1.
Modern architecture
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Modern architecture or modernist architecture is a term applied to a group of styles of architecture which emerged in the first half of the 20th century and became dominant after World War II. The revolution in materials came first, with the use of cast iron, plate glass, the cast plate glass process was invented in 1848, allowing the manufacture of very large windows. The Crystal Palace by Joseph Paxton at the Great Exhibition of 1851 was an example of iron and plate glass construction, followed in 1864 by the first glass. These developments together led to the first steel-framed skyscraper, the ten-story Home Insurance Building in Chicago, the iron frame construction of the Eiffel Tower, then the tallest structure in the world, captured the imagination of millions of visitors to the 1889 Paris Universal Exposition. French industrialist François Coignet was the first to use iron-reinforced concrete, in 1853 Coignet built the first iron reinforced concrete structure, a four story house in the suburbs of Paris. Another important technology for the new architecture was electric light, which reduced the inherent danger of fires caused by gas in the 19th century. This break with the past was particularly urged by the architectural theorist, for each function its material, for each material its form and its ornament. This book influenced a generation of architects, including Louis Sullivan, Victor Horta, Hector Guimard, at the end of the 19th century, a few architects began to challenge the traditional Beaux Arts and Neoclassical styles that dominated architecture in Europe and the United States. The Glasgow School of Art 1896-99) designed by Charles Rennie MacIntosh, had a facade dominated by large bays of windows. The Art Nouveau style was launched in the 1890s by Victor Horta in Belgium and Hector Guimard in France, it introduced new styles of decoration, based on vegetal and floral forms. In 1903-1904 in Paris Auguste Perret and Henri Sauvage began to use reinforced concrete, previously used for industrial structures. Between 1910 and 1913, Auguste Perret built the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, because of the concrete construction, no columns blocked the spectators view of the stage. Otto Wagner, in Vienna, was another pioneer of the new style, in his book Moderne Arkchtekture he had called for a more rationalist style of architecture, based on modern life. Wagner declared his intention to express the function of the building in its exterior, the reinforced concrete exterior was covered with plaques of marble attached with bolts of polished aluminum. The interior was purely functional and spare, an open space of steel, glass. The Viennese architect Adolf Loos also began removing any ornament from his buildings and his Steiner House, in Vienna, was an example of what he called rationalist architecture, it had a simple stucco rectangual facade with square windows and no ornament. The fame of the new movement, which known as the Vienna Secession spread beyond Austria. Josef Hoffmann, a student of Wagner, constructed a landmark of early modernist architecture and this residence, built of brick covered with Norwegian marble, was composed of geometric blocks, wings and a tower
2.
Woking
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Woking is a town that shares its name with the surrounding local government district, located in the northwest of Surrey, England. It is at the edge of the Greater London Urban Area and is a part of the London commuter belt, with frequent trains. Woking is 23 miles southwest of Charing Cross in central London, Woking town itself, excluding the surrounding district, has a population of 62,796, with the whole local government district having a population of 99,500. Woking has been a Conservative area since the constituency was created in 1950, though Wokings earliest written appearance is in the Domesday Book, it is mentioned as the site of a monastery in an 8th-century context, as Wochingas. As a result, the original settlement 1 mile to the south-east, on the River Wey, later, Woking Crematorium at St Johns became the first crematorium in the United Kingdom. This site was then the home of the engineering firm James Walker & Company for many years, known as The Lion Works, this area was finally redeveloped in the 1990s into todays Lion Retail Park. This was a £40 million project to take hundreds of Woking homes away from the plain of the Hoe Stream. It has also provided new community facilities and roads, Woking Borough Council had been planning this scheme, which was approved in September 2010, for over 20 years. It was being run in conjunction with the Environment Agency, the Council has received finance from, the Public Works Loan Board, a number of grants, including £3.7 million from the Environment Agency, proceeds from the sale of new homes and of other assets. The Council expects the scheme to be funded by 2014 with no ongoing costs incurred by the Council. The scheme was completed on schedule in 2012, the constituency of Woking has historically been a Conservative safe seat, with the Liberal Democrats being the principal opposition in the last five general elections. Its current Member of Parliament is Jonathan Lord, elections to the borough council take place in three out of every four years, with one-third elected in each election. The election in 2011 gave the Conservatives an overall majority of seats for the first time in 20 years, the current Mayor of the borough is councillor Derek McCrum. In 2010 the council elected councillor Mohammed Iqbal as the first Asian Mayor of Woking and these are linked via an innovative private electricity distribution system operating completely off the public power grid. In order to do this, the government laid new power lines to all locations on the Woking sustainable community energy system. Should the public power grid fail, central Woking would continue to have an energy supply, the cost for providing this is approximately UK£0. 01/kWh less than for public electricity. It has been reported that the borough saves UK£974,000 a year in energy costs if the costs are ignored. By March 2004 the initiatives had also cut the boroughs carbon emissions by 17. 24%, Albion Square canopy was built in 2007, following local council approval three years earlier
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.
