1.
Brackley
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Brackley is a town in south Northamptonshire, England. It is about 19 miles from Oxford and 22 miles from Northampton, historically a market town based on the wool and lace trade, it was built on the intersecting trade routes between London, Birmingham and the English Midlands and between Cambridge and Oxford. Brackley has connections with Formula 1 as it is close to Silverstone, Brackley, originally also known as Brachelai or Brackele, was held in 1086 by Earl Alberic. After this it passed to the Earl of Leicester, and to the families of De Quincy, in the 11th and 12th centuries Brackley was in the Hundred of Odboldistow and in the Manor of Halse. Richard I named five official sites for jousting tournaments so that events could not be used as local wars. The tournament site is believed to be to the south of the castle where the A422 now passes, henry III attacked and destroyed the castle in 1173. The site was granted to the Hospital of SS. The town was the site of an important meeting between the barons and representatives of the King in 1215, the year of Magna Carta, Magna Carta required King John to proclaim rights, respect laws and accept that the Kings wishes were subject to law. It explicitly protected certain rights of the Kings subjects, whether freemen, serfs, King John and the barons were to have signed Magna Carta at Brackley Castle, but they eventually did so at Runnymede. Market day was on Sundays until 1218, when it was changed to Wednesdays and it is now on Friday mornings. The Tudor antiquary John Leland visited Brackley, where he learned a Lord of the Towne named Neville had had the parish vicar murdered and this he had done by having the man buried alive. The writer Daniel Codd observed that in the grounds of St Peters Church, in 1597 the town was incorporated by Elizabeth I. It had a mayor, six aldermen and 26 burgesses, in 1602, the metaphysical poet John Donne was elected as Member of Parliament for the constituency of Brackley. Brackley used to be known for wool and lace-making, in 1901 the population of the town was 2,467. Brackley used the house at Culworth until 1834, when Parliament passed the Poor Law Amendment Act. A workhouse for 250 people was built in 1836, southwest of the town on Banbury Road and it was demolished in the 1930s. Brackley Castle was built soon after 1086 and its earthwork remains lie between Hinton Road and Tesco. It comprised a motte mound 10 feet high and approximately 44 yards in diameter with a bailey to the east
2.
Northamptonshire
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Northamptonshire, archaically known as the County of Northampton, is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2011, it had a population of 629,000, the county is administered by Northamptonshire County Council and seven non-metropolitan district councils. Northamptonshire is the southernmost county in the East Midlands region, apart from the county town of Northampton, other large population centres include Kettering, Corby, Wellingborough, Rushden and Daventry. Northamptonshires county flower is the cowslip, there are two more possible hill-forts at Arbury Hill and Thenford. In the 1st century BC, most of what later became Northamptonshire became part of the territory of the Catuvellauni, a Belgic tribe, the Catuvellauni were in turn conquered by the Romans in 43 AD. The Roman road of Watling Street passed through the county, there were other Roman settlements at Northampton, Kettering and along the Nene Valley near Raunds. A large fort was built at Longthorpe, after the Romans left, the area eventually became part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia, and Northampton functioned as an administrative centre. The Mercians converted to Christianity in 654 AD with the death of the pagan king Penda, Northamptonshire was conquered again in 940, this time by the Vikings of York, who devastated the area, only for the county to be retaken by the English in 942. Consequently, it is one of the few counties in England to have both Saxon and Danish town-names and settlements, the county was first recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, as Hamtunscire, the scire of Hamtun. The North was added to distinguish Northampton from the other important Hamtun further south, Rockingham Castle was built for William the Conqueror and was used as a Royal fortress until Elizabethan times. In 1460, during the Wars of the Roses, the Battle of Northampton took place, the now-ruined Fotheringhay Castle was used to imprison Mary, Queen of Scots, before her execution. George Washington, the first President of the United States of America, was born into the Washington family who had migrated to America from Northamptonshire in 1656. George Washingtons ancestor, Lawrence Washington, was Mayor of Northampton on several occasions and it was George Washingtons great-grandfather, John Washington, who emigrated in 1656 from Northants to Virginia. Before Washingtons ancestors moved to Sulgrave, they lived in Warton, King Charles I was imprisoned at Holdenby House in 1647. In 1823 Northamptonshire was said to a pure and wholesome air because of its dryness. Its livestock were celebrated, Horned cattle, and other animals, are fed to extraordinary sizes, in summer, the county hosted a great number of wealthy families. Country seats and villas are to be seen at every step, Northamptonshire is still referred to as the county of spires and squires because of the numbers of stately homes and ancient churches. In the 18th and 19th centuries, parts of Northamptonshire and the area became industrialised
3.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
4.
