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Disclaimer: The information below was created with no harmful thoughts towards the A1 Grand Prix in mind. Most, if not all, information in this FAQ is either from the website (and noted as such) or reworded into a simpler form by its creator. Any questions or issues about this FAQ should be directed to its creator, Ponza, or to the following email address: gordon.d.allen@gmail.com

Now with all the legal mumbo-jumbo out of the way, let's get this party started.

Question: What is the A1 GP?

Answer: (taken from the website)

A1 Grand Prix is the first opportunity in any area of motorsport for nations to compete on a level playing field. It is a series where technology and innovation are deliberately equalised and performance is determined by human bravery, skill and excellence. Team and driver combine to create their advantage and the winning nation raises its flag in celebration.

A1 Grand Prix is more than just another motorsport phenomenon; it's an entirely new sport - The World Cup of Motorsport. Pitting driver against driver and country against country for the first time in history, A1 Grand Prix will bring together 25 nations representing 80 per cent of the world's population to actively compete on a level playing field.

A1 Grand Prix has created a new medium for national and international brands and organisations to promote themselves on a global scale. Through the World Cup of Motorsport, they can join forces with their national teams to be part of this unique sporting event.

The World Cup of Motorsport promotes countries and utilises the national patriotism instilled in every person on the planet not only attracting traditional motorsport and sporting fans but exciting anyone who is passionate about their heritage, country and population.

Question: So exactly how does it work?

Answer:

Friday is for Practice, Saturday is for Qualifying and Sunday is for the races. Yes, I said "RACES", there's two, you see, but I'll get to that in a second. Saturday Qualifying is a deep process. Practice determines the drivers fastest for their team. Only 1 car per team means if a team has more than 1 driver, they have to share the seat for practice, and then 1 is voted on to be the driver for Qualifying and then the 2 races, if it is so desired. Saturday qualifying is broken down into 4 sessions, whereas you're only allowed 1 hot lap per session, where your qualifying time for the grid is set by taking your two fastest hot laps of the four. Each session is 15 minutes, so you have to go out there and make that lap count! Each team must make use of two sessions in order to qualify. Otherwise, you don't make the field.

Sunday's races are both slightly different. The Sprint race uses the grid determined by the result of the qualifying session, and is an American style Rolling Start race. Shorter in total distance (Brands Hatch Sprint was 18 laps, just to give a clue), the results of the Sprint Race gives points (10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 is the points structure) towards the respective team who finishes in the top 10. The Feature race uses the results of the Sprint Race to make a traditional Standing Start grid. Longer in distance (Brands Hatch was 38 laps), top 10 receive points the same way as the Sprint race. In the end, whoever posted the fastest lap of the two races gets an additional 1 point. (In case of tiebreakers, Sprint Race points seem to have more priority over all points. - Ponza)

Question: What kind of cars does A1 GP use? Anything like the ROC cars that Race of Champions uses?

Answer: Well, the ROC cars are more for Rally fans, and the IROC cars are more for Stock Car fans, A1 GP's cars are tried-and-tested V8 Formula cars, similar to Champ Car and Formula 1's 2006 models. Each A1 GP car is identical, so there is no deviation behind each team or driver. Each individual piece of the car has been made or modified to increase overtaking opportunities and lessen drag. The bodywork and chassis of the A1 cars were made at Lola, the same company that does Champ Car. The V8 Engine inside the A1 was manufactuered by Zytec, and holds specific interesting qualities. One such quality is that for a 3.4-litre engine, its the lightest of its kind, making it quite the powerful little engine. Pumping out 520 horsepower might seem a lot, but then, they also have a PowerBoost setting, similar to Champ Car's Ford Cosworth PowerToPass setting, that bumps up the engine to 550 horsepower for a short period of time. This amount of time is allocated to each team for each race, and is reset by Zytec before the next race.
Cooper Tyres is the tire supplier, as A1 uses racing slicks. 6-speed sequential gearbox, like most racing cars use (unlike Formula 1, which some cars use 7 gears), PADDLE SHIFTERS (like console racing wheels use... no old-school sidepod stick shifters, so Jacques Villeneuve is left out in the cold on this one) and a different style of fuel is used... A1 Grand Prix cars don't use Methane. Instead, they use 100 grade octane unleaded gasoline, which is almost the same as gas obtainable by even common folk in Europe and America. (I think the highest I've seen available is 97%, but that's just in Canada. - Ponza)

Question: Just how fast do these cars go?

