A1 Grand Prix (often abbreviated A1GP) is an open-wheel auto racing series. It is unique in its field in that competitors represent their nation as opposed to a constructor, which is traditional in most formula racing series including Formula One. As such, it is often promoted as the World Cup of Motorsport. The series is ratified and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), and races (collectively known as A1 Grands Prix of Nations) are held in the traditional Formula One off season, the northern hemisphere winter.

History

The nation-based A1 Grand Prix concept was forwarded by Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum of Dubai, initially in 2004. Once the series had received the backing of the FIA in 2005, a management structure including new executive directors Brian Menell and Tony Teixeira was appointed to oversee the sale of franchises for the operation of international teams. Thirty franchises were made available; twenty-three of them were restricted to specified nations, while the other seven were opened to tender for nations that had not been initially targeted.

First season

In total, twenty-five of the franchises were purchased in time for the 2005-06 A1 Grand Prix season, which began on September 25, 2005 with the A1 Grand Prix of Nations Great Britain at the Brands Hatch circuit in Kent, United Kingdom. The first season was planned for 12 rounds (24 races, with two each weekend); however the cancellation of a race scheduled for Curitiba, Brazil in January 2006 reduced this number to 11. Nelson Angelo Piquet won the inaugural race of the series for A1 Team Brazil. However, their winning form was not to continue. Wins at Estoril saw A1 Team France build up a sizeable gap. By the start of the winter break, France had run away with the lead with A1 Team Switzerland 28 points behind. At the final race of the season in Shanghai, A1 Team France were crowned the first-ever A1 Grand Prix world champions with 172 points. Switzerland were second coming in 121 points and A1 Team Great Britain third with 97 points.

Formula

The A1 Grand Prix formula provides for one car to be delivered to each team. Each such car is mechanically identical, built with many technical restrictions designed to limit performance, reduce running costs, and prevent any one or number of teams gaining an advantage through better equipment. This regulation provides a level playing field in which it is hoped driver skill and team effort becomes the primary factor for success.

Specifically, the cars have a 600kg monocoque chassis designed by Lola and model-370/660R13 slick tires from Cooper. Zytek provide a performance-limited 3.4 litre V8 engine, however its performance limitation can be overcome by the driver pressing a button on their steering wheel. This so-called boost button or overtake button increases the engine output, revs and horsepower while the accelerator remains depressed, increasing speed and facilitating easier overtaking. The overtake button may only be used a limited number of times in each race, which is pre-programmed beforehand and identical for each car.

Race weekend

A1 Grands Prix of Nations take place over a three-day period, from Friday to Sunday. The teams are given five sets of dry weather slick tires, and two sets of wet weather treaded tires per weekend. However, if the weather is extreme, the team can be given more wet weather tires at the expense of the slick tires. The race weekend starts with two one-hour practice sessions held on the Friday, and then another on the Saturday morning. A two-hour qualifying session takes place on Saturday afternoon, and two races take place on Sunday. Primarily, the three practice sessions are for car setup and track familiarisation before the official competition begins with Saturday qualifying. Three different drivers may participate in the three practice sessions; the driver elected for qualifying or for one of the races must have taken part in at least one such practice session.

Qualifying

A1 Grand Prix uses a unique qualifying format, which begins at 14:00 local time on the Saturday of the race weekend, to determine the grid lineup for the first of Sunday's races, the Sprint Race. The qualifying period is split into four, fifteen-minute sessions. Each car is permitted three laps per session; excluding the laps required for leaving the pits, and for re-entering it, this allows one lap to set a competitive time. There is a ten minute break between sessions, which adds up to a total of 90 minutes for qualifying. When the fourth and final session is complete, the grid for the Sprint Race is determined using the aggregate of the best two lap times set by each car. However, if there is a red flag due to an accident on the circuit, the timing to the end of qualifying will continue to run.

Sprint Race

The Sprint Race uses the grid determined in the previous day's qualifying session, and is held in the early afternoon. The race begins from a rolling start, and its duration is the maximum number of laps that equates to a race distance of about 50 miles; however, if the race duration passes 25 minutes (perhaps due to safety car periods or slower lap times due to inclement weather) the race ends immediately on the next lap. These figures were 75 kilometres and 30 minutes respectively for the 2005-06 season, but have since been reduced. Drivers are restricted to four uses of the overtake button in the Sprint Race. The finishing order for the sprint race determines the grid for the later Main Race, and where drivers are unclassified due to failing to finish the sprint race, they are sorted on the grid by distance completed.

Main Race

The Main Race, sometimes known as the Feature Race, is scheduled for a number of hours later; this period has been recently increased to allow additional setup time and to allow decisions by stewards to be completed (and punishments, where necessary, to be dealt) ahead of the Main Race. It begins with a standing start, and is limited (in the same fashion as the Sprint Race) to around 160 kilometres or 60 minutes, whichever is shorter. Each team must, in the duration of the race but not on the first or last lap, complete a compulsory pit stop, in which all four tires on the car must be changed, although refuelling is not permitted. Drivers are permitted eight uses of the overtake button in the Main Race.

Pitstops

At any time during the feature race, but only after the end of the first racing lap, each car must complete a compulsory pit stop in order to change all four wheels and tyres. Refuelling is not allowed in an A1GP pit stop as the cars are fueled to the finish. The pit stop is carried out by a maximum of four team members, who cannot cross a red line in order to enter the pit lane until the car has come to a complete stop, except for the one lolipop man to direct the car into the pits. If the driver exceeds the 60 KM/H pitlane speed limit or if any member of the pit crew assists another person in anyway (passing equipment included) will result in a drive-through penalty

Scoring

Unlike almost all other forms of auto racing, drivers do not score points individually; instead the points they earn are ascribed to their national team. This means that teams can change drivers between rounds, which is often necessary because some drivers have commitments in other formulae, and still accumulate points to their score.

The Sprint Race awards points for the top six positions, in decreasing order: 6 for the winner, 5 for second place, and so on with 4, 3, 2, and one point for sixth place. The Main Race awards points in the same order, but for the first ten places, counting from ten for the winner to one for tenth place. In the 2005-06 season, the Sprint Race had awarded points at the same values as the Main Race, but have since been reduced to their current level. In addition, one point is awarded to the team that sets the fastest single lap time in either the Sprint or Main Race.

Future

A number of changes have been made for the 2006-07 season regarding race timings and distances, in a hope of improving the spectacle for attendees and TV viewers. A provisional schedule for the second season has been released, with the first race at Circuit Park Zandvoort on 1 October 2006, and the last race at Brands Hatch on 29 April 2007. Three new teams have been confirmed so far for the new season. The teams are A1 Team Singapore, A1 Team Turkey and A1 Team Greece. However A1 Team Austria, A1 Team Japan, A1 Team Portugal and A1 Team Russia are not returning for the second season.

The long-term future of the series has however been questioned, with concerns over its ongoing financial viability and the continued input of existing backers. Executive director Tony Teixeira reported a USD 212 million loss for the initial season, with A1GP officials announcing a debt financing initiative and an initial public offering backed by the Nomura Group and RAB Capital hoping to finance both the initial debt and the 2005-06 season loss.