David Richards (motorsport)
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David Pender Richards CBE is the chairman of Prodrive, former chairman of Aston Martin, and a former team principal of the BAR and Benetton Formula One motor racing teams. He lives with his wife, Karen, in Warwickshire and has three children, in the 2005 New Year Honours List Richards was appointed a CBE for his services to motorsport. Richards grew up in North Wales, attending Brynhyfryd School in Ruthin, on his 17th birthday, he passed his driving test in a Lotus Cortina. At the age of only 17 years and 3 months he became the then youngest person in the UK to hold a pilots licence and was awarded an RAF university scholarship. After completing his first year of A-Levels, he left school to five years studying for his articles as a British Chartered Accountant. It was during this period that he established his career as a professional rally co-driver winning his first national rally championship with Tony Drummond in 1974. In the same year, he married his wife Karen, the following year he took up the position of team manager for Fiat, before returning to competition with the Ford factory team in 1979. Here he formed a successful and long-standing partnership with the Finnish rally driver, the two won both the British and Scandinavian Championships before going on to win the World Rally Championship in a Ford Escort RS1800 in 1981. In 1984, the Porsche Rothmans Rally Team won the Middle East Rally Championship, rapid expansion of his new Prodrive company led to a move to a new facility at Banbury, Oxfordshire in 1986. The same year, Richards team ran a privately entered MG Metro 6R4 in the British and Irish rally championships, the following year saw Prodrive begin a six-year relationship with BMW in both rallying and touring car racing. A pivotal meeting with Fuji Heavy Industries at the Safari Rally in 1989, under Richards direction the team embarked on an ambitious programme, initially in the British, and subsequently the Asia-Pacific and World Rally Championships. It was Richards who, in 1990, saw the raw talent of young driver Colin McRae and he personally oversaw the development of their early careers, leading to two British titles for Subaru and McRae in 1991 and 1992, and a further title for Burns in 1993. Drivers such as Carlos Sainz, Juha Kankkunen, Possum Bourne, Markku Alen, Ari Vatanen, the teams highlight came in 1995 when the Subaru World Rally Team and Colin McRae achieved the double of the Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ World Rally titles. Under Richards direction, the team went on to win two further Manufacturers’ titles, in 1996 and 1997, Richard Burns and Petter Solberg won further Drivers titles in 2001 and 2003, respectively. At the end of 2008, Subaru decided to withdraw from the World Rally Championship after 18 years, in 1987 Prodrive entered into what was to become a long-standing partnership with BMW in the British Touring Car Championship. They took the Class B title three times, from 1988 to 1990, winning outright in 1988 with Frank Sytner, BMW UK ended the partnership with Prodrive at the end of the 1992 season following a change in the technical regulations. After two years away, Prodrive returned to the British Touring Car Championship in 1995 with the Alfa Romeo, in 1997 and 1998 Prodrive ran the Honda Touring Car Team, before working with Ford in 1999 and 2000. After re-engineering the Ford Mondeo, the won the BTCC title in 2000 with Alain Menu
5.
Nick Fry
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Nicholas Richard Nick Fry, is the former Chief Executive Officer of the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team, having previously served in similar roles at previous incarnations of the company. His career in motoring started with the Ford Motor Company in 1977, working first in Sales and then Market Research, in 1978, he was moved to Product Development as Product Planner. He helped develop a variety of models over the next 12 years, including several performance models like the Ford Escort Cosworth, the RS200 and others. Fry joined Prodrive as Managing Director in January 2001, upon the persuasion of David Richards and this expansion saw Fry become Group Managing Director overseeing both the companys engineering and racing operations. In January 2002, he was appointed Managing Director of BAR F1 in addition to his Prodrive responsibilities, Fry achieved his first victory as a manager/chief executive of a Formula 1 team when Jenson Button took the chequered flag at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix. On the 15 June 2012 Nick Fry received an Honorary Doctorate from Cranfield University in recognition of his services to motorsport, Profile - from Mercedes GP official website Profile - from Phil Huff, Sport Network
6.
Canada
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Canada is a country in the northern half of North America. Canadas border with the United States is the worlds longest binational land border, the majority of the country has a cold or severely cold winter climate, but southerly areas are warm in summer. Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its territory being dominated by forest and tundra. It is highly urbanized with 82 per cent of the 35.15 million people concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, One third of the population lives in the three largest cities, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Its capital is Ottawa, and other urban areas include Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec City, Winnipeg. Various aboriginal peoples had inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization. Pursuant to the British North America Act, on July 1,1867, the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick and this began an accretion of provinces and territories to the mostly self-governing Dominion to the present ten provinces and three territories forming modern Canada. With the Constitution Act 1982, Canada took over authority, removing the last remaining ties of legal dependence on the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II being the head of state. The country is officially bilingual at the federal level and it is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries. Its advanced economy is the eleventh largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources, Canadas long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture. Canada is a country and has the tenth highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the ninth highest ranking in the Human Development Index. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, Canada is an influential nation in the world, primarily due to its inclusive values, years of prosperity and stability, stable economy, and efficient military. While a variety of theories have been postulated for the origins of Canada. In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona, from the 16th to the early 18th century Canada referred to the part of New France that lay along the St. Lawrence River. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively named The Canadas, until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the name for the new country at the London Conference. The transition away from the use of Dominion was formally reflected in 1982 with the passage of the Canada Act, later that year, the name of national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day
7.