McLaren Automotive
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McLaren Automotive is a British automaker founded in 1963 by New Zealander Bruce McLaren and is based at the McLaren Technology Campus in Woking, Surrey. It produces and manufactures sports and luxury cars, usually produced in-house at designated production facilities, mcLarens founder Bruce McLaren was born in 1937, McLaren learned about cars and engineering at his parent’s service station and workshop in his hometown, Auckland, New Zealand. By 15, he had entered a local hillclimb in an Austin 7 Ulster, in 1958, McLaren arrived in United Kingdom with the ‘Driver to Europe’ scheme, intended to help Australian and New Zealand racers to compete in Europe. His mentor, Jack Brabham introduced him to Cooper Cars, a team based in Surbiton. Auspiciously starting to his F1 career in 1958, McLaren joined the F1 team a year later and that same year, he won the US Grand Prix at age 22, making him the youngest Grand Prix winner to that date. He stayed with Cooper for a seven years, winning three more Grands Prix and other races, driving for Jaguar and Aston Martin, winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966 with Ford. McLaren founded Bruce McLaren Motor Racing in 1963, a year later, the company built the first McLaren race car – the M1A,24 were produced. Its successor, the M1B, allowed McLaren into the Can-Am championship and emerged the dominant victor with 43 victories, in 1965, the first McLaren F1 car, the M2B, debuted at the Monaco Grand Prix. However, McLaren died in 1970 before the prototype could be completed, in 1980, the company merged with Ron Dennis’ Project 4 Racing team. The merger brought back designer, John Barnard, interested in using carbon fibre composite, carbon fibre was already used in aerospace applications but had never been applied to a complete racing car monocoque. McLaren pioneered the use of fibre in motor racing with its new car. In August 1988, Dennis, Team Principal and Gordon Murray started to develop a new car and in 1992, following a brief collaboration with Mercedes-Benz for the SLR McLaren, McLaren Automotive was re-launched as a standalone manufacturer in 2010, spinning off McLaren Racing. The company launched the 12C in 2011 and the Spider model in 2012, the limited-run supercar P1 went into production in 2013 and ended in 2015. The company debuted a car for kids, the P1TM, after the P1, in September 2016, the first McLaren crest logo was designed in 1964. The logo focused on a kiwi, which was based upon New Zealands national symbol, the ‘Speedy Kiwi’ version was introduced in 1967, once again designed by Michael Turner to emphasize the higher speeds at which Bruce’s cars were racing. Its colour palette featured an orange, which became known as ‘McLaren Orange’ and was introduced in their cars. Reflecting the sport’s international growth, the ‘Speedy Kiwi’ disappeared in 1981 to be replaced by the McLaren International logo and it was designed by Raymond Loewy and evokes a chequered flag. In 1991, the three chevrons of the logo were replaced by just one, and the font was modernised, the logo was again re branded in 1997 and featured a streamlined speedmark which bares similarities to the vortices created by a McLaren racing car
5.
