Formula One

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FIRST FORMULA ONE CARS

_{Giuseppe Farina Italian 1950}	_{Juan Manuel Fangio Argentinian 1951-54-55-56-57}	_{Alberto Ascari Italian 1952-53}	_{Mike Hawthorn British 1958}
_{Mike Hawthorn British 1958}	_{Phill Hill American 1961}	_{Graham Hill British 1962-68}	_{Jim Clark British 1963-65}
_{John Surtees British 1964}	Denny Hulme New Zelander 1967	Jackie Stewart British 1969-71-73	Jochen RindtGerman-Austrian 1970
_{Emerson Fittipaldi Brazilian 1972-74}	_{Niki Lauda Austrian 1975-77-84}	_{James Hunt British 1976}	_{Mario Andretti Italian 1978}
_{Jody Scheckter South African 1979}	_{Alan Jones Australian 1980}	_{Nelson Piquet Brazilian 1981-83-87}	Keke Rosberg Finnish 1982
_{Alain Prost French 1985-86-89-93}	_{Ayrton Senna Brazilian 1988-90-91}	_{Nigel Mansell British 1992}	Michael Schumacher German 1994-95 2000-01-02- 03-04
Damon Hill British 1996	_{Jacques Villeneuve Cannadian 1997}	_{Mika Hakkinen Finnish 1998-99}	_{Fernando Alonso Spanish 2005-06}
Kimi Raikkonen Finnish 2007	Lewis Hamilton British 2008-2014	_{Jenson Button British 2009}	Sebastian Vettel German 2010-11-12-13

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THE DOWN SIDE OF RACING IS CRASHING

IN MEMERY OF AYRTON SENNA

Ayrton Senna da Silva,Born , March 21, 1960, – Died May 1, 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver and three-time Formula One world champion. He was killed in a crash while leading the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, and remains the most recent Grand Prix driver to die at the wheel of a Formula One car.

Senna began his motorsport career in karting and moved up the ranks to win the British Formula 3 championship in 1983. Making his Formula One debut with Toleman in 1984, he moved to Lotus-Renault the following year, and won six Grands Prix over the next three seasons. In 1988 he joined Frenchman Alain Prost at McLaren-Honda. Between them, Senna and Prost won fifteen out of the sixteen Grands Prix which took place that season, with Senna winning his first World Championship, a title he would go on to win again in 1990 and 1991. McLaren's performance declined in 1992, as the Williams-Renault combination began to dominate the sport, although Senna won five races to finish as runner-up in 1993. He moved to Williams in 1994, but suffered a fatal accident at the third race of the season at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Italy.

Senna is regarded as one of the greatest drivers in the history of Formula One. In 2009, a poll of 217 current and former Formula One drivers chose Senna as their greatest Formula One driver, in a survey conducted by British magazine Autosport. He was recognised for his qualifying speed over one lap and from 1989 until 2006 held the record for most pole positions. He was among the most talented drivers in extremely rain-affected conditions, as shown by his performances in the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix, the 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix, and the 1993 European Grand Prix. He also holds the record for most victories at the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix and is the third most successful driver of all time in terms of race wins. However, Senna courted controversy throughout his career, particularly during his turbulent rivalry with Alain Prost, which was marked by two championship-deciding collisions at the 1989 and 1990 Japanese Grands Prix.

At the third race of the season, the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, Senna, having not finished the two opening races of the season, declared that this was where his season would start, with fourteen races, as opposed to sixteen, in which to win the title. Senna again placed the car on pole for the 65th and final time, but he was particularly upset by two events. On Friday, during the afternoon qualifying session, Senna's protégé Rubens Barrichello was involved in a serious accident when he slammed violently into the tyres at the Variante Bassa chicane, swallowing his tongue and suffering a broken nose and arm, which prevented him from competing in the race. The next day Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger was killed in qualifying in a devastating accident when the front wing broke in his Simtek-Ford while going flat out at the fast Villeneuve left-hander bend and into the concrete wall.