Jacques Villeneuve
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Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve, OQ, is a Canadian professional auto racing driver and amateur musician. He is the son of Formula One driver Gilles Villeneuve, and is the namesake of his uncle, as of 2016, no other Canadian has won the Indianapolis 500 or the Formula One 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 round in Japan, where Villeneuve retired and Hill won the race. Villeneuve, however, did win the years title, this time challenging Michael Schumacher and once again taking it to the final round in Jerez. 1997 would be the last year in which Villeneuve would win a championship level race, for 1998, Villeneuves Williams team had to fare with less competitive Mecachrome engines, and Villeneuve moved to the newly formed British American Racing team in 1999. He stayed there for the four seasons but, following poor results he was replaced by former British Formula Three Champion Takuma Sato. Villeneuve also drove for Renault at the end of 2004, and Sauber in the 2005 season, Villeneuve was replaced by Robert Kubica and soon BMW and Villeneuve parted company. As a musician, he has released an album titled Private Paradise and he was inducted into Canadas Walk of Fame in 1998. Villeneuve was born in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, to aspiring Formula One driver Gilles Villeneuve and his wife Joann and he has a sister Melanie and a half sister Jessica. His uncle, Jacques Sr. was also a racing driver, 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. Villeneuves first girlfriend was Sandrine Gros dAillon and they dated until the late 1990s. Villeneuve was also engaged to Australian singer Dannii Minogue in the late 1990s and was engaged to American ballerina Ellen Green. He married his Parisienne girlfriend Johanna Martinez on May 29,2006, 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 and their second son Joakim was born on December 23,2007. The couple divorced in July 2009, in June 2012, Villeneuve married Camilla Lopez, with whom he has had two more sons, Benjamin and Henri. Villeneuve was among the first group inducted into Canadas Walk of Fame, also he was inducted into Canadas Sports Hall of Fame in 2010. He was named Canadas 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
8.
Jenson Button
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Jenson Alexander Lyons Button MBE British racing driver currently under contract with McLaren-Honda, as a reserve driver. He won the 2009 Formula One World Championship, driving for Brawn GP, Button began karting at the age of eight and achieved early success, before progressing to car racing in the British Formula Ford Championship and the British Formula 3 Championship. He first drove in Formula One with Williams F1 for the 2000 season, the following year he switched to Benetton, which in 2002 became Renault, and then for the 2003 season he moved to BAR. In 2004 he finished 3rd in the World Drivers Championship, with only the two Ferraris ahead of him, BAR was subsequently renamed Honda for the 2006 season, during which Button won his first Grand Prix in Hungary, after 113 races. For 2010, he moved to McLaren, partnering fellow British racer and former World Champion Lewis Hamilton, after finishing fifth for the team in 2010, Button finished the 2011 season as runner-up. In 2012 he took his first pole for McLaren at the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix and he spent a fifth season with the McLaren team in 2014, his fifteenth in Formula One. From the 305 races that Button has started he has won 15, Button was born on 19 January 1980 in Frome, Somerset and brought up in nearby Vobster. He was named after his fathers Danish friend and rallycross opponent Erling Jensen and he was educated at Vallis First School, Selwood Middle School and Frome Community College. After his parents divorced when he was seven, he and his three sisters were brought up by their mother in Frome. However, after a while the boy moved to his stepmother Pippa Kerr, when Jenson was 19 years of age John Button and Pipa Kerr divorced. Button junior failed his first driving test for getting too close to a parked vehicle, in 1989, aged nine, he came first in the British Super Prix. He won all 34 races of the 1991 British Cadet Kart Championship, further successes followed, including three triumphs in the British Open Kart Championship. In 1997, he won the Ayrton Senna Memorial Cup, aged 18, Button moved into car racing, winning the British Formula Ford Championship with Haywood Racing, he also triumphed in the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch. At the end of 1998, he won the annual McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award and his prize included a test in a McLaren Formula One car, which he received at the end of the following year. Button entered the British Formula 3 Championship in 1999, with the Promatecme team and he won three times —at Thruxton, Pembrey and Silverstone—and finished the season as the top rookie driver, and third overall. He finished fifth and second respectively in the Marlboro Masters and Macau Grand Prix, at the end of 1999, Button had his McLaren test prize at Silverstone, and also tested for the Prost team. This made him Britains youngest ever Formula One driver, however some had misgivings about his lack of experience and ability to cope with the pressures of Formula One. Making his début in Australia, Button crashed during practice and qualified second-last on the grid, however, he performed strongly in the race and was set to score a point before his engine failed 11 laps from the finish
9.
