joined the newly-founded British American Racing (BAR) team, co-founded and partly owned by Villeneuve's personal manager, Craig Pollock, and by Adrian Reynard. Joining him as his team mate was Brazilian Ricardo Zonta. There was a lot of media hype about the new squad, but despite the high expectations, BAR had a poor season, retiring from the first eleven races of the season -an unfortunate record- and not scoring a single Championship point. At times the car showed a promising pace, Villeneuve running in third place at Barcelona, but often, technical problems ruined his chances.

2000

Despite the lack of a competitive car in 1999, the Canadian remained loyal to Pollock's team as did Zonta. The Supertec engines of the previous season were replaced by Honda engines and the new BAR–Honda package proved to be more competitive with Villeneuve finishing in the points on seven different occasions and almost secured a podium finish at the United States Grand Prix.

2001

Villeneuve driving for BAR at the 2001 Canadian Grand Prix.

Zonta left BAR in 2001 to join Jordan as a test driver. The Brazilian was replaced by experienced Frenchman Olivier Panis. Villeneuve was involved in a crash at the Australian Grand Prix, the first race of the season, when he hit the back of Ralf Schumacher's Williams. A track marshal was killed when a stray tyre hit him in the chest. Villeneuve scored five points less than the previous season, but finished on the podium twice in Spain and Germany. The latter was the final podium finish of his Grand Prix career.

2002

Pollock was sacked from his post as team manager in 2002 and was replaced by Prodrive boss David Richards. Along with Pollock, Richards sacked Technical Director Malcolm Oastler and fifty members of staff at BAR.^[10] The Englishman soon began to debate over Villeneuve's £15 million annual salary.^[10] From this point on, Villeneuve felt less comfortable at the team. The BAR 004 proved to be a much less competitive car than the teams' previous two, with neither Villeneuve or Panis scoring points consistently with only seven points scored between them, Villeneuve scoring four points to Panis' three.

2003

With one year left to run on his contract Villeneuve turned down a lucrative offer to spend a season racing in CART before returning to BAR for 2004 and 2005, a deal which Villeneuve claimed was spoken about but never actually produced for him to sign. Instead, he decided that he would see out his present deal in the hope of landing a role at another Grand Prix team the following year. The Canadian was joined by Jenson Button from Renault in 2003 as Panis was offered a drive at the Toyota which the Frenchman took. Button would prove to become the second of Villeneuve's teammates to outscore him in the Drivers' Championship as, unlike the Canadian, the Briton was able to score consistently with the BAR 005, finishing in the points every two races on average.

Villeneuve was criticized by the media for being outpaced by his inexperienced teammate and before the final round in Japan, the Canadian was replaced by former British Formula Three Champion Takuma Sato.

2004: Renault [link]

Main article: Renault F1

With no contract for 2004, Villeneuve was forced to take a sabbatical, but maintained that he wanted to return to the sport. He continued training and made a special appearance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed driving his late father's Ferrari. In September, Villeneuve returned to Formula One, driving the final three Grands Prix of the season for the French Renault team. Jarno Trulli had fallen out of favour and team boss Flavio Briatore felt Villeneuve would be worth a gamble. Although vowing to help Renault achieve second place in the constructors championship, ahead of his former team BAR, Villeneuve failed to score a single point, unable to finish any of his races on the lead lap; Renault settled for third in the final standings. Jacques admitted that the enforced lay-off had cost him vital seat time. With the cars so much faster than in 2003, he found it difficult to adapt, and with an up and coming Fernando Alonso as team-mate his task was made all the more difficult. The young Spaniard proved much faster. Just before his 3-race Renault comeback, Villeneuve signed a two-year contract to drive for Sauber, starting in 2005.^[11]

2005–2006: Sauber [link]

Main articles: Sauber and BMW in Formula One

Villeneuve driving for Sauber at the 2005 Canadian Grand Prix.

2005

His Sauber debut at the Australian Grand Prix saw him start the grid in fourth position, although the Canadian would finish the race nine places down the order in thirteenth and a lap down. For the opening three races he was the slowest driver on Michelin tyres and rumours began to spread that he would soon be replaced. The rumours proved unfounded and at Imola he scored his first points for the team with a fourth place. The pressure was soon back on him when he forced team-mate Felipe Massa off the track when attempting to overtake the Brazilian in Monaco, ruining both their races. Towards the end of the season, his pace improved and he scored more points at Belgium, where he finished sixth, moving ahead of Massa in the championship tables, although Massa repassed him after finishing 6th in the season finale in China. In terms of speed, the two team-mates were fairly evenly matched by the end of the year. Massa was later drafted into Ferrari to support Michael Schumacher's 2006 campaign.

Villeneuve at the 2006 Canadian Grand Prix.

After much uncertainty, in late 2005 BMW confirmed that Villeneuve would race for BMW Sauber in 2006. GP2 frontrunner Heikki Kovalainen and Indycar champion Dan Wheldon had both been linked with the seat, but BMW opted to honour Villeneuve's contract; to cut the contract would possibly have been an expensive exercise that would have cost them around $2 million, and Villeneuve was popular with the sponsors and team personnel.

2006

Villeneuve walks away from his crashed F1.06 at the 2006 German Grand Prix, his last F1 race.

Several changes were made at Sauber during the off season. First, the Swiss team were bought by BMW and renamed BMW Sauber. The German manufacturer wished to start their own works team following a six year partnership with Villeneuve's former employers Williams. In addition, Massa left Sauber for the vacant role left by Rubens Barrichello at Ferrari and Nick Heidfeld was brought in to replace him. Villeneuve scored seven points during the first twelve rounds of the season. But at the German Grand Prix, Villeneuve had allegedly sustained an injury in a crash on lap 31.^[12]

After replacing Villeneuve in Hungary, test driver Robert Kubica drove to a solid seventh place, despite the chaotic wet conditions, but was later disqualified because his car was too light. Within days, BMW and Villeneuve announced that they had parted company with immediate effect.^[13] The reason for his departure was later revealed that he simply did not want to be a part of a potential "shoot-out" with Kubica, feeling that he had proven himself already.^[14]

2010: Stefan [link]

Main article: Stefan Grand Prix

Villeneuve was close to signing with Stefan GP for the 2010 Formula One season, and undertook a seat fitting, but the FIA did not certify Stefan GP for competition in 2010. Villeneuve stated he was still looking for further opportunities in Formula One in 2010 and 2011.^[15]

2011: Potential team ownership [link]

In the middle of July 2010, reports from the German media emerged revealing that Villeneuve was putting together an entry bid to join the 2011 Formula One grid with his own team under the name "Villeneuve Racing". The report went on to suggest that Villeneuve Racing had satisifed the entry criteria set by the FIA and had joined two other outfits on a shortlist of teams under consideration for the grid entry. Villeneuve subsequently released a statement confirming the existence of the entry, and that it is a collaboration with the Italian Durango team.^[16]

Le Mans [link]

Villeneuve was partnered with fellow ex–Formula One driver Marc Gené, joining them was Frenchman Nicolas Minassian. Here, the trio's number seven Peugeot 908 HDi FAP is being prepared for the Le Mans race.

On January 10, 2007, at the launch of the 908 HDi FAP diesel-powered Le Mans prototype, Villeneuve was confirmed as one of Peugeot Sport's nine drivers for the 2007 24 Hours of Le Mans. This was his first drive in a sportscar since working with Toyota in 1992. For the race, Villeneuve shared the No.7 car with Marc Gené and Nicolas Minassian. Villeneuve set the fastest time of the three drivers in qualifying to put the car into fourth place on the starting grid. The car ran second for much of the race before pitting with engine problems at 12:39 pm. The car was officially retired at 1.42pm with only 100 minutes left of the race, after the team decided the problem could not be fixed.

In the 2008 race, Villeneuve and his Nº 7 Peugeot team finished 2nd. The team led for several hours but began to lose their lead when it rained. They did lose the lead in the 15th hour during a pitstop change. The Nº 2 Audi team won after leading for the final 10 hours.

Villeneuve has since pledged to keep competing in the event until he wins it, and has been supported by Allan McNish.^[17] If he wins the 24 Hours of Le Mans, he would become the first person since Graham Hill to win the Triple Crown of Motorsport, having previously won both the Indianapolis 500 and the Formula One World Championship.^[18]

NASCAR [link]

Villeneuve racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in early 2008.

In a subsequent interview with Autosport magazine, Villeneuve's manager Craig Pollock confirmed that Villeneuve's Formula One career was over^[19] It was announced on August 24, 2007 that Villeneuve would run the remaining seven races in the Craftsman Truck Series driving a Toyota Tundra for Bill Davis Racing and undertake a full time Sprint Cup schedule in 2008. In Villeneuve's first Craftsman Truck Series race on September 22, 2007, in Las Vegas, he qualified in seventh position, and finished 21st. He made his NASCAR Nextel Cup race debut in the UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama over the weekend of 5–7 October 2007. He qualified sixth, however, due to his lack of experience in this type of car, he elected to start the race from the back of the field and ran there for most of the race. He finished 21st due to a large number of accidents and mechanical failure on the other cars. Villeneuve failed to qualify for the 2008 Daytona 500. He lost his ride in Bill Davis Racing's #27 car due to a loss of sponsorship, two days after he caused a pileup in his qualifying race, when his car got loose, then slid back up the track, colliding with another car.^[20] He took part in the Nationwide race in Montreal for Braun Racing. The race started off in the sun, but before halfway, it began to rain and the teams were told to pit and use rain-tires, for the first time in NASCAR. Qualifying 5th, Villeneuve finished 16th after crashing into a car during a caution caused by poor visibility due to the rain. The race ended shortly after.

Villeneuve at 2011 NASCAR Nationwide race

In 2009 Villeneuve had two starts Canadian Tires Series. His best start was fifth and his best finish was fourth, both in the August, 2009 event at Circuit de Trois-Rivieres. Villeneuve also had two starts in the 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series, both for Braun Racing, with his best performance starting 6th and finishing 4th at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, again under wet conditions and the second time rain tires were used in a NASCAR event. It has been confirmed that he will drive #32 car in Montreal and at Road America in 2010^[21] At Road America, he qualified second and stayed in second place for much of the race including leading three laps. He was unable to complete the race since an alternator wire broke on the final lap; he was credited with a 25th place finish as the first car one lap down.^[22]^[23] For 2011 Villeneuve agreed to take over for Brad Keselowski in the number 22 car for Penske Racing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series for two races which Keselowski could not attend. He started and finished third at Road America; later he won the pole at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve before finishing 27th.^[24]

Speedcar [link]

With no sponsor for the NASCAR Sprint Cup series. Villeneuve joined the Speedcar Series for the remainder of the 2008 season. The series is composed of road courses and stockcars similar to NASCAR and Villeneuve said "On a personal level, Speedcar will give me more road racing experience with this kind of cars which will be useful in future NASCAR road course events and it's also a great excuse to meet race fans."^[25] He raced four times with a best finish of sixth place.

Top Race V6 [link]

After racing both NASCAR Sprint Cup and Speedcar Series, Villeneuve was invited by the Top Race V6 chairman Alejandro Urtubey to join the series in its major event of the 2008 season, called La Carrera del Año (The Race of the Year), held at the Buenos Aires circuit. Villeneuve raced the #27 car (Volkswagen Passat silhouette) of the Oro Racing team and finishing the race in the 16th place. In 2009 he was invited again to run in two out of the three major races in the season: one at Interlagos on July 19 (did not finish after contact with Leonel Pernía and spun) and the other being the second edition of La Carrera del Año at the Buenos Aires circuit on September 20, the last mentioned race being its better results in the series, finishing 13th. During a press conference held during the previous week before La Carrera del Año, Villeneuve stated that he would race the whole 2010 season if he did not get anything in Formula One or NASCAR.

2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games [link]

Jacques Villeneuve was one of several celebrity Canadians who carried the Olympic flag into Vancouver Olympic Stadium during the Opening Ceremony of the 21st Winter Olympic Games. He also carried the Olympic torch.

i1 Super Series [link]

In the last quarter of 2011, Villeneuve joined the inaugural i1 Super Series as an International class driver.

Helmet [link]

Jacques Villeneuve uses a yellow helmet, with the upper part blue, and pink, red and green lines. Villeneuve apparently designed his helmet while doodling on a drawing pad. The pink line forms a 'V' on each side, which Villeneuve has been quoted as saying was 'unintentional'. Some say that the colors of the helmet were based on the shirt of his mother Joann.

Jacques Villeneuve's Helmet

Music career [link]

Though he started writing his lyrics during his lower league days in Japan, it was not until 2006 that he released his first commercial single "Accepterais-tu", a French song with lyrics that fit well with his present personal status—asking his loved one to marry him. On February 19, 2007, Villeneuve released his first album entitled Private Paradise. The launch was held at his café^[26] where he performed two songs in front of a crowd largely composed of news reporters. When asked about his expectations on the album he released the following statement: "I hope the album makes a great success. I would never do something hoping to get criticized."^[27] His new record had very low sales; as of March 9, 2007, only 233 copies were sold in the entire province of Quebec and about 30 outside of Quebec and Canada – excluding digital sales.^[28] On December 31, 2007, Infoman 2007, a satirical end-of-year review on Radio-Canada, announced that he had sold only 836 CDs in North America.

TV advertisements [link]

Jacques Villeneuve has appeared in various TV commercials for Honda when he was driving for the BAR team. In March 2006, when driving for BMW Sauber, he appeared in television campaign for Intel's Centrino laptop campaign, in which he touts the benefits of using Intel Centrino Duo Mobile Technology.

Villeneuve also appeared in a Canadian commercial alongside Olympic gold medal-winning sprinter and countryman Donovan Bailey shortly after winning his 1997 F1 World Driver's title. The ad proclaimed Canada to be the "fastest nation on earth."

In 1997, following his win of the Formula One World Championship, Villeneuve appeared in a Volkswagen advert on Quebec television. Villeneuve was seen driving a VW before stopping and saying at the camera that he has nothing against German guys... much less for the "allemandes", referring to the vehicle and German girls—a reference to his rivalry with Michael Schumacher and for the incident at the 1997 European Grand Prix.

Villeneuve also appeared briefly in the 2001 Sylvester Stallone action movie Driven as a race car driver.

Motorsport career results [link]

Career summary [link]

Season	Series	Team Name	No.	Races	Poles	Wins	Pts	Final Placing
1989	Italian Formula Three	Prema Racing		6	0	0	0	–
1990	Italian Formula Three	Prema Racing		12	0	0	10	13th
1991	Italian Formula Three	Prema Racing		11	3	0	20	6th
1992	Japanese Formula Three	TOM'S	8	11	2	3	45	2nd
	All Japan Sports Prototype Championship	Toyota Team TOM'S	7	1	0	0	N/A	NC
	Toyota Atlantic Championship	Comprep/Player's	49	1	0	0	14	28th
1993	Toyota Atlantic Championship	Forsythe/Green Racing	10	15	7	5	185	3rd
1993	Formula Three Macau Grand Prix	March Racing		1	0	0	N/A	NC
1994	PPG Indy Car World Series	Forsythe/Green Racing	12	15	0	1	94	6th
1995	PPG Indy Car World Series	Team Green	27	17	6	4	172	1st
1996	Formula One	Rothmans Williams Renault	6	16	3	4	78	2nd
1997	Formula One	Rothmans Williams Renault	3	17	10	7	81	1st
1998	Formula One	Winfield Williams	1	16	0	0	21	5th
1999	Formula One	British American Racing	22	16	0	0	0	21st
2000	Formula One	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	22	17	0	0	17	7th
2001	Formula One	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	10	17	0	0	12	7th
2002	Formula One	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	11	17	0	0	4	12th
2003	Formula One	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	16	14	0	0	6	16th
2004	Formula One	Mild Seven Renault F1 team	7	3	0	0	0	21st
2005	Formula One	Credit Suisse Sauber Petronas	11	18	0	0	9	14th
2006	Formula One	BMW Sauber F1 team	17	12	0	0	7	15th
2007	NASCAR Nextel Cup	Bill Davis Racing Toyota	27	2	0	0	140	60th
	NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series	Bill Davis Racing Toyota	27	7	0	0	615	59th
	Le Mans 24 Hours	Team Peugeot Total LMP1	7	1	0	0	N/A	DNF
2008	NASCAR Nationwide Series	Braun Racing Toyota	32	1	0	0	120	111th
	Speedcar Series	Speedcar Team	96	4	0	0	3	13th
	Le Mans Series	Team Peugeot Total LMP1	7	1	0	1	10	9th
	Le Mans 24 Hours	Team Peugeot Total LMP1	7	1	0	0	N/A	2nd
	Top Race V6	Oro Racing Team	27	1	0	0	0	NC
2008/09	Speedcar Series	Durango	96	5	0	0	7	11th
2009	NASCAR Nationwide Series	Braun Racing Toyota	32	1	0	0	165	107th
	NASCAR Canadian Tire Series	Jacombs Racing Ford	7	2	0	0	257	33rd
	Top Race V6		27	2	0	0	0	NC
2010	NASCAR Sprint Cup Series	Braun Racing Toyota	32	1	0	0	76	69th
	NASCAR Nationwide Series	Braun Racing Toyota	32	3	0	0	405	77th
	V8 Supercar Championship Series	Rod Nash Racing	55	2	0	0	N/A	NC
2011	NASCAR Nationwide Series	Penske Racing	22	2	1	0	61	52nd
2011	Copa Caixa Stock Car	Shell V-Power Racing	27	1	0	0	N/A	NC

