1.
Silverstone Circuit
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Silverstone Circuit is a motor racing circuit in England next to the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. The circuit straddles the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border, with the current main circuit entry on the Buckinghamshire side, the Northamptonshire towns of Towcester and Brackley and Buckinghamshire town of Buckingham are close by, and the nearest large towns are Northampton and Milton Keynes. Silverstone is the current home of the British Grand Prix, which it first hosted in 1948, the 1950 British Grand Prix at Silverstone was the first race in the newly created World Championship of Drivers. The race rotated between Silverstone, Aintree and Brands Hatch from 1955 to 1986, but relocated permanently to Silverstone in 1987, the circuit also hosts the British round of the MotoGP series. However, the Donington Park leaseholders suffered economic problems resulting in the BRDC signing a 17-year deal with Ecclestone to hold the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Silverstone is built on the site of a World War II Royal Air Force bomber station, RAF Silverstone, the airfields three runways, in classic WWII triangle format, lie within the outline of the present track. Silverstone was first used for motorsport by an ad hoc group of friends who set up a race in September 1947. One of their members, Maurice Geoghegan, lived in nearby Silverstone village and was aware that the airfield was deserted and he and eleven other drivers raced over a two-mile circuit, during the course of which Geoghegan himself ran over a sheep that had wandered onto the airfield. The sheep was killed and the car written off, and in the aftermath of this event the race became known as the Mutton Grand Prix. The next year the Royal Automobile Club took a lease on the airfield and their first two races were held on the runways themselves, with long straights separated by tight hairpin corners, the track demarcated by hay bales. However, for the 1949 International Trophy meeting, it was decided to switch to the perimeter track and this arrangement was used for the 1950 and 1951 Grands Prix. In 1952 the start line was moved from the Farm Straight to the straight linking Woodcote and Copse corners, for the 1975 meeting a chicane was introduced to try to tame speeds through the mighty Woodcote Corner, and Bridge Corner was subtly rerouted in 1987. The track underwent a major redesign between the 1990 and 1991 races, transforming the ultra-fast track into a technical track. The reshaped tracks first F1 race was perhaps the most memorable of recent years, following the deaths of Senna and fellow Grand Prix driver Roland Ratzenberger at Imola in 1994, many Grand Prix circuits were modified in order to reduce speed and increase driver safety. As a consequence of this the entry from Hangar Straight into Stowe Corner was modified in 1995 so as to make its entry less dangerous, in addition, the flat-out Abbey kink was modified to a chicane in just 19 days before the 1994 GP. Parts of the circuit, such as the grid, are 17 metres wide. After a new pit building, the Silverstone Wing, was completed in time for the 2011 race, almost flat out, the right-hander of Abbey leads immediately into the left-hander of Farm before cars brake heavily into the second gear, right-handed turn three, Village Corner. Turn 6, the left hander of Brooklands, is taken by drivers in second gear and leads immediately into Luffield, another second gear curve, a right-hand hairpin
Silverstone Circuit
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Piers Courage on his way to 5th place in the 1969 British Grand Prix, aboard
Frank Williams Racing Cars ’s Brabham-Cosworth BT26A
Silverstone Circuit
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Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone Circuit
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Niki Lauda taking the Ferrari 312T through Maggotts Copse during 1975 John Player Grand Prix, Silverstone
Silverstone Circuit
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Jochen Mass (Martini Racing Porsche 935) during the 1976 Silverstone Six-Hours
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
Northamptonshire
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John Speed 's 17th century map of Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
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Flag
Northamptonshire
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Kilworth Wharf on the Grand Union Canal
Northamptonshire
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Silverstone adds millions every year to the local economy -
Kimi Räikkönen testing for
McLaren at Silverstone in April
2006
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
United Kingdom
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Stonehenge, in
Wiltshire, was erected around 2500 BC.
United Kingdom
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Flag
United Kingdom
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The
Bayeux Tapestry depicts the
Battle of Hastings, 1066, and the events leading to it.
United Kingdom
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The
Treaty of Union led to a single united kingdom encompassing all Great Britain.
4.
Colin Kolles
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He was an advisor to Caterham F1 and had a part in the unsuccessful Forza Rossa Racing project. Kolles, who lives in Ingolstadt, is qualified as a dentist which was the family business, in 2000 he entered racing by establishing a team now known as Kodewa with his father Romulus in the German Formula Three Championship, and later in the Formula Three Euroseries. He was appointed as Managing Director of the Jordan Grand Prix team by its new owner, Alex Shnaider, following the teams takeover by Spyker and then Force India, he remained as managing director. Despite running a Formula One team, Kolles has still been called upon to use his dentistry skills and he also performed a similar procedure on Midlands other driver Christijan Albers at the 2006 French Grand Prix. In November 2008, it was announced that Force India chairman Vijay Mallya was to take over the role of Team Principal for 2009 and he remained contracted to the team until 31 October 2009, when he resigned as a director. He left the position in December 2011, the two allegedly settled the matter privately
Colin Kolles
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Kolles in 2009
5.
Germany
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Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
Germany
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The
Nebra sky disk is dated to c. 1600 BC.
Germany
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Flag
Germany
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Martin Luther (1483–1546) initiated the
Protestant Reformation.
Germany
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Foundation of the
German Empire in
Versailles, 1871.
Bismarck is at the center in a white uniform.
6.
Adrian Sutil
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Adrian Sutil is a German racing driver who most recently drove for Sauber in Formula One for the 2014 season. He was the driver for the Williams team in 2015. Sutil started karting at the age of 14 and moved into single seater racing in 2002 in the Swiss Formula Ford series where he won the title and he moved up into Formula Masters Austria and started 1 race before stepping into Formula BMW ADAC in 2003. Sutil then raced in the Formula 3 Euroseries where he was the runner-up to Lewis Hamilton in 2005 and he went to Japan in 2006 to race in the All-Japan Formula Three Championship and also finished 3rd in the Macau Grand Prix. Having been involved in the Midland F1 test team, Sutil was promoted to a seat for the new Spyker F1 team in 2007. Sutil continued to race with the team under their new guise Force India in 2008 where he remained until 2011, having made his return to the sport in 2013 again with Force India, he competed in the 2014 season with Sauber. Born in Starnberg, West Germany, Sutil is the son of professional musicians Monika, a German, and Jorge and he has two brothers, named Daniel and Raphael. He weighs 75 kilograms and is 183 centimeters tall, a talented pianist, Sutil started karting at 14 before moving up to Swiss Formula Ford 1800 in 2002. He won all ten rounds of the season from pole and added five wins in the Formula Masters Austria championship, Sutil speaks fluent German, English, and Spanish and a little Italian. When Sutil moved up to the Formula BMW ADAC championship in 2003 he finished in place in the series. The following season he stepped up to the Formula 3 Euroseries with Colin Kolles team, although he scored only twice, the connection he made with Kolles would prove useful in the future. He moved to the ASM team at the round of the year. Sutil stayed with ASM for 2005 and was joined by British driver Lewis Hamilton, Hamilton won more races than Sutil, but the German was runner-up to Hamilton and the Britons only serious competitor in the championship and at the Marlboro Masters of Formula Three at Zandvoort. Sutil missed the last two rounds of the 2005 Euroseries after joining A1 Team Germany for the inaugural A1 Grand Prix series and he raced for them at three events in Portugal, Australia and Dubai, his best result being two twelfth places. He spent 2006 racing in Japan and won the All-Japan Formula Three Championship and he showed a very strong performance all season. He also finished third in the Macau Formula Three Grand Prix and that year also saw Sutil enter Formula One. In January, he was confirmed as one of the three test drivers for the new Midland F1 Racing team, along with Markus Winkelhock and Giorgio Mondini and this came thanks to his connections with Colin Kolles, who was then running the team. Sutil appeared for the team as the driver at the European, French
Adrian Sutil
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Sutil at the
2011 Italian Grand Prix
Adrian Sutil
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Sutil testing for
Midland F1 Racing in February 2006
Adrian Sutil
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Sutil driving a
Spyker F8-VII at the
2007 French Grand Prix
Adrian Sutil
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Sutil driving for
Spyker at the
2007 Belgian Grand Prix
7.
Netherlands
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The Netherlands is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
Netherlands
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The Netherlands in 5500 BC
Netherlands
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Flag
Netherlands
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The Netherlands in 500 BC
Netherlands
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An oak figurine found in
Willemstad, North Brabant (4500 BC).
8.
Christijan Albers
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Christijan Albers is a Dutch professional racing driver. After success in the DTM he drove in Formula One from 2005 until the 2007 British Grand Prix, in 2008, he returned to the DTM series as a driver for the Audi Futurecom TME team. Albers acted as Team Principal and CEO of the Caterham F1 Team from July to September 2014 after it was acquired by new team owners, Christijan is the son of former rallycross ace and Porsche 911 Carrera campaigner André Albers, who won the 1979 Dutch International Rallycross Championship. They are not related to their compatriot Marcel Albers, who was killed in a British Formula Three accident at Thruxton in 1992, Christijan is married to Liselore Kooijman. Their wedding took place on 11 November 2006 in Amsterdam, Albers began kart racing at a young age, winning the Dutch National championship in 1997. That same year, he was crowned Formula Ford 1800 champion in both Netherlands and Belgium and he also participated in the Renault Megane Marlboro Masters series. In 1998, he moved up to the German Formula Three series, winning the championship in 1999 with six wins, in 2000, Albers raced in the International Formula 3000 championship as team-mate to Mark Webber. He failed to score a point, but team boss Paul Stoddart later signed him again and he also raced in European Formula Racing. In 2004 he again challenged for the lead for the most of the season. While racing in the DTM, Albers continued to be a test and reserve driver for Minardis Formula One interests, in November 2004, he set the fastest time at a Misano di Gera dAdda Minardi test session. He was chosen by the team to drive in the Formula One World Championship in 2005, in the 2005 United States Grand Prix he gained his first championship points with a fifth-place finish, in a race where only six drivers started. On 31 October 2005 Albers was confirmed as Midlands first official Formula One driver, Midland, the renamed Jordan team, made their debut in the 2006 Formula One season. Albers started the 2006 season well, out-pacing Midland teammate Tiago Monteiro, however, during the first few races, Midland found themselves battling with the Super Aguri team, particularly Takuma Sato. At the 2006 San Marino Grand Prix, Albers found himself being crashed into by Yuji Ide, Ide was reprimanded by the race stewards for his part in the incident. Ide also had his Super Licence revoked for severe dangerous driving, after initial confusion over Albers plans for 2007 after the takeover of MF1 by Spyker Cars, it was eventually confirmed that he would be driving for the Spyker F1 team in 2007. It was later found out that Albers signed a contract with Midland F1 to remain with the prior to the sale to Spyker. Albers personal sponsors had major influences in Spyker buying the Midland F1 team, in early 2007 he was outperformed by rookie team-mate Adrian Sutil. At Magny-Cours he ignored the lollipop telling him not to leave the pits during a pitstop, Albers expressed relief that nobody was hurt, but he received a €5,000 penalty for dangerous driving
Christijan Albers
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Christijan Albers
Christijan Albers
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Albers driving the
Midland M16 during the
2006 United States Grand Prix.
Christijan Albers
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Albers driving at
Silverstone after
Spyker's purchase of the team.
Christijan Albers
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Albers driving for
Spyker F1 at the
2007 British Grand Prix.
9.
Markus Winkelhock
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Markus Winkelhock is a German professional racing driver, who has taken part in one Formula One Grand Prix, which he briefly led. He is the son of Manfred Winkelhock and nephew of Joachim Winkelhock, having switched to sports and touring car racing, he has also won the FIA GT1 World Championship in 2012 with team-mate Marc Basseng. Born in Stuttgart, Winkelhock won races in a string of junior formulae including Formula König, German Formula Renault, in 2001, Winkelhock joined the German Formula 3 Championship, where he remained until the championship became the F3 Euroseries in 2003. His record was fifth overall in 2001, seventh in 2002 and he switched to touring car racing in 2004, with a season in the DTM in an AMG-Mercedes CLK. But he failed to score a point all year with the Persson team, Winkelhock switched back to single-seater racing in 2005, joining the World Series by Renault with Draco. He won three times but there were some less than shining moments – notably when he crashed at Monaco in qualifying. On 24 January 2006, Marcus Winkelhock was confirmed a test and reserve driver in the Midland F1 team and he participated in Friday test sessions for the team at the Bahrain, Australian, German and Hungarian Grands Prix. He was re-signed for 2007 by the team, now in its Spyker F1 guise and he also made a brief return to the DTM in 2007, starting three races. Following Christijan Albers departure from Spyker after the 2007 British Grand Prix, the deal was only for one race with Sakon Yamamoto set to race for Spyker for the rest of the season. Due to Christijan Albers departure from the Spyker F1 Team, Winkelhock was called in for the 10th race of the season, Winkelhock started last on the 22-car grid alongside team mate Adrian Sutil. But on the lap with the rest of the field already on dry-weather tyres. By lap 4 he had a lead of 33 seconds over Ferraris Felipe Massa in 2nd place, as the rain got heavier the race stewards first sent out the safety car, and then suspended the race following a series of spin-offs in the first corner behind the safety car. The race restarted after the rain had eased, Winkelhock and his team chose to start on full wet tyres on a drying track in the hope of further showers, as the team expected he would be overtaken by faster cars anyway. The gamble failed and, having restarted the race from pole position and he retired on lap 15 with hydraulic problems that caused a small fire. He had led for a total of six laps, Winkelhock returned to the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters after he lost his Spyker seat, and has remained in the series, driving for Team Rosberg, for 2008,2009 and 2010. In 2011, he competed in the FIA GT1 World Championship for the All-Inkl. com Münnich Motorsport team alongside team boss Marc Basseng driving a Lamborghini and they won the championship the following year, the team having switched to the Mercedes SLS due to a change in the regulations. ‡ As Winkelhock was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points,1 – Shanghai was a non-championship round. ‡ — Guest driver – Not eligible for points, † Winkelhock was ineligible to score points during the Moscow weekend due to Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhofs absence
Markus Winkelhock
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Winkelhock at the
Brands Hatch round of the
2014 Blancpain Sprint Series season.
Markus Winkelhock
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Winkelhock driving in the German F3 series in 2002.
Markus Winkelhock
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Winkelhock driving for
Audi (
Team Rosberg) in the
2009 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season at the Hockenheimring.
10.
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
Japan
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The
Golden Hall and
five-storey pagoda of
Hōryū-ji, among the oldest wooden buildings in the world,
National Treasures, and a
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Japan
Japan
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Samurai warriors face Mongols, during the
Mongol invasions of Japan. The
Kamikaze, two storms, are said to have saved Japan from Mongol fleets.
Japan
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Samurai could
kill a commoner for the slightest insult and were widely feared by the Japanese population.
Edo period, 1798
11.
