A1GP

A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, the only motor racing series to pitch nations against nations, started as a Sheikh's dream. Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum of Dubai wanted to bring in today's cosmopolitan world of motorsports the passion and the national pride generated once every four years by the Football World Cup or by the Summer Olympic Games. A member of Dubai’s ruling family, an avid motorsport enthusiast and experienced businessman, Sheikh Maktoum mixed his passion for high-speed excitement with an unique business model to create the first World Cup of Motorsport. As Founder, President and Chairman, he shares overall responsibility for the Series with CEO Tony Teixeira (also owner and CEO of the oil, diamonds and gold trade company Energem). Between them, Sheikh Maktoum and Tony Teixeira preside over the development of the business both as a franchise model and international motorsport series.

On 30 March 2004, A1 Grand Prix, a brand new concept in international motorsport was launched to the world’s press at the prestigious Jumeira Beach hotel, in Dubai. Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum unveiled his vision for an exciting yet accessible sport where all countries would compete on a level playing field. From this spark, grew A1GP, a series with deliberately equalized technology and national teams, racing their country flag in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport.

From March 2004 onwards, Sheikh Maktoum and his business partner, Tony Teixeira, set about building the team that would bring this exciting concept to reality. British firms Lola International and Zytek Engineering were appointed to develop the chassis and engine respectively, based on the initial drawings of Sheikh Maktoum himself while US company Cooper Tires was chosen as the official A1GP tyre supplier. By July of that year, following extensive wind tunnel testing, the first generation of A1GP race cars was shown in public for the first time at the Farnborough International Air Show in the UK. A month later, one of the UK's most experienced international racing drivers, former Formula 1 driver Ralph Firman signed up to test the A1GP race car. Firman went on to drive for A1 Team Ireland in the 2005/06 season.

While Sheikh Maktoum focused on developing every strand of his initial vision, from the design of the cars, to the look and feel of the website, tickets, branding and overall consumer experience, South African businessman Tony Teixeira set about attracting investors and potential team owners.

Over the following year, 25 national teams were developed representing countries as diverse in culture and economic prosperity as they were in their motorsport experience. Countries such as China and Lebanon would face the likes of the USA, Great Britain, Germany and France and the launch of each team came with the support of high profile sports stars (such as top-class Brazilian striker Ronaldo) and successful businessmen alongside world leaders and politicians.

After an intense testing programme, the final A1GP race car was built and on August 2005, the newly formed A1 Teams were on the track, for the first time. Throughout five days of testing at both the Silverstone Circuit in the UK and Paul Ricard HTTT in the South of France, the cars proved fast and reliable and an exciting spectacle was assured as the time had come for the first racing season to begin. The calendar of the series was purposely designed not to clash with Formula 1 or other major open-wheel series, in fact allowing drivers with commitments in these championships to compete for their country in A1GP. Therefore, the A1GP series was created as a winter series, racing over the winter being nothing new. There was the Tasman series for Formula 1 cars in Australia and New Zealand from 1964 to 1969.

The first full racing weekend in A1GP history was held at Brands Hatch, Great Britain. A1 Team Brazil’s Nelson Piquet Jr took the double, winning both the Sprint and the Feature races. However, their winning form was not to continue. Wins at Estoril saw A1 Team France build up a consistent gap. By the end of the year, 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 came second, on that list, with 121 points and A1 Team Great Britain third with 97 points. A1GP's inaugural season brought the teams and their drivers to 11 venues, some of them being famous current or former Grand Prix tracks, while the other were exotic places like the Dubai Autodrome or the Durban street circuit in South Africa. The second A1GP season was dominated by Team Germany thanks to an up and coming teenager Nicolas Hülkenberg, tipped to be the next Michael Schumacher. New Zealand and Great Britain fought for a distant second place in the points table.

The inaugural season of A1 Grand Prix has withstood a total loss of $212m, series CEO Tony Teixeira has admitted. The massive figure is over $60m higher than the $150m that several sources connected to the series estimated were spent to get the "World Cup of Motorsport" off the ground. High promoting, broadcasting and transporting costs were pointed as the main culprits for the unexpectedly high figure.

TEAMS

The World Cup of Motorsport promotes countries and makes use of the national patriotism of each person not only attracting traditional motorsport and sporting fans but exciting anyone who is passionate about their heritage, country and population. Once the series had received the backing of the FIA in 2005, a management structure including new executive directors Brian Menell and Tony Teixeira was 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. Teams including some from giant nations never before touched by global motorsport such as India and Pakistan, others from well established motor sport markets for whom a presence in the World Cup of Motorsport is essential. Switzerland have entered a team even though motor racing has been banned there since 1955. A1GP has created a new medium for national and international brands and organisations to promote themselves on a global scale as they join forces with their national teams to be part of a truly unique sporting event.

DRIVERS

A1 Grand Prix requires the participating drivers to hold an International Class B license. Each car is representing a nation of the world, it has to be driven by a driver of appropriate nationality. Under the FIA code, "the nationality of the driver is the nationality of his licence", but in A1GP, drivers are eligible to compete for a country as long as their roots are nationally based. Drivers such as Jos Verstappen, Alex Yoong or Ralph Firman have made the move into A1GP after Formula 1, achieving much better results. Alex Yoong has been able to win in A1GP for Team Malaysia, something he was unlikely to achieve at the wheel of a Minardi, while during his stint for Team Netherlands, Jos Verstappen reminded everyone of the speed and aggression which initially marked him out as a man to watch in F1. A1GP drivers often have short or even one race contracts.

RACE WEEKEND FORMAT
Practice Sessions - Friday

Two rookie sessions are held between 11.00 – 11.25 and 11.35-12.00 each Friday during race weekends to allow drivers under 28 or from developing nations to get to grips with the powerful 550-bhp A1GP cars and challenging race tracks.

Two one-hour general practice sessions are held for all other A1GP drivers from 14.00 to 15.00 on Friday and 11.00 to 12.00 on Saturday.

Qualifying – Saturday

Qualifying for the Sprint Race takes place on Saturday afternoon across four 15-minute sessions, between 14.15 and 15.30.

Each A1GP Team is limited to one ‘flying lap’ per session and at the end of qualifying the teams two fastest lap times are added together to set an aggregate qualifying time, which sets their start position for the Sprint Race.

Sprint Race and Feature Race – Sunday

The A1GP race weekend consists of two separate races. The Sprint Race runs from 11.00 local time on the Sunday morning for a maximum of 20 minutes with a rolling start. There is no requirement for a pit stop during the Sprint Race. Points are awarded to the top six finishers as follows: the1st Place-6 Points, 2nd Place-5 Points till the 6th place, with 1 Point.

The results of the Sprint Race determines the grid for the Feature Race. This race is a maximum of 70 minutes in duration with standing start and a mandatory pit stop, in which all four tires on the car must be changed. Only four mechanics may service the car during the stop, none of which (save the so-called "lollipop man" that directs the car into its pit) may be present before the car comes to a complete halt. Re-fueling is also not permitted. Infringements of these rules or of the pit-lane speed limit result in the imposition of a drive-through penalty. The Feature Race runs from 15.00 to 16.10 local time on the Sunday afternoon. When it comes to points, they are awarded to the top ten finishers for the Feature race as follows: 1st place - 10 Points, 2nd place - 9 Points, till the 10th place, with 1 Point.

A bonus point is awarded to the fastest lap achieved by a team during the Sprint Race or Feature Race.

All points are allocated to the winning Nation and there are no driver points, because A1GP is a team effort and a team sport.