No. = Car Number

American Open-Wheel racing results [link]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest race lap)

Toyota Atlantic Championship [link]

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Rank	Points
1992	Comprep/Player's	MIA	PHX	LBH	LIM	MON	WGL	TOR	TRR 3	VAN	MDO	MOS	NAZ	LS1	LS2		14th	28
1993	Forsythe/Green Racing	PHX 18	LBH 2	ATL 1	MIL 17	MON 1	MOS 2	HAL 7	TOR 3	LOU 2	TRR 14	VAN 19	MDO 1	NAZ 11	LS1 1	LS2 1	3rd	185

CART/Indy Car World Series results [link]

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Rank	Points
1994	Forsythe/Green Racing	SRF 17	PHX 25	LBH 15	INDY 2	MIL 9	DET 7	POR 6	CLE 4	TOR 9	MIC 20	MDO 9	NHM 24	VAN 24	ROA 1	NAZ 7	LS 3		6th	94
1995	Team Green	MIA 1	SRF 20	PHX 5	LBH 25	NAZ 2	INDY 1	MIL 6	DET 9	POR 20	ROA 1	TOR 3	CLE 1	MIC 10	MDO 3	NHM 4	VAN 12	LS 11	1st	172

Indianapolis 500 [link]

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
1994	Reynard 94I	Ford XB	4	2	Forsythe/Green Racing
1995	Reynard 95I	Ford XB	5	1	Team Green

Formula One results [link]

(key)

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	WDC	Points
1996	Rothmans Williams Renault	Williams FW18	Renault RS8 3.0 V10	AUS 2	BRA Ret	ARG 2	EUR 1	SMR 11	MON Ret	ESP 3	CAN 2	FRA 2	GBR 1	GER 3	HUN 1	BEL 2	ITA 7	POR 1	JPN Ret				2nd	78
1997	Rothmans Williams Renault	Williams FW19	Renault RS9 3.0 V10	AUS Ret	BRA 1	ARG 1	SMR Ret	MON Ret	ESP 1	CAN Ret	FRA 4	GBR 1	GER Ret	HUN 1	BEL 5	ITA 5	AUT 1	LUX 1	JPN DSQ	EUR 3			1st	81
1998	Winfield Williams	Williams FW20	Mecachrome GC37-01 V10	AUS 5	BRA 7	ARG Ret	SMR 4	ESP 6	MON 5	CAN 10	FRA 4	GBR 7	AUT 6	GER 3	HUN 3	BEL Ret	ITA Ret	LUX 8	JPN 6				5th	21
1999	British American Racing	BAR 001	Supertec FB01 3.0 V10	AUS Ret	BRA Ret	SMR Ret	MON Ret	ESP Ret	CAN Ret	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	AUT Ret	GER Ret	HUN Ret	BEL 15	ITA 8	EUR 10	MAL Ret	JPN 9				21st	0
2000	Lucky Strike Reynard BAR Honda	BAR 002	Honda RA000E 3.0 V10	AUS 4	BRA Ret	SMR 5	GBR 16	ESP Ret	EUR Ret	MON 7	CAN 15	FRA 4	AUT 4	GER 8	HUN 12	BEL 7	ITA Ret	USA 4	JPN 6	MAL 5			7th	17
2001	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	BAR 003	Honda RA001E 3.0 V10	AUS Ret	MAL Ret	BRA 7	SMR Ret	ESP 3	AUT 8	MON 4	CAN Ret	EUR 9	FRA Ret	GBR 8	GER 3	HUN 9	BEL 8	ITA 6	USA Ret	JPN 10			7th	12
2002	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	BAR 004	Honda RA002E 3.0 V10	AUS Ret	MAL 8	BRA 10	SMR 7	ESP 7	AUT 10	MON Ret	CAN Ret	EUR 12	GBR 4	FRA Ret	GER Ret	HUN Ret	BEL 8	ITA 9	USA 6	JPN Ret			12th	4
2003	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	BAR 005	Honda RA003E 3.0 V10	AUS 9	MAL Ret	BRA 6	SMR Ret	ESP Ret	AUT 12	MON Ret	CAN Ret	EUR Ret	FRA 9	GBR 10	GER 9	HUN Ret	ITA 6	USA Ret	JPN				16th	6
2004	Mild Seven Renault F1 Team	Renault R24	Renault RS24 3.0 V10	AUS	MAL	BHR	SMR	ESP	MON	EUR	CAN	USA	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	CHN 11	JPN 10	BRA 10		21st	0
2005	Sauber Petronas	Sauber C24	Petronas 05A 3.0 V10	AUS 13	MAL Ret	BHR 11	SMR 4	ESP Ret	MON 11	EUR 13	CAN 9	USA DNS	FRA 8	GBR 14	GER 15	HUN Ret	TUR 11	ITA 11	BEL 6	BRA 12	JPN 12	CHN 10	14th	9
2006	BMW Sauber F1 Team	BMW Sauber F1.06	BMW P86 2.4 V8	BHR Ret	MAL 7	AUS 6	SMR 12	EUR 8	ESP 12	MON 14	GBR 8	CAN Ret	USA Ret	FRA 11	GER Ret	HUN	TUR	ITA	CHN	JPN	BRA		15th	7

Sports car racing [link]

Le Mans 24 Hours results [link]

Year	Class	No	Tyres	Team	Car	Engine	Co-drivers	Laps	Position	Class Pos.
2007	LMP1	7	M	Team Peugeot Total	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP	Peugeot HDI 5.5 L Turbo V12 (Diesel)	Nicolas Minassian Marc Gené	338	30 ^DNF	10 ^DNF
2008	LMP1	7	M	Team Peugeot Total	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP	Peugeot HDI 5.5 L Turbo V12 (Diesel)	Nicolas Minassian Marc Gené	381	2	2

Le Mans Series Results [link]

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	1	2	3	4	5	Rank	Points
2008	Team Peugeot Total	LMP1	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP	Peugeot HDI 5.5 L Turbo V12 (Diesel)	M	CAT	MON	SPA ovr:1 cls:1	NÜR	SIL	9th	10

NASCAR [link]

(key) (Bold - Pole position awarded by time. Italics - Pole position earned by points standings. * – Most laps led.)

NASCAR Sprint Cup [link]

Year	Team	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	NSCC	Points
2007	Bill Davis Racing	Toyota	DAY	CAL	LSV	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	RIC	DAR	LOW	DOV	POC	MIC	INF	NHA	DY2	CHI	IND	PO2	GLN	MI2	BR2	CA2	RI2	NH2	DV2	KAN	TL2 21	LW2	MR2	AT2	TX2	PH2 41	HOM	60th	140
2008	Bill Davis Racing	Toyota	DAY DNQ	CAL	LSV	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	RIC	DAR	LOW	DOV	POC	MIC	INF	NHA	DY2	CHI	IND	PO2	GLN	MI2	BR2	CA2	RI2	NH2	DV2	KAN	TL2	LW2	MR2	AT2	TX2	PH2	HOM	NC	0
2010	Braun Racing	Toyota	DAY	CAL	LSV	ATL	BRI	MAR	PHO	TEX	TAL	RIC	DAR	DOV	CHA	POC	MIC	INF	NHA	DY2	CHI	IND 29	PO2	GLN	MI2	BR2	AT2	RI2	NH2	DV2	KAN	CAL2	CH2	MR2	TL2	TX2	PH2	HOM	69th	76

NASCAR Nationwide Series [link]

Year	Team	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	NNWC	Points
2008	Braun Racing	Toyota	DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	NSH	TXS	PHO	MEX	TAL	RIC	DAR	CHA	DOV	NS2	KTY	MIL	NHA	DY2	CHI	GAT	ORP	MON 16	GLN	MIC	BR2	FO2	RI2	DV2	KAN	CA2	MEM	TX2	PH2	HOM	111th	120
2009	Braun Racing	Toyota	DAY	CAL	LVS	BRI	TXS	NSH	PHO	TAL	RIC	DAR	CHA	DOV	NS2	KTY	MIL	NHA	DY2	CHI	GAT	ORP	IOW	GLN	MIC	BR2	MON 4	ATL	RI2	DV2	KAN	FO2	CA2	MEM	TX2	PH2	HOM	107th	165
2010	Braun Racing	Toyota	DAY	CAL	LVS	BRI	NSH	PHO	TXS	TAL	RIC	DAR	DOV	CHA	NS2	KTY	ROA 25	NHA	DY2	CHI	GAT	ORP	IOW	GLN 8	MIC	BR2	MON 3	ATL	RI2	DV2	KAN	FO2	CA2	GA2	TX2	PH2	HOM	77th	405
2011	Penske Racing	Dodge	DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	TXS	TAL	NSH	RIC	DAR	DOV	IOW	CHA	CHI	MIC	ROA 3	DY2	KTY	NHA	NS2	LOR	IO2	GLN	MON 27*	BR2	ATL	RI2	CH2	DV2	KAN	CA2	TX2	PH2	HOM		52nd	61

Speedcar Series [link]

(key)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Pos	Points
2008	Speedcar Team	SEN 1	SEN 2	SEP 1	SEP 2	BHR 1 6	BHR 2 Ret	DUB 1 9	DUB 2 Ret		14th	3
2008–09	Durango	DUB 6	BHR 1 10	BHR 2 Ret	LOS1 5	LOS2 Ret	DUB 1	DUB 2	BHR 1	BHR 2	11th	7

References [link]

All Formula One race and championship results are taken from: Official Formula One website. Archive: Results for 1996–2006 seasons Formula1.com. Retrieved July 12, 2007
Timothy Collins, Sarah Edworthy (2004). The Daily Telegraph Formula One Years. Carlton Books Ltd. ISBN 1-84442-542-8.
Enoch Yan-Tak Law, Jamie McGregor (2004). "Who Barred Jacques? A Controversial Opinion". F1 Rejects. http://www.f1rejects.com/centrale/villeneuve/index.html. Retrieved 2007-07-12.
Donaldson, Gerald. "Hall of Fame > Jacques Villeneuve". Official Formula One website. http://www.formula1.com/teams_and_drivers/hall_of_fame/5/. Retrieved 2007-07-13.

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Collings and Edworthy, pg 272
^ James Deacon. "Villeneuve, Jacques (Profile)". The Canadian Encyclopedia. http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=M1ARTM0010461. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
^ "Jacques Villeneuve Married and Expecting". Engagements.ca. http://www.engagements.ca/archives/jacques-villeneuve-married-and-expecting-008278.php. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
^ Siano, Joseph (1995-05-29). "AUTO RACING; Villeneuve Goes the Extra Mile (Well, 5) to Win". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/29/sports/auto-racing-villeneuve-goes-the-extra-mile-well-5-to-win.html?pagewanted=2. Retrieved 2010-05-05.
^ "Villeneuve still intent on F1 drive". F1-Live. 2009-08-14. http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/090814180308.shtml.
^ Faribault, Charles (2007-01-16). "Jacques Villeneuve s'installe à Westmount" (in French). Le Canal Nouvelles. http://lcn.canoe.com/lcn/sports/nouvelles/archives/2007/01/20070116-133413.html. Retrieved 2007-07-12.
^ "Jacques Villeneuve vendrait son restaurant Newtown". Argent.canoe.ca. 2009-04-23. http://argent.canoe.ca/infos/quebec/archives/2009/02/20090219-062134.html. Retrieved 2011-03-03.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h "JV World.com - Biography (Part I)". Jacque Villeneuve Official Website. Archived from the original on 2007-10-14. http://web.archive.org/web/20071014185057/http://jv-world.com/lifestyle/biography/story_7381.shtml. Retrieved 2007-08-08.
^ ^a ^b "JV World.com > Biography (Part II)". Jacque Villeneuve Official Website. Archived from the original on 2007-07-03. http://web.archive.org/web/20070703224326/http://www.jv-world.com/lifestyle/biography/story_36.shtml. Retrieved 2007-08-08.
^ ^a ^b F1 Rejects, Paragraph 24
^ GrandPrix.com – Sauber announces Villeneuve deal – 15 Sept. 2004
^ "Kubica replaces Villeneuve". GrandPrix.com. 2006-08-01. http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns17241.html. Retrieved 2007-07-20.
^ "Villeneuve parts company with BMW". BBC. August 7, 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/5243540.stm. Retrieved 2006-08-07.
^ "Villeneuve: The real reason I left F1". The Sports Network. 2006-09-07. Archived from the original on 2007-09-26. http://web.archive.org/web/20070926214048/http://www.tsn.ca/auto_racing/news_story/?ID=176694&hubname=auto_racing. Retrieved 2007-07-13.
^ "Villeneuve sad to see Stefan miss out". Autosport. 4 March 2010. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81843. Retrieved 8 March 2010.
^ Villeneuve, Jacques (2010-07-20). "Villeneuve responds to speculation". jv-world.com (JV-World). http://www.jv-world.com/news_detail.html?Villeneuve-responds-to-speculation-11. Retrieved 2010-07-20.
^ "McNish Backs Villeneuve Over Le Mans Return". uk.eurosport.yahoo.com. 2007-06-18. http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/18062007/4/mcnish-backs-villeneuve-le-mans-return.html. Retrieved 2007-08-18. ^{[dead link]}
^ Mortefontaine – January 10, 2007 908 HDi FAP – Action!! Peugeot press release. Retrieved January 11, 2007.
^ "Jacques' done with F1". Yahoo!. 2006-08-24. http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/24082006/13/jacques-f1.html. Retrieved 2007-07-13. ^{[dead link]}
^ McDonald, Norris (2008-02-16). "Villeneuve loses NASCAR ride". Toronto Star. http://www.thestar.com/Sports/AutoRacing/article/304293. Retrieved 2008-02-18.
^ "JACQUES VILLENEUVE TO DRIVE FOR BRAUN RACING IN MONTREAL | NASCAR Napa Auto Parts 200 presented by Dodge". Napa200.ca. 2010-06-02. http://www.napa200.ca/8-news/JACQUES-VILLENEUVE-TO-DRIVE-FOR-BRAUN-RACING-IN-MONTREAL.html. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
^ "2010 Bucyrus 200". Racing Reference. http://racing-reference.info/race/2010-15/B. Retrieved 20 June 2010.
^ Montgomery, Lee. "Edwards Wins In Nationwide’s Debut At Road America". Sporting News. http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/news?slug=tsn-edwardswinsinnationw. Retrieved 21 June 2010.
^ "2011 Nationwide Series results". Racing Reference. http://racing-reference.info/drivdet/villeja01/2011/B. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
^ "JACQUES signs up with Speedcar Series". j-vworld.com. 2008-03-31. http://www.jv-world.com/modules/news/index.php?storytopic=2. Retrieved 2008-04-03. ^{[dead link]}
^ "Villeneuve releasing first song". flagworld.auto123.com. 2006-06-20. http://flagworld.auto123.com/en/racing/news/index,view.spy?artid=63918. Retrieved 2007-08-18.
^ http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20070219/CPARTS03/702190972/1017/CPARTS
^ http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20070309/CPARTS03/70309016/5020/CPARTS03

External links [link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jacques Villeneuve

Jacques Villeneuve sporting positions

Sporting positions
Preceded by Al Unser, Jr.	Indianapolis 500 Winner 1995	Succeeded by Buddy Lazier
Preceded by Al Unser Jr	CART Series Champion 1995	Succeeded by Jimmy Vasser
Preceded by Damon Hill	Formula One World Champion 1997	Succeeded by Mika Häkkinen
Awards
Preceded by Nigel Mansell	Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year 1994	Succeeded by Christian Fittipaldi
Preceded by Nigel Mansell	CART Rookie of the Year 1994	Succeeded by Gil de Ferran
Preceded by Myriam Bédard	Lou Marsh Trophy winner 1995	Succeeded by Donovan Bailey
Preceded by David Coulthard	Lorenzo Bandini Trophy 1996	Succeeded by Luca di Montezemolo
Preceded by Donovan Bailey	Lou Marsh Trophy winner 1997	Succeeded by Larry Walker
Preceded by Damon Hill	Hawthorn Memorial Trophy 1997	Succeeded by David Coulthard
Preceded by Damon Hill	Autosport International Racing Driver Award 1997	Succeeded by Mika Häkkinen
Records
Preceded by Juan Manuel Fangio (1950) and Giuseppe Farina (1950) 3 wins	Most Wins in first Formula One season 4 wins 1996, tied with: Lewis Hamilton (2007)	Succeeded by Incumbent

v t e Indianapolis 500 winners

Four-time	A. J. Foyt · Al Unser, Sr. · Rick Mears

Three-time	Louis Meyer · Wilbur Shaw · Mauri Rose · Johnny Rutherford · Bobby Unser · Hélio Castroneves · Dario Franchitti

Two-time	Tommy Milton · Bill Vukovich · Rodger Ward · Gordon Johncock · Emerson Fittipaldi · Arie Luyendyk · Al Unser, Jr. · Dan Wheldon