Sakon Yamamoto
–
Sakon Yamamoto is a Japanese racing driver. He competed in 21 Formula One Grands Prix during the 2006,2007 and 2010 seasons. On 8 June 2006, Sakon Yamamoto joined the Super Aguri F1 team as their test driver and third driver on grand prix weekends, helping Takuma Sato, Yamamoto replaced Montagny in the second team car at the German Grand Prix in Hockenheim. He did not enjoy a successful start to his career, however, with a mechanical failure. He also damaged one of the teams new SA06 chassis in a crash during Free Practice at the German Grand Prix and he then spun out of his third Grand Prix in Turkey, a disappointment after outqualifying Sato for the first time. At the 2006 Italian Grand Prix, Yamamoto had an effect on the championship after suffering a tyre delamination during qualifying. During the race, Yamamoto suffered hydraulic problems and had to start from the pit lane, at the 2006 Chinese Grand Prix, however, he finished for the first time, albeit four laps down in sixteenth place. After the race, his enjoyment was spoiled when Nick Heidfeld admonished him for an incident on the last lap which had dropped the German from 4th to 7th place. However, Heidfeld had mistaken Yamamoto for Sato, the driver who caused the incident, Yamamoto finished the season strongly with three consecutive finishes, an upturn in form after retiring from his first four Grands Prix. He also set the seventh fastest lap and second fastest middle sector during the 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix, however, this was not enough to prevent him losing out to Anthony Davidson in the race for the second Super Aguri race drive in 2007. However, he remained as a test driver at Super Aguri and this was combined with him competing in the 2007 GP2 Series season with BCN Competicion. With the departure of Christijan Albers from the Spyker F1 team after the 2007 British Grand Prix, during his first Grand Prix for Spyker at Hungary, he crashed out on lap 4. After the season ended, Yamamoto did not participate in any event for the team. It was announced on 4 February 2008 that Yamamoto would be one of the test drivers for the Renault F1 Team, Sanho Human Service sponsored Spyker F1 when Yamamoto was a driver, and it was announced at the R28 launch that Sanho Human Service would sponsor Renault in 2008. Yamamoto made his return to the GP2 series halfway through the 2008 season, finishing 4th in the sprint race at Hungaroring, he scored his first ever points in any racing class outside Japan. Yamamoto kept his seat at ART for the 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series where he was looking to emulate the success of Grosjean, who won the inaugural championship with the team. However, he was overshadowed by team-mates Nico Hülkenberg and Pastor Maldonado. He took part in his first practice session for the team at the Turkish Grand Prix where he set the slowest lap time of the session, Yamamoto replaced Chandhok at the German Grand Prix, where he retired after 19 laps with an engine problem
Sakon Yamamoto
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Yamamoto at the Motorsport Japan event in 2010.
Sakon Yamamoto
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Yamamoto driving the
Super Aguri SA06 at the
2006 Brazilian Grand Prix where he set the 7th fastest lap of the race.
Sakon Yamamoto
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Yamamoto driving for
Spyker F1 at the
2007 Italian Grand Prix
Sakon Yamamoto
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Yamamoto driving for
Hispania Racing at the
2010 Japanese Grand Prix
12.
Midland F1 Racing
–
Midland F1 Racing was a Formula One constructor and racing team. It competed in the 2006 Formula One season with drivers Christijan Albers, the team was created by the renaming of Jordan Grand Prix after its purchase by Canadian businessman, and owner of the Midland Group, Alex Shnaider. The team was registered as the first Russian Formula One team, reflecting Shnaiders roots, although it continued to be based in the United Kingdom, at Jordans Silverstone factory. Towards the end of the 2006 season, the team was sold to Spyker Cars N. V. the team raced in its last three Grands Prix under the official name Spyker MF1 Racing. In 2007, the team competed as Spyker F1, and in 2008 was sold to Indian businessman Vijay Mallya and was renamed Force India F1. The Midland Groups interest in Formula One involvement began in 2004 when they confirmed plans to create a team to race in the 2006 season. As a result, the team would be a continuation of Jordan. It also allowed Midland to claim the television revenue generated by Jordans subsequent ninth place in the constructors championship, the team retained Jordans name for the 2005 season but struggled at the back of the grid with rookie drivers Narain Karthikeyan and Tiago Monteiro. Some media reports at this time began to speculate that Midland were unhappy with their purchase, team principal Trevor Carlin quit the team after seven races, and chief engineer and designer Mark Smith before the end of the season. There were consistent reports that the team was linked with a buy-out by former Formula One driver Eddie Irvine, the name of the team was changed to MF1 Racing for the 2006 Formula One season. In the UK a joke emerged regarding this form being written in the same way as economy furniture manufacturer MFI. Over the winter Russian driver Roman Rusinov tested a new car, motoGP motorcyclist Max Biaggi also had a test in the car at Silverstone in January. The team had failed in a bid to sign Takuma Sato. Much of that progress was down to tyre development from Bridgestone coupled with significant improvements in aerodynamics and handling. The improved performance saw the team begin to make it into the qualifying session on an occasional basis - eight times out of a possible 36 overall - with a best qualifying position of 14th. The team went from being around four seconds off the pace per lap in 2005 to around 2 seconds per lap at the time of its sale to Spyker cars in September 2006. Rumours had been floating about in the paddock throughout the mid-season about the sale of the team. Reports suggested a price tag of $128 m, and that Shnaider was seriously considering the possibility of the sale, Formula One teams had become more valuable, because no more teams could enter after 2008, with the maximum of 12 places already filled
Midland F1 Racing
–
Narain Karthikeyan driving for Midland owned
Jordan at the
2005 United States Grand Prix.
Midland F1 Racing
–
MF1
Midland F1 Racing
–
Christijan Albers at the
2006 United States Grand Prix.
Midland F1 Racing
–
Christijan Albers driving a 2006 M16 in the late season Spyker livery.
13.
Force India
–
The Sahara Force India F1 Team is a Formula One racing team based in Silverstone, United Kingdom, with an Indian licence. The team was formed in October 2007 when a consortium led by Indian businessman Vijay Mallya, Force India scored points again in the following race when Adrian Sutil finished fourth, and set the teams first fastest lap, at the Italian Grand Prix. In October 2011, Indian company Sahara India Pariwar, purchased 42. 5% of Force India F1s shares at US$100 million, the teams origins stemmed from the Jordan Grand Prix team, which entered Formula One racing in 1991 based at the Silverstone racing circuit. Jordan enjoyed many years in Formula One, winning four races, however, like many of the smaller teams in the 2000s, financial problems meant the teams performance dried up, and team owner Eddie Jordan sold the team to the Midland Group in 2005. The renamed Midland F1 Racing team spent two seasons at the back of grid, before owner Alex Shnaider sold the team to Spyker Cars midway through the 2006 season. After retaining Adrian Sutil for the teams first season, Force India conducted winter tests for the second driver, testing of the car begun in February, after the gold, tungsten and white liveried car was launched at the Gateway of India in Mumbai. Although a furious Gascoyne called for Räikkönen to be penalised, overtakes under yellow flag conditions would have meant Sutil receiving a time penalty post-race, Force India had been focusing on 2009 since Mallya brought the team, believing that the new regulations would yield better results. Force India finished the tenth place in the Constructors Championship. Force India retained the same drivers for the 2009 season, Force India gained their first pole position in Formula One when Fisichella qualified fastest at the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa. He finished the race in second position, less than a second behind Kimi Räikkönen earning Force Indias first ever points, missing the win was partially blamed on the cars lack of KERS, a system present on the Ferrari. On 3 September 2009, Force India announced that they were releasing Fisichella from his contract to him to race for Ferrari for the remainder of the season. It was announced four days later that test driver Vitantonio Liuzzi would replace Fisichella for the remaining races, in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Sutil qualified second and Liuzzi, on his race debut for the team, qualified seventh. On race day, Sutil finished fourth and clocked the fastest lap of the race, while running fourth in the race, Liuzzi had to retire due to a transmission failure. Force India finished the season ninth in front of Scuderia Toro Rosso with 13 points, however, the VJM02 was powered by Mercedes-Benz engines from the 2009 season after signing a five-year deal on 10 November 2008. The deal also included a supply of McLaren-Mercedes gearboxes, hydraulic systems, the car was revealed on 1 March 2009. The VJM02 was the first Force India car to pick up points, pole position and fastest lap at the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix, the team announced on 27 November 2009, that it was to keep Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi for the 2010 season. The team tested Paul di Resta and J. R. Hildebrand at Jerez, di Resta was confirmed as the teams test driver on 2 February 2010. On 9 February 2010, Force India unveiled their new car, the VJM03, the 2010 season began with points in Bahrain, with Liuzzi finishing in ninth position
Force India
–
Adrian Sutil testing for Force India in January 2008.
Force India
–
Giancarlo Fisichella leads
Adrian Sutil at the
2008 Canadian Grand Prix.
Force India
–
Vitantonio Liuzzi at the
2009 Japanese Grand Prix.
Force India
–
Vitantonio Liuzzi driving during practice for the
2010 Bahrain Grand Prix.
14.
Formula One
–
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
Formula One
–
Juan Manuel Fangio 's
1951 title-winning
Alfa Romeo 159
Formula One
–
Formula One
Formula One
–
Stirling Moss 's
Lotus 18 at the
Nürburgring during
1961
Formula One
–
Nigel Mansell 's
Williams FW10 from
1985
15.
2007 Australian Grand Prix
–
The 2007 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 18 March 2007 at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia. It was the first race of the 2007 Formula One season, the 58 lap race was won by Kimi Räikkönen for the Ferrari team after starting from pole position. Fernando Alonso finished second in a McLaren car, with team-mate Lewis Hamilton third in the other McLaren on his Grand Prix debut. Räikkönen started the race alongside Alonso, but in the start Alonso was passed by BMW Sauber driver Nick Heidfeld and Hamilton, Räikkönen controlled the race from the front of the field, with Alonso regaining second place after overtaking Hamilton during the second round of pit stops. The rest of the top six were from different teams with fourth going to Giancarlo Fisichella of Renault. Nick Heidfeld in the BMW Sauber was fifth and Alexander Wurzs Williams completed the top six and this was a positive start to the weekend Massa commented, but of course what counts is tomorrow’s qualifying and most of all, Sunday’s race. The morning session of Saturday brought with it sunny skies, and this forced teams who went out early to use their wet tires, but what little water was on the track dried up quickly enough to have no effect on any racer on dry tires. Räikkönen was the consistent pace-setter and topped the chart with a 1,26.064, Fisichella pushed his Renault to second with a time of 1,26.454. Rookie Lewis Hamilton came third over his team mate, the double, the slowest team of 2006, Super Aguri, got into the top ten with fourth and tenth for Anthony Davidson and Takuma Sato, respectively. Felipe Massa and Nick Heidfeld completed the top six, Räikkönen followed up his pace-setting morning practice performance by topping the times in Part One of the Qualifying session. Rubens Barrichello and David Coulthard found themselves knocked out of qualifying, along with the Toro Rossos, Fernando Alonso took command of Part Two with a lap of 1,25.326 to put him at the top of the leaderboard, with team-mate Hamilton closely behind in third. BMWs Nick Heidfeld split the McLarens with second, Super Aguris Takuma Sato made it through to part three. But, along with Massa, Anthony Davidson, both the Williams cars of Rosberg and Wurz, Renaults rookie Heikki Kovalainen and Hondas Jenson Button all went out, Alonso again set the benchmark in Part Three with a time of 1,27.050. But he was knocked off top spot by Räikkönen, who went a second quicker with a lap of 1,26.072. Räikkönen kept pole position, with Alonso second, but Nick Heidfeld was third after Lewis Hamilton had an untidy middle sector which saw him end up in fourth, robert Kubica was fifth, with Giancarlo Fisichella sixth. Red Bulls Mark Webber was seventh with the Toyotas of Ralf Schumacher, Super Aguris Sato rounded out the top ten. Race day saw a crowd of 105,000 people attend the round of the 2007 season. The only changes before the race were that Felipe Massa started last after an engine-change, at the start, Räikkönen got clear off the line
2007 Australian Grand Prix
–
Heiki Kovalainen had a disappointing first race for Renault, shown here leading Nico Rosberg during the race
2007 Australian Grand Prix
–
2007 Australian Grand Prix
16.
Scuderia Ferrari
–
Scuderia Ferrari S. p. A. competing as Scuderia Ferrari is the official name of the racing division of luxury Italian auto manufacturer, Ferrari, and competes in Formula One racing. It is the oldest surviving and most successful Formula One team, the team was founded by Enzo Ferrari, initially to race cars produced by Alfa Romeo, though by 1947 Ferrari had begun building its own cars. As a constructor, Ferrari has a record 16 Constructors Championships, Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Mike Hawthorn, Phil Hill, John Surtees, Niki Lauda, Jody Scheckter, Michael Schumacher and Kimi Räikkönen have won a record 15 Drivers Championships for the team. Since Räikkönens title in 2007 the team narrowly lost out on the 2008 drivers title with Felipe Massa, Schumacher is the teams most successful driver. Joining the team in 1996 and departing in 2006 he won five titles and 72 Grands Prix for the team. His titles came consecutively between 2000 and 2004, including the constructors title of 1999 consecutively being won until the end of 2004, this was the teams most successful period. Currently, World Champions Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel are the two race drivers. The team is known for its passionate support base known as the tifosi. The Italian Grand Prix at Monza is regarded as the home race. The Scuderia Ferrari team was founded by Enzo Ferrari on 16 November 1929 and became the team of Alfa Romeo. In 1938, Alfa Romeo management made the decision to enter racing under its own name, establishing the Alfa Corse organisation, Enzo Ferrari disagreed with this change in policy and was finally dismissed by Alfa in 1939. The terms of his leaving forbade him from motorsport under his own name, in 1939 Ferrari started work on a racecar of his own, the Tipo 815. The 815s, designed by Alberto Massimino, were thus the first Ferrari cars, World War II put a temporary end to racing, and Ferrari concentrated on an alternative use for his factory during the war years, doing machine tool work. After the war, Ferrari recruited several of his former Alfa colleagues and established a new Scuderia Ferrari, the team owns and operates a test track on the same site, the Fiorano Circuit built in 1972, which is used for testing road and race cars. The team is named after its founder, Enzo Ferrari, Scuderia is Italian for a stable reserved for racing horses and is also commonly applied to Italian motor racing teams. In 1947 Ferrari constructed the 12-cylinder,1.5 L Tipo 125, a Formula One version of the Tipo 125, the Ferrari 125 F1 was developed in 1948 and entered in several Grand Prix, at the time a World Championship had not yet been established. In 1950, the Formula One World Championship was established, and it is the only team to have competed in every season of the World Championship, from its inception to the current day. The company later switched to the large-displacement naturally aspirated formula for the 275,340, after the 1951 Formula One season the Alfa team withdrew from F1, causing the authorities to adopt the Formula Two regulations due to the lack of suitable F1 cars
Scuderia Ferrari
–
Phil Hill driving for Ferrari at the
1962 German Grand Prix.
Scuderia Ferrari
–
Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari
–
Lorenzo Bandini driving for Ferrari at the
1966 German Grand Prix.
Scuderia Ferrari
–
Niki Lauda driving for Ferrari at the
1976 German Grand Prix.
17.