Finland
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Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a sovereign state in Northern Europe. A peninsula with the Gulf of Finland to the south and the Gulf of Bothnia to the west, the country has borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north. Estonia is south of the country across the Gulf of Finland, Finland is a Nordic country situated in the geographical region of Fennoscandia, which also includes Scandinavia. Finlands population is 5.5 million, and the majority of the population is concentrated in the southern region,88. 7% of the population is Finnish people who speak Finnish, a Uralic language unrelated to the Scandinavian languages, the second major group are the Finland-Swedes. In terms of area, it is the eighth largest country in Europe, Finland is a parliamentary republic with a central government based in the capital Helsinki, local governments in 311 municipalities, and an autonomous region, the Åland Islands. Over 1.4 million people live in the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area, from the late 12th century, Finland was an integral part of Sweden, a legacy reflected in the prevalence of the Swedish language and its official status. In the spirit of the notion of Adolf Ivar Arwidsson, we are not Swedes, we do not want to become Russians, let us therefore be Finns, nevertheless, in 1809, Finland was incorporated into the Russian Empire as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland. In 1906, Finland became the nation in the world to give the right to vote to all adult citizens. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, Finland declared itself independent, in 1918, the fledgling state was divided by civil war, with the Bolshevik-leaning Reds supported by the equally new Soviet Russia, fighting the Whites, supported by the German Empire. After a brief attempt to establish a kingdom, the became a republic. During World War II, the Soviet Union sought repeatedly to occupy Finland, with Finland losing parts of Karelia, Salla and Kuusamo, Petsamo and some islands, Finland joined the United Nations in 1955 and established an official policy of neutrality. The Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948 gave the Soviet Union some leverage in Finnish domestic politics during the Cold War era, Finland was a relative latecomer to industrialization, remaining a largely agrarian country until the 1950s. It rapidly developed an advanced economy while building an extensive Nordic-style welfare state, resulting in widespread prosperity, however, Finnish GDP growth has been negative in 2012–2014, with a preceding nadir of −8% in 2009. Finland is a top performer in numerous metrics of national performance, including education, economic competitiveness, civil liberties, quality of life, a large majority of Finns are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, though freedom of religion is guaranteed under the Finnish Constitution. The first known appearance of the name Finland is thought to be on three rune-stones. Two were found in the Swedish province of Uppland and have the inscription finlonti, the third was found in Gotland, in the Baltic Sea. It has the inscription finlandi and dates from the 13th century, the name can be assumed to be related to the tribe name Finns, which is mentioned first known time AD98. The name Suomi has uncertain origins, but a candidate for a source is the Proto-Baltic word *źemē, in addition to the close relatives of Finnish, this name is also used in the Baltic languages Latvian and Lithuanian
10.
Mika Salo
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Mika Juhani Salo is a Finnish professional racing driver. He competed in Formula One between 1994 and 2002 and his best ranking was 10th in the world championship in 1999, when he stood in for the injured Michael Schumacher at Ferrari for six races, scoring two podiums. He also won the GT2 class in the 2008 and 200924 Hours of Le Mans, in 1989, Helsinki-born Salo competed in the British Formula 3 Championship, racing for Alan Docking Racing. He raced with the Reynard Toyota package which was not the seasons best, staying with Alan Docking Racing for 1990 and moving to a more competitive Ralt chassis, he raced against countryman and fierce rival Mika Häkkinen in Formula Three, finishing second to him. In 1991 Salo headed to Japan to race in the Japanese Formula 3000 Championship and his initial aim was to race in Europes Formula 3000 but did not garner enough funding to compete. A budget would have spanned from £200.000 to £500.000 to drive in Europe and Salo had only collected a fraction over £200.000, not enough to stay competitive. While in Japan, Salo landed a seat and got also paid for driving for AD Racings in their single car team. The Japanese Formula 3000 Championship in 1991 had increased thanks to the aggrieved Johnny Herbert raising the calibre of the championship. After a few years racing in Japan he made his first Formula One start at the round of the 1994 season in Japan for the ailing Lotus team. He was kept on for the finale in Australia. Following the collapse of Lotus following the end of the season and he was to spend three years with the team, scoring points several times. In the 1997 Monaco Grand Prix he completed the race without refuelling, taking fifth place ahead of the faster Giancarlo Fisichella as a result. Despite a promising 1998 with Arrows, he had no drive in 1999. Following an injury to BAR driver Ricardo Zonta, Salo took his place for three races whilst the Brazilian recovered, however a greater opportunity arose when Michael Schumacher broke his leg in a crash during the 1999 British Grand Prix. Salo was selected as his substitute to partner Eddie Irvine at Ferrari, following the race, Irvine handed his victory trophy over to Salo as a gesture of gratitude. He also finished third at Monza, ahead of Irvine and these podium finishes were critical in helping Ferrari win their first Constructors title since 1983. He retired from Formula One at the end of 2002, after getting fired from Toyota. During his Formula One career, he achieved two podiums, and scored a total of 33 championship points and he raced in four CART races for PK Racing during the same year, his best finish being third in Miami in his second series start
11.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
12.
Olivier Panis
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Olivier Panis is a French professional racing driver. Panis drove in Formula One for ten seasons, scoring one win at the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix for the Ligier team, as of 2016, he is the last French driver to win a Formula One Grand Prix. He is the father of racing driver Aurélien Panis, born in Oullins, Lyon, Panis, like many Formula 1 racing drivers, raced karts early in his career. After graduating from karts, Olivier raced several years in a number of junior series before racing in French Formula 3 and he won a championship in Formula Renault in 1989 and finished second in French Formula 3 in 1991. He eventually found himself in Formula 3000, and he won the championship there in 1993. The 27-year-old Panis earned an F1 drive in 1994 for the French-based Ligier team and he made his debut at Brazil, finishing eleventh. He earned a second place that season at Hockenheim ahead of teammate Éric Bernard. He finished every race except France and he was however disqualified in Portugal for illegal skid block wear. Panis took a win in the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix. Starting 14th on a wet track, Panis passed other rivals on the circuit, including Martin Brundle, Mika Häkkinen and Johnny Herbert. He overtook Eddie Irvine at the Lowes Hairpin and was running in place before the Williams-Renault of Damon Hill. One of only 3 cars to finish the race, Panis held off a charge from Coulthard to win. The race finished on 75 of the 78 scheduled laps due to the time limit being reached. Panis victory was the Ligier teams first victory in 15 years, however, it was the only highlight to his 1996 season, and he otherwise failed to do any better than 5th place in Hungary. Panis had the potential for a big season in 1997 while driving for Alain Prost, on Bridgestone tyres, he took the tyre companys first podium at Brazil. He was running second in Argentina before retirement, after 6 races, he stood third in the championship thanks to another podium finish with second place in Spain. A win could have been possible in that race had he not been held up lapping backmarkers for seven laps, at the 1997 Canadian Grand Prix, he broke both legs in a high-speed accident, causing him to miss the next seven races of the season. His place in the team was taken by Jarno Trulli, until he returned for the three races of the season
13.