One-time	Ray Harroun · Joe Dawson · Jules Goux · René Thomas · Ralph DePalma · Dario Resta · Howdy Wilcox · Gaston Chevrolet · Jimmy Murphy · Lora L. Corum · Joe Boyer · Pete DePaolo · Frank Lockhart · George Souders · Ray Keech · Billy Arnold · Louis Schneider · Fred Frame · Bill Cummings · Kelly Petillo · Floyd Roberts · Floyd Davis · George Robson · Bill Holland · Johnnie Parsons · Lee Wallard · Troy Ruttman · Bob Sweikert · Pat Flaherty · Sam Hanks · Jimmy Bryan · Jim Rathmann · Parnelli Jones · Jim Clark · Graham Hill · Mario Andretti · Mark Donohue · Tom Sneva · Danny Sullivan · Bobby Rahal · Jacques Villeneuve · Buddy Lazier · Eddie Cheever · Kenny Bräck · Juan Pablo Montoya · Gil de Ferran · Buddy Rice · Sam Hornish, Jr. · Scott Dixon

Winning Owners	Roger Penske · A. J. Foyt · Andretti/Green · Eddie Cheever · Chip Ganassi · Bryan Herta · Rahal/Letterman · Pat Patrick · Doug Shierson · Fred Treadway · Ron Hemelgarn · Jim Trueman · Parnelli Jones · Andy Granatelli · Jim Hall · Bruce McLaren · Dan Gurney · J. C. Agajanian · Howard Keck · Frank Kurtis · Lou Moore · Wilbur Shaw · Kelly Petillo · Louis Meyer · Jimmy Murphy · Louis Chevrolet ·

Winning Teams	All American Racers · A. J. Foyt Enterprises · Andretti-Green Racing · Bryan Herta Autosport · Chaparral Cars · Cheever Racing · Chip Ganassi Racing · Doug Shierson Racing · Penske Racing · Galles/KRACO Racing · Hemelgarn Racing · McLaren · Mecom Racing Team · Patrick Racing · Rahal Letterman Racing · Team Green · Team Lotus · Treadway Racing · Truesports · Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing ·

IndyCar / CART / Champ Car Drivers' Champions

(1979) Rick Mears · (1980) Johnny Rutherford · (1981–82) Rick Mears · (1983) Al Unser · (1984) Mario Andretti · (1985) Al Unser · (1986–87) Bobby Rahal · (1988) Danny Sullivan · (1989) Emerson Fittipaldi · (1990) Al Unser, Jr. · (1991) Michael Andretti · (1992) Bobby Rahal · (1993) Nigel Mansell · (1994) Al Unser, Jr. · (1995) Jacques Villeneuve · (1996) Jimmy Vasser · (1997-98) Alex Zanardi · (1999) Juan Pablo Montoya · (2000–01) Gil de Ferran · (2002) Cristiano da Matta · (2003) Paul Tracy · (2004–07) Sébastien Bourdais

Formula One World Drivers' Champions

1950 G. Farina
1951 J.M. Fangio
1952 A. Ascari
1953 A. Ascari
1954 J.M. Fangio
1955 J.M. Fangio
1956 J.M. Fangio
1957 J.M. Fangio
1958 M. Hawthorn
1959 J. Brabham

1960 J. Brabham
1961 P. Hill
1962 G. Hill
1963 J. Clark
1964 J. Surtees
1965 J. Clark
1966 J. Brabham
1967 D. Hulme
1968 G. Hill
1969 J. Stewart

1970 J. Rindt
1971 J. Stewart
1972 E. Fittipaldi
1973 J. Stewart
1974 E. Fittipaldi
1975 N. Lauda
1976 J. Hunt
1977 N. Lauda
1978 M. Andretti
1979 J. Scheckter

1980 A. Jones
1981 N. Piquet
1982 K. Rosberg
1983 N. Piquet
1984 N. Lauda
1985 A. Prost
1986 A. Prost
1987 N. Piquet
1988 A. Senna
1989 A. Prost

1990 A. Senna
1991 A. Senna
1992 N. Mansell
1993 A. Prost
1994 M. Schumacher
1995 M. Schumacher
1996 D. Hill
1997 J. Villeneuve
1998 M. Häkkinen
1999 M. Häkkinen

2000 M. Schumacher
2001 M. Schumacher
2002 M. Schumacher
2003 M. Schumacher
2004 M. Schumacher
2005 F. Alonso
2006 F. Alonso
2007 K. Räikkönen
2008 L. Hamilton
2009 J. Button

2010 S. Vettel
2011 S. Vettel

Winners of Autosport's International Racing Driver Award

1982: Keke Rosberg
1983: Nelson Piquet
1984: Niki Lauda
1985: Alain Prost
1986–87: Nigel Mansell
1988: Ayrton Senna
1989: Jean Alesi
1990–91: Ayrton Senna
1992–93: Nigel Mansell
1994: Damon Hill
1995: Michael Schumacher
1996: Damon Hill
1997: Jacques Villeneuve
1998–99: Mika Häkkinen
2000–02: Michael Schumacher
2003: Juan Pablo Montoya
2004: Jenson Button
2005: Kimi Räikkönen
2006: Fernando Alonso
2007–08: Lewis Hamilton
2009: Jenson Button
2010–11: Sebastian Vettel

Williams F1

Founders: Frank Williams · Patrick Head
Current Personnel: Mike Coughlan · Toto Wolff
Former Personnel: Ross Brawn · Frank Dernie · Gavin Fisher · Sam Michael · Adrian Newey · Neil Oatley · Adam Parr · Enrique Scalabroni · Geoff Willis

Race drivers: 18. Pastor Maldonado · 19. Bruno Senna

Test drivers: Valtteri Bottas · Susie Wolff

World Champions: Alan Jones · Keke Rosberg · Nelson Piquet · Nigel Mansell · Alain Prost · Damon Hill · Jacques Villeneuve

Formula One cars:
Frank Williams Racing Cars: FW · FW04 · FW05
Williams Grand Prix Engineering/WilliamsF1: FW06 · FW07 · FW07B · FW07C · FW08 · FW08C · FW09 · FW09B · FW10 · FW11 · FW11B · FW12 · FW12C · FW13 · FW13B · FW14 · FW14B · FW15C · FW16 · FW16B · FW17 · FW17B · FW18 · FW19 · FW20 · FW21 · FW22 · FW23 · FW24 · FW25 · FW26 · FW27 · FW28 · FW29 · FW30 · FW31 · FW32 · FW33 · FW34

FIA Formula Two Cars: JPH1 · JPH1B
Le Mans prototypes: BMW V12 LM · BMW V12 LMR
Road cars: Renault Clio Williams
Rally cars: Metro 6R4
Touring cars: Renault Laguna (BTCC)

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http://pt.wn.com/Jacques Villeneuve

This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Villeneuve

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Michael Schumacher
Formula One World Championship career
Schumacher at the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix
Born	(1969-01-03) 3 January 1969 (age 43) Hürth, West Germany
Nationality	German
2012 team	Mercedes
2012 car #	7
Races	294 (293 starts)
Championships	7 (1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004)
Wins	91
Podiums	154
Career points	1,519
Pole positions	68
Fastest laps	76
First race	1991 Belgian Grand Prix
First win	1992 Belgian Grand Prix
Last win	2006 Chinese Grand Prix
Last race	2012 Monaco Grand Prix
2011 position	8th (76 pts)

24 Hours of Le Mans career
Participating years	1991
Teams	Team Sauber Mercedes
Best finish	5th in C2 (1991)
Class wins	0

Michael Schumacher (German pronunciation: [ˈmɪçaʔeːl ˈʃuːmaxɐ] ( listen); born 3 January 1969) is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes team. Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] He holds many of the formula's driver records, including most championships, race victories, fastest laps, pole positions, points scored and most races won in a single season – 13 in 2004. In 2002 he became the only driver in Formula One history to finish in the top three in every race of a season and then also broke the record for most consecutive podium finishes. According to the official Formula One website he is "statistically the greatest driver the sport has ever seen".^[5]

After beginning with karting, Schumacher won German drivers' championships in Formula König and Formula Three before joining Mercedes in the World Sportscar Championship. After one Mercedes-funded race for the Jordan Formula One team Schumacher signed as a driver for the Benetton Formula One team in 1991. After winning consecutive championships with Benetton in 1994/5, Schumacher moved to Ferrari in 1996 and won another five consecutive drivers' titles with them from 2000 to 2004. Schumacher retired from Formula One driving in 2006 staying with Ferrari as an advisor.^[6] Schumacher agreed to return for Ferrari part-way through 2009, as cover for the badly injured Felipe Massa, but was prevented by a neck injury. He later signed a three-year contract to drive for the new Mercedes GP team starting in 2010.^[7]^[8]^[9]

His career has not been without controversy, including being twice involved in collisions in the final race of a season that determined the outcome of the world championship, with Damon Hill in 1994 in Adelaide, and with Jacques Villeneuve in 1997 in Jerez.^[10]

Off the track Schumacher is an ambassador for UNESCO and a spokesman for driver safety. He has been involved in numerous humanitarian efforts throughout his life and donated tens of millions of dollars to charity.^[11] Michael and his younger brother Ralf Schumacher are the only brothers to win races in Formula One, and they were the first brothers to finish 1st and 2nd in the same race, in Montreal in 2001, and there again (in switched order) in 2003.

Early years [link]

Schumacher's title-winning German Formula Three car from 1990

Schumacher was born in Hürth, North Rhine-Westphalia,^[12] to Rolf Schumacher, a bricklayer, and his wife Elisabeth. When Schumacher was four, his father modified his pedal kart by adding a small motorcycle engine. When Schumacher crashed it into a lamp post in Kerpen, his parents took him to the karting track at Kerpen-Horrem, where he became the youngest member of the karting club. His father soon built him a kart from discarded parts and at the age of six Schumacher won his first club championship. To support his son's racing, Rolf Schumacher took on a second job renting and repairing karts, while his wife worked at the track's canteen. Nevertheless, when Schumacher needed a new engine costing 800 DM, his parents were unable to afford it; Michael was able to continue racing with support from local businessmen.^[13]

Regulations in Germany require a driver to be at least 14 years old to obtain a kart license. To get around this, Schumacher obtained a license in Luxembourg at the age of 12.^[14]

In 1983, he obtained his German license, a year after he won the German Junior Kart Championship. From 1984 on, Schumacher won many German and European kart championships. He joined Eurokart dealer Adolf Neubert in 1985 and by 1987 he was the German and European kart champion, then he quit school and began working as a mechanic. In 1988 he made his first step into single-seat car racing by participating in the German Formula Ford and Formula König series, winning the latter.^[15]

In 1989, Schumacher signed with Willi Weber's WTS Formula Three team. Funded by Weber, he competed in the German Formula 3 series, winning the title in 1990. He won also the Macau Grand Prix. At the end of 1990, along with his Formula 3 rivals Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Karl Wendlinger, he joined the Mercedes junior racing programme in the World Sports-Prototype Championship. This was unusual for a young driver: most of Schumacher's contemporaries would compete in Formula 3000 on the way to Formula One. However, Weber advised Schumacher that being exposed to professional press conferences and driving powerful cars in long distance races would help his career.^[14] In the 1990 World Sportscar Championship season, Schumacher won the season finale at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in a Sauber–Mercedes C11, and finished fifth in the drivers' championship despite only driving in 3 of the 9 races. He continued with the team in the 1991 World Sportscar Championship season, winning again at the final race of the season at Autopolis in Japan with a Sauber–Mercedes-Benz C291, leading to a ninth place finish in the drivers championship. He also competed at Le Mans during that season, finishing 5th in a car shared with Karl Wendlinger and Fritz Kreutzpointner. In 1991, he competed in one race in the Japanese Formula 3000 Championship, finishing second.^[15]

Formula One career [link]

Overview [link]

Schumacher was noted throughout his career for his ability to produce fast laps at crucial moments in a race, to push his car to the very limit for sustained periods.^[16] Motor sport author Christopher Hilton observed in 2003 that "A measure of a driver's capabilities is his performance in wet races, because the most delicate car control and sensitivity are needed", and noted that like other great drivers, Schumacher's record in wet conditions shows very few mistakes: up to the end of the 2003 season, Schumacher won 17 of the 30 races in wet conditions he contested.^[17] Some of Schumacher's best performances occurred in such conditions, earning him the nicknames "Regenkönig" (rain king)^[18] or "Regenmeister" (rain master).^[16]^[19], even in the non-German-language media. He is known as "the Red Baron", because of his red Ferrari and in reference to the German Manfred von Richthofen, the famous flying ace of World War I. Schumacher's nicknames include "Schumi",^[20] "Schuey"^[21] and "Schu".^[22] Schumacher is often credited with popularising Formula One in Germany, where it was formerly considered a fringe sport.^[23] When Schumacher retired in 2006, three of the top ten drivers were German, more than any other nationality and more than have ever been present in Formula One history. Younger German drivers, such as Sebastian Vettel, felt Schumacher was key in their becoming Formula One drivers.^[24] In the latter part of his Formula One career, and as one of the senior drivers, Schumacher was the president of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association.^[25] In a 2006 FIA survey, Michael Schumacher was voted the most popular driver of the season among Formula One fans.^[26]

Debut [link]

Schumacher testing the Jordan 191

Schumacher made his Formula One debut with the Jordan-Ford team at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix, driving car number 32 as a replacement for the imprisoned Bertrand Gachot. Schumacher, still a contracted Mercedes driver, was signed by Eddie Jordan after Mercedes paid Jordan $150,000 for his debut.^[27] The week before the race, Schumacher impressed Jordan designer Gary Anderson and team manager Trevor Foster during a test drive at Silverstone. His manager Willi Weber assured Jordan that Schumacher knew the challenging Spa track well, although in fact he had only seen it as a spectator. During the race weekend, team-mate Andrea de Cesaris was meant to show Schumacher the circuit but was held up with contract negotiations. Schumacher then learned the track on his own, by cycling around the track on a fold-up bike he had brought with him.^[28] He impressed the paddock by qualifying seventh in this race. This matched the team's season-best grid position, and out-qualified 11-year veteran de Cesaris. Motorsport journalist Joe Saward reported that after qualifying "clumps of German journalists were talking about 'the best talent since Stefan Bellof'".^[29] Schumacher retired on the first lap of the race with clutch problems.^[30]

Benetton [link]

Schumacher driving for Benetton at the 1992 Monaco Grand Prix

After his debut, and despite Jordan's signed agreement in principle with Schumacher's Mercedes management for the remainder of the season, Schumacher was signed by Benetton-Ford for the following race. Jordan applied for an injunction in the UK courts to prevent Schumacher driving for Benetton, but lost the case as they had not yet signed a contract.^[31] Schumacher finished the 1991 season with four points out of six races. His best finish was fifth in his second race, the Italian Grand Prix, in which he finished ahead of his team-mate and three-time World Champion Nelson Piquet.

At the start of the 1992 season the Sauber team, planning their Formula One debut with Mercedes backing for the following year, invoked a clause in Schumacher's contract which stated that if Mercedes entered Formula One, Schumacher would drive for them. It was eventually agreed that Schumacher would stay with Benetton, Peter Sauber said that "[Schumacher] didn't want to drive for us. Why would I have forced him?".^[32] The year was dominated by the Williams of Nigel Mansell and Riccardo Patrese, featuring powerful Renault engines, semi-automatic gearboxes and active suspension to control the car's ride height.^[33] In the "conventional" Benetton B192 Schumacher took his place on the podium for the first time, finishing third in the Mexican Grand Prix. He went on to take his first victory at the Belgian Grand Prix, in a wet race at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, which by 2003 he would call "far and away my favourite track".^[34] He finished third in the Drivers' Championship in 1992 with 53 points, three points behind runner-up Patrese.

The Williams of Damon Hill and Alain Prost also dominated the 1993 season. Benetton introduced their own active suspension and traction control early in the season, last of the frontrunning teams to do so.^[35] Schumacher won one race, the Portuguese Grand Prix where he beat Prost, and had nine podium finishes, but retired in seven of the other 15 races. He finished the season in fourth, with 52 points.

1994–1995: World Championship years [link]

Schumacher drove the Benetton B194 to his first World Championship in 1994.

Schumacher driving for Benetton at the 1995 British Grand Prix

The 1994 season was Schumacher's first Drivers' Championship. The season, however, was marred by the deaths of Ayrton Senna (witnessed by Schumacher, who was directly behind in 2nd position) and Roland Ratzenberger during the San Marino Grand Prix, and by allegations that several teams, but most particularly Schumacher's Benetton team, broke the sport's technical regulations.^[36]^[37]

Schumacher won six of the first seven races and was leading the Spanish Grand Prix, before a gearbox failure left him stuck in fifth gear. Schumacher finished the race in second place.^[38] Following the San Marino Grand Prix, the Benetton, Ferrari and McLaren teams were investigated on suspicion of breaking the FIA-imposed ban on electronic aids. Benetton and McLaren initially refused to hand over their source code for investigation. When they did so, the FIA discovered hidden functionality in both teams' software, but no evidence that it had been used in a race. Both teams were fined $100,000 for their initial refusal to cooperate. However, the McLaren software, which was a gearbox program that allowed automatic shifts, was deemed legal. By contrast, the Benetton software was deemed to be a form of "launch control" that would have allowed Schumacher to make perfect starts, which was explicitly outlawed by the regulations. However, there was no evidence to suggest that this software was actually used.^[39] At the British Grand Prix, Schumacher was penalised for overtaking on the formation lap. He then ignored the penalty and the subsequent black flag, which indicates that the driver must immediately return to the pits, for which he was disqualified and later given a two-race ban. Benetton blamed the incident on a communication error between the stewards and the team.^[40] Schumacher was also disqualified after winning the Belgian Grand Prix after his car was found to have illegal wear on its skidblock, a measure used after the accidents at Imola to limit downforce and hence cornering speed.^[41] Benetton protested that the skidblock had been damaged when Schumacher spun over a kerb, but the FIA rejected their appeal because of the pattern of wear and damage visible on the block.^[42] These incidents helped Damon Hill close the points gap, and Schumacher led by a single point going into the final race in Australia. On lap 36 Schumacher hit the guardrail on the outside of the track while leading. Hill attempted to pass but as Schumacher's car returned to the track there was a collision on the corner causing them both to retire.^[43] As a result Schumacher won a very controversial championship, the first German to do so (Jochen Rindt raced under the Austrian flag).