Answer: Well, seeming there's only been one race, people have only seen the cars peak at 261 Kilometers Per Hour*. (Roughly 162 Miles per Hour... doesn't sound fast, but they're trying to make it exciting racing rather than about speed.)

* = Team.Italy hit 261.1 KPH during the Sprint Race, which has been the fastest any A1 car has hit so far, according to the telemetry. Just because you hit high top speeds, doesn't mean you hit fast times.

Question: What does 'A1' mean?

The 'A' represent the world, as many continents have names that begin with A (Asia, both Americas, Africa, Australasia, the only not fitting is Europe).
The '1' represents unity amungst them.
So 'A1' would mean "All as One". But, A1 is often used to describe the best of things, so really, A1 means "The Best in the World".

Question: Get with the program, Ponza, what kind of MONEY are we talkin' here?

In every event, there's a $1 Million US prize fund. First Prize is $300 Grand. Enough said.

Okay, not enough said. There's very little sponsorship right now, so really I couldn't tell you about those kinds of benefits. If there's enough money to give Pakistan a team, there MUST be something there.

Saving this post for Car Designs and Driver Profiles.

This post for Race Results per race, only showing podiums. A1GP.com is better at this anyways.

Britian Sprint
1. Brazil
2. France
3. New Zealand

Britian Feature
1. Brazil
2. Austrailia
3. Mexico

Euro (German) Sprint
1. France
2. Switzerland
3. Brazil

Euro (German) Feature
1. France
2. Great Britian
3. Canada

Portugal Sprint
1. France
2. Brazil
3. Switzerland

Portugal Feature
1. France
2. Switzerland
3. Ireland

Rules in A1 state that any driver with a racing license can participate in a practice session for the country they represent. Austrailia could just call up Mark Webber or somebody else to fill the void.

JUST AS I POST THIS:

New drivers are being lined up for several teams, and it looks like Scott Speed, after his first excellent run, is getting the boot!

Team.Italy has now acquired former F1 driver Andrea Montermini, which is soon to be their number 1 driver. Team Russia has received Roman Rusinov, an FIA GT Championship hopeful that'll be in a single seater for the first time since 2003. Team.USA has come to terms with... BRYAN HERTA! Herta is a Champ Car and IRL legend, with past experience racing at Surfer's Paradise, and is looking to make an international splash in Eastern Creek.

This weekend, each team was allowed to nominate up to 3 drivers, but only 1, Team.Italy, did so.

Quote from said article: Due to prior commitments made before joining the World Cup of Motorsport, A1 Team Indonesia (ed.: No points so far this season) will not take part in this weekend’s event as driver Ananda Mikola competes to maintain his position at the top of the Asian F3 Series.


(For the record, Sworlord, the Aussie team has Christian Jones and Will Davidson on the role call.)

Ponza Commentary for A1 GP Austrailia
Live from Eastern Creek

Adrian Sutil said he experienced "a little pain" from his accident. His hand is wrapped up, but the med center said he has a dislocated thumb!

Most are the drivers are quite calm about their incidents, so it's great sportsmanship between these guys. Some particular drivers could take some tips from these young guns and veterans because they're quite tongue-in-cheek.

Cars to watch for in the feature, in my view, if you decide to watch the taped race later this week: Ireland, Brazil, Switzerland and USA.

Neel Jani said that in the sprint after 10 laps, he suffered a bit of fatigue. Doctors took care of him after he got out of the car, but he appears to be okay.