Japan
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Japan is a sovereign island nation in Eastern Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asia Mainland and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea, the kanji that make up Japans name mean sun origin. 日 can be read as ni and means sun while 本 can be read as hon, or pon, Japan is often referred to by the famous epithet Land of the Rising Sun in reference to its Japanese name. Japan is an archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, the country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions. Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one, the population of 127 million is the worlds tenth largest. Japanese people make up 98. 5% of Japans total population, approximately 9.1 million people live in the city of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Archaeological research indicates that Japan was inhabited 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 regions, mainly China, followed by periods of isolation, from the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shoguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a period of isolation in the early 17th century. 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 bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan is a member of the UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the country has the worlds third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the worlds fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the worlds fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer, although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the worlds eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a country with a very high standard of living. Its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and the third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, in ancient China, Japan was called Wo 倭. It was mentioned in the third century Chinese historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms in the section for the Wei kingdom, Wa became disliked because it has the connotation of the character 矮, meaning dwarf. The 倭 kanji has been replaced with the homophone Wa, meaning harmony, the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, which is pronounced Nippon or Nihon and literally means the origin of the sun. The earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, at the start of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan introduced their country as Nihon
14.
Takuma Sato
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Takuma Sato is a Japanese professional racing driver. He currently races full-time in the IndyCar Series for Andretti Autosport, in 2002 Sato graduated to Formula One with the Honda-powered Jordan team, and was paired with Giancarlo Fisichella. His low point was a crash in Austria, caused when Nick Heidfeld lost control of his Sauber under braking and hit the side of Satos car. Throughout he showed flashes of speed but also wild driving, nevertheless the teams faith in Sato was repaid by a drive to fifth at his home Grand Prix in Suzuka. With Hondas focus shifting solely to British American Racing for 2003 Sato joined the Brackley-based outfit as a test driver, for the final round in Japan Sato replaced Jacques Villeneuve and scored the second points finish of his career with sixth, despite a collision with Michael Schumacher. He was signed to race full-time in 2004 and his season was blighted by numerous engine failures, suffering no less than six. He finished eighth in the championship with 34 points and helped the team to second in the Constructors championship, Sato was retained by BAR-Honda for the 2005 season, but the 2005 car was not as close to the front of the pack as the previous years design. The Court did not find that this was deliberate, Sato joined the new Super Aguri F1 team for 2006, run by former Japanese driver Aguri Suzuki. The new outfit was in effect a Honda B-team but ran the first half of the season with a version of a 2002 Arrows A23 chassis. Nevertheless, Satos reputation improved thanks to his attitude and competitive spirit. The team introduced a new car, the SA06 at the German Grand Prix, at the season finale in Brazil Sato finished tenth just two places short of a points finish and comfortably ahead of both Toro Rossos and the Spyker MF1s. For 2007, Super Aguri ran a version of the previous years Honda RA106 chassis. Their performance improved drastically as Sato made it through to Q3 at the Australian Grand Prix and he then scored the first point for the team at the Spanish Grand Prix. Financial problems began to affect the team in the winter break. The team used a modified Honda RA107 chassis, which was launched just before the first Friday Practice session that weekend, the car was just as uncompetitive as the Honda had been in 2007 and the team withdrew from Formula One after the Spanish Grand Prix. In late 2008, Sato took part in tests at Jerez with Scuderia Toro Rosso and he was competing against former Toro Rosso driver Sébastien Bourdais and Red Bull Racing test and reserve driver Sébastien Buemi for one of the two race seats. Bourdais eventually won the seat and in March 2009 it was announced that Sato would not be the reserve driver for the Red Bull team. Sato visited the Indianapolis 500 in May 2009 and he signed with KV Racing Technology to drive in the 2010 IndyCar Series season finishing in 21st place, he signed for the same team for 2011
15.