In 1995 Schumacher successfully defended his title with Benetton. He now had the same Renault engine as Williams. He accumulated 33 more points than second-placed Damon Hill. With team-mate Johnny Herbert, he took Benetton to its first Constructors' Championship and became the youngest two-time world champion in Formula One history.

The season was marred by several collisions with Hill, in particular an overtaking manoeuvre by Hill took them both out of the British Grand Prix on lap 45^[44] and again on lap 23 of the Italian Grand Prix.^[45] Schumacher won nine of the 17 races, and finished on the podium 11 times. Only once did he qualify worse than fourth; at the Belgian Grand Prix, he qualified 16th, but went on to win the race.

Ferrari [link]

In 1996, Schumacher joined Ferrari for a salary of $60 million over 2 years, a team which had last won the Drivers' Championship with Jody Scheckter in 1979 and which had not won the Constructors' Cup since 1983 with drivers René Arnoux and Patrick Tambay at the wheel. He left Benetton a year before his contract with them expired; he later cited the team's damaging actions in 1994 as his reason for opting out of his deal.^[46] A year later, ex-Benetton employees Rory Byrne and Ross Brawn, who had been Technical Director at Benetton since 1991,^[47] and who was one of the key members behind Schumacher's title successes with the team in 1994 and 1995, decided to join Schumacher at Ferrari. This increased Schumacher's motivation to build a more experienced and potentially championship-winning team around him.

Ferrari had previously come close to the championship in 1982 and 1990. The team had suffered a disastrous downturn in the early 1990s, partially as their famous V12 engine was no longer competitive against the smaller, lighter and more fuel efficient V10s of their competitors. Various drivers, notably Alain Prost, had given the vehicles labels such as "truck", "pig", and "accident waiting to happen".^[48] The poor performance of the Ferrari pit crews was considered a running joke.^[23] At the end of 1995, though the team had improved into a solid competitor, it was still considered inferior to front-running teams such as Benetton and Williams.^[49] Schumacher declared the Ferrari 412T good enough to win the Championship.

Schumacher, Ross Brawn, Rory Byrne, and Jean Todt (hired in 1993), have been credited as turning this once struggling team into the most successful team in Formula One history.^[50]^[51] Three-time World Champion Jackie Stewart believes the transformation of the Ferrari team was Schumacher's greatest feat.^[52] Eddie Irvine also joined the team, moving from Jordan.

1996–1999 [link]

"It was not a race. It was a demonstration of brilliance."

Stirling Moss about Schumacher at the 1996 Spanish GP^[53]

Schumacher finished third in the Drivers' Championship in 1996, and helped Ferrari to second place in the constructors' championship ahead of his old team Benetton. He won three races, more than the team's total tally for the period from 1991 to 1995. During the initial part of the 1996 season, the car had had reliability trouble and Schumacher did not finish 6 of the 16 races. He took his first win for Ferrari at the Spanish Grand Prix, where he lapped the entire field up to third place in the wet.^[14] In the French Grand Prix Schumacher qualified in pole position, but suffered engine failure on the race's formation lap.^[54] However at Spa-Francorchamps, Schumacher used well-timed pit-stops to fend off the Williams' Jacques Villeneuve. Following that, at Monza, Schumacher won in front of the tifosi. Schumacher's ability, combined with the improving reliability of Ferrari, enabled him to end the season, putting up a challenge to eventual race and championship winner Damon Hill at Suzuka.

Schumacher celebrates a second place finish at the 1997 German Grand Prix.

Schumacher battles with David Coulthard at the 1998 British Grand Prix.

Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve vied for the title in 1997. Villeneuve, driving the superior Williams FW19, led the championship in the early part of the season.^[55] However, by mid-season, Schumacher had taken the Championship lead, winning five races, and entered the season's final Grand Prix with a one-point advantage. Towards the end of the race, held at Jerez, Schumacher's Ferrari developed a coolant leak and loss of performance indicating he may not finish the race. As Villeneuve approached to pass his rival, Schumacher attempted to provoke an accident^[56] but got the short end of the stick, retiring from the race. Villeneuve went on and scored four points to take the championship. Schumacher was punished for unsportsmanlike conduct for the collision and was disqualified from the Drivers' Championship.^[57]

In 1998, Finnish driver Mika Häkkinen became Schumacher's main title competition. Häkkinen won the first two races of the season, gaining a 16 point advantage over Schumacher. Schumacher then won in Argentina and, with the Ferrari improving significantly in the second half of the season, Schumacher took six victories and had five other podium finishes. Ferrari took a 1–2 finish at the French Grand Prix, the first Ferrari 1–2 finish since 1990, and the Italian Grand Prix, which tied Schumacher with Häkkinen for the lead of the Drivers' Championship with 80 points, but Häkkinen won the Championship by winning the final two races. There were two controversies; at the British Grand Prix Schumacher was leading on the last lap when he turned into the pit lane, crossed the start finish line and stopped for a ten second stop go penalty. There was some doubt whether this counted as serving the penalty, but, because he had crossed the finish line when he came into the pit lane, the win was valid. At Spa, Schumacher was leading the race by 40 seconds in heavy spray, but collided with David Coulthard's McLaren when the Scot, a lap down, slowed in very poor visibility to let Schumacher past. After both cars returned to the pits, Schumacher leaped out of his car and headed to McLaren's garage in an infuriated manner and accused Coulthard of trying to kill him.^[58]

Rumours circulated that Coulthard may be replaced by Schumacher for the 1999 season and beyond and, in a previous edition of the F1 Racing magazine, Ron Dennis revealed that he had approached Schumacher to sign a deal with McLaren. However, peripheral financial issues that tied Schumacher with Ferrari, such as sponsorship agreements and payment, could not be rectified in a move to the rival team and so, no deal came to fruition.

Schumacher's efforts helped Ferrari win the Constructors title in 1999. He lost his chance to win the Drivers' Championship at the British Grand Prix at the high-speed Stowe Corner, his car's rear brake failed, sending him off the track and resulting in a broken leg.^[59] During his 98 day absence, he was replaced by Finnish driver Mika Salo. After missing six races, he made his return at the inaugural Malaysian Grand Prix, qualifying in the pole position by almost a second. He then assumed the role of second driver, assisting team mate Eddie Irvine's bid to win the Drivers' Championship for Ferrari.^[60] In the last race of the season, the Japanese Grand Prix, Häkkinen won his second consecutive title. Schumacher would later say that Häkkinen was the opponent he respected the most.^[61]

2000–2004: World Championship years [link]

Schumacher won his fourth world title in 2001.

Schumacher driving the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro F2002 at the 2002 French Grand Prix, the race at which he clinched the 2002 Drivers' Championship, setting the record for the fewest races in locking up the title

During this period Schumacher won more races and championships than any other driver in the history of the sport. Schumacher won his third World Championship in 2000 after a year-long battle with Häkkinen. Schumacher won the first three races of the season and five of the first eight. Mid-way through the year, Schumacher's chances suffered with three consecutive non-finishes, allowing Häkkinen to close the gap in the standings. Häkkinen then took another two victories, before Schumacher won at the Italian Grand Prix. At the post race press conference, after equalling the number of wins (41) won by his idol, Ayrton Senna, Schumacher broke into tears.^[62] The championship fight would come down to the penultimate race of the season, the Japanese Grand Prix. Starting from pole position, Schumacher lost the lead to Häkkinen at the start. After his second pit-stop, however, Schumacher came out ahead of Häkkinen and went on to win the race and the championship.

In 2001, Schumacher took his fourth drivers' title. Four other drivers won races, but none sustained a season-long challenge for the championship. Schumacher scored a record-tying nine wins and clinched the world championship with four races yet to run. He finished the championship with 123 points, 58 ahead of runner-up Coulthard. Season highlights included the Canadian Grand Prix, where Schumacher finished 2nd to his brother Ralf, thus scoring the first ever 1–2 finish by brothers in Formula One;^[63] and the Belgian Grand Prix in which Schumacher scored his 52nd career win, breaking Alain Prost's record for most career wins.^[64]

In 2002, Schumacher used the Ferrari F2002 to retain his Drivers' Championship. There was again some controversy, however, at the Austrian Grand Prix, where his teammate, Rubens Barrichello was leading but in the final metres of the race, under team orders, slowed down to allow Schumacher to win the race.^[65] The crowd broke into outraged boos at the result and Schumacher tried to make amends by allowing Barrichello to stand on the top step of the podium. At the United States Grand Prix later that year, Schumacher dominated the race and was set for a close finish with Barrichello. At the end he slowed down to create a formation finish with Barrichello, but slowed too much allowing Barrichello to take the victory. In winning the Drivers' Championship he equalled the record set by Juan Manuel Fangio of five world championships. Ferrari won 15 out of 17 races, and Schumacher won the title with six races remaining in the season, which is still the earliest point in the season for a driver to be crowned World Champion.^[66] Schumacher broke his own record, shared with Nigel Mansell, of nine race wins in a season, by winning eleven times and finishing every race on the podium. He finished with 144 points, a record-breaking 67 points ahead of the runner-up, his teammate Rubens Barrichello. This pair finished 9 of the 17 races in the first two places.

Schumacher at Indianapolis in 2004, where he won the 2004 United States Grand Prix

Schumacher broke Juan Manuel Fangio's record of five World Drivers' Championships by winning the drivers' title for the sixth time in 2003, a closely contested season. The biggest competition came once again from the McLaren Mercedes and Williams BMW teams. In the first race, Schumacher ran off track, and in the following two, was involved in collisions.^[67]^[68]^[69] He fell 16 points behind Kimi Räikkönen. Schumacher won the San Marino Grand Prix and the next two races, and closed within two points of Räikkönen. Aside from Schumacher's victory in Canada, and Barrichello's victory in Britain, the mid-season was dominated by Williams drivers Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya, who each claimed two victories. After the Hungarian Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher led Montoya and Kimi Räikkönen by only one and two points, respectively. Ahead of the next race, the FIA announced changes to the way tyre widths were to be measured: this forced Michelin, supplier to Williams and McLaren among others, to rapidly redesign their tyres before the Italian Grand Prix.^[70] Schumacher, running on Bridgestone tyres, won the next two races. After Montoya was penalised in the United States Grand Prix, only Schumacher and Räikkönen remained in contention for the title. At the final round, the Japanese Grand Prix, Schumacher needed only one point whilst Räikkönen needed to win. By finishing the race in eighth place, Schumacher took one point and assured his sixth World Drivers' title, ending the season two points ahead of Räikkönen.

In 2004, Schumacher won a record twelve of the first thirteen races of the season, only failing to finish in Monaco after an accident with Juan Pablo Montoya during a safety car period when he briefly locked his car's brakes. He clinched a record seventh drivers' title at the Belgian Grand Prix. He finished that season with a record 148 points, 34 points ahead of the runner-up, teammate Rubens Barrichello, and set a new record of 13 race wins out of a possible 18, surpassing his previous best of 11 wins from the 2002 season.^[71]

2005–2006 [link]

Schumacher battling with Kimi Räikkönen during the 2005 Canadian Grand Prix

Schumacher in 2005

Rule changes for the 2005 season required tyres to last an entire race,^[72] tipping the overall advantage to teams using Michelins over teams such as Ferrari that relied on Bridgestone tyres.^[73] The rule changes were partly in an effort to dent Ferrari's dominance and make the series more interesting.^[23] The most notable moment of the early season for Schumacher was his battle with Fernando Alonso in San Marino, where he started 13th and finished only 0.2 seconds behind the Spanish driver.^[74] Less than half-way through the season, Schumacher said "I don't think I can count myself in this battle any more. It was like trying to fight with a blunted weapon.... If your weapons are weak you don't have a chance."^[75] Schumacher's sole win in 2005 came at the United States Grand Prix. Prior to that race, the Michelin tyres were found to have significant safety issues. When no compromise between the teams and the FIA could be reached, all but the six drivers using Bridgestone tyres dropped out of the race after the formation lap.^[76] Schumacher retired in six of the 19 races. He finished the season in third with 62 points, fewer than half the points of world champion Alonso.

2006 became the last season of Schumacher's Ferrari career. After three races, Schumacher had just 11 points and was already 17 points behind Alonso. He won the following two races. His pole position at San Marino was his 66th, breaking Ayrton Senna's 12 year old record.

Schumacher was stripped of pole position at the Monaco Grand Prix and started the race at the back of the grid. This was due to him stopping his car and blocking part of the circuit while Alonso was on his qualifying lap; he still managed to work his way up to 5th place on the notoriously cramped Monaco circuit. By the Canadian Grand Prix, the ninth race of the season, Schumacher was 25 points behind Alonso, but he then won the following three races to reduce his disadvantage to 11. His win at Hockenheim was the last home win for a German as of now. After his victories in Italy (in which Alonso had an engine failure)^[77] and China, in which Alonso had tyre problems,^[78] Schumacher led in the championship standings for the first time during the season. Although he and Alonso had the same point total, Schumacher was in front because he had won more races.

Schumacher overtakes Kimi Räikkönen for 4th with three laps to go of his final race for 3 years at Interlagos, having dropped to 19th early on

The Japanese Grand Prix was led by Schumacher with only 16 laps to go, when, for the first time since the 2000 French Grand Prix, Schumacher's car suffered an engine failure. Alonso won the race, giving himself a ten point championship lead. With only one race left in the season, Schumacher could only win the championship if he won the season finale and Alonso scored no points.

Before the Brazilian Grand Prix, Schumacher conceded the title to Alonso.^[79] In pre-race ceremonies, football legend Pelé presented a trophy^[80] to Schumacher for his years of dedication to Formula One.^[81] During the race's qualifying session, Schumacher had the best time of all drivers through the first two sessions; but a fuel pressure problem prevented him from completing a single lap during the third session, forcing him to start the race in tenth position.^[82] Early in the race Schumacher moved up to sixth place. However, in overtaking Alonso's teammate, Giancarlo Fisichella, Schumacher experienced a tyre puncture caused by the front wing of Fisichella's car.^[83] Schumacher pitted and consequently fell to 19th place, 70 seconds behind teammate and race leader Felipe Massa. Schumacher recovered and overtook both Fisichella and Räikkönen to secure fourth place. His performance was classified in the press as "heroic",^[84] an "utterly breath-taking drive",^[85] and a "performance that ... sums up his career".^[86]

2007–2009: First Retirement [link]

BMW Sauber with "Thanks Michael" messages towards Michael Schumacher on the back of their cars, Schumacher and Peter Sauber worked together in sports cars prior to entering F1 in 1992

While Schumacher was on the podium after winning the 2006 Italian Grand Prix, Ferrari issued a press release stating that he would retire from racing at the end of the 2006 season.^[87] Schumacher confirmed his retirement.^[6] The press release stated that Schumacher would continue working for Ferrari. It was revealed on 29 October 2006 that Ferrari wanted Schumacher to act as assistant to the newly appointed CEO Jean Todt.^[88] This would involve selecting the team's future drivers. After Schumacher's announcement, leading Formula One figures such as Niki Lauda and David Coulthard hailed Schumacher as the greatest all-round racing driver in the history of Formula One.^[89] The tifosi and the Italian press, who did not always take to Schumacher's relatively cold public persona, displayed an affectionate response after he announced his retirement.^[90]

2007: Advisor at Ferrari [link]

He attended several Grands Prix during the season. Schumacher drove the Ferrari F2007 for the first time on 24 October at Ferrari's home track in Fiorano, Italy. He ran no more than five laps and no lap times were recorded. A Ferrari spokesman said the short drive was done for the Fiat board of directors who were holding their meeting in Maranello.^[91]

Schumacher at Finali Mondiali celebrations in the F2007

During the 2007 season Schumacher acted as Ferrari's advisor and Jean Todt's 'super assistant'.^[92] On 13 November 2007 Schumacher, who had not driven a Formula One car since he had retired a year earlier, undertook a formal test session for the first time aboard the F2007. He returned in December 2007 to continue helping Ferrari with their development program at Jerez circuit. He focused on testing electronics and tyres for the 2008 Formula One season.