Senna spent his final morning meeting fellow drivers, determined after Ratzenberger's accident to take on a new responsibility to re-create a Drivers' Safety group (i.e. Grand Prix Drivers' Association) to increase safety in Formula One. As the most senior driver, he offered to take the role of leader in this effort. Senna and the other drivers all opted to start the Grand Prix, but the race was interrupted by a huge accident at the start line when JJ Lehto's Benetton-Ford stalled, and an unsighted Pedro Lamy rammed him in his Lotus-Mugen Honda at nearly full speed. A wheel was torn off the car and landed in the main grandstand, injuring 8 fans and a police officer. A safety car was deployed and the drivers followed it for several laps. On the restart Senna immediately set a quick pace with the third quickest lap of the race, followed by Schumacher

As Senna entered the high-speed Tamburello corner on the next lap, the car left the track at high speed, hitting the concrete retaining wall at around 135 mph (217 km/h). Senna was removed from the car by Sid Watkins and his medical team and treated by the side of the car before being airlifted to Bologna hospital where 34 year old Senna was later declared dead. What had likely happened was that the right front wheel had shot up after impact like a catapult and violated the cockpit area where Senna was sitting. It impacted the right frontal area of his helmet, and the violence of the wheel’s impact pushed his head back against the headrest, causing fatal skull fractures. A piece of upright attached to the wheel had partially penetrated his helmet and made a big indent in his forehead. In addition, it appeared that a jagged piece of the upright assembly had penetrated the helmet visor just above his right eye.

Any one of the three injuries would probably have killed him. As track officials examined the wreckage of his racing car they found a furled Austrian flag—a victory flag that he was going to raise in honour of Austrian Roland Ratzenberger, who had died on that track during qualifying the day before. To this day, the cause of the accident has still not been fully determined with theories ranging from a steering column failure to the car simply bottoming out over the bumps on the Tamburello corner. Many court cases followed immediately afterwards, with Williams being investigated for manslaughter, although the charges were later dropped.

Senna's death was considered by many of his Brazilian fans to be a national tragedy, and the Brazilian government declared three days of national mourning. An estimated three million people lined the streets to offer their salute. Many prominent motor racing figures attended Senna's state funeral, notably Alain Prost, Damon Hill and Emerson Fittipaldi who were among the pallbearers. However, Senna's family did not allow FOM president Bernie Ecclestone to attend,and FIA President Max Mosley instead attended the funeral of Ratzenberger which took place on May 7, 1994 in Salzburg, Austria.Mosley said in a press conference ten years later, "I went to his funeral because everyone went to Senna's. I thought it was important that somebody went to his. A testament to the adulation he inspired among fans worldwide was the scene at the Tokyo headquarters of Honda where the McLaren cars were typically displayed after each race. Upon his death, so many floral tributes were received that it overwhelmed the large exhibit lobby. This in spite the fact Senna no longer drove for McLaren and that McLaren, in the preceding seasons did not use Honda power. Senna had a special relationship with company founder Soichiro Honda and was beloved in Japan where he achieved a near mythic status. In his home country of Brazil, the main freeway from the international airport to São Paulo and a tunnel along route to the heart of the city is named in his honour. Also, one of the most important freeways of Rio de Janeiro is named after Senna ("Avenida Ayrton Senna"). Senna is buried at the Morumbi Cemetery in his hometown of São Paulo. His grave bears the epitaph "Nada pode me separar do amor de Deus" which means "Nothing can separate me from the love of God". For the next race at Monaco, the FIA decided to leave the first two grid positions empty and painted them with the colors of the Brazilian and the Austrian flags, to honour Senna and Ratzenberger.

IN MEMERY OF ROLAND RATZENBERGER HOW DIED ONE DAY BEFOR SENNA

Roland Ratzenberger (July 4, 1960 – April 30, 1994) was an Austrian racing driver who died during qualifying for the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, the same event that saw the death of three-time Formula One world champion Ayrton Senna.

Born in Salzburg, Austria, Ratzenberger often claimed 1962 (rather than 1960) as his birth year, wanting to appear younger to extend his racing career. He began racing in German Formula Ford in 1983, and in 1985 won both the Austrian and Central European Formula Ford championships

In 1994 he finally achieved his ambition of becoming a Formula One driver, signing a five-race deal with the new Simtek teamrun by Nick Wirth. His campaign got off to a poor start at the Brazilian Grand Prix in Interlagos where he failed to qualify. But he got onto the grid for the next round at the TI Circuit in Aida, Japan, as his experience of the track from his touring car days meant he was the only driver in the race who had driven at the venue before. He finished eleventh.

33 year old Roland Ratzenberger was killed during qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix at the Imola circuit on Saturday 30 April 1994. He went off-track on the previous lap, damaging his front wing, but rather than come into the pits he continued since he was competing for the final grid spot.Subsequently, the high speed on the backstraight, and therefore high wind pressure, finally broke the wing off, sending it under Ratzenberger's car. His car failed to turn into the Villeneuve Corner and struck the outside wall at 195.68 mph (314.9 km/h).