GlaxoSmithKline
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GlaxoSmithKline plc is a British pharmaceutical company headquartered in Brentford, London. Andrew Witty has been the executive officer since 2008. Emma Walmsley became CEO on 31 March 2017 and is the first female CEO of the company, the company has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE100 Index. As of August 2016 it had a capitalisation of £81 billion. It has a listing on the New York Stock Exchange. GSKs drugs and vaccines earned £21.3 billion in 2013 and its top-selling products that year were Advair, Avodart, Flovent, Augmentin, Lovaza and Lamictal. GSKs consumer products, which earned £5, the company developed the first malaria vaccine, RTS, S, which it said in 2014 it would make available for five percent above cost. Legacy products developed at GSK include several listed in the World Health Organization Model List of Essential Medicines, such as amoxicillin, Glaxo was founded in the 1850s as a general trading company in Bunnythorpe, New Zealand, by a Londoner, Joseph Edward Nathan. In 1904 it began producing baby food, first known as Defiance, then as Glaxo. The Glaxo Laboratories sign is visible on what is now a car repair shop on the main street of Bunnythorpe. The companys first pharmaceutical product, produced in 1920, was vitamin D, Glaxo Laboratories opened new units in London in 1935. The company bought two companies, Joseph Nathan and Allen & Hanburys in 1947 and 1958 respectively, the Scottish pharmacologist David Jack was working for Allen & Hanburys when Glaxo took it over, he went on to lead the companys R&D until 1987. After the company bought Meyer Laboratories in 1978, it began to play an important role in the US market, in 1983 the American arm, Glaxo Inc. moved to Research Triangle Park and Zebulon in North Carolina. Burroughs Wellcome & Company was founded in 1880 in London by the American pharmacists Henry Wellcome, the Wellcome Tropical Research Laboratories opened in 1902. The Nobel Prize winning scientists Gertrude B, elion and George H. Hitchings worked there and invented drugs still used many years later, such as mercaptopurine. In 1959 the Wellcome Company bought Cooper, McDougall & Robertson Inc to become active in animal health. Glaxo and Burroughs Wellcome merged in 1995 to form Glaxo Wellcome, Glaxo restructured its R&D operation that year, cutting 10,000 jobs worldwide, closing its R&D facility in Beckenham, Kent, and opening a Medicines Research Centre in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. Also that year, Glaxo Wellcome acquired the California-based Affymax, a leader in the field of combinatorial chemistry, by 1999 Glaxo Wellcome had become the worlds third-largest pharmaceutical company by revenues, with a global market share of around 4 per cent
6.
Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank
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Norman Robert Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank, OM, HonFREng is a British architect whose company, Foster + Partners, maintains an international design practice famous for high-tech architecture. He is one of Britains most prolific architects of his generation, in 1999, he was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize, often referred to as the Nobel Prize of architecture. In 2009, Foster was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award in the Arts category, in 1994, he received the AIA Gold Medal. Foster was born to Robert Foster and Lilian Smith in 1935 in Reddish, Stockport and they moved, soon after his birth, two miles to 4 Crescent Grove in Levenshulme, Manchester, which they rented for fourteen shillings a week, Foster has no recollection of Reddish. He attended Burnage Grammar School for Boys in Burnage, in a Guardian interview in 1999, Foster said he always felt different at school and was bullied and he retired into the world of books. He considered himself quiet and awkward in his early years often making faux pas and he was fascinated with engineering and the process of designing. He says that caused him to pursue a career designing buildings, specific interests included aircraft, a hobby he maintains today, and trains, generated by viewing passing trains on the railway outside his terraced home during his childhood. Fosters father convinced him to take the exam for Manchester Town Halls trainee scheme which he passed in 1951. A colleague, Mr Cobbs son, was studying architecture and his interest led to Foster considering a career in architecture. After working in the Manchester City Treasurers office, Foster completed his National Service in 1953 serving in the Royal Air Force, Foster returned to Manchester, not wanting to return to the town hall as his parents wished and unsure of which path to follow. Foster was searching for an away from his working-class roots which led to the alienation of his parents. Foster took a job as assistant to a manager with John Bearshaw and Partners. The staff advised him, that if he wished to become an architect, he should prepare a portfolio of drawings using the perspective, Bearshaw was so impressed with the drawings that he promoted the young Foster to the drawing department of the practice. In 1956 Foster won a place at the University of Manchester School of Architecture and he combined these with self-tuition via visits to the local library in Levenshulme. Foster took a keen interest in the works of Frank Lloyd Wright, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Oscar Niemeyer, Foster won the Henry Fellowship to the Yale School of Architecture, where he met future business partner Richard Rogers and earned his masters degree. Vincent Scully encouraged Foster and Rogers to travel in America for a year, after returning to the UK in 1963 he set up an architectural practice as Team 4 with Rogers and the sisters Georgie and Wendy Cheesman. Georgie was the one of the team that had passed her RIBA exams allowing them to set up in practice on their own. Team 4 quickly earned a reputation for industrial design
7.