2008: Car development [link]

In 2007, former Ferrari top manager Ross Brawn said that Schumacher was very likely and also happy to continue testing in 2008. Michael Schumacher later explained his role further saying that he would "deal with the development of the car inside Gestione Sportiva" and as part of that "I'd like to drive, but not too often.".^[93]

During 2008 Schumacher also competed in motorcycle racing in the IDM Superbike-series, but stated that he had no intention of a second competitive career in this sport.^[94] He was quoted as saying that riding a Ducati was the most exhilarating thing he had done in his life, the second most being sky diving.^[95]

2009: Planned substitution for injured Massa [link]

In his capacity as racing advisor to Ferrari, Schumacher was present in Budapest for the Hungarian Grand Prix when Ferrari driver Felipe Massa was seriously injured after being struck by a suspension spring during qualifying. As it became clear that Massa would be unable to compete in the next race at Valencia Schumacher was chosen as a replacement for the Brazilian driver^[96] and on 29 July 2009, Ferrari announced that they planned to draft in Schumacher for the European Grand Prix and subsequent Grands Prix until Massa was able to race again.^[7] Schumacher tested in a modified F2007 to prepare himself^[97] as he had been unable to test the 2009 car due to testing restrictions. Ferrari appealed for special permission for Schumacher to test in a 2009 spec car but Williams, Red Bull and Toro Rosso were against this test.^[98]^[99] Schumacher was forced to call off his return due to the severity of the neck injury he had received in a motorcycle accident earlier in the year.^[100] Massa's place at Ferrari was instead filled by Luca Badoer and Giancarlo Fisichella.

Mercedes GP [link]

On 23 December 2009 it was announced Schumacher would be returning to Formula One in the 2010 season alongside fellow German driver Nico Rosberg in the new Mercedes GP team.^[9] On 16 November Mercedes had taken over the Brawn GP team which was their first majority involvement in an F1 team since 1955. Schumacher stated that his preparations to replace the injured Massa for Ferrari had initiated a renewed interest in F1 which, combined with the opportunity to fulfil a long-held ambition to drive for Mercedes and to be working again with team principal Ross Brawn, led Schumacher to accept the offer once he was passed fit.^[9]^[101] After a period of intensive training medical tests, it was confirmed that the neck injury that had prevented him driving for Ferrari the year before had fully healed.^[9]

Ross Brawn had contacted Schumacher over a potential return to F1 with Mercedes involvement in November 2009, seeking a substitute for the possibly outgoing driver Jenson Button.^[9] On 2 November Rubens Barrichello had left Brawn GP followed by Button on 18 November with Rosberg announced by Mercedes as the first replacement driver on 23 November. The possible return of Schumacher began being reported in the German press on 13 December and, ten days later, Mercedes confirmed Schumacher's return completing their line-up.^[9]^[102]^[103]^[104] Schumacher signed a three year contract, reportedly worth £20m, with Mercedes who were thought to want 22-year-old German driver Sebastian Vettel as a long term replacement afterwards.^[9] In March 2010, The Daily Mail reported that Schumacher's deal was closer to £21m (€24m, $32m) a year.^[105]

Schumacher's surprise re-entry to the sport was compared to Niki Lauda's return in 1982 aged 33 and Nigel Mansell's return in 1994 at age 41. Schumacher turned 41 on 3 January 2010 and his prospects with Mercedes were compared with the record set by the oldest F1 champion Juan Manuel Fangio who was 46 when he won his fifth championship.^[9]

2010: Return to Formula One [link]

Schumacher practicing for the Malaysian Grand Prix from which he retired with a faulty wheel nut

Schumacher's first drive of the 2010 Mercedes car – the Mercedes MGP W01 – was at the official test on 2 February 2010 in Valencia. He finished sixth in the first race of the season at the Bahrain Grand Prix. A fortnight later at the Australian Grand Prix Schumacher, after running as high as third on the opening lap, was caught up in a tangle between Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button at the start and had to pit for a new front wing. He came from the back to finish in the points in tenth position after spending 20 laps behind Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari. In the Malaysian Grand Prix Schumacher retired early in the race with a faulty wheel nut. Schumacher qualified 9th in the Chinese Grand Prix and finished 10th after being passed by several other drivers in the wet conditions towards the end of the race. After the race former driver Stirling Moss suggested that Schumacher, who had finished behind his team-mate in each of the first four qualifying sessions and races, might be "past it."^[106] Many other respected former Formula One drivers thought otherwise, including former rival Damon Hill, who warned "you should never write Schumacher off."^[107] GrandPrix.com identified the inherent understeer of the Mercedes car, exacerbated by the narrower front tyres introduced for the 2010 season, as contributing to Schumacher's difficulties.^[108] Jenson Button shed some more light on Schumacher's car trouble when he confessed that the Mercedes 2010 car was designed for him, and that his driving style is poles apart from Schumacher.^[109]

For the first European race of the season, the Spanish Grand Prix, Mercedes upgraded their car with revised aerodynamics and a longer wheelbase. Schumacher was ahead of Rosberg in qualifying and the race finishing fourth after defending his position from reigning world champion Jenson Button after the pit stops. At the Monaco Grand Prix Schumacher qualified seventh and finished sixth after passing Ferrari's Fernando Alonso on the final corner of the race when the safety car returned to the pits. However he was penalised 20 seconds after the race by the race stewards dropping him to 12th and thus out of the points. The stewards, advised by former world champion Damon Hill, judged the pass to be in breach of rule 40.13 of the sporting code stating that "If the race ends whilst the safety car is deployed it will enter the pit lane at the end of the last lap and the cars will take the chequered flag as normal without overtaking."^[110] Mercedes GP had interpreted "the race control messages 'Safety Car in this lap' and 'Track Clear' and the green flags and lights shown by the marshals after safety car line one" to mean that the race would not finish under the safety car. The FIA subsequently outlined plans to clarify the regulations and Mercedes GP dropped their plans to appeal.^[111]

Schumacher's 2010 season ended with a first lap crash at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

In Turkey, Schumacher had his best qualifying session since his return qualifying fifth ahead of team mate Rosberg in sixth. In the race Schumacher finished fourth which was his best race finish since his return. However 2 races later at the European Grand Prix in Valencia, Schumacher finished a lowly 15th – his lowest recorded finish in his career – after being caught up in a controversial safety-car ruling, which also ruined the race of Fernando Alonso.^[112] Schumacher was near the front of the field until he was stuck at the end of the pit lane, following the safety car, while the majority of the field passed him. In Hungary, Schumacher finished outside the points in eleventh, but was found guilty of dangerous driving at 180 mph (290 km/h) while unsuccessfully defending tenth position against Rubens Barrichello. As a result he was demoted ten places on the grid for the following race, the Belgian Grand Prix, where he finished seventh, despite starting 21st after his grid penalty.

In the Italian Grand Prix, Schumacher missed out on the top ten in qualifying but managed to finish ninth. A fortnight later at the Singapore Grand Prix, Schumacher finished 13th after the Sauber of Nick Heidfeld collided with him on Lap 36, knocking Heidfeld out of the race. At the Japanese Grand Prix, Schumacher finished sixth before a fourth and seventh in the next two races in Korea and Brazil. At the season finale in Abu Dhabi, Schumacher was involved in a major accident on the first lap, which occurred after Schumacher was spun around by his teammate Nico Rosberg. As Schumacher was trying to maneuver his car back around, Vitantonio Liuzzi's Force India ploughed into his Mercedes head-on, barely missing his head.^[113]^[114] Nobody was hurt in the crash, but Schumacher said the crash had been "frightening."^[115]

It was the first season since his début season in 1991 that Schumacher finished without a win, pole position, podium or fastest lap. He finished the season 9th with 72 points.

At the 2011 Wroom meeting in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy, Fernando Alonso, the second most successful Formula One driver still racing, said of Schumacher: "He will be always super class; if the car is right, he will be a contender that we will fear most."^[116]

2011 [link]

Schumacher at the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix

After an unsuccessful Australian Grand Prix, where he retired due to puncture damage, Schumacher had an average race in Malaysia, finishing in ninth place to score his team's only points, generally battling it out with the midfield of the pack but ahead of team mate Rosberg, who finished 12th. A problem with his movable rear wing, also known as the drag reduction system resulted in Schumacher qualifying only 14th in China, but he worked his way up to 8th place during the race. He added more points with sixth place in Spain, and at the Canadian Grand Prix, Schumacher had arguably his best performance since returning from retirement. He finished in fourth position, but ran as high as second in a race which was almost entirely contested in wet conditions. Schumacher was passed late in the race by both Jenson Button, who went on to win the race, and Mark Webber, by the use of the DRS.

Schumacher finished fourth in the Canadian Grand Prix.

In Valencia, he crashed into the side of Vitaly Petrov's Renault while exiting the pit lane, breaking his own front wing, meaning he had to pit again the following lap. This incident left him outside of the points, and eventually finished 17th. In Britain Schumacher locked his front tyres while running behind Kamui Kobayashi, attempted to take avoiding action, and again broke his front wing spinning Kobayashi 180 degrees. As well as pitting to replace the wing, Schumacher served a 10 second stop-go penalty for the incident. Although working his way up to ninth, Schumacher was unhappy with the result and described the Kobayashi incident as his misjudgement. He finished eighth at his home race in Germany, and retired in Hungary with gearbox failure.

Schumacher marked the 20th anniversary of his Formula One début at the Belgian Grand Prix. He set the fastest time in the first free practice session, but after a wheel came loose in qualifying, he had start last on the grid. Despite this, Schumacher put in a very strong performance, ending the race in fifth place and ahead of his team mate Rosberg. Schumacher continued his run of form at the Italian Grand Prix, qualifying eighth and finishing fifth. This race saw a notable duel with Lewis Hamilton for fourth place. Schumacher defended expertly against Hamilton's faster car, but was also criticised for leaving insufficient overtaking space. After a retirement in Singapore due to contact with Sergio Pérez, Schumacher finished in sixth place at the Japanese Grand Prix, having led three laps during the race, the first time he had led a race since the 2006 Japanese Grand Prix.^[117] In doing so, he became the oldest driver to lead a race since Jack Brabham in 1970.

In Korea, Schumacher started the race from twelfth, and was well within the points scoring positions when he was hit from behind by Vitaly Petrov, forcing both drivers to retire. In India, Schumacher struggled in qualifying and qualified twelfth, although he moved up to eleventh after Petrov was given a five-place grid penalty for the incident in Korea; Schumacher blamed his lack of pace on tyre vibrations he experienced on his final run.^{[citation needed]} After making up three places on the opening lap, Schumacher remained in the top ten for the entire race, eventually finishing fifth, ahead of team-mate Rosberg after overtaking him during the final round of pit-stops. At the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Schumacher qualified eighth and had moved up to sixth after a few corners. He was ahead of Rosberg, and the pair battled over the position for the remainder of the first lap. Rosberg's overtake eventually meant that he finished in sixth and Schumacher in seventh. Schumacher finished the season with a fifteenth place at the season finale at the Brazilian Grand Prix, following a collision early in the race with Bruno Senna which had forced him to pit for repairs. Schumacher finished the season in eighth place in the Drivers' Championship standings with 76 points; his best result was fourth place at the Canadian Grand Prix.

2012 [link]

Schumacher climbs out of his car after spinning off during the final practice session at the Australian Grand Prix. He retired from the race with gearbox problems.

Schumacher is again driving for Mercedes AMG in the 2012 Formula One season, alongside Nico Rosberg.^[118] At the Australian Grand Prix, Schumacher qualified in fourth place.^[119] He moved up to third place at the start of the race, which he held until he suffered a terminal gearbox failure on lap 11.^[120] At the second race in Malaysia, Schumacher qualified third,^[121] but only managed to collect one point after being hit from behind on the first lap of the race by Romain Grosjean in wet conditions. For the third race of the season in China, Schumacher qualified 3rd but started in 2nd place due to Lewis Hamilton being penalised. This was the first time since 1955 that Mercedes occupied the front row of the grid, since his team-mate Nico Rosberg scored the first pole position of his career. A mechanic's error during the first pit-stop forced Schumacher to retire after 13 laps. The fourth race was in Bahrain. Schumacher suffered with a defective DRS mechanism in qualifying, which was compounded by a grid-penalty for a gearbox replacement. He started 23rd on the grid, and finished in 10th position. Schumacher had his third retirement of the season in Barcelona, receiving a five place penalty for Monaco after causing a collision with Bruno Senna. Schumacher was fastest in qualifying at Monaco. However, owing to the penalty for his incident with Senna at Barcelona, he started sixth on the grid. At the start of the race, Schumacher was hit by Romain Grosjean as he attempted to move down the outside, dropping to eighth, before retiring from seventh position late in the race due to falling fuel pressure.

Helmet [link]

Schumacher, in conjunction with Schuberth, helped develop the first lightweight carbon helmet. In 2004, a prototype was publicly tested by being driven over by a tank; it survived intact.^[122] The helmet keeps the driver cool by funneling directed airflow through fifty holes.^[123]

Schumacher's original helmet sported the colours of the German flag and his sponsor's decals. On the top was a blue circle with white astroids. When Jos Verstappen was his team-mate, Schumacher added 4 red diagonal strokes over the visor to differentiate his helmet from his team-mate. After Schumacher joined Ferrari a prancing horse was added on the back. From the 2000 Monaco Grand Prix, in order to differentiate his colours from new teammate Rubens Barrichello, Schumacher changed the upper blue colour and some of the white areas to red.^[124]Since 2004, the helmet sported a white diagonal line with a white vertical line in the zone of the German Flag colors (originally to accommodate sponsor AMD), but then these lines remained in the Suzuka 2006 design. He sported one-off helmet designs four times. For the 1998 Japanese Grand Prix, a title decider with Mika Häkkinen, he replaced the German flag with a chequered flag motif and reflective silver replacing the white areas. At the 2004 Italian Grand Prix the German flag design was replaced with an Italian flag in honour of his team's home race. For the Brazilian Grand Prix race of 2006 (at the time intended to be his final Grand Prix), he wore an all-red helmet that included the names of his ninety-one Grand Prix victories.the helmet featured also^[125] For the 2011 Belgian Grand Prix, Schumacher's 20th anniversary in Formula One, he wore a special gold plated helmet.^[126] The helmet, very similar to his current helmet, included the year of his début to the present, and the years of his seven world titles.

Honours [link]

Schumacher has been honoured many times during his career. In April 2002, for his contributions to sport and his contributions in raising awareness of child education, he was named as one of the UNESCO Champions for sport,^[127] joining the other eight which include Pelé, Sergey Bubka and Justine Henin. He won the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award twice, in 2002 and 2004 for his performances in the 2001 and 2003 seasons respectively. He has also received nominations for the 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007 awards.^[128] No-one has been nominated more times than Schumacher in the award's seven-year history.

In honour of Schumacher's racing career and his efforts to improve safety and the sport, he was awarded an FIA Gold Medal for Motor Sport in 2006.^[129] In 2007, in recognition of his contribution to Formula One racing, the Nürburgring racing track renamed turns 8 and 9 (the Audi and Shell Kurves) as the Schumacher S,^[130] and a month later he presented A1 Team Germany with the A1 World Cup at the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport 2007 awards ceremony.^[131] He was nominated for the Prince of Asturias Award for Sport for 2007, which he won both for sporting prowess and for his humanitarian record.^[132]^[133]

In 2008 the Swiss Football Association appointed Schumacher as the Swiss ambassador for the 2008 European football championship.^[134]

On 30 April 2010, Schumacher was honored with the Officier of Légion d'honneur title from French prime minister François Fillon.^[135]

Controversy [link]

During his long career Schumacher has been involved in several incidents, which have caused considerable controversy.

Championship deciding collisions [link]

File:Schumihill1994.jpg

Hill (left) and Schumacher (right) crash at the Flinders Street corner during the 1994 Australian Grand Prix.