Pole position
–
The game was designed by Tōru Iwatani, who had also designed the Gee Bee games and Pac-Man. It was the most popular arcade game of 1983. Pole Position was released in two configurations, an upright cabinet, and an environmental/cockpit cabinet. By 1983, it had become the highest-grossing arcade game that year in North America and it was the most successful racing game of the classic era, spawning ports, sequels, and a Saturday morning cartoon, although the cartoon had nothing in common with the game. The game established the conventions of the game genre and its success inspired numerous imitators. Pole Position is regarded as one of the most influential games of all time. In this game, the controls a Formula One race car. After qualifying, the player races against seven other CPU-controlled cars in a championship race, the player must also avoid going off the road so that he or she will not crash into the billboards. Pole Position was the first racing game to feature a track based on a real racing circuit. It was also the first game to feature a qualifying lap, once the player has qualified, they must complete the race in the time allowed, avoiding collisions with CPU-controlled opponents and billboards along the sides of the track. The games publisher Atari publicized the game for its unbelievable driving realism in providing a Formula 1 experience behind a racing wheel, for manufacture and distribution in the United States, Namco approached Bally Midway with a choice of two games in 1982. Bally Midway chose Mappy while Atari was left to publish Pole Position, the game ran on the Namco Pole Position hardware, which was the first to use 16-bit microprocessors, with two Zilog Z8002 processors. It was also capable of displaying up to 3840 colors, the game was an early example of product placement within a video game, with billboards around the track advertising actual companies. Other billboards appeared in both versions, the game was also featured in a TV commercial shown only on MTV. It was part of a series of TV spots that Atari created in the 1980s exclusively for MTV and they also praised the sound effects and solid, realistic graphics, stating it has very rich color images and dimensional depth to the graphics. They also praised the graphics and breathtaking scenery as well as the two-heat format for the race itself. Computer and Video Games also reviewed the version in 1983. They compared it favorably with Turbo, stating that, while Turbo featured better landscapes, it cant match the speed, thrills and skill behind this new race game
Pole position
–
Arcade flyer
18.
2007 Brazilian Grand Prix
–
The 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in São Paulo, Brazil on 21 October 2007. The 71-lap race was the seventeenth and final round of the 2007 Formula One season, the race was won by Ferrari driver Kimi Räikkönen, who consequently won the 2007 World Drivers Championship. His teammate, Felipe Massa finished the second, whilst McLaren driver Fernando Alonso completed the podium by finishing in third position. Lewis Hamilton, who had held a four-point advantage over Fernando Alonso, and he recovered to finish seventh, losing the championship to Räikkönen by a single point, teammate Alonso also ended up finishing just a single point behind. This was also the last race for Ralf Schumacher, for the event, the largest-scale repairs in the last 35 years were carried out at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, to fundamentally solve problems with the track surface. The existing asphalt was entirely replaced, at the same time, the pit lane entrance was enhanced to improve safety. To facilitate the work, the circuit was closed and no events were held in the five months preceding the race. Alexander Wurz retired from Formula One at the end of the Chinese GP and he was replaced at Williams-Toyota by the Japanese driver Kazuki Nakajima, son of former F1 driver Satoru. As a result, three Japanese drivers were entered into a Grand Prix for the first time since the 1995 Japanese Grand Prix, prior to the race, championship leader Lewis Hamilton was 4 points ahead of second placed driver, Fernando Alonso. Kimi Räikkönen was 7 points behind the leader and this was the first three-way title fight in the final race of the F1 season since the 1986 Australian Grand Prix, which saw Alain Prost become champion, ahead of Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet. In the Friday practice session, the Ferrari drivers topped the timesheet with Kimi Räikkönen leading the first practice in the wet session, in the second practice session, Lewis Hamilton led McLaren to a 1–2 finish, with the track improving over time. Stewards fined McLaren, Honda and Super Aguri €15,000 each for tyre rule infringement, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Takuma Sato used two sets of wet tyres, more than the one set permitted during the first practice. In addition, each driver had to surrender one set of wet tyres to avoid gaining any advantage, heikki Kovalainen also went out in the Renault. They lined up just behind Jarno Trulli in the Toyota and Robert Kubicas BMW Sauber, Kubicas teammate Nick Heidfeld was sixth, and Mark Webber did excellently in the second Red Bull to come 5th. It was a McLaren 2–4 with championship leader Lewis Hamilton ahead of Fernando Alonso, Only 21 cars were aligned on the grid, because of problems on the Spyker of Adrian Sutil, who started the race from the pit lane. At the start, the Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Kimi Räikkönen were faster, Hamilton locked up his brakes and went off the track while trying to regain the position. He rejoined the race in 8th place, just behind Jarno Trullis Toyota, also in the first lap, Liuzzi lost his front wing and was forced to enter the pits for repairs. In the first corner on the lap, Fisichella went off the track
2007 Brazilian Grand Prix
–
The
Ferrari drivers took the lead from the
McLarens at the start of the race.
2007 Brazilian Grand Prix
–
2007 Brazilian Grand Prix
2007 Brazilian Grand Prix
–
One of the highlights of the race was an intense battle between
Nico Rosberg,
Nick Heidfeld and
Robert Kubica.
2007 Brazilian Grand Prix
–
Kovalainen (in chair at front of picture) retired (DNF) a race for the first time in Formula One.
19.
2007 Formula One season
–
The 2007 Formula One season was the 61st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship, which began on 18 March, the Drivers Championship was won by Ferrari driver Kimi Räikkönen by one point at the final race of the season, making Räikkönen the third Finnish driver to take the title. Räikkönen entered the race in third position in the drivers standings, but emerged as champion after the chequered flag. It has since been accomplished again, by Sebastian Vettel, in 2010, a major talking point of the season had been an espionage controversy involving Ferrari and McLaren, which led to McLaren being excluded from the Constructors Championship. As a result, Ferrari clinched the championship at the Belgian Grand Prix, the 2007 season was significant in that it heralded the end of the existing Concorde Agreement between the existing Formula One constructors and Bernie Ecclestone. In particular, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Honda had a number of outstanding disagreements with the FIA and they had threatened to boycott Formula One from the 2008 season onwards and instead stage their own rival series, before signing a memorandum of understanding at the 2006 Spanish Grand Prix. The 2007 Australian Grand Prix was the first time since the 1986 Brazilian Grand Prix that there was a Formula One field without a car with a Cosworth engine and this was also the final season since its reintroduction in 2002 in which the use of traction control was permitted. Standardised engine control units were mandated from the 2008 season onwards, Honda F1 ran with an Earth livery on their RA107 car, the first time since 1968, the year in which sponsorship in the sport became widespread, that a team ran sponsor-free for an entire season. The following teams and drivers participated in the 2007 Formula One season, Drivers cars are numbered as per the official FIA2007 entry list. All team details are as per the Formula 1 official website, note that there is no car number 13, as was the historical tradition. On 29 August 2006, The FIA published a calendar for the 2007 Formula One season. The San Marino and European Grands Prix were excluded, although the European round would later make a comeback, the final calendar, which confirmed that the San Marino Grand Prix would not return, was released on 18 October 2006. However, Hockenheim controlled the descriptor German Grand Prix and an agreement could not be reached between them and the Nürburgring circuits for the naming rights, the Nürburgring event therefore retained its usual Grand Prix of Europe title. After twenty years of being hosted at the Honda-owned Suzuka Circuit since 1987, the Japanese Grand Prix moved to Toyotas rebuilt Fuji Speedway, the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorhamps returned after a one-year absence in 2006 due to track maintenance. For the first time since 1975, no country hosted more than one grand prix, also, during the race, both compounds of tyre had to be used at least once during the race. Initially, in the Australian Grand Prix, soft tyres were marked with a white spot. However, this was difficult to see when the car was in motion and, as of the Malaysian Grand Prix, the teams finishing 5th–11th in the previous seasons Constructors Championship were no longer allowed to run a third car on Friday following a rule change. The teams that finish 1st–4th were already banned from doing so, engine development was frozen from the 2006 Japanese Grand Prix, with these engines being used for the whole of 2007 and 2008
2007 Formula One season
–
Kimi Räikkönen, the 2007 World Drivers' Champion with 110 points.
2007 Formula One season
–
Lewis Hamilton, runner-up with 109 points. Hamilton recorded nine consecutive podium finishes in his debut season, more than any other rookie in Formula One history.
2007 Formula One season
–
Fernando Alonso, the defending double world champion, also recorded 109 points but was placed 3rd through count-back.
2007 Formula One season
–
Top: harder tyre (officially named the 'prime' tyre). Bottom: softer tyre (the 'option' tyre), at the
Malaysian Grand Prix.
20.
Spyker Cars
–
Spyker Cars is a Dutch sports car marque. The modern Spyker Cars holds the rights to the brand name. The companys motto is Nulla tenaci invia est via, which is Latin for For the tenacious, the marques logo displays the rotary engine of an airplane, a reference to the historic Spyker company which manufactured aircraft. On December 18,2014, Spyker confirmed that it deliberately had gone bankrupt, hoping to restructure its finances, however, the bankruptcy declaration was reverted early 2015 and the company announced to continue with the production of sports cars. The reborn company was founded by Victor Muller and Maarten de Bruijn in 1999, and since 2000, Spyker has been building exclusive sports cars like the C8 Spyder, Spykers history of producing aero engines is reflected in details in these new cars as well as in the logo. Before building the C8, de Bruijn had been building small numbers of the Spyker Silvestris, the C8 Laviolette and C8 Spyder have a 4172 cc Audi V8 engine delivering 400 bhp, acceleration 0–60 mph in 4.5 seconds and a top speed of 300 km/h. On July 14,2005, it was announced that the C8 was approved for sale on the United States market, between 2003 and 2007, Spyker built the C8 Spyder T, with the Twin turbo being developed in conjunction with Cosworth from England. These engines were capable of 525 h. p. and acceleration times of 4.0 seconds, in 2005, the head designer and founder, Maarten de Bruijn, left the company, and founded Silvestris Aquamotive which builds aluminum space frame speed boats. In 2006, Spyker built the C12 La Turbie with an V12 engine capable of 500 horsepower, in September 2006, Spyker bought out the Midland F1 team. The team competed in the final 3 races of the 2006 season as Spyker MF1, in the 2007, the team competed as Spyker F1 using engines supplied by Ferrari. The team itself had minimal success, suffering from multiple retirements before Sutil scored the teams first, at the end of the season, the team was sold to a consortium named Orange India led by Vijay Mallya and was subsequently renamed as Force India. On May 27,2004, Spyker Cars listed on the Euronext Amsterdam Stock Exchange at €15.50, the stock rebounded sharply in early 2006 to over €22 per share. Early in 2007 the stock showed a decline to levels beneath €13 because of financing issues. As a result, several issues were announced to big investors. Notably, all shares have been sold at higher prices than the price at the moment of announcement. Mubadala has a relationship with sports cars, also controlling 5% of Ferrari. This is perhaps the more exclusive Spyker car to date, in November 2009, Spyker announced that it would be moving production from Zeewolde to Whitley, Coventry, where assembly would be done in partnership with CPP Manufacturing. UK production began in February 2010, due to the bankruptcy of SAAB and a falling out with business partners, the production was not moved to the UK
Spyker Cars
–
The earlier Spyker Silvestris V8
Spyker Cars
Spyker Cars
–
A
Spyker C8 at Salon Prive,
London, England.
Spyker Cars
–
Spyker C8 Aileron
21.
Midland F1
–
Midland F1 Racing was a Formula One constructor and racing team. It competed in the 2006 Formula One season with drivers Christijan Albers, the team was created by the renaming of Jordan Grand Prix after its purchase by Canadian businessman, and owner of the Midland Group, Alex Shnaider. The team was registered as the first Russian Formula One team, reflecting Shnaiders roots, although it continued to be based in the United Kingdom, at Jordans Silverstone factory. Towards the end of the 2006 season, the team was sold to Spyker Cars N. V. the team raced in its last three Grands Prix under the official name Spyker MF1 Racing. In 2007, the team competed as Spyker F1, and in 2008 was sold to Indian businessman Vijay Mallya and was renamed Force India F1. The Midland Groups interest in Formula One involvement began in 2004 when they confirmed plans to create a team to race in the 2006 season. As a result, the team would be a continuation of Jordan. It also allowed Midland to claim the television revenue generated by Jordans subsequent ninth place in the constructors championship, the team retained Jordans name for the 2005 season but struggled at the back of the grid with rookie drivers Narain Karthikeyan and Tiago Monteiro. Some media reports at this time began to speculate that Midland were unhappy with their purchase, team principal Trevor Carlin quit the team after seven races, and chief engineer and designer Mark Smith before the end of the season. There were consistent reports that the team was linked with a buy-out by former Formula One driver Eddie Irvine, the name of the team was changed to MF1 Racing for the 2006 Formula One season. In the UK a joke emerged regarding this form being written in the same way as economy furniture manufacturer MFI. Over the winter Russian driver Roman Rusinov tested a new car, motoGP motorcyclist Max Biaggi also had a test in the car at Silverstone in January. The team had failed in a bid to sign Takuma Sato. Much of that progress was down to tyre development from Bridgestone coupled with significant improvements in aerodynamics and handling. The improved performance saw the team begin to make it into the qualifying session on an occasional basis - eight times out of a possible 36 overall - with a best qualifying position of 14th. The team went from being around four seconds off the pace per lap in 2005 to around 2 seconds per lap at the time of its sale to Spyker cars in September 2006. Rumours had been floating about in the paddock throughout the mid-season about the sale of the team. Reports suggested a price tag of $128 m, and that Shnaider was seriously considering the possibility of the sale, Formula One teams had become more valuable, because no more teams could enter after 2008, with the maximum of 12 places already filled
Midland F1
–
Narain Karthikeyan driving for Midland owned
Jordan at the
2005 United States Grand Prix.
Midland F1
–
MF1
Midland F1
–
Christijan Albers at the
2006 United States Grand Prix.
Midland F1
–
Christijan Albers driving a 2006 M16 in the late season Spyker livery.
22.
Jordan Grand Prix
–
Jordan Grand Prix was an Irish Formula One constructor that competed from 1991 to 2005. The team is named after Irish businessman and founder Eddie Jordan, Jordan and his team were well known for a rock and roll attitude which added colour and character to Formula One in the 1990s. Eddie Jordan had a stint as a race driver in the late 1970s before founding Eddie Jordan Racing in the early 1980s. The team graduated to International Formula 3000 for 1988, winning its first race in the category with Johnny Herbert, in 1989, Jordan won the F3000 drivers championship with future Formula One star Jean Alesi. The team also ran future F1 drivers such as Martin Donnelly, Jordans success in lower formulae inspired the creation of a Formula One programme for the 1991 season and a change of name to Jordan Grand Prix. The first driver to test a Jordan F1 car was veteran Ulsterman John Watson, Jordan hired Italian veteran Andrea de Cesaris and Belgian Bertrand Gachot to race his first cars, which were powered by Ford. The team had a solid debut finishing 5th in the Constructors Championship. De Cesaris ran second for much of the Belgian Grand Prix, Gachot failed to end the season after being sent to prison for attacking a taxi driver. Despite Jordans signed agreement in principle with Mercedes for the remainder of the season, Jordan applied for an injunction in the UK courts to prevent Schumacher driving for Benetton, but lost the case as they had not yet signed a contract. Future Champ Car title winner Alessandro Zanardi and ousted Benetton driver Roberto Moreno filled the second car afterwards, success for Jordan literally came at a high price. The team was forced to switch to cheaper Yamaha engines for the 1992 season, with Maurício Gugelmin and Stefano Modena driving, the team struggled badly and failed to score a point until the final race of the season. 1993 saw further changes, with the team again changing engine suppliers, again, the season started with two new drivers, Ivan Capelli and Brazilian rookie Rubens Barrichello. Capelli left after two races and Barrichello saw five other drivers become team mates of his during the 1993 campaign, Jordan only had moderate improvement, scoring three points. Signs of stability were beginning to show near the end of the season when Barrichello was joined by Eddie Irvine, the Ulsterman finished sixth and secured a point on his debut Formula One race at Suzuka. It was further memorable because Irvine unlapped himself against McLarens Ayrton Senna, Barrichello and Irvine returned for the 1994 season, as did the Hart engines, but Irvine had a bad start to the season, earning a three-race ban for reckless driving. Barrichello earned the team their first top three finish in Japan at the Pacific Grand Prix, but was killed during the following race in San Marino following a frightening qualifying crash. The team overcame these difficulties and returned to their form as they finished fifth in the Constructors Championship again. Barrichello earned Jordans first pole position after a gamble during a wet qualifying session in Belgium, Jordan switched to Peugeot power in 1995
Jordan Grand Prix
–
Bertrand Gachot giving Jordan its F1 début at the
1991 United States Grand Prix.
Jordan Grand Prix
–
Eddie Irvine driving for Jordan at the
1995 British Grand Prix.
Jordan Grand Prix
–
Eddie Jordan, founder and owner of Jordan Grand Prix, greets the fans in
Montreal in 1996
Jordan Grand Prix
–
Jordan introduced
nose arts from
1997 to
2001, their snake mascot Hissing Sid in the first year.