Anthony Davidson
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Anthony Denis Davidson is a British racing driver from England currently racing for Toyota Hybrid Racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship. He has raced in Formula One for Minardi and Super Aguri, and has been a test or reserve driver for the British American Racing, Honda and he is also an analyst for the Sky Sports F1 television channel, and a simulator and demonstration driver for Mercedes AMG Petronas. Davidson was the 2014 WEC World Champion, alongside his teammate, born in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, Davidson began kart racing in 1987, competing in various British, European and North American championships. He won three British championships, one Italian championship and was runner-up in the Formula A European championship in 1996, in 1999, he moved to single seater cars, racing Formula Fords and winning the 1600 cc Kent engine class of the British Formula Ford festival that year. In 2001, Davidson competed in the British Formula Three championship with the Carlin team and his performance improved throughout the season and he outscored Sato from June until the seasons end. He also won the Formula Three Pau Grand Prix, the Spa Masters, in late 2000, Davidson became the test driver for the British American Racing Formula One team for the 2001 season. Minardi had originally planned to put Justin Wilson in the car, Davidsons qualifying times were within 0. 6s of teammate Mark Webber at his two starts in Hungary and Belgium, but he spun out of both events. He was not given a chance to race in 2003 and remained as test driver at BAR, race drivers were Takuma Sato and Davidsons countryman Jenson Button who joined the team from Renault. When Sato was promoted to the team following the departure of Jacques Villeneuve. This was especially useful in 2004 as BAR were able to run a car in Friday morning testing. Given BARs long-term contract on Davidson, his chance of securing a seat for 2005 was therefore called into serious doubt. He was given the opportunity to fill in for an unwell Sato at the 2005 Malaysian Grand Prix, in 2006 Davidson resumed his role as test driver for BAR, now owned by Honda and renamed Honda Racing F1. As BAR had failed to be one of the top four constructors the previous season Honda were able to run a car on Friday. In 2008 Davidson returned to Honda as test driver for the testing at Spains Circuit de Catalunya whilst Honda test driver Alexander Wurz was racing at Le Mans, on 15 November 2006, Super Aguri confirmed that Davidson would partner Takuma Sato for the 2007 Formula One season. Thus, he became a regular Formula One driver for the first time, at the Hungarian Grand Prix Davidsons rear suspension was broken during a collision with Giancarlo Fisichella, which forced him to retire. Davidson finished the season in 23rd place having scored no points, amid financial problems which threatened their continued participation in Formula One, Super Aguri retained Davidson alongside teammate Sato for 2008. However, on 6 May 2008 Super Aguri withdrew from the Championship leaving Davidson without a race seat, Davidson was announced as a Honda test driver for the remainder of 2008. On 5 December 2008 Honda pulled out of Formula One due to financial problems, ross Brawn bought out the team and formed Brawn GP and Davidson signed on as a test driver
16.
Tyrrell Racing
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The Tyrrell Racing Organisation was an auto racing team and Formula One constructor founded by Ken Tyrrell which started racing in 1958 and started building its own cars in 1970. The team experienced its greatest success in the early 1970s, when it won three Drivers Championships and one Constructors Championship with Jackie Stewart. The team never reached such heights again, although it continued to win races through the 1970s and into the early 1980s, the team was bought by British American Tobacco in 1997 and completed its final season as Tyrrell in 1998. Tyrrell Racing first came into being in 1958, running Formula Three cars for Ken Tyrrell, throughout the 1960s, Tyrrell moved through the lower formulas, variously giving single seater debuts to John Surtees and Jacky Ickx. But the teams most famous partnership was the one forged with Jackie Stewart, Tyrrell ran the BRM Formula Two operation throughout 1965,1966 and 1967 whilst Stewart was signed to the Formula One team. Tyrrell then signed a deal to run Formula Two cars made by French company Matra, Stewart was a serious contender, winning several Grands Prix in the Tyrrell-run Matra MS10. The cars most innovative feature was the use of aviation-inspired structural fuel tanks and these allowed the chassis to be around 15 kg lighter while still being stronger than its competitors. The FIA considered the technology to be unsafe and decided to ban it for 1970, for the 1969 championship, the Matra works team decided not to compete in Formula One. Matra would instead focus its efforts on Ken Tyrrells Matra International team and build a new DFV powered car with fuel tanks. Stewart won the 1969 title easily, driving the new Cosworth-powered Matra MS80 which corrected most of the weaknesses of the MS10, stewarts title was the first won by a French chassis, and the only one won by a chassis built in France. It was an achievement from a team and a constructor that had only entered Formula One the previous year. For the 1970 season following Matras merger with Simca, Tyrrell were asked by Matra to use their V12 rather than the Cosworth, Simca was a subsidiary of the American company Chrysler, a rival of Ford. Stewart tested the Matra V12 and found it inferior to the DFV, Tyrrell was still sponsored by French fuel company Elf, and Tyrrell would retain the traditional French blue racing colours for most of the rest of its existence. Tyrrell and Stewart ran the March-Fords throughout 1970 with mixed success, while Derek Gardner worked on the first in-house Tyrrell Grand Prix car at the woodshed in Ockham, the Tyrrell 001, which bore much resemblance to the MS80, emerged at the end of 1970. It earned Stewart a pole position in the Canadian GP but suffered mechanical failures in all of its 3 race starts, the nearly identical Tyrrell 003 won both Drivers and Constructors Championships in 1971, with strong driving from Jackie Stewart and François Cevert. Stewarts 1972 challenge was ruined by an ulcer, but he returned to full fitness in 1973. He and Cevert finishing 1st and 4th in the Championship, tragedy struck on 6 October 1973, as Cevert was killed in practice for the US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. Stewart, who was to retire at the end of the season, at the end of the season Stewart made public his decision to retire, a decision that was already made before the US Grand Prix
17.