Going into the 1994 Australian Grand Prix, the final race of the 1994 season, Schumacher led Damon Hill by a single point in the Drivers' Championship. Schumacher led the race from the beginning, but on lap 35 he went off track and brushed the wall with his right side wheels,^[136] returning to the track at reduced speed but still leading the race. At the next corner Hill attempted a pass on the inside while Schumacher was turning into the corner, and Schumacher and Hill collided. Both cars were eliminated from the race and, as neither driver scored, Schumacher took the title.^[137] The race stewards judged it a racing accident and took no action against either driver, but public opinion is divided over the incident, and Schumacher was vilified in the British media.^[138]^[139]^[140]

At the 1997 European Grand Prix at Jerez, the last race of the season, Schumacher led Williams' Jacques Villeneuve by one point in the Drivers' Championship. As Villeneuve attempted to pass Schumacher at the Dry Sack Corner on lap 48, Schumacher turned in and the right-front wheel of Schumacher's Ferrari hit the left side pod of Villeneuve's car. Schumacher retired from the race as a result but Villeneuve finished in third place, taking four points and so becoming the World Champion.^[136] The race stewards did not award any penalty, but two weeks after the race Schumacher was disqualified from the entire 1997 season after a FIA disciplinary hearing found that his "manoeuvre was an instinctive reaction and although deliberate not made with malice or premeditation. It was a serious error."^[57] Schumacher accepted the decision^[141] and admitted having made a mistake.^[142] Schumacher's actions were widely condemned in British, German, and Italian newspapers.^[138]^[142] This made Schumacher the only driver in the history of the sport, as of 2011^[update], to be disqualified from a Driver's World Championship,^[143] although the McLaren team was disqualified from the 2007 Constructor’s Championship and fined $100m for illegal possession of Ferrari technical information.^[144]

Team orders [link]

Historically, team orders have always been an accepted part of Formula One. However, in the final metres of the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix, Schumacher's teammate, Rubens Barrichello, slowed his car under orders from Ferrari to allow Schumacher to pass and win the race.^[65] Although the switching of positions did not break any actual sporting or technical regulation, it angered fans and it was claimed that the team's actions showed a lack of sportsmanship and respect to the spectators. Many argued that Schumacher did not need to be "given" wins in only the 6th race of the season, particularly given that he had already won 4 of the previous 5 grands prix, and that Barrichello had dominated the race weekend up to that point. At the podium ceremony, Schumacher pushed Barrichello onto the top step,^[65] and for this disturbance, the Ferrari team incurred a US $1 million fine.^[145] Later in the season at the end of the 2002 United States Grand Prix, Schumacher slowed down within sight of the finishing line, allowing Barrichello to win by 0.011 seconds, the 2nd closest margin in F1 history. Schumacher's explanation varied between it being him "returning the favour" for Austria (now that Schumacher's title was secure), or trying to engineer a dead-heat (a feat derided as near-impossible in a sport where timings are taken to within a thousandth of a second).^[146] The FIA subsequently banned "Team orders which interfere with the race result",^[147]^[148] but the ban was lifted for the 2011 season because the ruling was difficult to enforce.^[149]

Dangerous driving [link]

Toward the end of the 2010 Hungarian Grand Prix, Rubens Barrichello attempted to pass Schumacher down the inside on the main straight. Schumacher closed the inside line to force Barrichello onto the outside, but Barrichello persisted on the inside at 180 mph (290 km/h), despite the close proximity of a concrete wall and Schumacher leaving him only inches to spare. Barrichello said ‘It is the most dangerous thing that I have been through’, and ‘There is not a rule for that but between ourselves we should take a line, stick to it and that's it.’ Schumacher said that ‘Obviously there was space enough to go through. We didn't touch, so I guess I just left enough space for him to come through.’ Ross Brawn said ‘at the end of the day he gave him enough space. You can argue that it was marginal, but it was just tough – tough racing.’ A range of ex-drivers and commentators were highly critical of Schumacher. Although there was no accident, the incident was ruled to be dangerous and Schumacher received a 10 place grid penalty for the next race. Schumacher accepted the decision, and apologised.^[150]^[151]^[152]^[153]^[154]

Other incidents [link]

In 1995, Schumacher and Williams driver David Coulthard were disqualified for fuel irregularities, after a switch to Renault engines and Elf oils. On appeal, both drivers had their results and points reinstated, but both teams lost the points the results would normally have earned in the constructors championship.

The 1998 Canadian Grand Prix saw Schumacher accused of dangerous driving when his exit from the pit-lane forced Heinz-Harald Frentzen off the track and into retirement. Despite receiving a 10 second penalty, Schumacher recovered and won the race. In the press conference, he publicly accused Damon Hill of weaving dangerously as they fought for position, stating "If you want to kill me, find some other way", a statement widely condemned as either hypocritical, or a cynical ploy to divert attention from his actions with Frentzen.^[155]

Two laps from the finish of the 1998 British Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher was leading the race when he was issued a stop-and-go penalty for overtaking a lapped car (Alexander Wurz) during the early moments of a Safety Car period. This penalty involves going into the pit lane and stopping for 10 seconds, and the rules state that a driver must serve his penalty within three laps of the penalty being issued. On the third lap after receiving the penalty, Schumacher turned into the pit lane to serve his penalty, but as this was the last lap of the race, and as Ferrari's pit box was located after the start/finish line, Schumacher technically finished the race before serving the penalty. The stewards initially resolved that problem by adding 10 seconds to Schumacher's race time, then later rescinded the penalty completely due to the irregularities in how the penalty had been issued.^[156]

In the Belgian Grand Prix, Schumacher was involved in a race-ending collision whilst trying to lap David Coulthard in heavy spray. After the race he stormed into the McLaren garage and accused Coulthard of trying to kill him, and McLaren and Ferrari team members had to separate the drivers. Coulthard admitted some 5 years later that the accident had been his fault.^[58]

Rubens Barrichello makes way for Schumacher at the end of the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix.

During qualifying for the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix Schumacher set the fastest time, but stopped his car in the Rascasse corner on the racing line, leaving the corner partially blocked, while his main contender for the season title, Fernando Alonso, was on his final qualifying lap. Schumacher stated that he simply locked up the wheels going into the corner and that the car then stalled while he attempted to reverse out.^[157] Alonso believed he would have been on pole if the incident had not happened,^[158] and Schumacher was stripped of pole position by the race stewards and started the race at the back of the grid.^[157] In the same qualifying session, Giancarlo Fisichella was similarly found to have blocked David Coulthard from improving his time, but Fisichella was only demoted five places on the grid.^[159]

At the 2010 Monaco Grand Prix, the safety car was deployed after an accident, involving Karun Chandhok and Jarno Trulli, and pulled into the pits on the last lap. Schumacher passed Alonso before the finish line. Mercedes held that "the combination of the race control messages ‘Safety Car in this lap’ and ‘Track Clear’ and the green flags and lights shown by the marshals after safety car line one indicated that the race was not finishing under the safety car and all drivers were free to race. This opinion appears to have been shared by the majority of the teams with cars in the top ten positions who also gave their drivers instructions to race to the finish line."^[160] However an FIA investigation found Schumacher guilty of breaching Safety Car regulations and awarded him a 20-seconds penalty, which cost him 6 places.

Family and off-track life [link]

Michael Schumacher's signature.

Schumacher's younger brother Ralf was a Formula One driver until the end of 2007.^[12] Their stepbrother Sebastian Stahl has also been competing as a race car driver.^[161] In August 1995, Michael married Corinna Betsch. They have two children, Gina-Maria (born on 20 February 1997) and Mick (born on 22 March 1999). He has always been very protective of his private life^[162] and is known to dislike the celebrity spotlight, preferring a simple life. The family moved to a house near Gland, Switzerland in 2007, a 650 m² mansion with its own underground garage and petrol station, situated on a private beach on Lake Geneva.^[163] The family has two dogs – one stray that Corinna fell in love with in Brazil, and an Australian Shepherd named "Ed" whose entrance to the family made headlines. Schumacher personally drove a taxi through the Bavarian town of Coburg after collecting the dog, enabling the family to catch their return flight to Switzerland.^[164] Both Schumacher and the taxi driver were reprimanded by local police.^[165]

One of his main hobbies is horse riding, and he plays football for his local team FC Echichens. He has appeared in several football charity games^[166] and organised games between Formula One drivers.^[167] He is a fan of FC Koln.

On 23 June 2003, Schumacher was appointed as an Ambassador at Large for the Most Serene Republic of San Marino.^[168]^[169]

Schumacher is a special ambassador to UNESCO and has donated 1.5 million Euros to the organization.^[170] Additionally, he paid for the construction of a school for poor children and for area improvements in Dakar, Senegal. He supports a hospital for child victims of war in Sarajevo, which specialises in caring for amputees. In Lima, Peru he funded the "Palace for the Poor", a centre for helping homeless street children obtain an education, clothing, food, medical attention, and shelter. He stated his interest in these various efforts was piqued both by his love for children and the fact that these causes had received little attention. While an exact figure for the amount of money he has donated throughout his life is unknown, it is known that in his last four years as a driver, he donated at least $50 million.^[11] In 2008 it was revealed that he had donated between $5M and $10M to the William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park of Bill Clinton.^[171]

Since his participation in an FIA European road safety campaign, as part of his punishment after the collision at the 1997 European Grand Prix, Schumacher has continued to support other campaigns, such as Make Roads Safe, which is led by the FIA Foundation and calls on G8 countries and the UN to recognise global road deaths as a major global health issue. In 2008, Schumacher was the figurehead of an advertising campaign by Bacardi to raise awareness about responsible drinking, with a focus on communicating an international message 'drinking and driving don't mix'. He featured in an advertising campaign for television, cinema and online media, supported by consumer engagements, public relations and digital media across the world.^[172]

On the eve of the 2002 British Grand Prix, on behalf of Fiat, Schumacher presented a Ferrari 360 Modena to legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar at Silverstone.^[173]

On 21 June 2009, Schumacher appeared on the BBC's motoring programme Top Gear as The Stig.^[174] Presenter Jeremy Clarkson hinted later in the programme that Schumacher was not the regular Stig. The BBC has since confirmed that this is the case; Schumacher was there on that occasion because Ferrari would not allow anyone else to drive the one-of-a-kind black Ferrari FXX which was featured in the show.^[175] The FXX was presented to Schumacher upon his retirement at Monza in 2006.

When Schumacher appeared on Top Gear in 2009, he told Clarkson during his interview that the road cars that he drives are a Fiat 500 Abarth, and a Fiat Croma which is his family car.^[176]

Finance and sponsorship [link]

In 2004, Forbes magazine listed him as the 2nd highest paid athlete in the world.^[177] In 2005 Eurobusiness magazine identified Schumacher as the world's first billionaire athlete. His 2004 salary was reported to be around US $80 million.^[178] Forbes magazine ranked him 17th in their "The World's Most Powerful Celebrities" list.^[179] A significant share of his income came from advertising. For example, Deutsche Vermögensberatung paid him $8 million over three years from 1999 for wearing a 10 by 8 centimetre advertisement on his post-race cap.^[180] The deal was extended until 2010.^[181] He donated $10 million for aid after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.^[182] His donation surpassed that of any other sports person, most sports leagues, many worldwide corporations and even some countries.^[183] Schumacher's bodyguard Burkhard Cramer was killed in the tsunami along with his two sons.^[184]

In 2010, his personal fortune was estimated at £515 million.^[185]

Racing record [link]

Career summary [link]

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
1988	European Formula Ford 1600	Eufra Racing	4	1	1	0	3	50	2nd
	German Formula Ford 1600	Eufra Racing	7	3	0	0	5	124	6th
	Formula König	Hoecker Sportwagenservice	10	9	1	1	10	192	1st
1989	German Formula Three	WTS Racing	12	2	2	0	7	163	3rd
	European Formula Three Cup		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	NC
	Macau Grand Prix		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	NC
1990	World Sportscar Championship	Team Sauber Mercedes	3	1	0	1	3	21	=5th
	German Formula Three	WTS Racing	11	5	6	4	7	148	1st
	European Formula Three Cup		1	0	1	1	0	N/A	NC
	Macau Grand Prix		1	1	0	0	0	N/A	1st
1991	Formula One	Team 7UP Jordan	1	0	0	0	0	0	14th
	Formula One	Camel Benetton Ford	5	0	0	0	0	4	14th
	World Sportscar Championship	Team Sauber Mercedes	8	1	0	2	2	43	9th
	Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft	Zakspeed Mercedes	4	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	Japanese Formula 3000	Team Le Mans	1	0	0	0	1	6	12th
1992	Formula One	Camel Benetton Ford	16	1	0	2	8	53	3rd
1993	Formula One	Camel Benetton Ford	16	1	0	5	9	52	4th
1994	Formula One	Mild Seven Benetton Ford	14	8	6	8	10	92	1st
1995	Formula One	Mild Seven Benetton Renault	17	9	4	8	11	102	1st
1996	Formula One	Scuderia Ferrari S.p.A.	16	3	4	2	8	59	3rd
1997	Formula One	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	17	5	3	3	8	78	DSQ
1998	Formula One	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	16	6	3	6	11	86	2nd
1999	Formula One	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	10	2	3	5	6	44	5th
2000	Formula One	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	17	9	9	2	12	108	1st
2001	Formula One	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	17	9	11	3	14	123	1st
2002	Formula One	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	17	11	7	7	17	144	1st
2003	Formula One	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	16	6	5	5	9	93	1st
2004	Formula One	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	18	13	8	10	15	148	1st
2005	Formula One	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	19	1	1	3	5	62	3rd
2006	Formula One	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	18	7	4	7	12	121	2nd
2010	Formula One	Mercedes GP Petronas	19	0	0	0	0	72	9th
2011	Formula One	Mercedes GP Petronas	19	0	0	0	0	76	8th
2012	Formula One	Mercedes AMG Petronas	6	0	0	0	0	2	18th*

* Season in progress.

Source: Hilton, Christopher (2006). Michael Schumacher: The Whole Story. Haynes. ISBN 1-84425-008-3.

Complete Formula One results [link]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	WDC	Points
1991	Team 7UP Jordan	Jordan 191	Ford HBB 4 3.5 V8	USA	BRA	SMR	MON	CAN	MEX	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL Ret										14th	4
1991	Camel Benetton Ford	Benetton B191	Ford HBA 5 3.5 V8												ITA 5	POR 6	ESP 6	JPN Ret	AUS Ret					14th	4
1992	Camel Benetton Ford	Benetton B191B	Ford HB 3.5 V8	RSA 4	MEX 3	BRA 3																		3rd	53
1992	Camel Benetton Ford	Benetton B192	Ford HB 3.5 V8				ESP 2	SMR Ret	MON 4	CAN 2	FRA Ret	GBR 4	GER 3	HUN Ret	BEL 1	ITA 3	POR 7	JPN Ret	AUS 2					3rd	53
1993	Camel Benetton Ford	Benetton B193	Ford HB 3.5 V8	RSA Ret	BRA 3																			4th	52
1993	Camel Benetton Ford	Benetton B193B	Ford HB 3.5 V8			EUR Ret	SMR 2	ESP 3	MON Ret	CAN 2	FRA 3	GBR 2	GER 2	HUN Ret	BEL 2	ITA Ret	POR 1	JPN Ret	AUS Ret					4th	52
1994	Mild Seven Benetton Ford	Benetton B194	Ford Zetec-R 3.5 V8	BRA 1	PAC 1	SMR 1	MON 1	ESP 2	CAN 1	FRA 1	GBR DSQ	GER Ret	HUN 1	BEL DSQ	ITA	POR	EUR 1	JPN 2	AUS Ret					1st	92
1995	Mild Seven Benetton Renault	Benetton B195	Renault RS7 3.0 V10	BRA 1	ARG 3	SMR Ret	ESP 1	MON 1	CAN 5	FRA 1	GBR Ret	GER 1	HUN 11^†	BEL 1	ITA Ret	POR 2	EUR 1	PAC 1	JPN 1	AUS Ret				1st	102
1996	Scuderia Ferrari S.p.A.	Ferrari F310	Ferrari 046 3.0 V10	AUS Ret	BRA 3	ARG Ret	EUR 2	SMR 2	MON Ret	ESP 1	CAN Ret	FRA DNS	GBR Ret	GER 4	HUN 9^†	BEL 1	ITA 1	POR 3	JPN 2					3rd	59
1997	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari F310B	Ferrari 046/2 3.0 V10	AUS 2	BRA 5	ARG Ret	SMR 2	MON 1	ESP 4	CAN 1	FRA 1	GBR Ret	GER 2	HUN 4	BEL 1	ITA 6	AUT 6	LUX Ret	JPN 1	EUR Ret				DSQ‡	78
1998	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari F300	Ferrari 047 3.0 V10	AUS Ret	BRA 3	ARG 1	SMR 2	ESP 3	MON 10	CAN 1	FRA 1	GBR 1	AUT 3	GER 5	HUN 1	BEL Ret	ITA 1	LUX 2	JPN Ret					2nd	86
1999	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari F399	Ferrari 048 3.0 V10	AUS 8	BRA 2	SMR 1	MON 1	ESP 3	CAN Ret	FRA 5	GBR Ret	AUT	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	EUR	MAL 2	JPN 2					5th	44
2000	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari F1-2000	Ferrari 049 3.0 V10	AUS 1	BRA 1	SMR 1	GBR 3	ESP 5	EUR 1	MON Ret	CAN 1	FRA Ret	AUT Ret	GER Ret	HUN 2	BEL 2	ITA 1	USA 1	JPN 1	MAL 1				1st	108
2001	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari F2001	Ferrari 050 3.0 V10	AUS 1	MAL 1	BRA 2	SMR Ret	ESP 1	AUT 2	MON 1	CAN 2	EUR 1	FRA 1	GBR 2	GER Ret	HUN 1	BEL 1	ITA 4	USA 2	JPN 1				1st	123
2002	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari F2001	Ferrari 050 3.0 V10	AUS 1	MAL 3																			1st	144
2002	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari F2002	Ferrari 051 3.0 V10			BRA 1	SMR 1	ESP 1	AUT 1	MON 2	CAN 1	EUR 2	GBR 1	FRA 1	GER 1	HUN 2	BEL 1	ITA 2	USA 2	JPN 1				1st	144
2003	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari F2002	Ferrari 051 3.0 V10	AUS 4	MAL 6	BRA Ret	SMR 1																	1st	93
2003	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari F2003-GA	Ferrari 052 3.0 V10					ESP 1	AUT 1	MON 3	CAN 1	EUR 5	FRA 3	GBR 4	GER 7	HUN 8	ITA 1	USA 1	JPN 8					1st	93
2004	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari F2004	Ferrari 053 3.0 V10	AUS 1	MAL 1	BHR 1	SMR 1	ESP 1	MON Ret	EUR 1	CAN 1	USA 1	FRA 1	GBR 1	GER 1	HUN 1	BEL 2	ITA 2	CHN 12	JPN 1	BRA 7			1st	148
2005	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari F2004M	Ferrari 053 3.0 V10	AUS Ret	MAL 7																			3rd	62
2005	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari F2005	Ferrari 055 3.0 V10			BHR Ret	SMR 2	ESP Ret	MON 7	EUR 5	CAN 2	USA 1	FRA 3	GBR 6	GER 5	HUN 2	TUR Ret	ITA 10	BEL Ret	BRA 4	JPN 7	CHN Ret		3rd	62
2006	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari 248 F1	Ferrari 056 2.4 V8	BHR 2	MAL 6	AUS Ret	SMR 1	EUR 1	ESP 2	MON 5	GBR 2	CAN 2	USA 1	FRA 1	GER 1	HUN 8^†	TUR 3	ITA 1	CHN 1	JPN Ret	BRA 4			2nd	121
2010	Mercedes GP Petronas F1 Team	Mercedes MGP W01	Mercedes FO 108X 2.4 V8	BHR 6	AUS 10	MAL Ret	CHN 10	ESP 4	MON 12	TUR 4	CAN 11	EUR 15	GBR 9	GER 9	HUN 11	BEL 7	ITA 9	SIN 13	JPN 6	KOR 4	BRA 7	ABU Ret		9th	72
2011	Mercedes GP Petronas F1 Team	Mercedes MGP W02	Mercedes FO 108Y 2.4 V8	AUS Ret	MAL 9	CHN 8	TUR 12	ESP 6	MON Ret	CAN 4	EUR 17	GBR 9	GER 8	HUN Ret	BEL 5	ITA 5	SIN Ret	JPN 6	KOR Ret	IND 5	ABU 7	BRA 15		8th	76
2012	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	Mercedes F1 W03	Mercedes FO 108Z 2.4 V8	AUS Ret	MAL 10	CHN Ret	BHR 10	ESP Ret	MON Ret	CAN	EUR	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	SIN	JPN	KOR	IND	ABU	USA	BRA	18th*	2*

^‡ Schumacher was disqualified from the 1997 WDC due to dangerous driving in the European Grand Prix, where he caused an avoidable accident with Villeneuve. His points tally would have placed him in second place in that year's standings.^[57]
^† Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.
* Season in progress.