23.
List of international auto racing colors
–
These were often quite different from the national colours used in other sports or in politics. The colours have their origin in the teams competing in the Gordon Bennett Cup. Count Eliot Zborowski, father of racing legend Louis Zborowski. The first competition in 1900 assigned, Blue to France, Yellow to Belgium, White to Germany, when Britain first competed in 1902, it had to choose a different colour from her national colours of red, white and blue, as these had already been allocated. In the 1930s the Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union teams did not apply the traditional German white paint, post-war colours were defined in terms of body, bonnet, chassis, numbers and their backgrounds. When the chassis was no longer exposed, the colour was shown in various ways, e. g. the parallel blue stripes of the Cunningham team. Porsche in the 1950s and 1960s also retained the silver colouring, however, this general rule was not strictly kept. Australian Jack Brabham and New Zealander Bruce McLaren, for instance, in the spring of 1968, sponsorship liveries, which had already been used in the United States for some years, were also allowed in international racing. British Racing Green soon vanished from the cars of British private teams, the old colour scheme was abandoned by the FIA for most racing disciplines in the 1970s. Traditional colours are used by automakers and teams that want to emphasise their racing traditions, especially by Italian, British. The Rosso Corsa has been used uninterruptedly by Italian manufacturers Ferrari, since the 1990s, other traditional colours have resurfaced, such as the British racing green F1 Jaguar Racing cars and Aston Martin sports cars, and the white F1 BMW Sauber. German manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz and Audi used silver paint when they returned to racing in the 1990s. Many concept cars follow the old colour schemes, and most amateur racers prefer them as well, often, sponsorship agreements respect traditional colours. For example, Ferrari has had major sponsors which also use red colours, like Marlboro, in contrast, when tobacco company West sponsored McLaren in the 1990s and 2000s, they did not use their colours, but the Silver Arrows from engine provider Mercedes. In a reversed situation, Subaru has continued using blue and yellow liveries well after their 555 sponsorship ended, some manufacturers prefer colours different from their national colours. For example, Citroën has traditionally used red, Renault and Opel have used yellow and black, the EFDA Nations Cup, running 1990-1998, was a one make racing series with around 20 national teams being represented. The annual A1 Grand Prix series of 2005-2009 featured national teams, initially, most schemes were based on the respective national flags, some teams with different traditional sporting colours have since switched, including A1 Team Australia and A1 Team India. The old national racing colours were not so popular among these teams and these have stuck as a pattern, and are common outside of international Grand Prix racing
List of international auto racing colors
–
German
Blitzen Benz (1909)
List of international auto racing colors
–
French
Bugatti Type 35 C (1926)
List of international auto racing colors
–
German Silberpfeile (1930s)
List of international auto racing colors
–
American
Shelby Daytona (1964)
24.
Eddie Jordan
–
Edmund Patrick Eddie Jordan, also known as EJ, is an Irish former motorsport team boss, businessman, musician and television personality. Born in Dublin, Jordan worked first at the Bank of Ireland and he won the Irish Kart Championship in 1971 and moved to Formula Ford in 1974. He was the founder and owner of Jordan Grand Prix, a Formula One constructor which operated from 1991 to 2005 and he was the chief analyst for Formula One coverage on the BBC from 2009 to 2015 before joining Channel 4 after BBC pulled out in 2016. In February 2016, it was announced that Jordan would join Top Gear as a presenter, Jordan was born Edmund Patrick Jordan at the Wentworth Nursing Home in Dublin on 30 March 1948, the son of Eileen and Paddy Jordan. He has one sibling, Helen. His father was the brother of a senior nun, Mother Rectoress of the Irish Sisters of Charity. At ten months old, Jordan developed a form of pink disease and his mother Eileen was advised to take him out of woollens and into cotton during the month of May, advice she opposed, initially. Nevertheless, she conceded and Jordans condition did gradually improve, during his childhood, Jordan grew up in Dartry, south Dublin and Bray, County Wicklow. He spent most of his time in Bray, where he became close with his Aunt Lilian, in his childhood, Jordan was known by the nickname Flash as his surname rhymed with the name Gordon. Despite this experience, Jordan found the level of education to be high, while at Synge Street, aged 15, Jordan briefly considered becoming a priest. After four years, Jordan moved to the branch in Camden Street, during a banking strike in Dublin in 1970, he spent the summer on the island of Jersey, working as an accountant for an electricity company by day and doing bar work in the evenings. During this period, he encountered kart racing for the first time, upon his return to Dublin, Jordan bought a kart and began racing. He entered the Irish Kart Championship in 1971 and won it, after his injuries had healed, he switched to Formula Atlantic, won three races in 1977, and won the Irish Formula Atlantic Championship in 1978. At the end of 1979 and short of money, Jordan founded his first team, Eddie Jordan Racing, which ran drivers David Leslie and David Sears in 1981 at various events in and around Great Britain. In 1982 his primary driver was James Weaver, in 1983 Weaver ran again in European F3 and Jordan hired Martin Brundle, in 1987 the team employed Johnny Herbert, who proceeded to win the British Formula Three Championship. Jordan also entered a Formula 3000 team, whose first wins came with drivers Herbert, in 1989 the Jordan F3000 team dominated the season and Jordan driver Jean Alesi won the championship. During 1989, hired Reynard Chief Designer Gary Anderson becoming Donnellys engineer, a host of drivers owe their breaks to Eddie as a champion of young talent. Jordan founded Jordan Grand Prix in 1991 with Anderson as Chief Designer, the team quickly gained its respect and punched above their weight on a number of occasions during the season
Eddie Jordan
–
Jordan at a DTM race in 2009
25.
ITV (TV network)
–
ITV is a commercial TV network in the United Kingdom. Since the passing of the Broadcasting Act 1990 its legal name has been Channel 3, to distinguish it from the analogue channels at the time, namely BBC1, BBC2. ITV is a network of channels that operate regional television services as well as sharing programmes between each other to be displayed on the entire network. In recent years, several of companies have merged so currently the fifteen franchises are in the hands of two companies. With the exception of Northern Ireland, the ITV brand is the used by ITV plc for the Channel 3 service in these areas. In Northern Ireland, ITV plc uses the brand name UTV, STV Group plc, uses the STV brand for its two franchises of central and northern Scotland. The origins of ITV lie in the passing of the Television Act 1954, the act created the Independent Television Authority to heavily regulate the industry and to award franchises. The first six franchises were awarded in 1954 for London, the Midlands, the first ITV network to launch was Londons Associated-Rediffusion on 22 September 1955, with the Midlands and North services launching in February 1956 and May 1956 respectively. Following these launches, the ITA awarded more franchises until the country was covered by fourteen regional stations. Following the 1993 changes, ITV as a network began to consolidate with several companies doing so to save money by ceasing the duplication of services present when they were all separate companies. The ITV Network is not owned or operated by one company, since 2016 the fifteen licences are held by two companies, with the majority held by ITV Broadcasting Limited, part of ITV plc. The network is regulated by the media regulator Ofcom who is responsible for awarding the broadcast licences, the last major review of the Channel 3 franchises was in 1991, with all operators licences having been renewed between 1999 and 2002 and again from 2014 without a further contest. However, due to amalgamation of several of companies since the creation of ITV Network Limited. Approved by Ofcom, this results in ITV plc commissioning and funding the network schedule, all licensees have the right to opt out of network programming, however many do not due to pressures from the parent company or because of limited resources. The network also needs to produce accessible output containing subtitles, signing, in exchange for this programming, the ITV network is available on all platforms free to air and can be found at the top of the EPG of all providers. Since the launch of the platform in 1998, all of the ITV licensees have received gifted capacity on the terrestrial television platform. At present, the companies are able to broadcast additional channels and all choose to broadcast the ITV plc owned ITV2, ITV3, ITV4 and CITV in their region. UTV and STV previously broadcast their own services – UTV2 in Northern Ireland and S2 in central and northern Scotland – until 2002, the broadcasters all make use of the Digital 3&4 multiplex, shared with Channel 4
ITV (TV network)
–
The London Studios near Waterloo was originally the base for the ITV London weekend contractor
LWT but is now ITV's main London headquarters.
ITV (TV network)
–
ITV
ITV (TV network)
–
Granada Studios was the oldest TV studios in the UK, having been built in 1954 to house the broadcaster of the
same name. The studios were closed in June 2013. Granada is the only franchise to remain an ITV contractor since creation in 1954.
ITV (TV network)
–
The Leeds Studios, used by
ITV Yorkshire. Each ITV region originally had its own studios, however the rise of publisher-broadcasters like
Carlton Television and the takeover of regions caused several studios to be closed.
26.
Johnny Herbert
–
John Paul Johnny Herbert is a British racing driver. He raced in Formula One from 1989 to 2000, for 7 different teams and he also raced sports cars winning the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1991 driving a Mazda 787B. He enjoyed much success in motor racing. During the mid-1980s, Herbert was widely regarded as a man of motor racing. Winning the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch in 1985, Herbert caught Eddie Jordans attention, Herberts team mate, the highly rated Italian Alessandro Nannini, finished in 6th place,7.7 seconds behind Herbert. Herbert returned to Formula 3000, this time in the highly regarded Japanese series and it wasnt long before he received another call from Formula One racing, this time with Tyrrell. From 1990 to 2000, Herbert was a fixture in Formula One, switching to the dwindling Lotus team, during 1991, he also drove two rounds of the Fuji Long Distance Sports Car Series, co-driving a Mazda 787B, finishing fourth both times. His decision, at the July round, to stop his car and aid a fellow competitor, after 3 years of frustration, Herbert left Lotus in mid-1994, joining Ligier and then Benetton for the last few races of the season. Although he failed to any points in 1994, he was retained as Michael Schumachers team-mate for 1995. At the British Grand Prix, he inherited a hugely popular Grand Prix win after Damon Hill and he followed this in similar circumstances at Monza, finishing 4th in the championship. After being dropped by Benetton, Herbert drove for Swiss team Sauber in 1996–1998, since retiring from Formula One racing, Herbert has concentrated on Sports Cars, trying to repeat his Le Mans 24 Hours overall win of 1991. Recent years have seen him as one of the front runners in the American Le Mans Series, in 2004, Herbert, along with Jamie Davies won the Le Mans Series championship at the wheel of an Audi R8 winning the races at Monza and Spa along the way. In 2005, Herbert was appointed to the post of Sporting Relations Manager at Jordan Grand Prix, however, in September of that year Spyker Cars bought the team, and renamed it Spyker MF1. Another of the new owners decisions was to not renew Herberts contract, in 2007, Herbert entered the Le Mans 24 Hours driving for the factory Aston Martin team at the wheel of the Aston Martin DBR9 in the GT1 class. Herbert, along with Peter Kox and Tomáš Enge drove the 007 numbered car to a 9th placed overall finish, in 2008, Herbert won the first season of the Speedcar Series. In 2009, Herbert made his debut in the British Touring Car Championship for Team Dynamics at the wheel of a Honda Civic at round eight of the championship and he qualified 17th for the first race, and after moving up the order, finished in 13th. In the second race, he finished inside the points in eighth place, in the final race of the day, a reverse starting grid is operated. The first six, seven, eight, nine or ten cars to race two, start race three in reverse order
Johnny Herbert
–
Herbert at the 2014
Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Johnny Herbert
–
Herbert was among the drivers who drove this
Mazda 787B to victory at the
1991 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Johnny Herbert
–
Herbert driving for
Lotus at the
1994 British Grand Prix. He finished eleventh.
Johnny Herbert
–
Herbert moved to
Benetton for
1995 and took his first Formula One victory at the
1995 British Grand Prix.
27.
Tiago Monteiro
–
Tiago da Costa Monteiro is a Portuguese professional racing driver. He drove for Jordan Grand Prix, Midland and Spyker MF1 teams—all different iterations of the team as it was bought by new owners during a two-year stint as part of the Formula One paddock. He is the only Portuguese driver to have scored a Formula One podium finish, Monteiro raced with the semi-privateer SR Sport team in the 2010 WTCC season driving a SEAT León TDI, following the withdrawal of SEAT Sport at the end of the previous season. For 2011, he drove for Sunred Engineering, where he was partnered by rookies Aleksei Dudukalo and Pepe Oriola, as well as 2010 teammates Michel Nykjaer, Fredy Barth. He remained with the team for 2012 under the Tuenti Racing Team banner, Monteiro raced for the Castrol Honda team with the new Honda Civic in 2013 and 2014, and remains with the Japanese manufacturer in 2015. Born in Porto, Monteiro was inspired by his father to begin racing and he took five wins and five pole positions to become B-class champion and rookie of the year. In 1998, he competed in the French F3 Championship, finishing 12th overall and he continued in the championship in 1999, taking one win and three other podium positions to finish sixth overall. He also competed in the Le Mans 24 Hours race, finishing 17th overall, in the International Renault Finals held at Estoril, Monteiro claimed the win after taking pole position and the fastest lap of the race. In 2000, Monteiro again competed in French F3, this time finishing second in the championship after taking four wins throughout the season and he also competed in the single Formula 3 European Championship double-header race, finishing second overall with one win at Spa-Francorchamps. He also competed in a couple of events, coming second in the Korea Super Prix. In the Lamborghini Super Trophy, he achieved the fastest lap at Magny-Cours, and took pole position, in 2001, Monteiro again finished second overall in the French F3 Championship after taking six pole positions, four wins and four podiums. Also competing in the French GT Championship, he managed four pole positions, a one-off entry in the Formula France series saw him win both races, and in the Andros Trophy, he did one fastest lap with a best finishing position of fourth. In 2002, he stepped up to the F3000 Championship with the Super Nova team and he also completed the Renault F1 Driver Development Scheme, and had his first taste of a Formula One car, testing with the Renault team at Barcelona. In 2003, he joined Fittipaldi Dingman Racing for the Champ Car World Series, achieving a position in Mexico City. He finished the year with 10 top-ten finishes, scoring 29 points to rank 15th overall in the championship, Monteiro was signed up as an official Minardi F1 test driver for the 2004 season, but also competed in the Nissan World Series with Carlin Motorsport. Ironically, one of his surnames, Vagaroso, means slow in Portuguese, after the Midland Group bought Jordan Grand Prix, Monteiro was announced as a full-time race driver alongside Indian Narain Karthikeyan for the 2005 season. In the United States Grand Prix he achieved his only finish in controversial circumstances. Due to concerns over safety, the Michelin-equipped teams pulled out of the race, not taking their place on the grid
Tiago Monteiro
–
Monteiro at the
2014 FIA WTCC Race of Belgium.
Tiago Monteiro
–
Monteiro at the controversial
2005 United States GP.
Tiago Monteiro
–
Monteiro driving the SEAT León TDI at
Brands Hatch in the
2008 WTCC season
Tiago Monteiro
–
Monteiro driving the Honda Civic WTCC at the
2012 FIA WTCC Race of Japan.
28.