Honda in Formula One
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Honda has participated in Formula One, as an entrant, constructor and engine supplier, for various periods since 1964. Hondas involvement in Formula One began with the 1964 season, their withdrawal in 1968 was precipitated by the death of Honda driver Jo Schlesser during the 1968 French Grand Prix and they returned in 1983 as an engine supplier, a role that ended in 1992. They returned again in 2000, providing engines for British American Racing, by the end of 2005 they had bought out the BAR team, based at Brackley, United Kingdom, and renamed their new subsidiary Honda Racing. It was announced on 5 December 2008 that Honda would be exiting Formula One with immediate effect due to the financial crisis and were looking to sell their team. On 27 February 2009 it was announced that team principal Ross Brawn had led a management buyout of the Brackley team, the team raced successfully as Brawn GP in 2009, and was subsequently sold to Daimler AG and renamed Mercedes GP for the 2010 season. On 17 May 2013, Honda announced their intention to return to the sport in the 2015 season under an agreement with McLaren to supply V6 engines. Honda entered Formula One Grand Prix racing in 1964, just four years after producing their first road car and they began development of the RA271 in 1962 and startled the European-dominated Formula One garages with their all-Japanese factory team. More startling was the fact that Honda built their own engine and chassis, something only Ferrari, in only their second year of competition, Honda reached the coveted top step of the podium with Ginthers win in the RA272 at the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix. For the new 3. 0L rules from 1966, Honda introduced the Honda RA273, although the RA273s engine was a well-designed, ~360 bhp V12, the car was let down by a relatively heavy and unwieldy in-house chassis. Honda returned to the circle in 1967 with the new Honda RA300. This won the 1967 Italian Grand Prix in only its first Formula One race, the RA300 chassis was partly designed by Lola in the UK, and this resulted in the car being nicknamed the Hondola by the motoring press. This was the last competitive car that Honda produced for Formula One in the 1960s, the following years Honda RA301 only reached the podium twice. The teams new Honda RA302 appeared in only a race at Rouen-Les-Essarts. The death prompted Honda to withdraw from Formula One at the end of the 1968 Formula One season, mugen-powered cars had won 4 Grands Prix by the end of the 1999 season. In 1998, Honda was seriously considering entry in Formula One as a constructor, going as far as producing an engine and hiring Harvey Postlethwaite as technical director and designer. In addition, Honda pulled engineer Kyle Petryshen from HRC to help with the design, implementation, a test car, RA099, designed by Postlethwaite and built by Dallara, was made and tested during 1999, driven by Jos Verstappen. The team impressed at test sessions, beating some more experienced and better financed teams, even if they were mostly in the midfield. At a test of car, Postlethwaite suffered a fatal heart attack
18.
Formula One
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Formula One is the highest class of single-seat auto racing that is sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de lAutomobile. The FIA Formula One World Championship has been the form of racing since the inaugural season in 1950. The formula, designated in the name, refers to a set of rules, the F1 season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix, held worldwide on purpose-built F1 circuits and public roads. The results of each race are evaluated using a system to determine two annual World Championships, one for drivers, one for constructors. The racing drivers are required to be holders of valid Super Licences, the races are required to be held on tracks graded 1, the highest grade a track can receive by the FIA. Most events are held in locations on purpose-built tracks, but there are several events in city centres throughout the world. Formula One cars are the fastest road racing cars in the world. Formula One cars race at speeds of up to approximately 375 km/h with engines currently limited in performance to a maximum of 15,000 RPM, the cars are capable of lateral acceleration in excess of five g in corners. The performance of the cars is very dependent on electronics – although traction control and other driving aids have been banned since 2008 – and on aerodynamics, suspension, the formula has radically evolved and changed through the history of the sport. F1 had a global television audience of 425 million people during the course of the 2014 season. Grand Prix racing began in 1906 and became the most popular internationally in the second half of the twentieth century. The Formula One Group is the holder of the commercial rights. Its high profile and popularity have created a major merchandising environment, since 2000 the sports spiraling expenditures and the distribution of prize money favoring established top teams have forced complaints from smaller teams and led several teams to bankruptcy. On 23 January 2017 it was confirmed that Liberty Media had completed its $8 billion acquisition of Delta Topco, the Formula One series originated with the European Grand Prix Motor Racing of the 1920s and 1930s. The formula is a set of rules that all cars must meet. Formula One was a new formula agreed upon after World War II during 1946, the first world championship race was held at Silverstone, United Kingdom in 1950. A championship for constructors followed in 1958, national championships existed in South Africa and the UK in the 1960s and 1970s. Non-championship Formula One events were held for years, but due to the increasing cost of competition
19.