Formula One records [link]

Schumacher holds the following Formula One records:

Record	Number
Championship titles	7 (1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004)
Consecutive titles	5 (2000–2004)
Championship won with most races left	6 (2002)
Largest championship-winning margin (pre-2010 points system)	67 points (2002)
Race wins	91
Consecutive wins^[3]	7 (2004, Europe–Hungary)
Wins in a season	13 (72%) (2004)
Wins in a season for a runner-up^[4]	7 (2006)
Wins at Monza (Formula One)	5
Wins with one team	72 (Ferrari)
Wins at the same Grand Prix	8 (France)
Different Grands Prix won	22
Longest time between first and last wins	14 years, 32 days
Total years with a win	15 (1992–2006)
Consecutive years with a win	15 (1992–2006)
Second places	43
Consecutive top two finishes	15 (Brazil 2002–Japan 2002)
Podiums (Top 3 finishes)	154
Podium finishes in a season	17 (100%) (2002)
Consecutive podium finishes	19 (US 2001–Japan 2002)
Championship points	1,519
Points finishes	215
Consecutive points finishes	24 (Hungary 2001–Malaysia 2003)
Races / Laps / Distance led	142 races / 5,111 laps / 24,144 km^[186]
Pole positions	68
Front row starts	116
Fastest laps	76
Fastest laps in a season^[5]	10 (2004)
Doubles (Pole and win)	40
Hat tricks (Pole, win and fastest lap)	22
Hat tricks in a season	5 in 2004 ^[6]
Races with one team	181 (Ferrari)

^ Record shared with Alberto Ascari (1952 Belgian GP–1953 Argentine GP). Some sources credit Ascari with nine consecutive wins, disregarding the 1953 Indianapolis 500 race, in which Ascari did not compete. The American race formed part of the world championship, but was not run to the same regulations as the other races and was very rarely attended by world championship drivers.

^ Record shared with Alberto Ascari in 1952.

^ Record shared with Alain Prost (1984 and 1988) and Kimi Räikkönen (2005).

^ Record shared with Kimi Räikkönen (2005 and 2008).^[187]

Books and movies [link]

Allen, James (1999). Michael Schumacher: Driven to Extremes. Bantam Books. ISBN 0-553-81214-9.
Allen, James (2007). Edge of Greatness. Headline. ISBN 978-0-7553-1678-6.
Collings, Timothy (2004). The Piranha Club. Virgin Books. ISBN 0-7535-0965-2.
Collings, Timothy (2005). Team Schumacher. Highdown. ISBN 1-905156-03-0.
Domenjoz, Luc (2002). Michael Schumacher: Rise of a genius. Parragon. ISBN 0-7525-9228-9.
Henry, Alan (ed.) (1992). Autocourse 1992 – 93. Hazleton Publishing. ISBN 0-905138-96-1.
Henry, Alan (1996). Wheel to Wheel: Great Duels of Formula One Racing. Weidenfeld Nicolson Illustrated. ISBN 0-7538-0522-7.
Hilton, Christopher (2003). Michael Schumacher: The greatest of all. Haynes. ISBN 1-84425-044-X.
Hilton, Christopher (2006). Michael Schumacher: The Whole Story. Haynes. ISBN 1-84425-008-3.
Kehm, Sabine (2003). Michael Schumacher. Driving Force. Random House. ISBN 0-09-189435-2.
Matchett, Steve (1995). Life in the Fast Lane: The Story of the Benetton Grand Prix Year. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 0-297-81610-1.
Matchett, Steve (1999). The Mechanic's Tale: Life in the Pit Lanes of Formula One. Osceola, Wisconsin: MBI Pub.. ISBN 0-7603-0754-7.
Williams, Richard (1999). The Death of Ayrton Senna. Bloomsbury. ISBN 0-7475-4495-6.

Schumacher had a voice in the Disney/Pixar movie Cars. His character is himself as a car (Ferrari F430). He also appeared as himself in a French movie Asterix and Obelix at the Olympic Games.

References and notes [link]

^ Benson, Andrew (12 October 2003). "Who is the greatest ever?". BBC Sport (BBC). http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/3168114.stm. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
^ "The final five could all have been No. 1, but only Foyt gets the prize". ESPN. 23 May 2008. http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/racing/columns/story?columnist=blount_terry&id=3407489. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
^ "Formula 1's Greatest Drivers: 1. MICHAEL SCHUMACHER". autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). 10 December 2009. http://f1greatestdrivers.autosport.com/?driver=2. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
^ Rice, Simon (12 March 2010). "The ten best Formula One drivers". The Independent (UK: Independent Print Limited). http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/motor-racing/the-ten-best-formula-one-drivers-1920034.html. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
^ "Michael Schumacher – the end of an era". The Official Formula 1 Website. 10 September 2006. http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2006/9/4932.html. Retrieved 24 October 2006.
^ ^a ^b "It's official: Schumi to retire". ITV. 11 September 2006. http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=37307. Retrieved 24 October 2006.
^ ^a ^b "Michael happy to help". Michael Schumacher – Official Website. http://www.michaelschumacher.de/?page=news&story_id=82078&lang=uk. Retrieved 8 August 2009.
^ Michael cancels F1-Comeback, Schumacher's website. Retrieved 1 November 2009
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h "Michael Schumacher signs up for F1 return with Mercedes". BBC Sport. 23 December 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8427552.stm. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
^ Benson, Andrew (28 May 2006). "Schumacher's chequered history". BBC Sport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/5024532.stm. Retrieved 8 November 2006.
^ ^a ^b Duff, Alex (10 September 2006). "Schumacher, Seven-Time Champion, to Quit Formula One (Update1)". Bloomberg. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=azdH01IQrFLs&refer=germany. Retrieved 18 January 2007.
^ ^a ^b "Hall of Fame – World Champions: Michael Schumacher". The Official Formula 1 Website. 2006. http://www.formula1.com/teams_and_drivers/hall_of_fame/7/. Retrieved 5 October 2006.
^ Collings, Timothy (2005). Team Schumacher. Highdown. pp. 35–37. ISBN 1-905156-03-0.
^ ^a ^b ^c "The Beginning". mschumacher.com. Crash.net. 2006. http://www.mschumacher.com/history.html. Retrieved 23 April 2007.
^ ^a ^b Domenjoz, Luc (2002). Michael Schumacher : Rise of a genius. Parragon. pp. 10–12, 170–171. ISBN 0-7525-9228-9.
^ ^a ^b "Michael Schumacher – Master of the F1 Circuit". Auto Racing. http://www.autoracing.com/formula-1/drivers/michael-schumacher/. Retrieved 12 July 2007.
^ Hilton, Christopher (2003). Michael Schumacher : The greatest of all. Haynes. pp. 131–132. ISBN 1-84425-044-X. Hilton has defined a race in wet conditions as "all races where it rained – even if that was a shower."
^ Hardcastle, Jonathon. "Michael Schumacher". http://www.artwoo.com/article/michael-schumacher. Retrieved 12 July 2007.
^ "Schumacher races to victory". BBC Sport. 18 March 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/1227766.stm. Retrieved 24 October 2006.
^ "Alonso ahead of Schumi". News24. 21 October 2006. http://www.news24.com/News24/Sport/More_Sport/0,9294,2-9-32_2018131,00.html. Retrieved 22 October 2006. ^{[dead link]}
^ Tremayne, David (22 October 2006). "Schuey exit promises many twists and turns". The Independent (UK). http://sport.independent.co.uk/motor_racing/article1919061.ece. Retrieved 22 October 2006.
^ "Schu brought down to earth". ITV. 11 October 2006. http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=37706&PO=37706. Retrieved 14 October 2006.
^ ^a ^b ^c Sapa (11 September 2006). "The greatest driver of all time!". SuperWheels. Archived from the original on 27 September 2006. http://web.archive.org/web/20060927153411/http://www.superwheels.co.za/default.asp?id=4846&des=sportstalk. Retrieved 24 October 2006.
^ Noble, Jonathan (25 September 2006). "Vettel sorry to see 'idol' Schumacher go". Autosport. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/54667. Retrieved 31 October 2006.
^ "Schumacher retains GPDA position". BBC. 9 June 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/5066186.stm. Retrieved 30 November 2007.
^ "Schumacher tops F1 supporter poll". BBC Sport. 27 September 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/5384692.stm. Retrieved 25 October 2006.
^ Collings, Timothy (2004). The Piranha Club. Virgin Books. p. 17. ISBN 0-7535-0965-2.
^ Hilton, Christopher (2006). Michael Schumacher: The whole story. Haynes. pp. 62–66. ISBN 1-84425-008-3.
^ Hilton, Christopher (2006). Michael Schumacher: The whole story. Haynes. pp. 67–68. ISBN 1-84425-008-3.
^ "1991 Belgian Grand Prix". Results Archive. The Official Formula 1 Website. http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1991/209/. Retrieved 24 October 2006.
^ Collings, Timothy (2007). "Welcome to the Piranha Club". The Piranha Club. Virgin Books. ISBN 1-85227-907-9.
^ Domenjoz, Luc (2006) [2002]. Michael Schumacher : Rise of a genius. Parragon. p. 38. ISBN 0-7525-9228-9.
^ Henry, Alan, ed. (1992). Autocourse 1992 – 93. Hazleton Publishing. p. 50. ISBN 0-905138-96-1.
^ Kehm, Sabine (2003). Michael Schumacher. Driving Force. Random House. p. 14. ISBN 0-09-189435-2.
^ "Grand Prix Results: Monaco GP, 1993". Grand Prix Encyclopedia. GrandPrix.com. http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr538.html. Retrieved 6 November 2006. . Benetton first raced traction control at the 1993 Monaco Grand Prix, having introduced active suspension at the 1993 European Grand Prix (Domenjoz (2002) p. 40). Williams had first raced an active system in 1987 and used it throughout 1992,(Autocourse (1992) p.50) while McLaren and Ferrari both introduced active cars in the final races of the 1992 season.(Autocourse (1992) pp.42 & 80)
^ Domenjoz, Luc (2006) [2002]. Michael Schumacher: The Rise of a Genius. Parragon. pp. 44–47. ISBN 0-7525-9228-9.
^ Saward, Joe (11 August 1994). "Globetrotter: Rocking the boat". GrandPrix.com. Inside F1. http://www.grandprix.com/gt/gt00044.html. Retrieved 28 August 2008.
^ "A return to racing – Spanish Grand Prix 1994". The Official Formula One Website. 30 April 2003. http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2003/4/288.html. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
^ Williams, Richard (1999). The Death of Ayrton Senna. Bloomsbury. pp. 177–179. ISBN 0-7475-4495-6.
^ Hilton, Christopher (2006). Michael Schumacher: The whole story. Haynes. pp. 118–120. ISBN 1-84425-008-3.
^ "Grand Prix Results: Belgian GP, 1994". Grand Prix Encyclopedia. GrandPrix.com. http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr559.html. Retrieved 13 May 2006.
^ Hilton, Christopher (2006). Michael Schumacher: The whole story. Haynes. p. 142. ISBN 1-84425-008-3.
^ Benson, Andrew (28 May 2006). "Schumacher's chequered history". BBC Sport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/low/motorsport/formula_one/5024532.stm. Retrieved 15 June 2007.
^ "The official formula 1 website". http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1995/123/. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
^ "The official formula 1 website". http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1995/126/. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
^ Cooper, Steve (August 2007). "McLaren dream team turns into nightmare". Autosport 189 (6): 6–8.
^ Bewers, Matthew. "Ross Brawn Profile". theScuderia.net. http://www.thescuderia.net/rossbrawn.shtml. Retrieved 3 January 2008.
^ Baker, Andrew (20 October 2006). "Switch the key to Ferrari revival". London: Telegraph Sport. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/core/Content/displayPrintable.jhtml?xml=/sport/2006/10/20/smbake20.xml&site=2&page=0. Retrieved 29 October 2006.
^ Henry, Alan (ed) (1996). AUTOCOURSE 1996–97. Hazleton Publishing. pp. 46–48. ISBN 1-874557-91-8.
^ "Schumacher confirms retirement". MSN Cars. 11 September 2006. http://crashnet.cars.msn.co.uk/news_view.asp?cid=1&id=137166. Retrieved 28 September 2006.
^ "Ferrari: Formula 1's Most Successful Team Enters a New Era". about.com. http://formula1.about.com/od/teams/p/Ferrari.htm. Retrieved 12 June 2007.
^ Benson, Andrew (18 October 2006). "Schumacher 'made Ferrari great'". BBC Sport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/low/motorsport/formula_one/6061442.stm. Retrieved 6 November 2006.
^ "The Best of the Best". atlasf1.autosport.com. 1999. http://atlasf1.autosport.com/99/bra/preview/kalb.html. Retrieved 5 October 2006.
^ Cours, Magny. "GRAND PRIX RESULTS: FRENCH GP, 1996". grandprix.com. http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr590.html. Retrieved 18 April 2007.
^ "Friday Press Conference". GrandPrix.com. 10 October 2003. http://www.grandprix.com/race/r713fqreport.html. Retrieved 8 November 2006.
^ "Schumacher loses championship runner-up crown". BBC News. 11 November 1997. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/29895.stm. Retrieved 5 July 2010.
^ ^a ^b ^c "FIA World Motor Sport Council – 11 November 1997" (PDF). FIA. 11 November 1997. http://www.fia.com/resources/documents/2064282370__11_11_1997_WMSC.pdf. Retrieved 29 October 2006.
^ ^a ^b "Crash was my fault, Coulthard admits". The Sydney Morning Herald. Reuters. 7 June 2003. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/07/06/1057430084085.html. Retrieved 28 September 2006.
^ "Schumacher out of action". GrandPrix.com. 12 July 1999. http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns02071.html. Retrieved 25 October 2006.
^ "DRIVERS: MICHAEL SCHUMACHER". grandprix.com. http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/drv-schmic.html. Retrieved 30 November 2006.
^ "Hall of Fame – World Champions: Mika Hakkinen". The Official Formula 1 Website. 2006. http://www.formula1.com/teams_and_drivers/hall_of_fame/40/. Retrieved 5 October 2006.
^ Benson, Andrew (21 April 2004). "A death that shocked the world". BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/3605579.stm. Retrieved 21 April 2007.
^ "Grand Prix du Canada – Statistiques". Telus. http://www.globetrotter.net/gt/grandprix/en/statistiques.asp. Retrieved 15 June 2007. ^{[dead link]}
^ "Send your tributes to Schumacher". BBC. 2 September 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/low/sports_talk/1520663.stm. Retrieved 3 February 2007.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Schumacher steals Austrian win". BBC Sport. 12 May 2002. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/1982612.stm. Retrieved 24 October 2006.
^ Molinaro, John C. (12 September 2006). "Top 10 Michael Schumacher moments". CBC Sports (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). http://www.cbc.ca/sports/indepth/10-schumacher-momments.html. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
^ "Coulthard takes Melbourne thriller". BBC Sport. 9 March 2003. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/2832441.stm. Retrieved 3 November 2006.
^ "Raikkonen claims maiden win". BBC Sport. 23 March 2003. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/2877461.stm. Retrieved 3 November 2006.
^ "Raikkonen wins chaotic race". BBC Sport. 6 April 2003. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/2922651.stm. Retrieved 3 November 2006.
^ "FIA stands by tyre rulings". BBC Sport. 9 September 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/3092598.stm. Retrieved 25 April 2007.
^ "A tribute to Michael Schumacher". f1technical.net. 2006. http://www.f1technical.net/news/3949. Retrieved 1 December 2007.
^ "FIA announce rule changes for 2005 and 2006". The Official Formula 1 Website. 22 October 2004. http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2004/10/2367.html. Retrieved 13 April 2007.
^ "Michael Schumacher". f1complete.com. http://www.f1complete.com/content/view/376/273/. Retrieved 30 November 2007.
^ "Alonso holds off Schumacher surge". BBC Sport. 24 April 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/4478747.stm. Retrieved 3 November 2006.
^ Henry, Alan (27 July 2005). "Alonso within touching distance of title". The Guardian (London). http://sport.guardian.co.uk/formulaone/story/0,10069,1535586,00.html. Retrieved 5 November 2006.
^ "Schumacher takes hollow USGP victory". Crash.net. 19 June 2005. http://www.crash.net/news_view.asp?cid=1&id=113296. Retrieved 19 June 2007.
^ "Alonso's Renault Engine blew in spectacular fashion". Motorsport.com. 10 September 2006. http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=232358. Retrieved 1 August 2007.
^ Zanca, Salvatore (1 October 2006). "Alonso has trouble with his front tires". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/01/AR2006100100207_2.html. Retrieved 1 August 2007.
^ "Schumacher concedes title to Alonso". BBC Sport. 8 October 2006.
^ "Pele to present a trophy to Schumacher". International Herald Tribune. 22 October 2006. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/10/20/sports/LA_SPT_CAR_F1_Brazilian_GP_Notebook.php. Retrieved 1 August 2007.
^ "Schumacher honored by a presentation from Pele". International Herald Tribune. 22 October 2006. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/10/22/sports/LA_SPT_CAR_F1_Schumachers_Finale.php. Retrieved 1 August 2007.
^ "Schumacher suffers in qualifying". BBC Sport. 21 October 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/6073264.stm. Retrieved 1 August 2007.
^ "Fisi did cause Schu puncture". itv.com/f1. 23 October 2006. http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=37856. Retrieved 23 October 2006.
^ "Superb Schumi signs off in style". BBC Sport. 22 October 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/6075782.stm. Retrieved 3 November 2006.
^ "Brazil: Alonso takes championship, but Michael steals the show". ManipeF1. 22 October 2006. http://www.manipef1.com/news/2006/index.php?id=1744. Retrieved 3 November 2006.
^ "2006 Brazil Grand Prix Report". PitPass. http://www.pitpass.com/src/seasons/2006/gp/brazil/report/result.php. Retrieved 3 November 2006.
^ "Michael Schumacher will retire from race driving at the end of the 2006 World Championship." (PDF) (Press release). Ferrari S.p.A.. 10 September 2006. http://www.ferrariworld.com/events/ms/pdf/monza01_en.pdf. Retrieved 24 October 2006.
^ "New role for Schumacher at Ferrari?". PitPass. 29 October 2006. http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=29851. Retrieved 29 October 2006.
^ "Tributes to Schumi". BBC Sport. 22 October 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/6075194.stm. Retrieved 24 October 2006.
^ Evans, Simon (11 September 2006). "Italy shows gratitude to Schumacher". AutoSport. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/54449. Retrieved 12 September 2006.
^ Goren, Biranit; Lostia, Michele (25 October 2007). "Schumacher in the F2007 for the first time". Autosport (Haymarket Publications). http://www.autosport.com/news/grapevine.php/id/59831. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
^ "Schumacher to help Ferrari select drivers". autosport.com. 29 October 2007. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/55462. Retrieved 30 November 2007.
^ "Schumi in charge of developing cars". Gazzetta dello Sport via f1technical.net. 11 January 2008. http://www.f1technical.net/news/7958?sid=46d7fcb4610cac76f4d809a27d741051. Retrieved 11 January 2008.
^ Schumacher slips up in Superbike race www.itv-f1.com. Retrieved 5 July 2008.
^ Motorcycle Sport and leisure magazine, Nov 2008 (interview with Randy Mamola)
^ "Manager rules out Schumi F1 return". F1 ITV. 28 July 2009. http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?id=46506. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
^ "Lealdade custa caro: Schumi ganhará cerca de R$ 8,5 milhões por corrida" (in Portuguese). Globo. 29 July 2009. http://globoesporte.globo.com/Esportes/Noticias/Formula_1/0,,MUL1248620-15011,00.html. Retrieved 30 July 2009.
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^ "Mercedes GP leave Budapest empty handed". F1Technical.net (F1Technical). 1 August 2010. http://www.f1technical.net/news/15260. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
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^ "Taxi for Schumacher". BBC Sport. 12 December 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/7139910.stm. Retrieved 12 December 2007.
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^ "Diplomatic and Consular Representations of San Marino at large". Secretary of State for Foreign and Political Affairs (San Marino). http://www.esteri.sm/on-line/en/Home/DiplomaticandConsularCorps/DiplomaticandConsularRepresentationsofSanMarinoatlarge.html. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
^ "Schumacher appointed ambassador of San Marino". Motorsport.com. 2 September 2003. http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=135649&FS=F1. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
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^ "Clinton Foundation Donors". The Wall Street Journal. 18 December 2008. http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/st_clintondonor_20081218.html. Retrieved 18 December 2008.
^ Sweney, Mark (4 July 2008). "Schumacher puts the brakes on drink-driving". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jul/04/advertising.formulaone. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
^ "When Schumacher met Sachin!". Rediff Cricket Online. 23 July 2002. http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2002/jul/23slide.htm. Retrieved 24 July 2002.
^ "Schumacher 'revealed' as the Stig". BBC Online. 21 June 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8111588.stm. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
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^ "Series 13, Episode 1". Top Gear. 12 June 2009. BBC Two.
^ "The Best-Paid Athletes". Forbes. 24 June 2004. http://www.forbes.com/2004/06/23/04athletesland.html. Retrieved 8 August 2009.
^ Reid, Angus (11 July 2006). "Sports: How Big Is Too Big?". Mediacheck (thetyee.ca). http://thetyee.ca/Mediacheck/2006/07/11/TrendWatch/. Retrieved 24 October 2006. Forbes magazine has not yet included him on its billionaires list. More recently other sources have estimated his net worth in 2006 somewhat lower, www.f1i.com reports that it 'surpassed $800M'. "Retired Schu to earn $26 m in 2007 – report". f1i.com. 18 September 2006. Archived from the original on 6 May 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070506145347/http://www.f1i.com/content/view/5215/32/. Retrieved 23 January 2007.
^ "The Celebrity 100". Forbes. 2005. http://forbes.com/lists/2005/53/Rank_1.html. Retrieved 25 October 2006.
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^ McAllister, Mike (11 November 2005). "My Sportsman: Michael Schumacher". 2005 Sportsman of the Year (SI.com). http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/magazine/specials/sportsman/2005/11/11/michael.schumacher/index.html. Retrieved 25 October 2006.
^ http://nbc.sports.msnbc.com/id6786663
^ Drivers top the rich list – ESPN F1
^ "Michael Schumacher". The Formula One Database. f1db.com. 2006. http://www.f1db.com/f1/page/Michael_Schumacher. Retrieved 25 October 2006.
^ All race and championship results (1991–2006) are taken from the Official Formula 1 Website. 1991 Season review onwards. www.formula1.com. Retrieved 23 May 2007