He was the first racing driver to die at a Grand Prix weekend since the 1982 season, when Riccardo Paletti was killed at the Canadian Grand Prix, coincidentally at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. He was the first driver to die in an F1 car since Elio de Angelis during testing in 1986.

The cause of death was a basal skull fracture.

FIA President Max Mosley attended the funeral of Ratzenberger, despite the overwhelming attention on Senna's funeral, both in the world of motorsport and worldwide. In a press conference ten years later Mosley said, "'Roland had been forgotten. So I went to his funeral because everyone went to Senna's. I thought it was important that somebody went to his. Ratzenberger was supposed to drive later that year in the Le Mans 24 Hours for Toyota. Eddie Irvine took his place in the team, and Roland's name was left on the car (which would go on to take second place overall) as a tribute.

RACING TEAMS 2015

McLaren

2015 Formula one season
Race drivers	14. Fernando Alonso 22. Jenson Button
Test drivers	Kevin Magnussen

Full name	McLaren Mercedes
Base	/51.34583; -0.54778McLaren Technology Centre, Chertsey Rd Woking, Surrey, GU21 4YH, United Kingdom
Team Manager	David Redding
Technical director/s	Tim Goss Neil Oatley

Engen Honda

McLaren is one of the oldest active teams in F1, and has been in competition every year since 1966. The team was formed by New Zealand racer Bruce McLaren, who lost his life while testing one of the Can-Am cars which bore his name at Goodwood in 1970. Four years later the team won its first world championship with Emerson Fittipaldi, and a second came in 1976 courtesy of James Hunt. But the Teddy Mayer-run outfit fell down the grid before a takeover by Ron Dennis in the early 1980s. The reinvigorated outfit pioneered the carbon fibre chassis and became the dominant force in F1 from 1984 until the early nineties, with the likes of Niki Lauda, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna winning championship. After splitting with Honda it found a new engine partner in Mercedes and added further championships in 1998 and 1999, Mika Hakkinen taking the drivers’ title in both years. More might have followed in 2007 but the team was implicated in a scandal over alleged spying on rivals Ferrari. Given a record fine of $100m the team were thrown out of the constructors’ championship and both Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso lost the drivers’ title at the last round by one point each. The team bounced back to win the drivers’ title with Hamilton in 2008. It’s association with Mercedes came to an end in 2014. The following year it reunited with Honda for the first time since 1992.

Jenson Button

Jenson Alexander Lyons Button, MBE (born 19 January 1980) is a British Formula One driver from England currently signed to McLaren. He was the 2009 Formula One World Champion, driving for Brawn GP. Button began karting at the age of eight and achieved early success, before progressing to car racing in the British Formula Ford Championship and the British Formula Three Championship. He first drove in Formula One with Williams F1 for the 2000 season. The following year he switched to Benetton, which in 2002 became Renault, and then for the 2003 season he moved to BAR. In 2004 he finished 3rd in the World Drivers' Championship, with only the two Ferraris ahead of him. BAR were subsequently renamed Honda for the 2006 season, during which Button won his first Grand Prix in Hungary, after 113 races. Following the withdrawal of Honda from the sport in December 2008, he was left without a drive for the 2009 season, until Ross Brawn led a management buyout of the team in February 2009, and Button suddenly found himself in a highly competitive, Mercedes-engined car. He went on to win a record-equalling six of the first seven races of the 2009 season, securing the World Drivers' Championship at the Brazilian Grand Prix, having led on points all season; his success also helped Brawn GP to secure the World Constructors' Championship. For 2010, he moved to McLaren, partnering fellow British racer and former World Champion Lewis Hamilton. After finishing fifth for the team in 2010, Button finished the 2011 season as runner-up. In 2012 he took his first pole for McLaren at the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix. He spent a fifth season with the McLaren team in 2014, his 15th in Formula One. From the 270 races that Button has started he has won 15, with a total of 50 podium finishes. Button was named one of the "Men of the Year" in both 2009 and 2011 by Top Gear.

