The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world. The RAF has taken a significant role in British military history, playing a large part in the Second World War and in more recent conflicts.

The RAF is one of the most capable and technologically sophisticated air forces in the world. As of January 2012^[update] it operated 827 aircraft, making it the largest air force of a European Union country and the second largest in NATO (after the USAF). Most of the RAF's aircraft and personnel are based in the UK, with many others serving on operations (principally Afghanistan and the Middle East) or at long-established overseas bases (Ascension Island, Cyprus, Gibraltar, and the Falkland Islands).

The RAF's mission is to support the objectives of the British Ministry of Defence (MoD), which are to "provide the capabilities needed: to ensure the security and defence of the United Kingdom and overseas territories, including against terrorism; to support the Government’s foreign policy objectives particularly in promoting international peace and security."

An air force, also known in some countries as an air army, is in the broadest sense, the national military organization that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army, navy or other branch. Typically, air forces are responsible for gaining control of the air, carrying out strategic and tactical bombing missions and providing support to surface forces.

The term "air force" may also refer to a tactical air force or numbered air force, which is an operational formation within a national air force. Air forces typically consist of a combination of fighters, bombers, helicopters, transport planes and other aircraft.

Many air forces are also responsible for operations of military space, intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), and communications equipment. Some air forces may command and control other air defence assets such as antiaircraft artillery, surface-to-air missiles, or anti-ballistic missile warning networks and defensive systems. Some nations, principally Russia, the former Soviet Union and countries who modelled their militaries along Soviet lines, have an Air Defence Force which is organizationally separate from their air force.

Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton,MBE (born 7 January 1985) is a British Formula One racing driver from England, currently racing for the McLaren team. He is the 2008 Formula One World Champion.

Hamilton was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. In December 1995, at the age of ten, he approached McLaren team principal Ron Dennis at the Autosport Awards ceremony and told him, "I want to race for you one day ... I want to race for McLaren." Less than three years later McLaren and Mercedes-Benz signed him to their Young Driver Support Programme. After winning the British Formula Renault, Formula Three Euroseries, and GP2 championships on his way up the racing career ladder, he drove for McLaren in 2007, making his Formula One debut 12 years after his initial encounter with Dennis. Lewis Hamilton's contract for the McLaren driver development program made him the youngest ever driver to secure a contract which later resulted in an F1 drive.

Coming from a mixed-race background, with a black father and white mother, Hamilton is often labelled "the first black driver in Formula One", although Willy T. Ribbs tested an F1 car in 1986. He is also the first driver of black heritage to win a major race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in any discipline.

David Marshall Coulthard, MBE, (/ˈkoʊlθɑrt/; born 27 March 1971,, often known as DC, is a Scottish former Formula One racing driver .

Coulthard, who was born and raised in Twynholm, made his Formula One debut in 1994 and won 13 Grands Prix in a career spanning 15 seasons. Twice a winner in Monaco, Coulthard was team-mate to Mika Häkkinen in the Finn's two Drivers' Championship-winning seasons for McLaren Mercedes before helping establish the Red Bull team. His best Drivers' Championship finish was second in 2001.

After retiring from racing in Formula One, Coulthard continued to be involved with the Red Bull Racing team as a consultant, as well as joining the BBC as a Television commentator and pundit. He returned as an active driver in the DTM series for 2010, piloting a 2008 Mercedes-Benz C-Class for Mücke Motorsport. He has finished in 16th position in the drivers championship in both years of competing in the series.

Coulthard began karting as soon as he was permitted, at the age of 11. He raced karts for six years, moving south once he had started to win local championships. He regarded Rowrah, in Cumbria, as his home circuit. It was there that he won the Cumbria Kart Racing Club championship in 1985, a year after Allan McNish. McNish credited the start given to him, David Coulthard, and Dario Franchitti largely to David Leslie, senior and junior.