1999 Australian Grand Prix
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The 1999 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 7 March 1999 at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit in Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia. The 57-lap race was the first round of the 1999 Formula One season – the 50th World Championship season in the history of Formula One. Michael Schumacher also had problems during this race, which gave his Ferrari team mate Eddie Irvine the opportunity to take his first Grand Prix victory. He made no mistakes and beat Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Ralf Schumacher to the finish by a few seconds, Heinz-Harald Frentzen was the first car on track and initially topped the list, but Mika Häkkinen took the lead halfway through the first session. After several improvements he ended the session with a time of 1 minute and 33.213 seconds, the Stewart team performed well, Rubens Barrichello and Johnny Herbert ended the session in sixth and seventh position, behind Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Giancarlo Fisichella and Jarno Trulli. Both had technical problems and completed only a few laps, damon Hill, Alexander Wurz and Badoer had small off-track moments, but were able to continue without problems. Coulthard was fastest for a short while in the second session, on his next attempt, Häkkinen spun and crashed into the wall in the last turn before the main straight, causing the first red flag of the season. The session was stopped for 15 minutes, Häkkinen was unhurt, in the final minute Coulthard beat his time by one hundredth of a second. Stewart and Jordan were still looking good with Barrichello in third, ahead of Frentzen, Herbert and Hill. After the break Michael Schumacher had been the first to go out, several drivers went off the track again including Coulthard, Frentzen, Hill, Ralf Schumacher and Zanardi. The Sauber team had more serious problems, Pedro Diniz stopped on track as a precaution when warning lights lit up. Zanardi and Zonta also stopped on track, Zonta’s transmission broke and he ended the session last because of it, just behind De la Rosa, Gené and Badoer. The first quick time on Saturday was set by Ralf Schumacher, after three improvements his best time was 1 minute and 31.140 seconds, but Häkkinen went marginally quicker just before the break. Gené and Hill spun off into the gravel, while Zonta stopped on track again with transmission problems, after the break Wurz spun into the tyre barriers and caused a red flag. Despite that, the dominance of McLaren took on breath-taking form, Häkkinen was fastest with a time of 1 minute and 30.324 seconds, six-tenths quicker than team mate Coulthard and a full 2.2 seconds faster than third man Herbert. The next second covered another 11 cars, down to Ralf Schumacher in 15th place, Hill was fourth, followed by Jacques Villeneuve, who beat Michael Schumacher and did better than his BAR team mate Zonta, who completed only three laps and ended the session last, again. The results of the session were basically the same as the year before, Häkkinen beat Coulthard. After ten minutes, Herbert was the first to go out and set a time, after that, Barrichello took over first place, until the McLarens came out
20.
Pole position
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In motorsport the pole position is the position at the inside of the front row at the start of a racing event. This position is given to the vehicle and driver with the best qualifying time in the trials before the race. This number-one qualifying driver is referred to as the pole sitter, historically, the fastest qualifier was not necessarily the designated pole-sitter. Different sanctioning bodies in motor sport employ different qualifying formats in designating who starts from pole position, often, a starting grid is derived either by current rank in the championship, or based on finishing position of a previous race. In contrast to contemporary motorsport, where only a participant is designated pole-sitter, prior to World War II. The term has its origins in horse racing, in which the fastest qualifying horse would be placed on the part of the course. Originally in Grand Prix racing, grid positions, including pole, were determined by lottery among the drivers, prior to the inception of the Formula 1 World Championship, the first instance of grid positions being determined by qualifying times was at the 1933 Monaco Grand Prix. Since then, the FIA have introduced many different qualifying systems to F1, between 1996 and 2006, the FIA made 6 significant changes to the qualifying procedure, each with the intention of making the battle for pole more interesting to an F1 viewer at home. Traditionally, pole was always occupied by the fastest driver due to low-fuel qualifying, the race-fuel qualifying era between 2003 and 2009 briefly changed this. Despite the changing formats, drivers attempting pole were required between 2003 and 2009 to do qualifying laps with the fuel they would use to start the race the next day. An underfuelled slower car and driver would therefore be able to take pole ahead of a better, in this situation, pole was not always advantageous to have in the race as the under-fueled driver would have to pit for more fuel before their rivals. With the race refueling ban introduced, low-fuel qualifying returned and these decisions are no longer in play. Since the reintroduction of the rule in 2011, this applies to the quickest first session time. Since 2014, the FIA has awarded a trophy to the driver who wins the most pole positions in the season, indicates that the driver won the World Championship in the same season. IndyCar uses four formats for qualifying, one for most oval tracks, one for Iowa Speedway, one for the Indianapolis 500, and another for road and street circuits. Oval qualifying is almost like the Indianapolis 500, with two laps, instead of four, averaged together with one attempt, although with just one session. At Iowa, each car takes one qualifying lap, and the top six cars advance to the race for the pole position. The result of the race determines positions 1–10
21.
2005 Chinese Grand Prix
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The 2005 Chinese Grand Prix was the final Formula One motor race of the 2005 Formula One season which took place on 16 October 2005 at the Shanghai International Circuit. This was the second Chinese Grand Prix to be held since the events 2004 inception, the race was won by the new World Champion, Renaults Fernando Alonso. McLaren driver Kimi Räikkönen was four seconds behind in second position, toyota driver Ralf Schumacher was third. Renault won the Constructors Championship at this race, they had led McLaren by two points before the start of the race and this was the final race for Antônio Pizzonia, the Minardi and Jordan teams, although both teams continued into 2006 under different names. This was also last win for a car equipped with a 6-speed gearbox, during a warm up lap as the cars were lining up on the grid from the pit lane, Christijan Albers and Michael Schumachers cars collided. Both were forced to start from the pits in their teams spare car, Alonso dominated the race, taking a lights-to-flag victory, capping a best ever season for Renault which included victories in both titles. Renaults number two driver Giancarlo Fisichellas chances of making the podium ended when he received a penalty for obstructive driving in the pits during the second safety car period. He ended the race less than a second behind Ralf Schumacher, red Bull Racings Christian Klien had a career best drive to take fifth position with Felipe Massa, Mark Webber and Jenson Button completing the point scoring finishers. Räikkönen recorded the races fastest lap, a record equalling tenth for the season, qualifying took place on October 15. Bold text indicates the World Champions, note, Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings
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Jacques Villeneuve 
Jenson Button 
Mika Salo
Olivier Panis 
Takuma Sato 
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Ricardo Zonta