Bruce McLaren Motor Racing was founded in 1963 by New Zealander Bruce McLaren. Bruce was a works driver for the British Formula One team Cooper with whom he had won three Grands Prix and come second in the 1960 world championship. Wanting to compete in the Australasian Tasman Series, Bruce approached his employers, but when team owner Charles Cooper insisted on using 1.5 litre Formula One-specification engines instead of the 2.5 litre motors permitted by the Tasman rules, Bruce decided to set up his own team to run him and his prospective Formula One team-mate Timmy Mayer with custom-built Cooper cars. Bruce won the 1964 series, but Mayer was killed in practice for the final race, prompting his brother and manager Teddy Mayer to become involved with the running of the team. In 1964 and 1965 McLaren were based in New Malden, then Feltham before settling on premises in Colnbrook. During this period Bruce drove for his team in sports car races in the United Kingdom and North America and also entered the 1965 Tasman Series with Phil Hill but didn't win it. He continued to drive in Grands Prix for Cooper but judging that team's form to be waning, decided to race his own cars in 1966.

Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso (born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish Formula One racing driver and a double World Champion who is currently racing for McLaren-Honda. Alonso started in karting from the age of 3. He won three consecutive karting championships in Spain from 1994 to 1997, and he became world karting champion in 1996. He made his Formula One debut in the 2001 season with Minardi, and then moved to the Renault team as a test driver the next year. Starting in 2003 Alonso then became one of the main drivers of the team. On 25 September 2005, he won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship title at the age of 24 years and 58 days, at the time making him the youngest Formula One World Drivers' Champion. After retaining the title the following year, Alonso also became the youngest double Champion at the time. He joined McLaren in 2007, before returning to Renault for two seasons in 2008 and 2009, and in 2010, he joined Scuderia Ferrari. Although Alonso did not reach his goal of winning a third title while at Ferrari he managed to finish runner up on three occasions (2010, 2012 and 2013) as well as winning eleven Grands Prix with the team and clearly beating his team mates for points in all five seasons. His strongest title challenges were in 2010 and 2012, finishing both seasons just adrift of title winner Sebastian Vettel. Nicknamed El Nano, a typical pseudonym for Fernando in Asturias, his place of birth, Alonso acts as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. Alonso also had become the youngest driver to win a pole position and Grand Prix respectively in the 2003 Malaysian Grand Prix and the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix, before both records were broken by Sebastian Vettel in the 2008 Italian Grand Prix. With his fourth-place finish in the 2013 Japanese Grand Prix, scoring his 1,571st career point, Alonso took over the record for most championship points in his career. As of March 2015, Alonso is the only Spanish driver to have won a Formula One Grand Prix and is the driver with the sixth highest number of Grand Prix wins.

Mercedes

2015 Formula one season
Race drivers	44. Lewis Hamilton 6. Nico Rosberg
Test drivers	Pascal Wehrlein

Full name	Mercedes
Base	Mercedes Formula One Team, Brackley, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom, NN13 7BD
Managing director	Andy Cowell
Technical director	Bob Bell
Engen	Mercedes

Mercedes can trace its motor racing involvement back to the pioneering days of the original Grands Prix at the start of the 20th century. In the years leading up to World War Two the German government pumped money into Mercedes and rivals Auto Union to build the most technically advanced racing machines the world had seen. After the war it wasn’t until the mid-fifties that German teams were allowed to compete again. When Mercedes returned it picked up where it had left off. Juan Manuel Fangio moved to the team from Maserati part way through 1954 and won the world title. Fangio won a second title when joined by Stirling Moss in 1955. But the team’s sports car effort was withdrawn from the Le Mans 24 Hours that year after one of its drivers, Pierre Levegh, crashed into the crowd. Levegh and over 80 spectators were killed. Mercedes withdrew from all motor racing competition and did not return until the 1980s. It wasn’t until 1993 that the Mercedes name was seen again in F1, as an engine supplier to Sauber. It switched teams to McLaren and won championships with them in 1998, 1999 and 2008. A last-minute deal to supply the Brawn team with engines in 2009 led to wins in both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships. It also paved the way for Mercedes to return to the sport as a full constructor in 2010 after it took over the team. The team enticed Michael Schumacher back from retirement to drive for them but it was Nico Rosberg who scored their first comeback win in China in 2012. Lewis Hamilton replaced Schumacher for the 2013 season, and the following year the wisdom of that move became clear. Mercedes prepared perfectly for F1’s new era of V6 hybrid turbo engines. In a 19-race campaign the team dominated the championship, taking 18 pole positions and 16 wins. Of those, 11 were scored by Hamilton, who also won his second drivers’ title.