Michiel Mol
–
Michiel Mol is a Dutch businessman and the director of the Force India Formula One team. Michiel Mol grew up with a wealthy family and his father, Jan Mol, co-founded a software company in 1966 called Volmac, the company itself turned out to be a huge success and Jan Mol sold it in 1992 to CAP Gemini. In May 2011, Jan Mols fortune was estimated at around £450m, after obtaining a MSc degree in Computer Science from Leiden University, Michiel himself went into the software business. In 1993 he set up Lost Boys with several of his friends, with the rapid growth of the internet, the company then started making internet software as well as moving into game development. Mol had his first venture into Formula One in 1999, when he, Lost Boys then merged with Swedish company IconMedialab. Mol remained on the board and kept the Lost Boys Games division, before establishing a new company called Media Republic, aiming to use new technology to market products. Lost Boys Games was transformed into Guerrilla Games, notable for developing the PlayStation 2 game Killzone, during 2004 and a year later it was sold to the Sony Company. Mol later became a supporter of Christijan Albers, after Verstappen left Formula One, Mol is now a major shareholder in Spyker and in September 2006 was appointed as F1 director of Spyker for a period of four years. On 14 August 2007, Michiel Mol left Spyker Cars as CEO amid speculation that it, in October 2007 Spyker F1 was sold to Indian businessman Vijay Mallya and renamed Force India. Mol remains as director and co-owner, Mol is a co-founder of Space Expedition Corporation, which intends to offer suborbital space tourism flights and scientific research missions out of Space Port Curaçao. In July 2004, Mol married Paulien Huizinga, former Miss Universe Netherlands, together they have a daughter and a son. On 3 August 2011 it was announced that Huizinga and Mol will divorce after a marriage of seven years, Mol is currently seeing Marlous Mens, a younger daughter of Harry Mens, a Dutch real estate broker and well-known TV personality. GP Encyclopedia > People > Michiel Mol GrandPrix. com
Michiel Mol
–
Michiel Mol
29.
Mike Gascoyne
–
Michael Mike Gascoyne is a British Formula One designer and engineer. Gascoyne was born in Rackheath, Norfolk, England and he lived in Sprowston and went to Sprowston Junior School and before moving to Old Catton. He went to Wymondham College from 1974 to 1981, although he gained admission to study for a Ph. D. in fluid dynamics at Cambridge University from 1982 to 1988, he gaining a series of degrees but started working before graduating with a PhD. He was, however, active in his college Boat Club, after leaving Cambridge in 1988 he briefly worked for Westland System Assessment Limited, part of Westland Helicopters, but maintained a keen desire to work in motor sport. Postlethwaites stay with the Sauber team was short, but Gascoyne remained for the first season, in late 1993 Postlethwaite returned to Tyrrell and invited Gascoyne to become Deputy Technical Director responsible for the design of the teams 1994 car. Gascoyne accepted and remained with the team for four years, although lack of money severely limited his ability to produce a racing car. In June 1998 Gascoyne joined Jordan Grand Prix as Technical Director, the season was the teams most successful in its history, finishing third in the Constructors Championship and taking two race victories. Shortly before the start of the 2001 season he moved to Benetton, Gascoyne’s two-and-a-half seasons with Benetton, and later Renault, saw a marked improvement in the teams fortunes, culminating in victory at the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix. By now however, the highly rated Technical Director had already placed on gardening leave by his French employers pending a move to Toyota F1 for an undisclosed financial settlement. In December 2003 Gascoyne made his move to the Cologne base of Toyota, gascoynes aim for 2006 was high and the teams first victory and the championship were the next two steps. The early stages of the 2006 season proved to be average, with the team struggling with the switch to Bridgestone tyres. Many observers had predicted race wins and possibly even a title challenge, Gascoyne disliked the corporate way the teams management operated while team management were unimpressed by the TF106 car Gascoyne had produced and he was duly dismissed. On 6 April Gascoyne and Toyota parted company amicably, pascal Vasselon became temporary Technical Director with immediate effect. In September 2006 Gascoyne was signed by Spyker F1 as Chief Technology Officer and he took up his new position in November 2006. An updated version of the F8-VII chassis was introduced at the 2007 Turkish Grand Prix and it was the first Spyker car designed by Gascoyne and he stated the new car could be up to three quarters of a second per lap faster than the original F8-VII. In 2008, Spyker became the Force India team after its sale to Vijay Mallya, Gascoyne continued as Chief Technology Officer. On 7 November 2008 it was announced that Gascoyne would no longer any formal role at the team. In 2009 Gascoyne was part of plans by the Litespeed F3 team to enter Formula One in 2010 and they failed to gain entry, but Gascoyne continued to work on the plans and got backing from the Malaysian government to form Lotus Racing
Mike Gascoyne
–
Gascoyne in 2011
Mike Gascoyne
–
Gascoyne driving a
Tyrrell 023 in the BOSS GP series
Mike Gascoyne
–
Damon Hill 1999 Canada
Mike Gascoyne
–
Renault R202
30.
Toyota F1
–
Panasonic Toyota Racing was a Formula One team owned by Japanese car manufacturer Toyota and based in Cologne, Germany. Toyota announced their plans to participate in F1 in 1999, and after testing with their initial car, dubbed the TF101. The new team grew from Toyotas long-standing Toyota Motorsport GmbH organisation, which had competed in the World Rally Championship. Despite a point in their race, Panasonic Toyota Racing never won a Grand Prix, their best finish being 2nd place. Toyota drew criticism for their lack of success, especially after the 2006 Formula One season, Toyota was a well-funded team, but despite this, strong results had never been consistent. On 4 November 2009, Toyota announced its withdrawal from Formula One. Toyota made an entrance into motorsport when a Toyopet Crown entered the Round Australia Trial in 1957. The Formula One teams roots can be traced to a development in 1972. The team was later renamed Toyota Team Europe and then, after being bought by Toyota in 1993, the rally team won four World Rally Championship drivers titles, most notably with Carlos Sainz, as well as three constructors titles. The FIA banned the team competition for 12 months in 1995 for running illegal parts. Toyota continued to win rallies after their return in 1997, in 1997 the team moved into track racing with a sports car project, twice failing to win the Le Mans 24 Hours. On 21 January 1999 Toyota announced its move into Formula One, the company ended its rallying program in order to concentrate on Formula One. On 30 June 2000 the team secured its place as the 12th entry for the 2002 Formula One season, originally intending to enter F1 in 2001, Toyota forfeited an $11Million deposit by delaying their entry. Unusually, Toyota opted to start their own works team rather than partner with a specialist race team, the team was also set up away from Formula Ones traditional manufacturing centre in Motorsport Valley in the United Kingdom. During 2001, Toyota tested with their prototype TF101 car and drivers at 11 F1 circuits, the idea was to gain telemetry data for the races, which allowed them to make aerodynamic changes for the TF102, and for the drivers to experience the tracks in the new cars. Finn Mika Salo, who can communicate in Japanese, and Scotsman Allan McNish, Toyota F1 made their Formula One debut in 2002, with McNish and Salo driving the Toyota TF102, designed by Gustav Brunner. Despite reportedly having one of the biggest budgets in Formula One and their first point was scored in their first race, the Australian Grand Prix, when half the field was eliminated by a first corner accident caused by Ralf Schumacher colliding with Rubens Barrichello. The team could have scored another point in the race at the Malaysian Grand Prix, but Salo suffered an electrical misfire
Toyota F1
–
The
Toyota GT-One entered the
1998 and
1999 24 Hours of Le Mans with ex-Formula One drivers
Martin Brundle,
Thierry Boutsen and
Ukyo Katayama. The car itself was competitive in terms of speed; however, reliability problems denied the team a win at the famous race in
France on both occasions.
Toyota F1
–
Toyota
Toyota F1
–
The first Formula One test car of Toyota, the
TF101 (2001)
Toyota F1
–
Allan McNish at the
2002 French Grand Prix. The Scot qualified in seventeenth place, but retired from the race with an engine problem although he did complete enough laps to be classified eleventh.
31.
WilliamsF1
–
Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, currently racing in Formula One as Williams Martini Racing, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and is run by team owner Sir Frank Williams, the team was formed in 1977 after Frank Williams two earlier unsuccessful F1 operations, Frank Williams Racing Cars and Wolf-Williams Racing. All of Williams F1 chassis are called FW then a number, Williams first race was the 1977 Spanish Grand Prix, where the new team ran a March chassis for Patrick Nève. Williams started manufacturing its own cars the year, and Switzerlands Clay Regazzoni won Williams first race at the 1979 British Grand Prix. Williams won nine Constructors Championships between 1980 and 1997 and this stood as a record until Ferrari surpassed it in 2000. Each of these drivers, with the exception of Senna and Button, have captured one title with the team. Of those who have won the championship with Williams, only Jones, Rosberg, Williams have worked with many engine manufacturers, most successfully with Renault, Williams won five of their nine constructors titles with the French company. Williams F1 also has business interests beyond Formula One racing, in April 2014, Williams Hybrid Power were sold to GKN. Williams Advanced Engineering had a centre in Qatar until it was closed in 2014. Frank Williams started the current Williams team in 1977 after his previous outfit, Frank Williams Racing Cars, despite the promise of a new owner in the form of Canadian millionaire Walter Wolf, the team rebranded as Wolf-Williams Racing in 1976, the cars were not competitive. Eventually Williams left the rechristened Walter Wolf Racing and moved to Didcot to rebuild his team as Williams Grand Prix Engineering, Frank recruited young engineer Patrick Head to work for the team, creating the Williams-Head partnership. In February 2011, Williams F1 announced their intention to float via a public offering on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Swiss-based Bank am Bellevue AG will act as sole global co-ordinator of up to 27. 39% of existing shares, Sir Frank Williams will remain majority shareholder and team principal after the IPO. The shares are valued at between 24 and 29 euros, which values the Williams F1 team at 265 million euros. In February 2017 the shares are divided in this way, Frank Williams 52, 25%, Brad Hollinger 14, 75%, Patrick Head 9%, 20% on the market place. Williams entered a custom March 761 for the 1977 season, lone driver Patrick Nève appeared at 11 races that year, starting with the Spanish Grand Prix. The new team failed to score a point, achieving a best finish of 7th at the Italian Grand Prix, for the 1978 season, Patrick Head designed his first Williams car, the FW06. Williams signed Australian Alan Jones, who had won the Austrian Grand Prix the previous season for a devastated Shadow team following the death of their lead driver, Tom Pryce
WilliamsF1
–
The
Williams FW06 from 1978, being raced at
Silverstone in 2007.
WilliamsF1
–
Williams-Mercedes
WilliamsF1
–
Keke Rosberg 's Williams FW08. This car was used during the
1982 season where Rosberg won the Drivers' Championship recording only a single win over the course of the season.
WilliamsF1
–
Nigel Mansell 's Williams FW10. This car was used during the
1985 season.
32.
Fairuz Fauzy
–
Mohamed Fairuz Fauzy is a race car driver. Fairuz started competing in karting events in 1994 before making the move to British Formula Ford at the start of 1999 and he moved to British Formula Renault in 2000, developing his skills there before moving up to British Formula 3 in 2002, albeit in the B-Class. He moved up to the class in 2003, driving for both the SYR and Promatecme teams, before driving for both the Menu and P1 teams in 2004. He moved to the GP2 Series for 2005, becoming one of a number of Asian drivers in the championship, despite being the only driver to start every race and not score a point, he continued in the series for 2006, again scoring no points. During this time he was one of A1 Team Malaysias drivers in the A1 Grand Prix series. Fairuzraced in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series for the Cram Competition team and he returned to GP2 for 2008, driving for the Super Nova team in the GP2 Asia Series. In 2009, he competed in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series for Mofaz Racing, Fairuz was confirmed as one of Spyker F1s test and reserve drivers for 2007, Fairuz was tipped for a Lotus Racing reserve seat for 2010. On 9 November 2009 Lotus Racing chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne confirmed Fairuz would be the test driver for the team, Fairuz was announced as the third driver for Lotus on 13 December 2009. Fairuz replaced Heikki Kovalainen in the first free practice session at the 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix and he drove a total of nineteen laps during the session, setting the 22nd fastest time, beating the Hispania Racing cars of Karun Chandhok and Bruno Senna. He also took part in the first practice session at the British Grand Prix, replacing Jarno Trulli and he replaced Heikki Kovalainen for the first free practice session of the German Grand Prix and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. At the end of the 2010 season, Fairuz parted company with Lotus Racing after one year of his five-year contract. The relationship between Lotus Racing and Group Lotus soured during 2010, resulting in GL deciding to withdraw its backing from the team, as part of the deal, Fairuz became one of Renaults test and reserve drivers, alongside Bruno Senna, Romain Grosjean and Ho-Pin Tung. respectively. After finishing fourteenth in the Asia series, he scored his first main points in the first round of the championship. He finished 18th in the series championship
Fairuz Fauzy
–
Fairuz at the 2011 Nürburgring World series by Renault round
Fairuz Fauzy
–
Fairuz during first practice at the
2010 Malaysian Grand Prix.
Fairuz Fauzy
–
Fairuz driving for
Super Nova at the
Monza round of the
2011 GP2 Series season.
33.
Giedo van der Garde
–
Giedo van der Garde is a Dutch racing driver. He drove for the Caterham F1 team in 2013 and joined Sauber as a driver in 2014. The matter ended by mutual consent with a cash settlement paid by Sauber, Van der Garde has a successful karting career, winning the Dutch championship in 1998. In Super A he was best rookie in 2001 and world champion in 2002, the following year he joined the Formula Renault 2000 Championship and finished sixth, driving for Dutch team Van Amersfoort Racing. On the strength of his performance he became part of the Renault F1 Driver Development programme and he joined the Formula 3 Euro Series in 2004 with Signature-Plus but after finishing the year ninth he was dropped by Renault Driver Development. A move to Team Rosberg for 2005 yielded another ninth in the series, for 2006 he joined the ASM team, which had dominated the season in 2005 with Lewis Hamilton and Adrian Sutil. The team claimed the top two places in the once more in 2006 – but it was van der Gardes team mates Paul di Resta. The Dutchman ended the sixth with a single victory. Van der Garde had podium positions in mind for the season and he finished the season 6th, 3rd in the Rookie of the year standings. He received several offers for tests in GP2, from teams like DAMS, during his first tests, he impressed. He eventually signed with P1 Motorsport to compete in the 2008 season, in the first race of the 2008 FR3.5 season in Monza, van der Garde managed to qualify on pole for the feature race. Due to regulations, he started 8th in the sprint race because of the grid order in the sprint race. He came through the field to clinch victory in the sprint race, in the second race at Spa, he narrowly missed out on pole by 0.033 seconds after previously topping the tables at all practice sessions. In the sprint race, Julien Jousse collided into him forcing van der Garde into retiring from the race, having qualified second for the feature race, he lost a position at the start. He immediately overtook Mikhail Aleshin on the first lap to regain his position, after this strong start to the season, van der Garde was never headed in the championship and duly won it with two races remaining. Van der Garde signed to drive for the iSport International team in the 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series season, at the Hungaroring, he took his first victory, in the sprint race. He added two wins before the end of the season en route to seventh in the championship standings. He had not been due to compete in the 2009–10 GP2 Asia season and he drove for the same team in the 2010 GP2 Series season, equalling his seventh place in the drivers championship, whilst team-mate Sergio Pérez was runner-up
Giedo van der Garde
–
Van der Garde at the
2013 Monaco Grand Prix.
Giedo van der Garde
–
Van der Garde driving for
Victory Engineering at the
Donington Park round of the
2007 Formula Renault 3.5 Series season.
Giedo van der Garde
–
Van der Garde driving for
P1 Motorsport at the
Silverstone round of the
2008 Formula Renault 3.5 Series season.
Giedo van der Garde
–
Van der Garde driving for
iSport International at the
Nürburgring round of the
2009 GP2 Series season.
34.