Stirling Prize
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The Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize is a British prize for excellence in architecture. It is named after the architect James Stirling, organised and awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects, the RIBA Stirling Prize is presented to the architects of the building that has made the greatest contribution to the evolution of architecture in the past year. The architects must be RIBA members, but the building can be anywhere in the European Union, Stirling Prize laureates receive a stipend of GB£20,000. The award was founded in 1996, and is considered to be the most prestigious award in the United Kingdom. It is publicised as the equivalent of the Booker Prize. The highest profile architectural award in British culture, the ceremony is televised by Channel 4. Six short-listed buildings are chosen from a long-list of buildings that have received a RIBA Award and these awards are given to buildings showing high architectural standards and substantial contribution to the local environment. In addition to the RIBA Stirling Prize, five awards are given to buildings on the long-list. In 2015 they consist of, the RIBA National Award, the RIBA Regional Award, the Manser Medal, the Stephen Lawrence Prize, for years prior to 1996, the award was known as the Building of the Year Award. As the Building of the Year Award
8.
Surrey
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Surrey is a county in the south east of England. It shares borders with Kent to the east, East Sussex to the south-east, West Sussex to the south, Hampshire to the west and south-west, Surrey County Council sits extraterritorially at Kingston upon Thames, administered as part of Greater London since 1965. With a resident population of 1.1 million, Surrey is the most densely populated and third most populated county in the South East region, after Kent, the London boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark, Wandsworth, and parts of Lewisham and Bromley were in Surrey until 1889. The boroughs of Croydon, Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Sutton and Richmond upon Thames south of the River Thames were part of Surrey until 1965, when they too were absorbed into Greater London. In the same year, the county was extended north of the Thames by the addition of Spelthorne, due to this expansion, modern Surrey also borders on the London boroughs of Hounslow and Hillingdon. It has the highest GDP per capita of any English county, Surrey is divided in two by the chalk ridge of the North Downs, running east-west. To the north of the Downs the land is mostly flat, the geology of this area is dominated by London Clay in the east, Bagshot Sands in the west and alluvial deposits along the rivers. Much of Surrey is in the Metropolitan Green Belt and it contains a good deal of mature woodland. Among its many notable beauty spots are Box Hill, Leith Hill, Frensham Ponds, Newlands Corner and Puttenham & Crooksbury Commons. Surrey is the most wooded county in England, with 22. 4% coverage compared to an average of 11. 8%. Box Hill has the oldest untouched area of woodland in the UK. Surrey also contains Englands principal concentration of lowland heath, on soils in the west of the county. Agriculture not being intensive, there are many commons and access lands, together with a network of footpaths and bridleways including the North Downs Way. Accordingly, Surrey provides much in the way of leisure activities. The highest elevation in Surrey is Leith Hill near Dorking and it is either 293,294 or 295 metres above sea level and is the second highest point in southeastern England after Walbury Hill 297 metres in West Berkshire. Surrey has a population of approximately 1.1 million people and its largest town is Guildford, with a population of 66,773, Woking comes a close second with 62,796. They are followed by Ewell with 39,994 people and Camberley with 30,155, towns of between 25,000 and 30,000 inhabitants are Ashford, Epsom, Farnham, Staines and Redhill. Guildford is the county town, although the county administration was moved to Newington in 1791
9.
Foster and Partners
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Foster + Partners is a British international studio for architecture and integrated design, with headquarters in London. The practice is led by its founder and Chairman, Norman Foster, established by Norman Foster as Foster Associates in 1967 shortly after leaving Team 4, the firm was renamed in the 1990s to more accurately reflect the influence of the other lead architects. In 2007 the private equity company 3i took a stake in the practice and this was bought back by the practice in June 2014 to become wholly owned by the 140 partners. C. The paper cited environmentalists concerns over the impact of the planned 15,000 inhabitant resort facilities. The Bulgarian partner, Georgi Stanishev, is the brother of Sergei Stanishev, Leader of Bulgarian Socialist Party, antoinette Nassopoulos, Foster + Partners Virgin Red Hot Design talk
10.