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton, MBE (born 7 January 1985) is a British Formula One racing driver from England, currently racing for the Mercedes AMG team. He is the 2008 and 2014 Formula One World Champion. Hamilton was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. In December 1995, at the age of ten, he approached McLaren team principal Ron Dennis at the Autosport Awards ceremony and told him, "I want to race for you one day ... I want to race for McLaren." Less than three years later McLaren and Mercedes-Benz signed him to their Young Driver Support Programme. After winning the British Formula Renault, Formula Three Euroseries, and GP2 championships on his way up the racing career ladder, he drove for McLaren in 2007, making his Formula One debut 12 years after his initial encounter with Dennis. Hamilton's contract for the McLaren driver development program made him the youngest ever driver to secure a contract which later resulted in a Formula One drive. Coming from a mixed background, with a black father and white mother, Hamilton is often labelled "the first black driver in Formula One", although Willy T. Ribbs tested a Formula One car in 1986. He is also the first driver of black African heritage to win a major race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in any discipline. In his first season in Formula One, Hamilton set numerous records, while finishing second in the 2007 Formula One Championship, just one point behind Kimi Räikkönen. He won the World Championship the following season, becoming the then-youngest Formula One world champion in history. Sebastian Vettel broke that record two years later. Following his second world title in 2014 he was named the BBC Sports Personality of the Year. He is the only driver on the current grid to have won at least one race in each season he has competed in to date, with McLaren from 2007 until 2012, and with Mercedes since 2013. He has more race victories than any other British driver in the history of Formula One and is currently 5th on the all-time list, with 36 wins.

Mercedes-Benz formerly competed in Grand Prix motor racing in the 1930s, when the Silver Arrows dominated alongside rivals Auto Union. Both teams were heavily funded by the Nazi regime, winning all European Grand Prix Championships after 1932, of which Rudolf Caracciola won three for Mercedes-Benz. In 1954 Mercedes-Benz returned to what was now known as Formula One racing (a World championship having been established in 1950), using the technologically advanced Mercedes-Benz W196 which was run in both open-wheeled and streamlined forms. Juan Manuel Fangio, a previous champion (1951) transferred mid-season from Maserati to Mercedes-Benz for their debut at the French Grand Prix on 4 July 1954. The team had immediate success and recorded a 1-2 victory with Fangio and Karl Kling, as well as the fastest lap (Hans Herrmann). Fangio went on to win three more races in 1954, winning the Championship. The success continued into the 1955 season, where the same car was used again. Mercedes again dominated the season, with Fangio taking four races, and his new team mate Stirling Moss the British Grand Prix. Fangio and Moss finished first and second in that year's championship. The disaster at the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 11 June which killed Mercedes sportscar driver Pierre Levegh and over 80 spectators led to the cancellations of the French, German, Spanish and Swiss Grands Prix. The team withdrew from motor sport, including Formula One, at the end of the season. The company made a return to the sport in 1993 by unofficially supplying the Sauber team with engines, a partnership which was made official the following year. For 1995, Mercedes switched its engine supply to the McLaren team and bought a minority shareholding in the team. McLaren won three drivers' championships and one constructors' championship between 1995 and 2009. In 2009, Mercedes began supplying additional engines to the Brawn GP and Force India teams; Brawn won both the drivers' and constructors' championships.

Nico Rosberg

Nico Erik Rosberg (born 27 June 1985 in Wiesbaden, West Germany) is a racing driver for the Mercedes GP Formula One team. He races under the German flag in Formula One, although he competed for Finland earlier in his career. He holds dual nationality of these two countries.Rosberg won the 2005 GP2 Series for the ART team, having raced in Formula Three Euroseries previously for his father's team. Rosberg joined the re-branded Mercedes team, formed by the takeover of 2009 constructors' champions Brawn GP, for the 2010 Formula One season .The son of Finnish 1982 Formula One World Champion Keke Rosberg and his wife Sina, Nico spent much of his youth in Monaco with his family, and still lives in the principality. Rosberg speaks fluent German, English, Italian, Spanish and French; but only a little Finnish, though he is learning the language. In lower formulae drivers race under the nationality of the country that issued their racing licence. Rosberg competed under the Finnish and German flags at different times during his early career. In Formula One, as for all FIA world championships, a driver's nationality is defined by his passport. Rosberg races under the German flag in Formula One.