Etihad Airways
–
Etihad Airways is a flag carrier and the second-largest airline of the UAE. Its head office is in Khalifa City, Abu Dhabi, near Abu Dhabi International Airport, Etihad commenced operations in November 2003. In 2015, Etihad carried 14.8 million passengers, a 22. 3% increase from the year, delivering revenues of US$9.02 billion. Its main base is Abu Dhabi International Airport, in addition to its core activity of passenger transportation, Etihad also operates Etihad Holidays and Etihad Cargo. Etihad established its own alliance, Etihad Airways Partners, in 2015. Booking for these airlines is consolidated under one network, as of 12 October 2016, Etihad Airways is rated as one of a small number of 5-star airlines by Skytrax. The name Etihad is an informal romanisation of إتّحاد ittiḥād, which means union, Etihad Airways was established as the second flag carrier of the United Arab Emirates in July 2003 by Royal Decree issued by Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who wanted an airline for Abu Dhabi. Darwish Alkhoory, the personal pilot for Sheikh Zayed, established the airline. It started with an initial capital of AED500 million. Services were launched with a flight to Al Ain on 5 November 2003. On 12 November 2003, Etihad commenced commercial operations with the launch of services to Beirut, prior to the establishment of Etihad, Gulf Air was the airline which was based at Abu Dhabi International Airport and was also co-owned by Bahrain and the Sultanate of Oman. In June 2004, the placed a US$8-billion aircraft order for five Boeing 777-300ERs and 24 Airbus aircraft. Its first A380 was delivered in December 2014, the airline announced what was the largest aircraft order in commercial aviation history at the Farnborough Airshow in 2008, for up to 205 aircraft—100 firm orders,55 options and 50 purchase rights. Etihad reported its first full-year net profit in 2011, of US$14 million, in December 2011, Etihad announced it had taken a 29. 21% stake in Air Berlin, Europes sixth largest airline, and James Hogan was appointed Vice Chairman. It followed this up with minority stakes in other airlines—Air Seychelles, Aer Lingus, the Serbian Government retained 51% of the shares. The new company is named Air Serbia, in 2013, Etihad Airways planned to buy a stake in the airline following the governments announcement in September 2012 that foreign airlines could take a stake of up to 49% in Indian carriers. At the 2013 Dubai Airshow, Etihad announced that it was acquiring a 33. 3% stake in the Swiss carrier Darwin Airline, Darwin was rebranded as Etihad Regional from March 2014. On 1 August 2014, Etihad agreed to take a 49% stake in the Italian flag carrier Alitalia for an estimated €560 million, the deal was closed on 8 August 2014
Etihad Airways
–
Etihad Airways
Etihad Airways
–
Head office
Etihad Airways
–
Etihad is the sponsor of
Manchester City F.C. and has an A330-200 adorned in Manchester City livery.
Etihad Airways
–
Etihad Cargo Boeing 777F
35.
Abu Dhabi
–
Abu Dhabi is the capital and the second most populous city of the United Arab Emirates, and also capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the largest of the UAEs seven emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the western coast. The city proper had a population of 1.5 million in 2014, Abu Dhabi houses federal government offices, is the seat of the United Arab Emirates Government, home to the Abu Dhabi Emiri Family and the President of the UAE, who is from this family. Abu Dhabis rapid development and urbanisation, coupled with the high average income of its population, has transformed the city into a large. Today the city is the center of political and industrial activities. Abu Dhabi accounts for about two-thirds of the roughly $400-billion United Arab Emirates economy, Abu Dhabi is the fourth most expensive city for expatriate employees in the region, and in 2014 was the 68th most expensive big city in the world. Abu Dhabi is full of evidence that points to civilizations, such as the Umm an-Nar Culture. Settlements were also found farther outside the city of Abu Dhabi. There is evidence of civilizations around the mountain of Hafeet and this location is very strategic because it is the UAE’s second tallest mountain, so it would have great visibility. It also contains a lot of moisture in its springs and lakes, origin of the name Abu Dhabi The origin of the name Abu Dhabi is uncertain. Meaning Father of the Gazelle, when translated from Arabic. According to Bilal al-Budoor, assistant under-secretary for Cultural Affairs at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development, The area had a lot of dhibaa, an old story tells about a man who used to chase deer and was named the father of the animal. Abu Dhabis original name was Milh salt, possibly referring to the salty water of the Persian Gulf, some Bedouins called the city Umm Dhabi, while British records refer to the place as Abu Dhabi. According to some accounts, the name Abu Dhabi was first used more than 300 years ago. The first word of Abu Dhabi is pronounced Bu by inhabitants on the western coast. In the eastern part of the city, the pronunciation is Abu, origins of the Al Nahyan family The Bani Yas bedouin were originally centered on the Liwa Oasis. This tribe was the most significant in the area, having over 20 subsections, in 1793, the Al Bu Falah subsection migrated to the island of Abu Dhabi on the coast of the Persian Gulf due to the discovery of fresh water there. One family within this section was the Al Nahyan family and this family makes up the rulers of Abu Dhabi today
Abu Dhabi
–
Clockwise, from top left: Skyline from Marina,
Etihad Towers,
Ferrari World, Skyline from Breakwaters Marina,
Emirates Palace, Desert Ripples.
Abu Dhabi
–
Aerial view of Abu Dhabi on the coast of the
Persian Gulf.
Abu Dhabi
–
Abu Dhabi seen from SPOT satellite.
Abu Dhabi
–
Panoramic view of the Corniche.
36.
United Arab Emirates
–
In 2013, the UAEs population was 9.2 million, of which 1.4 million are Emirati citizens and 7.8 million are expatriates. The country is a federation of seven emirates, and was established on 2 December 1971, the constituent emirates are Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm al-Quwain. Each emirate is governed by a monarch, together, they jointly form the Federal Supreme Council. One of the monarchs is selected as the President of the United Arab Emirates, Islam is the official religion of the UAE and Arabic is the official language. The UAEs oil reserves are the seventh-largest in the world while its natural gas reserves are the worlds seventeenth-largest, Sheikh Zayed, ruler of Abu Dhabi and the first President of the UAE, oversaw the development of the Emirates and steered oil revenues into healthcare, education and infrastructure. The UAEs economy is the most diversified in the Gulf Cooperation Council, while its most populous city of Dubai is an important global city, nevertheless, the country remains principally reliant on its export of petroleum and natural gas. The UAE is criticised for its rights record, including the specific interpretations of Sharia used in its legal system. The UAEs rising international profile has led analysts to identify it as a regional. It appears the land of the Emirates has been occupied for thousands of years, there is no proof of contact with the outside world at that stage, although in time it developed with civilisations in Mesopotamia and Iran. This contact persisted and became wide-ranging, probably motivated by trade in copper from the Hajar Mountains, in ancient times, Al Hasa was part of Al Bahreyn and adjoined Greater Oman. Sassanid groups were present on the Batinah coast, in 637, Julfar was an important port that was used as a staging post for the Islamic invasion of the Sassanian Empire. The area of the Al Ain/Buraimi Oasis was known as Tuam and was an important trading post for camel routes between the coast and the Arabian interior. The earliest Christian site in the UAE was first discovered in the 1990s, a monastic complex on what is now known as Sir Bani Yas Island. Thought to be Nestorian and built in 600 AD, the church appears to have been abandoned peacefully in 750 AD and it forms a rare physical link to a legacy of Christianity which is thought to have spread across the peninsula from 50 to 350 AD following trade routes. Certainly, by the 5th century, Oman had a bishop named John – the last bishop of Oman being Etienne, in 676 AD. This led to a group of travelling to Medina, converting to Islam and subsequently driving a successful uprising against the unpopular Sassanids. Following the death of Prophet Muhammad, the new Islamic communities south of the Persian Gulf threatened to disintegrate, with insurrections against the Muslim leaders. The Caliph Abu Bakr sent an army from the capital Medina which completed its reconquest of the territory with the battle of Dibba in which 10,000 lives are thought to have been lost
United Arab Emirates
–
Dubai in 1950; the area in this photo shows
Bur Dubai in the foreground (centered on Al-Fahidi Fort);
Deira in middle-right on the other side of the creek; and
Al Shindagha (left) and
Al Ras (right) in the background across the creek again from Deira
United Arab Emirates
–
Flag
United Arab Emirates
–
Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan was the first President of UAE.
United Arab Emirates
–
View of
Sharjah city
37.
Red Bull Racing
–
Red Bull Racing is an Austrian Formula One racing team based in Milton Keynes, England. It is one of two F1 teams owned by beverage company Red Bull GmbH, the other being Scuderia Toro Rosso, the team won four successive Constructors Championship titles, in 2010,2011,2012, and 2013, becoming the first Austrian licensed team to win the title. The team also produced the world champion driver of 2010,2011,2012. Managed by Christian Horner, the team has used Renault engines since 2007, Red Bull Racing then used TAG Heuer-branded Renault engines starting from the 2016 season. The current Red Bull team can trace its origins back to the Stewart Grand Prix outfit that made its debut in 1997. Jackie Stewart sold his team to the Ford Motor Company late in 1999, Red Bull, an energy drinks company, agreed its purchase of Jaguar Racing on the final day of the sale,15 November 2004. BBC Sport reported that Ford asked bidders for a symbolic US$1 in return for a commitment to invest US$400 million in the team over three grand prix seasons. The team continued to have access to the Cosworth engine developed for their 2005 chassis, Christian Horner was installed as the new Team boss and lined up David Coulthard and Christian Klien to drive for the team. Red Bull Racing was not the start of Red Bulls involvement in Formula One, after setting up a Formula One team of its own, Red Bull ended its long-term partnership with the Swiss team. The drinks company also runs a young drivers programme, Red Bull Junior Team, high-profile drivers who have received this backing include Enrique Bernoldi, Christian Klien, Patrick Friesacher, Vitantonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed. Red Bull also sponsors many drivers and teams competing in the GP2 Series, Red Bulls owner, Dietrich Mateschitz, reportedly tried to recruit former Formula One driver and BMW Motorsport chief Gerhard Berger to help guide the team through its debut season. For 2005, the chassis was christened the RB1, Red Bull Racing used Cosworth engines in its maiden year due to the ease of continuing with the engine Jaguar Racing used. Former McLaren driver David Coulthard led the team, Coulthard was chosen for his experience, considered ideal to help lead the fledgling team. For the second car, Red Bull shared the drive two of its young sponsored drivers, Christian Klien, who had driven for Jaguar in 2004 and 2004 F3000 champion Vitantonio Liuzzi. At first it was announced that Klien and Liuzzi would swap driving duty every four races, Red Bulls first year in Formula One was a massive success compared to their predecessors, Jaguar Racing. They were 6th in the Constructors Championship for most of the season, in a single season they amassed more points than Jaguar had in 2003 and 2004. Coulthard, after a poor 2003 and 2004 with McLaren, was a revelation for the team while Klien showed that he had improved from 2004. Overall they scored 34 points,24 for Coulthard,9 for Klien and 1 for Liuzzi, Red Bull was a consistent points and occasional podium challenger for most of their debut season
Red Bull Racing
–
Red Bull's involvement in Formula One dates back to
1995, when it first sponsored the
Sauber team.
Red Bull Racing
–
Red Bull-Renault
Red Bull Racing
–
Christian Klien during free practice at the
2005 United States Grand Prix
Red Bull Racing
–
Coulthard driving the
RB2 at the
2006 United States Grand Prix.
38.
Christian Klien
–
Christian Klien is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver. In total he has scored 14 points in Formula One, Klien currently drives for NewBlood By Morand Racing in the ELMS, while also serving in the Austrian Armed Forces. Born in Hohenems, Klien started his career in his early teens. He raced in karting championships in both Austria and Switzerland, before moving to Formula BMW, after winning several titles in lower Formulas, Klien moved into Formula One, driving for the Jaguar Racing team, alongside Mark Webber. At the end of 2004, however, Jaguar sold its Formula One team to Red Bull, in an unusual arrangement, Klien shared a race seat with Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi. He stayed at Red Bull for 2006, whilst Liuzzi moved to the Red Bull junior team, after an unsuccessful 2006, Kliens old teammate Mark Webber replaced him for the 2007 season, news Klien learned from Webber himself. Klien was offered alternatives to Formula One for 2007, including driving in the ChampCar series and he secured the test drivers seat at Honda, despite competition from other drivers, including Gary Paffett. On 2 February 2008 Klien signed as BMW Saubers reserve and test driver for the 2008 Formula One season, Klien became enthused about racing when his dad brought him to watch a Go-Kart race. This enthusiasm for the sport was only increased after meeting Brazilian Formula One driver Ayrton Senna, the Austrian started his career at the age of 13. From 1996 to 1998, Klien won several races in both Switzerland and his native Austria, becoming the Suisse champion in his first year. In 1999, Klien moved to racing in the Formula BMW ADAC Junior Cup, winning four races, the following year, he moved into the main Formula BMW ADAC Championship with Team Rosberg, finishing the series ranked tenth overall and third in the rookie rankings. Continuing in the series in 2001, Klien managed to win five races, joining JD Motorsport for the Italian winter Formula Renault series, he won one event, which led to a drive for the team in German Formula Renault for 2002. Klien won four races, winning the German title, and finishing fifth in the European series, from there, Klien moved into the Formula Three Euroseries, with Mucke Motorsport, winning four races and finishing runner-up to Ryan Briscoe. Klien also won the 2003 Marlboro Masters event at Zandvoort and he had significant pressure on him as second driver to his more experienced teammate Mark Webber, but was the first driver to ever outqualify Webber from the same team. Klien proved to be considerably reliable over the season, retiring only on 4 occasions out of the possible 18, Kliens only points scoring finish in his debut season came in Belgium, where Klien finished sixth, scoring 3 Championship points. He finished alongside Cristiano da Matta and Nick Heidfeld in joint 16th in the Drivers Championship,2005 Jaguar were bought out in November 2004 by Austrian energy drink company Red Bull and were renamed Red Bull Racing. During winter testing in 2005, Klien tested several times for Red Bull Racing alongside Vitantonio Liuzzi, Klien secured the second race seat at Red Bull, alongside Coulthard. Klien started the year with points finishes in the first two races before retiring in Bahrain before the race had started due to an electrical problem
Christian Klien
–
Klien at the Silverstone round of the ELMS 2014
Christian Klien
–
Klien driving for
Jaguar at the
2004 Belgian Grand Prix, where he scored his first
Formula One points
Christian Klien
–
Klien in qualifying at the
2005 United States Grand Prix
Christian Klien
–
Klien driving for RBR at the
2006 Turkish Grand Prix
39.