"Show em whose fast, Jos." "Heh, I'll try!" That Jos Verstappen, he's always a crowd favorite in my book. So many Formula One race starts under his belt, it's a miracle he's still racing at all. The Flying Dutchman continues to aim to please.

The Aussie-Kiwi rivalry continues as well in the Feature, as neither team scored points in the sprint.

Shiekh Mahkoum, Founder and Chairman of A1GP, says those famous new words: "Gentlemen, for the pride of your nations, start your engines."

Soon to be formation lap time...

All cars get away clean, no stalls on the formation get-away.

They're lining up at the grid boxes one last time.
The Lights go out! GOOOOOOOOO
Feature Race is underway!

The Start: PORTUGAL LEADS! FRANCE HAS FALLEN BACK! Many cars off at turn 2, but nothing fatal. Japan left on the grid, but France has fallen to 2nd. Brazil and Nelson Piquet Jr. is riding the back of the Blue white and red French car. Canada fell all the way back to last.

Lap 2: Great Britian moves into 3rd with an amazing pass along turns 1 and 2, both cars under powerboost. Robbie Kerr is tearing up Eastern Creek! Austrailia up to 7th! Wow. Ireland fell from 4th to 11th, and he's pitting!

Lap 3: Many cars see Ireland pit and decide to get their stops done. Germany Canada and Austria, India also in. Team France are eating away at Portugal's lead.

Lap 4: Team USA and Bryan Herta, and he's in and out quite quickly. The battle for first is beginning to get good... France is close enough to use the powerboost.

Lap 5: On the replays, Canada was hit by a car from behind, that's why McIntosh fell so far back. Ireland was forced off as well. France actually fell to 4th for a bit.

Lap 6: South Africa has hit the wall off turn 7 HARD. He's okay, but the car suffered major damage. Italy is also out.

Lap 7: GBR and Brazil still battle for 3rd, using Powerboost a lot. Brazil has 2 uses left! Portugal has been penalized for a jumpstart! Oh No! That will elevate the GBR-Brazil battle to 2nd place. Robbie Kerr locks the brakes, a bunch of tyre smoke. Germany has gone off.

Lap 8: Brazil pits, a crucial stop, lets see if he's ahead of GBR. OH NO Russia and Mexico collide at turn 2, and Lebanon almost steamrolled both cars! Brazil had trouble during the pit... are we going to get a Safety Car?
Portugal pits, France uses the slipstream to keep speed up...

Lap 9: Portugal drives through for their penalty. No safety car yet. YES! SAFETY CAR! That's going to bunch everybody up, and help teams who haven't stopped. Also, it will help teams who have stopped catch back up to the field. We'll see how this plays out.

Lap 10: France and GBR in, here's the battle for the lead, in the pits! Oh wow, GBR and France, virtually perfect stops, and they stay 1-2. On the replay, Mexico takes out the Russian car at turn 2. Lebanon was inches from making Enge's car a nose ornament.

Lap 11: Getting a top 5, we have Lebanon leading, as they haven't made a pitstop! And China stalled the car in the pits... Lebanon, France, GBR are top 3. USA in 11th, Brazil in 12th, Canada in 13th. Austrailia is still winning their personal battle with New Zealand. The Lebanon P1 board is new to me!

29 to go: Lebanon in the lead? Am I insane? NO! The team that has had horrific crashes all season is now leading the GP under safety car, its in this time by.

28 to go: LOTS OF POWERBOOST! France battles Lebanon and reclaims the lead at turn 2. GBR now needs to pass Lebanon, and it looks easy but Lebanon keeps blocking. Finally he gets by, but France has gunned it out of there.

27 to go: JOS makes things exciting, going 3 wide in turn 1. Brazil passes USA, so we'll see how everyone else pits and makes out with that. Lebanon just keeps falling back.

26 to go: Nelson Piquet weaving through cars! He makes 2-3 positions in a lap. Portugal is also making ground on the leaders from that penalty.