All race and championship results (1991–2006) are taken from the Official Formula 1 Website. 1991 Season review onwards. www.formula1.com. Retrieved 23 May 2007

External links [link]

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Official website
Michael Schumacher – career summary at DriverDB.com
Profile – from Mercedes GP official website
Kartcenter and Museum
Kartteam Kaiser-Schumacher-Muchow
Formula1.com Profile
Michael Schumacher career statistics
News Articles about Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher at the Internet Movie Database
Michael Schumacher at the Notable Names Database

Michael Schumacher sporting positions

Sporting positions
Preceded by None	Formula König champion 1988	Succeeded by Thomas Winkelhock
Preceded by Karl Wendlinger	German Formula Three champion 1990	Succeeded by Tom Kristensen
Preceded by David Brabham	Macau Grand Prix Winner 1990	Succeeded by David Coulthard
Preceded by Alain Prost	Formula One World Champion 1994–1995	Succeeded by Damon Hill
Preceded by Mika Häkkinen	Formula One World Champion 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004	Succeeded by Fernando Alonso
Preceded by Heikki Kovalainen Marcus Grönholm	Race of Champions Nations' Cup 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 With: Sebastian Vettel	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Felipe Massa	Desafio Internacional das Estrelas Winner 2007	Succeeded by Rubens Barrichello
Preceded by Rubens Barrichello	Desafio Internacional das Estrelas Winner 2009	Succeeded by Lucas di Grassi
Awards
Preceded by Markus Wasmeier	German Sportsman of the Year 1995	Succeeded by Frank Busemann
Preceded by Damon Hill	Autosport International Driver of the Year 1995	Succeeded by Damon Hill
Preceded by Mika Häkkinen	Autosport International Driver of the Year 2000–2002	Succeeded by Juan Pablo Montoya
Preceded by Tiger Woods	Laureus World Sportsman of the Year 2002	Succeeded by Lance Armstrong
Preceded by Juan Pablo Montoya	Lorenzo Bandini Trophy 2003	Succeeded by Kimi Räikkönen
Preceded by Lance Armstrong	Laureus World Sportsman of the Year 2004	Succeeded by Roger Federer
Preceded by Jan Ullrich	German Sportsman of the Year 2004	Succeeded by Ronny Ackermann
Preceded by Spain national basketball team	Prince of Asturias Award for Sports 2007	Succeeded by Rafael Nadal
Records
Preceded by Alain Prost 51 wins (1980–1991, 1993)	Most Grand Prix wins 91 wins, 52nd at the 2001 Belgian GP	Succeeded by Incumbent

v t e German Formula Three champions

Three-time	Walter Komossa

Two-time	Schäfer · Jelinski

One-time	Albers · van Dam · Deutsch · Deutz · Dillmann · Elkmann · Fontana · Francia · Heidfeld · Kaneishi · Kolmsee · Konrad · Korten · Kreuzer · Kristensen · Lamy · Lang · Leinders · Maring · Mohr · Müller · Nielsen · Nissen · Oliveira · Paffett · Pantano · Scharmann · Schneider · Schumacher · Sommer · Stanaway · Thiim · Trulli · Tung · Vanthoor · Verstappen · Vervisch · Weidler · Wendlinger · Winkelhock

Formula One World Drivers' Champions

1950 G. Farina
1951 J.M. Fangio
1952 A. Ascari
1953 A. Ascari
1954 J.M. Fangio
1955 J.M. Fangio
1956 J.M. Fangio
1957 J.M. Fangio
1958 M. Hawthorn
1959 J. Brabham

1960 J. Brabham
1961 P. Hill
1962 G. Hill
1963 J. Clark
1964 J. Surtees
1965 J. Clark
1966 J. Brabham
1967 D. Hulme
1968 G. Hill
1969 J. Stewart

1970 J. Rindt
1971 J. Stewart
1972 E. Fittipaldi
1973 J. Stewart
1974 E. Fittipaldi
1975 N. Lauda
1976 J. Hunt
1977 N. Lauda
1978 M. Andretti
1979 J. Scheckter

1980 A. Jones
1981 N. Piquet
1982 K. Rosberg
1983 N. Piquet
1984 N. Lauda
1985 A. Prost
1986 A. Prost
1987 N. Piquet
1988 A. Senna
1989 A. Prost

1990 A. Senna
1991 A. Senna
1992 N. Mansell
1993 A. Prost
1994 M. Schumacher
1995 M. Schumacher
1996 D. Hill
1997 J. Villeneuve
1998 M. Häkkinen
1999 M. Häkkinen

2000 M. Schumacher
2001 M. Schumacher
2002 M. Schumacher
2003 M. Schumacher
2004 M. Schumacher
2005 F. Alonso
2006 F. Alonso
2007 K. Räikkönen
2008 L. Hamilton
2009 J. Button

2010 S. Vettel
2011 S. Vettel

v t e Laureus World Sportsman of the Year

2000: Tiger Woods · 2001: Tiger Woods · 2002: Michael Schumacher · 2003: Lance Armstrong · 2004: Michael Schumacher · 2005: Roger Federer · 2006: Roger Federer · 2007: Roger Federer · 2008: Roger Federer · 2009: Usain Bolt · 2010: Usain Bolt · 2011: Rafael Nadal · 2012: Novak Djokovic

Winners of Autosport's International Racing Driver Award

1982: Keke Rosberg
1983: Nelson Piquet
1984: Niki Lauda
1985: Alain Prost
1986–87: Nigel Mansell
1988: Ayrton Senna
1989: Jean Alesi
1990–91: Ayrton Senna
1992–93: Nigel Mansell
1994: Damon Hill
1995: Michael Schumacher
1996: Damon Hill
1997: Jacques Villeneuve
1998–99: Mika Häkkinen
2000–02: Michael Schumacher
2003: Juan Pablo Montoya
2004: Jenson Button
2005: Kimi Räikkönen
2006: Fernando Alonso
2007–08: Lewis Hamilton
2009: Jenson Button
2010–11: Sebastian Vettel

v t e Jordan Grand Prix

Founder: Eddie Jordan Notable staff: Gary Anderson \| Mike Gascoyne \| Sam Michael \| Rob Smedley Notable drivers Rubens Barrichello \| Andrea de Cesaris \| Heinz-Harald Frentzen \| Damon Hill \| Michael Schumacher Formula One cars: 191 \| 192 \| 193 \| 194 \| 195 \| 196 \| 197 \| 198 \| 199 \| EJ10 \| EJ10B \| EJ11 \| EJ12 \| EJ13 \| EJ14 \| EJ15 \| EJ15B

Benetton Formula

World Champions: Michael Schumacher

Formula One cars: B186 | B187 | B188 | B189 | B189B | B190 | B190B | B191 | B191B | B192 | B193 | B193B | B194 | B195 | B196 | B197 | B198 | B199 | B200 | B201

Scuderia Ferrari

Founder: Enzo Ferrari
President: Luca Cordero di Montezemolo

Current personnel: Mario Almondo · Luca Baldisserri · Stefano Domenicali · Pat Fry · Hirohide Hamashima · Luca Marmorini · Neil Martin · Massimo Rivola · Rob Smedley · Andrea Stella · Nicholas Tombazis

Former personnel: Luca Badoer · John Barnard · Ross Brawn · Gustav Brunner · Rory Byrne · Carlo Chiti · Gioacchino Colombo · Aldo Costa · Chris Dyer · Cesare Fiorio · Mauro Forghieri · Vittorio Jano · Aurelio Lampredi · Harvey Postlethwaite · Enrique Scalabroni · Gilles Simon · Nigel Stepney · Jean Todt

Race drivers: 5. Fernando Alonso · 6. Felipe Massa

Test drivers: TBA

Former drivers
World Champions: Alberto Ascari · Juan Manuel Fangio · Mike Hawthorn · Phil Hill · Niki Lauda · Kimi Räikkönen · Jody Scheckter · Michael Schumacher · John Surtees

Formula One cars: 125 · 212 · 166 · 275 · 340 · 375 · 500 · 553 · 625 · 555 · D50 · 801 · 246 · 156 · 158 · 1512 · 312 · 312B · 312T · 126C · 156/85 · F1/86 · F1/87 · 640 · 641 · 642 · 643 · F92A · F93A · 412T · F310 · F300 · F399 · F1-2000 · F2001 · F2002 · F2003-GA · F2004 · F2005 · 248 F1 · F2007 · F2008 · F60 · F10 · 150° Italia · F2012

Teams and drivers competing in the 2012 Formula One season

Red Bull	McLaren	Ferrari	Mercedes	Lotus	Force India
1 Sebastian Vettel 2 Mark Webber	3 Jenson Button 4 Lewis Hamilton	5 Fernando Alonso 6 Felipe Massa	7 Michael Schumacher 8 Nico Rosberg	9 Kimi Räikkönen 10 Romain Grosjean	11 Paul di Resta 12 Nico Hülkenberg‎
Sauber	Toro Rosso	Williams	Caterham	HRT	Marussia
14 Kamui Kobayashi 15 Sergio Pérez	16 Daniel Ricciardo 17 Jean-Éric Vergne	18 Pastor Maldonado 19 Bruno Senna	20 Heikki Kovalainen 21 Vitaly Petrov	22 Pedro de la Rosa 23 Narain Karthikeyan	24 Timo Glock 25 Charles Pic

Mercedes-Benz in Formula One

Current personnel: Bob Bell · Ross Brawn · Jock Clear · Aldo Costa · Nick Fry · Norbert Haug · James Vowles · Geoff Willis
Former personnel (1950s): Alfred Neubauer · Max Sailer · Rudolf Uhlenhaut

Race drivers: 7. Michael Schumacher · 8. Nico Rosberg

Test drivers: Sam Bird

World Champions: Juan Manuel Fangio
European Champions: Rudolf Caracciola

Notable drivers: Louis Chiron · Luigi Fagioli · Hans Herrmann · Karl Kling · Hermann Lang · Stirling Moss · Richard Seaman · Manfred von Brauchitsch

Cars
Formula One: W196 · MGP W01 · MGP W02 · F1 W03
Grand Prix: W25 · W125 · W154
Voiturette: W165

Authority control: LCCN: n96091540 | WorldCat

This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Schumacher

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.

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Persondata
Name	Schumacher, Michael
Alternative names	Schumi
Short description	Racing driver, Formula 1 driver, 7 times world champion
Date of birth	3 January 1969
Place of birth	Hürth Hermülheim, Germany
Date of death
Place of death

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