Scottish Parliament Building
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The Scottish Parliament Building is the home of the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood, within the UNESCO World Heritage Site in central Edinburgh. Construction of the building commenced in June 1999 and the Members of the Scottish Parliament held their first debate in the new building on 7 September 2004, the formal opening by Queen Elizabeth II took place on 9 October 2004. Enric Miralles, the Spanish Catalan architect who designed the building, Office and administrative accommodation in support of the Parliament were provided in buildings leased from the City of Edinburgh Council. The new Scottish Parliament Building brought together these different elements into one purpose-built parliamentary complex, housing 129 MSPs and more than 1,000 staff, from the outset, the building and its construction have been controversial. The choices of location, architect, design, and construction company were all criticised by politicians, the media and the Scottish public. Scheduled to open in 2001, it did so in 2004, a major public inquiry into the handling of the construction, chaired by the former Lord Advocate, Peter Fraser, was established in 2003. The inquiry concluded in September 2004 and criticised the management of the project from the realisation of cost increases down to the way in which major design changes were implemented. Despite these criticisms and a public reaction, the building was welcomed by architectural academics and critics. The building aimed to achieve a union between the Scottish landscape, its people, its culture, and the city of Edinburgh. Comprising an area of 1.6 ha, with a perimeter of 480 m, the large site previously housed the headquarters of the Scottish and Newcastle brewery which were demolished to make way for the building. Reids Close connects the Canongate and Holyrood Road on the side of the complex. The south eastern side of the complex is bounded by the Our Dynamic Earth visitor attraction opened in July 1999. In the immediate vicinity of the building is the Palace of Holyroodhouse, to the south of the parliamentary complex are the steep slopes of the Salisbury Crags and Arthurs Seat. The Treaty of Union, signed in 1707, created a political union between the Kingdom of Scots and the Kingdom of England. The two previous Acts of Union had dissolved the previous parliaments, the Treaty of Union created the Parliament of Great Britain which was housed in the Palace of Westminster in London. As a consequence, Scotland was directly governed from London for the next 292 years without a legislature or a Parliament building of its own. Whilst much of this conversion was completed and the building was renamed New Parliament House it was determined that the facility was too small for its stated purpose. Following the April 1992 election, when a weakened John Major was re-elected, starting informally this became a permanently manned vigil to keep the concept in the public mind
11.
McLaren
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McLaren Racing Limited, competing as McLaren Honda, is a British Formula One team based at the McLaren Technology Centre, Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor but has competed in and won the Indianapolis 500. The team is the second oldest active team after Ferrari and they are one of the most successful teams in Formula One history, having won 182 races,12 drivers championships and eight constructors championships. The team is an owned subsidiary of McLaren Technology Group. Further American triumph followed, with Indianapolis 500 wins in McLaren cars for Mark Donohue in 1972, the combination of Prost and Senna was particularly dominant—together they won all but one race in 1988—but later their rivalry soured and Prost left for Ferrari. Fellow English team Williams offered the most consistent challenge during this period, however, by the mid-1990s, Honda had withdrawn from Formula One, Senna had moved to Williams, and the team went three seasons without a win. Ron Dennis retired as McLaren team principal in 2009, handing the role to longtime McLaren employee Martin Whitmarsh. At the end of 2013, after the teams worst season since 2004, McLaren announced in 2013 that they would be using Honda engines from 2015 onwards, replacing Mercedes-Benz. The team raced as McLaren-Honda for the first time since 1992 at the 2015 Australian Grand Prix, Bruce McLaren Motor Racing was founded in 1963 by New Zealander Bruce McLaren. Bruce was a driver for the British Formula One team Cooper with whom he had won three Grands Prix and come second in the 1960 world championship. In 1964 and 1965, McLaren were based in New Malden, then Feltham, during this period, Bruce drove for his team in sports car races in the United Kingdom and North America and also entered the 1965 Tasman Series with Phil Hill, but did not win it. He continued to drive in Grands Prix for Cooper, but judging that teams form to be waning, Bruce made the teams Grand Prix debut at the 1966 Monaco race. His race ended after nine laps due to an oil leak. Neither car brought great success, the best result being a fourth at Monaco, for 1968, after driving McLarens sole entry for the previous two years, Bruce was joined by 1967 champion and fellow New Zealander Denny Hulme, who was already racing for McLaren in Can-Am. That years new M7A car, Herds final design for the team, was powered by Cosworths new and soon to be ubiquitous DFV engine, Hulme also won the Italian and Canadian Grands Prix later in the year, helping the team to second in the constructors championship. The year 1970 started with a place each for Hulme. After his death, Teddy Mayer took over control of the team, Hulme continued with Dan Gurney. Gurney won the first two Can-Am events at Mosport and St. Jovite and placed ninth in the third, but left the team mid-season, and Gethin took over from there
12.
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