Red Bull Racing

2015 Formula One season
Race drivers	3. Daniel Ricciardo 26. Daniil Kvyat
Test drivers	Sebastien Buemi

Full name	Red Bull Racing
Base	Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom
Team principal(s)	Christian Horner
Chief Technical Officer	Adrian Newey

Dietrich Mateschitz, the billionaire behind soft drink Red Bull, formed an F1 team in 2005 having bought the remnants of Jaguar Racing from Ford. The company had previously sponsored several F1 drivers. He appointed Christian Horner to run the team who signalled its determination to succeed by hiring of top designer Adrian Newey, who had crafted world championship-winning cars for Williams and McLaren. Sebastian Vettel scored the team’s breakthrough victory in 2009 and went on to finish second in the drivers’ championship that year. Newey’s race-winning RB5 laid the groundwork for a series of championship-winning cars to follow. In 2010 the combination of Vettel and the RB6 captured the drivers’ and constructors’ championship for the team. Both driver and team retained their titles after a dominant 2011 campaign. Vettel and team mate Mark Webber racked up 12 wins and 18 pole positions in 19 races. In 2012 they became the first ever team to win their first three constructors championship titles consecutively. Vettel added another drivers’ title after a hard-fought battle with Fernando Alonso which went down to the last race. They remained on top in 2013, dominating the second half of the season as Vettel scored nine consecutive wins. Red Bull have a sister team, Toro Rosso, which primarily exists to give up-and-coming drivers race experience, evaluate their potential and assess whether they should gain a place at Red Bull. Vettel was promoted from the team at the end of 2008. However following an unsuccessful 2014 Vettel moved on to Ferrari. Daniel Ricciardo, who had been promoted from Toro Rosso as his new team mate and won three races, remained and was joined by another of the team’s graduates, Daniil Kvyat.

Daniel Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo born 1 July 1989) is an Australian racing driver who is currently competing in Formula One for Infiniti Red Bull Racing. He won the British Formula Three Championship in 2009. After Mark Webber announced his retirement from Formula One, Ricciardo was confirmed as his replacement at Infiniti Red Bull Racing for 2014. In his first season with Red Bull, Ricciardo finished third in the championship with his first three Formula One wins, in Canada,Hungary, and Belgium. His father was born in Ficarra, Sicily and his mother's family comes from Calabria. Ricciardo pronounces his name 'Ricardo' instead of the Italian pronunciation 'Rit-char-do', saying that is how his family pronounces it. Born in Perth, Western Australia, Ricciardo started karting at the age of nine, as a member of the Tiger Kart Club (TKC) and entered numerous karting events. In 2005, he entered the Western Australian Formula Ford championship driving a 15-year-old Van Diemen, finishing eighth by season's end. Towards the end of the season Ricciardo took a leased 13-year-old Van Diemen across to Sandown Raceway in Melbourne to compete at the national Formula Ford series but his ageing car was uncompetitive as he finished sixteenth, seventeenth and retired during the weekend's three races. The following year, however, he won a scholarship into the Formula BMW Asian championship with Eurasia Motorsport. During his début season, Ricciardo took two victories (both at Bira) and also achieved a pole position at Zhuhai. He finished third in the Drivers' Championship with 231 points, 59 points behind the champion Earl Bamber. In August that year, he was given an outing with Motaworld Racing to race one of their Formula BMW cars at the eighth meeting of the British championship. Despite retiring from the first race, Ricciardo recovered to finish eighth in the second race and took three championship points in his only entry in the British championship. At the end of the year, he entered the Formula BMW World Final with Fortec Motorsport where he finished in fifth position, fourteen seconds off winner Christian Vietoris.

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, and Ford made the decision to rebrand the team Jaguar Racing, with little subsequent success over the next five years. The Jaguar Racing Formula One constructor and racing team was put up for sale in September 2004 when its owner, the Ford Motor Company, decided it could "no longer make a compelling business case for any of its brands to compete in F1." 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, and the operation continued under the new title. 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 Bull's involvement in open-wheel racing. Setting up a Formula One team of its own meant that Red Bull had to end its long-term partnership with the Sauber Formula One team. The drinks company also runs a young drivers programme, Red Bull Junior Team, whereby Red Bull sponsors promising young drivers. 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, Formula One's "feeder" series.

Daniil Kvyat

Daniil Vyacheslavovich Kvyat (Russian: Дании́л Вячесла́вович Квят; IPA: [dənʲɪˈil vʲɪtɕɪˈslavəvʲɪtɕ kvʲat], born 26 April 1994) is a Russian auto racing driver. He was runner-up at the 2012 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, and GP3 Series champion in 2013. He joined Formula One as a Toro Rosso driver in 2014 finishing 15th in the World Championship. He then moved on to Red Bull Racing to partner Daniel Ricciardo for the 2015 season. Born in Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia, Kvyat was an active kart racer in Russia and Italy. In 2009, he finished third in the KF3 European Championship category and finished as runner-up in the WSK International Series. Kvyat started his formula racing career during the 2010 Formula BMW Pacific season with EuroInternational at the Sepang International Circuit. In his first race he started from sixth place, but finished only nineteenth. He finished fifth in the second race. During the season, he joined the Red Bull Junior Team and made his debut in Formula BMW Europe with the same team. He finished in tenth position in the final championship standings, with a second-place finish at Monza.