2007 European Grand Prix
–
The 2007 European Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Nürburgring, Nürburg, Germany on 22 July 2007. It was the race of the 2007 Formula One season. The 60-lap race was won by Fernando Alonso driving for the McLaren team after starting from second position, Felipe Massa finished second for Ferrari with Mark Webber third in a Red Bull Racing car. On August 29,2006 it was announced that the European Grand Prix had been removed from the F1 calendar for the 2007 season, since then there has only been one GP hosted in Germany each year, alternating between Hockenheimring and Nürburgring. However, the name for this Grand Prix was in doubt and it was the first time since 1960 that a Formula One World Championship race had not been held under the name German Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton entered the race as drivers championship leader, murray Walker provided radio commentary to listeners in the UK on BBC Radio Five Live – the first time he had provided UK coverage of an F1 event since retiring in 2001. Christijan Albers did not drive for Spyker F1 due to his failure to pay sponsorship money and his replacement was German driver Markus Winkelhock, son of former Formula One driver Manfred Winkelhock. This was the last race for Toro Rosso driver Scott Speed who was replaced by BMW Sauber test driver Sebastian Vettel. During the weeks leading up to the race it was announced that McLaren would appear in front of the FIA on 26 July regarding claims they had received information from Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton said he was confident it would go well. Kimi Räikkönen overtook Felipe Massa during the minute of qualifying. The final session of qualifying was delayed for half an hour when Lewis Hamilton crashed into the due to a wheel gun failure which caused the wheel to not be secured on the car. The wheel rubbed against the car, destroying the wheel and tyre and his time from the fuel-burn phase of Q3 was not good enough to elevate him higher than 10th position. Toyota had a strong qualifying with both drivers making it into the top 10, ending up 8th and 9th, Mark Webber qualified an excellent 6th just in front of Renaults Heikki Kovalainen and behind the two BMWs. As for the rest of the field, Fisichella endured a miserable session qualifying a poor 13th and it started a dry race with a chance of rain and clouds hanging overhead. At the start of the lap, the timing screens displayed the warning that the rain was going to begin falling in about 3 minutes. This did not concern the Ferraris who led into the first corner as a pair with Alonso trailing in third. Markus Winkelhock for Spyker was the driver to pit after the warm up lap to change to the wet tyres. It did pay off all the other drivers were having to pit or spin off during the first lap
2007 European Grand Prix
–
The Nürburgring (GP track)
40.
2007 Turkish Grand Prix
–
The 2007 Turkish Grand Prix was the twelfth race of the 2007 Formula One season. Won by Felipe Massa, it was held on 26 August 2007 at the Istanbul Park in Istanbul and it was the third time a Formula One race had been held here. The two previous winners of the race were Kimi Räikkönen in 2005 and Massa in 2006, both of whom race for Ferrari in 2007. It came following considerable controversy after the 2006 event, where the organisers were fined $5,000,000 for political bias, Talat is President of the Turkish Cypriot state, which is not an internationally recognised government. This was seen by the body of Formula One as having compromised their neutrality. Lewis Hamilton came into the race with a 7-point lead over McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso after Hamiltons controversial victory in the 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix, McLaren led Ferrari in the constructors championship by 19 points despite not being allowed to score points in Hungary. However, the Ferrari had looked strong in recent weeks, and their two cars dominated the race from start to finish, Massa and Räikkönen taking first. A late puncture dropped Hamilton to fifth place and cut his lead over Alonso to five points. During the press following the race, Massa commented that the Istanbul Park was the track where he made his career turn-around. He also praised the track as well as the city, Felipe Massas Ferrari led from pole from team-mate Kimi Räikkönen who had jumped McLarens Lewis Hamilton off the grid to take second place. Reigning World Champion Fernando Alonsos start from fourth was even worse than team-mate Hamiltons as he fell behind both BMW Saubers of Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld into sixth, however, BMWs early stopping strategy led to Alonso taking both places back after the first round of pit-stops. At the first round of stops it seemed that Räikkönen could pass Massa if he stopped later, however, Massa stopped after Räikkönen to retain the lead. Hamilton stopped later than both Ferraris and caught several seconds up to them, but could not pass Räikkönen for second, meanwhile, Kubicas strategy had not only dropped him behind Heidfeld and Alonso, but Renaults Heikki Kovalainen too. Massa stopped later than Räikkönen again at the pit stop. Hamilton may have emerged ahead of Räikkönen, but a puncture in his front tyre dropped him to fifth behind Heidfeld, damage to his front wing led to Kovalainen catching him, but the Finn was unable to pass Hamilton. Kubica lost a place to Nico Rosberg through strategy finishing eighth, Massa eventually won his second consecutive Turkish Grand Prix, and his fifth Grand Prix win overall, all of which came from pole position. He had secured his eighth pole in qualifying, mark Webber of Red Bull Racing was the only non-classified car, with a hydraulic failure. All the rest were classified including Adrian Sutil who retired with a fuel pressure problem, scuderia Toro Rosso driver Vitantonio Liuzzi ended a run of 9 consecutive retirements stretching back to the Bahrain Grand Prix in April
2007 Turkish Grand Prix
–
2007 Turkish Grand Prix
41.
2007 Italian Grand Prix
–
The 2007 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 9 September 2007 at Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Italy. It was the race of the 2007 Formula One season. Ferrari were expected to do well at home after a finish in the Turkish GP. Fernando Alonso took his fourth win of the season, leading home the fourth one-two finish of the season for McLaren as Lewis Hamilton finished second and it was McLarens eighth victory at Monza and Mercedes fourth, while Alonso became the first Spaniard to win the Italian Grand Prix. It turned out to be his last win for McLaren, in the second session, both the Toro Rosso of Sebastian Vettel and Anthony Davidsons Super Aguri, who had done very well to make the session, were eliminated. So were Giancarlo Fisichella in the Renault, Alexander Wurz of Williams, Jenson Button had done excellently to put the Honda in the top 10, and he qualified tenth, on the fifth row with Jarno Trullis Toyota. Nico Rosberg qualified his Williams eighth, alongside the second Renault of Heikki Kovalainen, who had put in a brilliant performance. Robert Kubica took 6th in the BMW Sauber, while his teammate Nick Heidfeld broke the domination of the top 4 by McLaren and Ferrari, the top three held station from the start, but Kimi Räikkönens Ferrari jumped Nick Heidfeld in the BMW Sauber and moved into fourth. Jarno Trulli was a big loser in the Toyota, slipping from 9th to 13th, while the big winner was David Coulthard, on lap 2, however, Coulthard crashed, completely negating the influence of his brilliant start. This allowed the Super Aguri of Anthony Davidson up into 15th, the races only other retirement was Räikkönens teammate Felipe Massa, who retired with a suspension failure on lap 11 after running in third place. This allowed the Finn to move into third and Nico Rosberg to move into the points in his Williams, Räikkönen then took the lead as Hamiltons teammate Fernando Alonso pitted from the lead on lap 21. He made a move down the inside of turn one to recover second place. There were no changes at the front, and Alonso led home by six seconds from Hamilton. Heidfeld finished in fourth just four ahead of his teammate Kubica. Kovalainen was seventh, and Jenson Button rounded out the points in a foray into the points paying positions for the Honda team. Bold text indicates who still has a chance of becoming World Champion. Note, Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings
2007 Italian Grand Prix
–
The race was won by
Fernando Alonso for
McLaren.
2007 Italian Grand Prix
–
Autodromo Nazionale Monza
42.
2007 Japanese Grand Prix
–
The 2007 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 30 September 2007 at the Fuji Speedway, Oyama, Shizuoka. The 67-lap race was the round of the 2007 Formula One season. It was held at the revised track in very heavy rain. For the previous 20 years, the Japanese Grand Prix had been held at Suzuka Circuit, the race was won by McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton, who also took pole position and the fastest lap of the race. Heikki Kovalainen achieved his first podium, by finishing second for the Renault team, Adrian Sutil scored Spykers first and only point by finishing 9th and being promoted to 8th after the race. As a consequence of the race, Hamilton extended his lead in the World Drivers Championship to twelve points over McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso, Alonso had only been two points behind Hamilton in the standings before he crashed during the race. Räikkönens third-place finish ensured he remained in contention to clinch the drivers title in the remaining two rounds. His Ferrari teammate, Felipe Massa, dropped out of contention after finishing the race in sixth position. Massa was now ten points behind Räikkönen, as far as the World Constructors Championship was concerned, Ferrari were leading the standings on 170 points. BMW Sauber remained second in the standings,78 points behind Ferrari, Renault ensured that they would finish the year in third, and were 41 points behind. Lewis Hamilton of McLaren led the Drivers Championship by only two points from team-mate Fernando Alonso, who was a further 11 points ahead of Ferraris Kimi Räikkönen, after McLarens exclusion from the Constructors Championship, Ferrari had been confirmed as Constructors Champions, following their Belgian Grand Prix one-two. They were 71 points ahead of BMW Sauber, three Japanese constructors and two Japanese drivers competed in the race. Toyota were 6th in the Constructors Championship, whilst Honda were 8th, Takuma Sato was 15th in the Drivers Championship for Super Aguri, whilst compatriot Sakon Yamamoto had yet to score for Spyker F1, having debuted at the Hungarian Grand Prix. David Coulthard changed his design for this race, choosing to use the helmet design of former World Rally Champion Colin McRae. Although the weather had dried out by the time qualifying began, Ralf Schumachers Toyota also collided with Yamamoto, forcing both drivers out of qualifying. Schumacher was already through to Q2, but could not set a time in the second session and so qualified 16th. Sebastian Vettel in the Toro Rosso and Robert Kubica in the BMW Sauber occupied row 5, just behind Jenson Button, getting his best qualifying of the season in the Honda, Nico Rosberg qualified 6th in the Williams, but was penalised ten places for an engine change. This meant that Vettel qualified eighth, the best qualifying ever for Toro Rosso, Nick Heidfeld qualified 5th for BMW Sauber, and the top four was once again the two McLarens and two Ferraris
2007 Japanese Grand Prix
–
National driver,
Takuma Sato, qualified in twenty-first position.
2007 Japanese Grand Prix
–
Fuji Speedway
2007 Japanese Grand Prix
–
Jarno Trulli was the last car to actually finish, and classified thirteenth for the
Toyota team.
2007 Japanese Grand Prix
–
A view of the wet conditions, from the grandstand, during the race.
43.
Toro Rosso
–
Scuderia Toro Rosso, commonly known as Toro Rosso or by its abbreviation STR, is an Italian Formula One racing team. It is one of two F1 teams owned by Austrian beverage company Red Bull, the other being Red Bull Racing, Toro Rosso functions as a junior team to Red Bull Racing, with the aim of developing the skills of promising drivers for the senior team. Since 2010, the team has competed entirely independently of their sister team, in late November 2008, Red Bull regained total ownership of Toro Rosso after buying back Bergers share of the team. From 2007 to 2013, Toro Rosso used Ferrari V8 engines, for 2014, Toro Rosso switched to Renault engines as well, but in 2016 returned to using Ferrari power, and will switch back to Renault in 2017. The team principal is Franz Tost, formerly of BMWs motor sport division, Vitantonio Liuzzi scored the teams first point in its first season at the 2006 United States Grand Prix. The teams first and only pole position, podium and victory were scored by Sebastian Vettel at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix, Jaime Alguersuari took over Bourdais seat at the Hungarian Grand Prix, and kept the seat for the remaining part of the year. Both Alguersuari and Buemi raced for the team for all of the 2010 and 2011 seasons and it was announced on 14 December 2011, that Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Éric Vergne would be the teams drivers for the 2012 season. At the 2013 Italian Grand Prix it was announced that Daniel Ricciardo had been chosen to succeed Mark Webber at Red Bull Racing, for 2014, Toro Rosso retained Jean-Éric Vergne and signed newcomer Daniil Kvyat. Minardi had competed in Formula One from 1985 to 2005, despite having a large fan base, it had been one of the least competitive teams in the sport, never achieving a podium finish and only finishing as high as fourth in three races. Included in the terms of the deal with Red Bull was the clause that the team must keep its headquarters in Faenza, Italy until at least the 2007 season. Whilst Red Bull have abandoned the Minardi name in line with their own sponsorship and marketing plans, Red Bull changed the name of the team immediately after taking control of the team on 1 November 2005. It was initially reported as Squadra Toro Rosso but then changed because squadra in Italian depicts a squad like a football team, Scuderia is Italian for a stable reserved for racing horses, and is also commonly applied to Italian motor racing teams. Many Minardi fans were upset by this move, and over 15,000 signed a petition to keep the Minardi name. Vitantonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed were the 2006 race drivers of the STR1, Liuzzi had raced part-time for Red Bull Racing in 2005, while Speed entered F1 following the Red Bull Driver Search in the United States. Jani was the test driver for Sauber Petronas in 2004, the 2006 chassis was a modified version of the 2005 Red Bull Racing RB1. Some teams felt that this infringed the Concorde Agreement as each team is expected to design their own car, the team used Minardis contracted supply of rev limited and air restricted Cosworth 3. 0l V10 engines. This concession had been granted to assist less well funded teams by avoiding the cost of sourcing a new supply of V8 engines as required by the 2006 regulations. The continuation of this arrangement after the Red Bull takeover caused friction with other teams, in particular Super Aguri and Midland who felt that the engine conferred too much of an advantage
Toro Rosso
–
Vitantonio Liuzzi at the
2006 Canadian Grand Prix
Toro Rosso
–
Toro Rosso-Renault
Toro Rosso
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Vitantonio Liuzzi driving for the team at the
2007 Malaysian Grand Prix.
Toro Rosso
–
Sebastian Vettel leads
Sébastien Bourdais at the
2008 Japanese Grand Prix.
44.
Vitantonio Liuzzi
–
Vitantonio Tonio Liuzzi is an Italian professional racing driver who formerly raced in Formula One for the Red Bull, Toro Rosso, Force India and HRT teams. He has homes in Lugano, Switzerland and Pescara, Italy, born in Locorotondo, BA, Apulia, Liuzzi, like many auto racing drivers, began his career in kart racing. He won the 1993 Italian Karting Championship, and in 1995 took second in the Karting World Championship and he won the Karting World Championship in 2001. He beat Formula One champion Michael Schumacher at Kerpen, Schumachers home track, Liuzzi then moved to cars, finishing second in the 2001 German Formula Renault Championship. Racing in the German Formula Three Championship, however, he scored only ninth place and that same year he did win the San Marino International F3 race and had test drives for the Coloni Formula 3000 team and Williams, the Formula One constructor. Red Bull hired Liuzzi for the 2003 F3000 season, in which he finished fourth and he moved to the Arden team for the following F3000 season, where he won seven of the ten races, securing the title with one race left. He did have a test drive with Sauber in September 2004, in November 2004 Liuzzi was given a test drive by Red Bull, who hired him for 2005 in January. Initially it seemed that he might be given the seat along with David Coulthard, despite good performances by Klien in the first three races, Red Bull abided by an agreement they made before the season that both he and Liuzzi would be able to race. Liuzzi would replace Klien for the San Marino, Spanish and Monaco Grands Prix, Liuzzi scored his maiden point on his debut after both BAR drivers were disqualified at San Marino. Following the Spanish Grand Prix and Monaco, he was one more race at the European Grand Prix. Following Red Bulls purchase of the Minardi team – thereafter renamed Scuderia Toro Rosso, at the 2006 United States Grand Prix, he scored the teams first point, with an eighth-place finish after a race-long battle with Coulthard and Nico Rosberg. However, that was the point the team would score in 2006. Liuzzi was confirmed with the team for the 2007 season at the launch of the STR2 on 13 February 2007, unfortunately, during the first half of his season his races were plagued by mistakes similar to his former team mates. He seemed likely to score his first points of the season at Canada and he also faced constant speculation over keeping his seat, as the team openly courted both Sebastian Vettel and Champcar series champion Sébastien Bourdais. His team mate Scott Speed claimed Red Bull wanted to both himself and Liuzzi. Once Bourdais contract for 2008 was announced, Liuzzis performances improved, after being denied a world championship point in Japan by a post-race time penalty, he drove what many consider the best race of his Formula One career in China. Narrowly missing out on Q3 by qualifying 11th, he gained three places at the start, then overtook Mark Webber of the works Red Bull team, as well as the BMW of Nick Heidfeld. Throughout the race he kept pace with 5th-placed Jenson Buttons Honda, on 10 August 2007 Toro Rosso confirmed that Sébastien Bourdais would drive for them in 2008, leaving Liuzzi without a seat
Vitantonio Liuzzi
–
Liuzzi at the
2011 Malaysian Grand Prix.
Vitantonio Liuzzi
–
Liuzzi driving for the
Red Bull Junior Team at the Hungary round of the
2003 International Formula 3000 season
Vitantonio Liuzzi
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Liuzzi driving the third
Red Bull Racing car during practice for the
2005 British Grand Prix
Vitantonio Liuzzi
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Liuzzi driving the
Toro Rosso STR1 during the
2006 Canadian Grand Prix
45.