25 to go: Brazil has been given a penalty for a pit lane infraction - tools left in pit lane! That destroys chances for Piquet to score points. Canada passes Lebanon, and man, this slow car is making stuff insanely bunched up.

24 to go: Lebanon pits. France has a 6 second lead... amazing. Canada is slightly ahead of USA... McIntosh and Herta are battling for 11th.

23 to go: Brazil takes their penalty... sigh. Czech Republic and Austria collide in turn 2, Enge driving into the side of Lauda... their cars are left on track this time though, so we need another safety car immediately.

22 to go: Here comes the Hemi! Top 5 is France, GBR, Switzerland, Netherlands, Malaysia. Canada into 10th, USA into 11th! This race will probably end on time, but the North America battle, the Canadian no-name versus the American hero of Laguna Seca... what a battle this will be! Both of them are nearly out of powerboost, they've been at each other back and forth.

20 to go: Austrailia 6th, New Zealand 8th, for those wanting to know the Aussie-Kiwi war standings. The A1 Salvage yard grows at turn 2. Safety Car in this time by.

19 to go: IRELAND PASSES NEW ZEALAND! Nice pass on the restart. Italy have rejoined the race.

18 to go: CHINA GOES OFF blocking Brazil at turn 2! Ha Ha, nice move by Piquet.

17 to go: Brazil passes India and Pakistan.

16 to go: Battle for 15th, Lebanon taking on Japan... lots of side-by-side from turn 2 to 7.

15 to go: Brazil behind USA... uh oh. It's a big ole battle. Piquet beats USA... wait... oh my... Japan has had a big massive accident. Safety Car for sure as Brazil has taken 11th. Oh my, what a big wreck. I hope the Japanese driver is ok, he appeared to be moving in the cockpit.

14 to go: Turn 1 accident involving Team Japan... the driver is moving, but the engine was completely removed from the cockpit of the car, the firewall completely visible for all to see, and unbelieveable site to see, but I'm glad to see Hayanari Shimoda is okay. Canada has pulled off with rear suspension damage... a strange situation, that elevates Brazil into 10th.

13 to go: Safety Car still on track. I wonder if GBR has anything left for France on the restart?

12 to go: 12 minutes remaining which means this race will ALSO end on time limit of 60 minutes.

10 to go: Shimoda is on the stretcher. They're putting him in the ambulance. I, personally, am going to compare this accident to the F1 accident in China this year when Narain Karthikeyan for Jordan-Midland hit the tyre barrier after the banked corner. Remember how the car seemed to break apart? Same deal with accident: edge of the tirewall, engine breaking off the chassis. Except this accident, he brushed the tirewall, then crushed the concrete wall behind it.

2 minutes to go: We're going to have a dash for the finish. SAFETY CAR IS PULLING OFF!

White flag: USA NEARLY TAKES 9TH FROM 11TH! But Herta goes wide...
BIG SLIDE FROM ROBBIE KERR in turn 9, and nearly lost it, recovers...

Checkered: NICOLAS LAPIERRE OF FRANCE TAKES VICTORY 6 IN AUSTRAILIA! Robbie Kerr for GBR makes sure to cross the line and not spin the car out.

Feature Results:
1. France
2. GBR
3. Switzerland
4. Netherlands
5. Malaysia
6. Austrailia
7. Portugal
8. Ireland
9. New Zealand
10. Brazil
11. USA - A great run for Bryan Herta, who's the driver to watch when these A1GP cars go to Laguna Seca in the spring.

Fastest Lap and new track record: France - Nicolas Lapierre - 1:19.751

France is now running away with the World Cup of Motorsport, as they lead with 71 points.

I pray that Shimoda races another day.... that wreck was huge.

Yes the two drivers least to win, yeah its kinda a shame that Will Power didnt hang around though.
As for calling Mark Weber up... xd I dont think so.
What a crash is all i have to say. Glad he is alright though.

Yeah that makes about sense, actually... there were apparently a lot of asian tourists there, thus the price hike in stuffs.