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro

2015 Formula One season
Race drivers	5. Sebastian Vettel 7. Kimi Räikkönen
Test drivers	Esteban Gutierrez Jean-Eric Vergne

Full name	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro (1997–present) "Scuderia Ferrari SpA" (1990–1996) "Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC" (1961–1989) "Scuderia Ferrari"(1950–1960)
Base	Maranello, Italy
Team principal(s)	Maurizio Arrivabene
Technical director(s)	James Allson

Ferrari and Formula 1 are inseparable in the eyes of some. They are the only team in Formula 1 today to have competed in the first world championship in 1950. The first decade and a half of the world championship saw a string of Ferrari championships won by the likes of Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Phil Hill and John Surtees. Ferrari struggled from the mid-sixties to the mid-seventies, before the new partnership of Niki Lauda and Mauro Forghieri delivered more titles in 1975 and 1977. There might have been another in 1976 – but Lauda was gravely injured in a fiery crash at the Nurburgring. His return late in the season, only to withdraw from the final race of the year, ultimately led to a split between him and team founder Enzo Ferrari 12 months later. The patriarch died in 1988, nine years since a driver last won the title with the team and five years since its last constructors’ championship. Throughout much of the 1980s and 1990s Ferrari looked like they would never regain the clarity of focus needed to go all the way. Alain Prost came close to winning the title with them in 1990, then was fired a year later for making comments about his car which were as unflattering as they were accurate. It was only when Jean Todt recruited a swathe of staff from outside Italy – including Michael Schumacher – that the team tasted championship success again. It began the 21st century with an unprecedented five consecutive championship doubles, and even after Schumacher’s departure the team claimed another double in 2007. Kimi Raikkonen won the drivers’ championship for them that year but in 2010 he was replaced by Fernando Alonso. His successor came close to lifting the drivers’ crown that year and again in 2012, finishing runner-up to Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel on both occasions. Today they have a record 16 constructors’ championships to their name, and might have won more had the title been awarded before 1958.

Sebastian Vettel

Sebastian Vettel (born 3 July 1987) is a German Formula One racing driver, currently driving for Scuderia Ferrari. He is contracted to remain in that role until at least the end of 2017. He is a four-time Formula One World Champion, having won the championship in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 with Red Bull Racing. He is among the most successful F1 drivers of all time. In his first year driving for Red Bull in 2009, Vettel finished the season as the youngest-ever World Drivers' Championship runner-up. The following year he went on to become the youngest driver ever to win the World Drivers' Championship, aged 23. In the same year he helped Red Bull win the team's first World Constructors' Championship. He followed up his first championship with three more titles, becoming the youngest double, triple and quadruple world champion in Formula One. Vettel left Red Bull Racing and ended his long-term association with the company after the 2014 season and signed a contract with Ferrari for 2015, after activating a clause to terminate his Red Bull contract early. Vettel has held numerous other "youngest" Formula One records, among them: the youngest driver to have taken part in an official practice session of a Grand Prix (until Max Verstappen at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix), to score championship points (until Daniil Kvyat at the 2014 Australian Grand Prix), to lead a race, to secure pole position and to win a race. He is also currently third in the overall tally of pole positions behind fellow German Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna and in fourth place among race winners.

The Scuderia Ferrari team was founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929 and became the racing team of Alfa Romeo, building and racing cars under the Alfa name. In 1938, Alfa Romeo management made the decision to enter racing under its own name, establishing the Alfa Corse organisation, which adsorbed what had been Scuderia Ferrari. 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, for a period of four years. In 1939 Ferrari started work a racecar of his own, the Tipo 815 (eight cylinders, 1.5 L displacement). 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, which would design and build its own cars.