Vijay Mallya
–
Vijay Vittal Mallya is an Indian businessman and politician. He has been the Chairman of Sanofi India as well as the Chairman of Bayer CropScience in India for over 20 years and he recently announced that he shall retire from the chairmanship of Sanofi India. Once called the King of Good Times due to his extravagant lifestyle, Mallya and his companies have been embroiled in financial scandals, Mallya left India on 2 March 2016 after saying he wanted to move to Britain to be closer to his children. A group of 17 Indian banks are trying to collect approximately ₹9,000 crore in loans which Mallya has allegedly routed to gain 100% or a stake in about 40 companies across the world. The 17 banks petitioned the Supreme Court of India in March 2016 to try to prevent Mallya from leaving the country, but the Indian government indicated that he had already left. The Enforcement Directorate of India also filed a money laundering case against him in March 2016 for allegedly sending abroad some ₹900 crore that had been loaned to his airline, currently the Enforcement Directorate is seeking Interpol to raise an international arrest warrant against Mallya. Mallya also co-owns the Formula One team Sahara Force India and his companies own Indian Premier League team Royal Challengers Bangalore, the I-League teams Mohun Bagan AC and East Bengal FC. He is also a member of the World Motor Sport Council representing India in the FIA and he is also known for having launched Kingfisher Airlines, an airline established as a major business venture in 2005 that later became insolvent and was shut down in 2012. Mallya also served in the Rajya Sabha, the house of the Parliament of India. Mallya was born the son of Vittal Mallya, a Goud Saraswat Brahmin from Bantwal, Karnataka, Vittal Mallya was the Chairman of United Breweries Group. While in college, Mallya interned in his familys businesses, after graduating, he interned at the American part of Hoechst AG in the United States. In 1986, he met and married Sameera Tyabjee, an air hostess of Air India and they have one son, Siddharth Mallya, who was born on 7 May 1987. They were divorced shortly afterwards, although Mallya has stated in interviews that he has a relationship with his first wife. In June 1993, Mallya married his current wife Rekha, whom he had known since childhood, Rekha was previously married twice, and also has a daughter and son, Leila and Kabir, from a previous marriage. On the subject of raising his children, Mallya said My children are very dear to me, I am responsible as a father to play an active role in determining their future. However, he also said I wasnt a hands-on father, I hired good nannies for my children and left it to their expertise. In contrast with Vijay Mallyas flamboyant lifestyle, his wife Rekha has maintained a private personal life and has said she just prefers to spend her time with her daughters. Mallya became the Chairman of United Breweries Group in 1983 at the age of 28, since then, the group has grown into a multi-national conglomerate of over 60 companies, with an annual turnover which increased by 64% over 15 years to US$11 billion in 1998–1999
Vijay Mallya
–
Member of the
Rajya Sabha 2002–2008, 2010 – present
Vijay Mallya
46.
2008 Formula One season
–
It featured the 2008 Formula One World Championship. The season was contested over eighteen rounds, which started in Australia on 16 March and ended in Brazil on 2 November. The 2008 season saw the debut of the Singapore Grand Prix, scuderia Ferrari Marlboro won the Constructors title. In winning the title, Hamilton became the youngest driver ever to win the title and he was also the first British champion since Damon Hill in 1996. Eleven teams competed in the championship, although Super Aguri withdrew on 6 May from the 2008 Formula One season due to financial troubles, new technical rules for 2008 included the banning of traction control after it was re-introduced in 2001. Fernando Alonso won the first race held in Singapore, however, when Piquet admitted this to the press in 2009 Renault team-principal Briatore resigned. This was the last season for the Honda team before they pulled out of F1 later in December due to the economic crisis. Then, Ross Brawn bought the team and renamed it to Brawn GP in February 2009 using the Mercedes-Benz engines and this was also the last Formula One season to race with grooved tyres, used since 1998, before slick tyres returned to Formula One in 2009. All teams in groups have two spots each on the 2008 grid. The following teams and drivers competed in the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship, ‡ Super Aguri withdrew on 6 May from the 2008 Formula One season due to financial troubles. All eleven current teams applied, as well as several others, there were 21 applications in total, several new teams applying included European Minardi F1 Team Ltd, Jordan Grand Prix, Direxiv and Carlin Motorsport. However, despite the Prodrive application being accepted, Richards later announced that the team would not race in 2008 due to a dispute over the legality of customer cars. Rumours about the sale of the Spyker team had been abundant in the paddock throughout the last few months of the 2007 season. Only a year after Spyker bought the team from Midland, Indian businessman Vijay Mallya bought the team for €88 million, on 24 October 2007, Mallya was granted permission to change the teams name to Force India. While a total of 21 teams applied for entry, the FIA had always maintained that only 12 teams would be granted entry, FIA president Max Mosley revealed that Prodrive had found the finances to support their bid. Also, Prodrives chief executive, David Richards, has experience as a Formula One team principal, during the 2008 season on May 6, the Super Aguri team folded and withdrew from Formula One. The team was in financial straits at the end of 2007 as the team did not receive a payment on a sponsorship deal. Despite this Super Aguri were unable to sign any contracts until agreements had been reached with their sponsors, sato and Davidson were confirmed on 10 March
2008 Formula One season
–
Lewis Hamilton, champion of the 2008 Formula One season
2008 Formula One season
–
Felipe Massa finished second in the World Drivers' Championship, one point behind Hamilton
2008 Formula One season
–
Kimi Räikkönen, the
2007 world champion, finished the season ranked 3rd.
2008 Formula One season
–
Force India joined the sport after
Vijay Mallya purchased the
Spyker team.
47.
Spyker F8-VII
–
The Spyker F8-VII was a Formula One car, constructed by Spyker F1 that competed in the 2007 Formula One World Championship. A B Specification car named the Spyker F8-VIIB was launched at the Italian Grand Prix, for the 2008 World Championship, Force India used a slightly modified version of the F8-VIIB, called the Force India VJM01 named after team owners Vijay Mallya, Jan Mol and Michiel Mol. The F8-VII was the only car constructed by Spyker F1 in their own right after their take-over from the struggling Midland F1 team part way through 2006. The F8-VII was described by the team as a base on which to build. That way we could concentrate all our efforts on performance related areas, the car was not competitive and scored only one point. The race was stopped due to the dangerous conditions, winkelhock officially led the race for 7 laps but as the conditions improved following the restart, he slid down the field in his uncompetitive car and eventually retired after 15 laps. Going against the trend started by Jordan Grand Prix and continued by Midland F1. When the Dutch company started trading at the beginning of the 20th century it launched car models named A, B and C, when Spyker CEO Victor Muller resurrected the Spyker name in 2000 he wanted to build on that strong history. When we launched the first modern line of Spykers, the C8 Spyder, we called it the C line to follow on from the original model rationale, he explained. The E line will be launched in the future, so it makes sense for our Formula One car, our latest model. The number eight refers to the number of cylinders of Spykers Ferrari engine – the same rationale as used with road-going Spykers, the VII sub-designation refers to Spykers days as an aircraft manufacturer where all models were denoted by Roman numerals and stood for the year the aircraft was launched. Hence the F8-VII is the Spyker F line with eight cylinders in 2007, a B Specification car was launched midway into the 2007 season. The F8-VIIBs debut was planned for the Turkish Grand Prix. Adrian Sutil subsequently scored Spykers one and only point in the Japanese Grand Prix at the wheel of the F8-VIIB, Spyker was bought by Vijay Mallya during 2007 and became Force India for 2008. With initial 2008 testing being carried out in reliveried F8-VIIBs, the version of the Force India VJM01 – still largely based on the F8-VIIB – made its testing debut on February 25,2008. In 2011, Force India teamed up with the artist Dexter Brown to produce an art car, the car was a hand painted VJM01 which was set to be auctioned for charity at the first Indian Grand Prix. The actual car used was VJM01-05, as raced by Giancarlo Fisichella in sixteen of the eighteen races in 2008, full list of F8-VII Technical Specifications
Spyker F8-VII
–
Spyker F8-VII / Force India VJM01
Spyker F8-VII
Spyker F8-VII
–
Sutil driving the F8-VIIB at the
2007 Belgian Grand Prix.
Spyker F8-VII
–
Christijan Albers driving the F8-VII at the
2007 British Grand Prix.
48.
V8 engine
–
A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder V configuration engine with the cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two sets of four, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft. Most banks are set at an angle to each other, some at a narrower angle, with 45°, 60°. In its simplest form, the V8 is basically two parallel inline-four engines sharing a common crankshaft, since the 1920s, most V8s have used the somewhat more complex crossplane crankshaft with heavy counterweights to eliminate the vibrations. This results in an engine that is smoother than a V6, most racing V8s continue to use the single plane crankshaft because it allows faster acceleration and more efficient exhaust system designs. In 1902, Léon Levavasseur took out a patent on a light and he called it the Antoinette after the young daughter of his financial backer. From 1904 he installed this engine in a number of competition speedboats, the aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont saw one of these boats in Côte dAzur and decided to try it on his 14-bis aircraft. Its early 24 hp at 1400 rpm version with only 55 kg of weight was interesting, Santos-Dumont ordered a larger and more powerful version from Levavasseur. He changed its dimensions from the original 80 mm stroke and 80 mm bore to 105 mm stroke and 110 mm bore, obtaining 50 hp with 86 kg of weight and its power-to-weight ratio was not surpassed for 25 years. Levavasseur eventually produced its own line of V8 equipped aircraft, named Antoinette I to VIII, hubert Latham piloted the V8 powered Antoinette IV and Antoinette VII in July 1909 on two failed attempts to cross the English Channel. However, in 1910, Latham used the VII with the engine to become the first in the world to reach an altitude of 3600 feet. Voisin constructed pusher biplanes with Antoinette engines, also, notably the one first flown successfully by Henry Farman in 1908, the V8 engine configuration became popular in France from 1904 onward, and was used in a number of aircraft engines introduced by Renault, and Buchet among others. Some of these found their way into automobiles in small quantities. In 1905, Darracq built a car to beat the world speed record. They came up with two racing car built on a common crankcase and camshaft. The result was monstrous engine with a displacement of 1,551 cu in, victor Hemery fixed that record on 30 December 1905 with a speed of 109.65 mph. Rolls-Royce built a 3,535 cc V8 car from 1905 to 1906, in 1907 The Hewitt Motor Company built a large 5 passenger Touring Car. It was equipped with a hefty V8 engine that developed 50/60 horsepower and had a bore of 4 inches, the Hewitt was the first American Automobile to be equipped with a V8 engine. De Dion-Bouton introduced a 7,773 cc automobile V8 in 1910 and it was produced only in small quantities, but inspired a number of manufacturers to follow suit
V8 engine
–
Experimental
Liberty V8 aircraft engine shows the V-shaped configuration when looking at it from the front or back. Automotive versions usually use a wider, 90° block angle.
V8 engine
–
Short block of an
American Motors V8 engine showing the four cylinders on each side of the V configuration
V8 engine
–
Assembled Oldsmobile 400 CID overhead valve engine with heads and complete valve train but without manifolds, rocker covers, timing chain cover or oil pan
V8 engine
–
Assembled Ford 460 and installed with all components
49.
Bridgestone
–
Bridgestone Corporation is a multinational auto and truck parts manufacturer founded in 1931 by Shojiro Ishibashi in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a translation and transposition of ishibashi. As of 2015, the company is the largest manufacturer of tires in the world, Bridgestone Group had 141 production facilities in 24 countries as of 2005. The very first Bridgestone tire was produced on 9 April 1930, One year later on 1 March 1931, the founder, Shojiro Ishibashi, made the Tabi Socks Tyre Division independent and established the Bridgestone Tire Co. Ltd. in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture. Bridgestone was named after the name of the founder, Shojiro Ishibashi, foregoing dependence on European and North American technology, the Bridgestone Tire Co. Ltd. set its eyes on manufacturing tires based largely on Japanese technology. The fledgling company experienced many difficulties in the areas of technology, production, eventually, improvements were achieved in quality and manufacturing processes which led to the business rapidly expanding in domestic and overseas markets. Wartime regulations were in effect throughout Japan, and tires also came under the jurisdiction of these regulations and this resulted in nearly all of the companys output being used to satisfy military demand. 1945 saw the end of armed conflict, but the company was devastated by the war, the Tokyo headquarters was destroyed during an aerial bombing raid, and all overseas assets were lost. Fortunately, the plants in Kurume and Yokohama escaped unscathed, brushing aside the problems caused by a labour union strike that lasted for forty-six days, the foundations of the company were further reinforced after this. In 1951, Bridgestone was the first company in Japan to begin selling rayon cord tires, and this year also saw another Bridgestone building opened in Kyōbashi, Tokyo, which contained the Bridgestone Museum. The company issued shares and was listed on the stock exchange in 1961. A new system of administration was ushered in by Shojiro Ishibashi as the chairman, also, additions were built onto the Tokyo plant in 1962 to house the new Technical Centre, and a progressive system of research and development was established. On the product front,1967 saw the sale of the companys first ever radial tire, Bridgestones first overseas plant since the end of the war was opened in Singapore in 1965, and production was also commenced in Thailand in 1969. Its Super Filler Radial was placed on the market in 1978, the company was actively engaged in overseas expansion activities at this time. The founder, Shojiro Ishibashi, died on 11 September 1976, on 1 March 1981, the company celebrated its 50th anniversary. New production facilities were established in Thailand, India, Poland, China. The company changed the name from Bridgestone Tyre Co. Ltd. to Bridgestone Corporation in 1984, in 1988, Bridgestone purchased the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company of Akron, Ohio. Placing considerable financial and personnel resources into rebuilding Firestone after the purchase, Bridgestone achieved surplus annual profits for the year 1992 with BFE, the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company and Bridgestone Tire Company Ltd USA were amalgamated in 1990 and became Bridgestone Firestone North American Holdings Ltd
Bridgestone
–
Head office in Tokyo.
Bridgestone
–
Schumacher in practice at the
2005 United States Grand Prix. Note the Bridgestone branding on the rear wing endplate, the Bridgestone's 'B' logo on the front wing, just under the nosecone and on the side winglet just before the rear wheel.
Bridgestone
–
Bridgestone used a
Ligier JS41 as test bed during 1996.
Bridgestone
–
Bridgestone Ameera, by Escape Marine.
Adrian Sutil
Christijan Albers
Sakon Yamamoto