Kimi Räikkönen

Kimi-Matias Räikkönen born 17 October 1979), nicknamed "The Ice Man", is a Finnish racing driver currently driving for Ferrari in Formula One. After nine seasons racing in Formula One, in which he won the 2007 Formula One World Drivers' Championship, he competed in the World Rally Championship in 2010 and 2011. In 2012, he returned to Formula One, driving for Lotus and continued to drive for Lotus in 2013. On 11 September 2013, Ferrari announced their signing of Räikkönen on a two-year contract, beginning in the 2014 season. Räikkönen entered Formula One as a regular driver for Sauber-Petronas in 2001. Having previously only raced in very junior open-wheel categories, he was given his Super Licence from the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) after a performance delivery promise by his team boss, Peter Sauber. He joined McLaren Mercedes in 2002, and became a title contender by finishing runner-up in the 2003 and 2005 championships to Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso, respectively. Räikkönen's 2004 and 2006 seasons were plagued by severe unreliability from his McLaren cars. Räikkönen switched to Ferrari in 2007, becoming the highest-paid driver in motor sport with an estimated wage of $51 million per year. His move to Ferrari saw him secure his first Formula One World Drivers' Championship, beating McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso by one point, as well as becoming one of the very few drivers to win in their first season with Ferrari. In 2008, he equalled the record for fastest laps in a season for the second time. However, with Ferrari's desire to get Fernando Alonso in the team with his Santander sponsorship, Räikkönen left the sport and Scuderia Ferrari F1 Team in 2009. Räikkönen then went into WRC to drive a Citroën C4 WRC for the Citroën Junior Team in the World Rally Championship for 2010. Along with rallying, Räikkönen also competed in NASCAR, and made his debut for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Camping World Truck Series. Räikkönen made his return to F1 when he signed a 2-year deal with Lotus starting with the 2012 Formula One season. In his comeback season, he won the 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. His consistent performances allowed him to end the season 3rd in the Drivers' Championship. In 2008, Räikkönen was among the two Formula One drivers who made it into Forbes magazine's The Celebrity 100 list, the other being Fernando Alonso. He was 36th on the magazine's The Celebrity 100 list of 2008, and 41st the previous year. On the same list, as of 2008, he is listed as the 26th highest-paid celebrity overall and the 5th highest-paid sportsman behind Tiger Woods, David Beckham, Michael Jordan and Phil Mickelson. In 2009, Räikkönen was listed as the 2nd highest-paid athlete in the world, behind Woods.

AT&T Williams

2015 Formula One season
Race drivers	19. Felipe Massa 77. Valtteri Bottas
Test drivers	Adrian sutil Susie Wolff Alex Lynn

Full name	AT&T Williams
Base	Grove, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
Team principal(s)	Frank Williams Patrick Head Adam Parr (CEO)
Technical director	Sam Michael

Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head. The team was formed in 1977 after Frank Williams' two earlier and, compared with Williams F1's achievements, unsuccessful F1 operations: Frank Williams Racing Cars (1969 to 1975) and Walter Wolf Racing (1976). All of Williams F1 chassis are called "FW" then a number, the FW being the initials of team owner, Frank Williams.

Felipe Massa

Felipe Massa born 25 April 1981 is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver who currently drives for Williams. Massa started his career in go-karting from the age of eight continuing in national and regional championships for seven years. He moved into Formula Chevrolet and claimed the championship. He moved in Italian Formula Renault in 2000 and won the title along with the European championship. Massa went into Euro Formula 3000 taking the championship. Massa started his Formula One career with Sauber before joining Scuderia Ferrari as a test driver for 2003. He returned to Sauber for 2004 and 2005 before rejoining Ferrari where he won two races in 2006 including his home Grand Prix becoming the first Brazilian since Ayrton Senna to win the Brazilian Grand Prix. Massa won three races in 2007, finishing 4th in the Drivers' Championship. He finished second in the 2008 Drivers' World Championship after a long title battle with Lewis Hamilton. At the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, Massa was injured by a suspension spring off the Brawn GP car of Rubens Barrichello. Massa was forced to miss the rest of the season but returned in 2010. Massa suffered a dip in form in 2011 scoring no podiums but consistently scoring points. Massa contributed to Ferrari's Constructors Championships in 2007 and 2008 and was under contract to race for the team until the end of the 2013 season. On 10 September 2013, he confirmed he would be leaving Ferrari at the end of the 2013 season. On 11 November, it was announced that Massa would replace Pastor Maldonado alongside Valtteri Bottas at Williams from 2014.

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 following year, and Switzerland's Clay Regazzoni won Williams' first race at the 1979 British Grand Prix. At the 1997 British Grand Prix, Canadian Jacques Villeneuve won the team's 100th race, making Williams one of only three teams in Formula One, alongside Ferrari and fellow British team McLaren, to win 100 races. Williams won nine Constructor's titles between 1980 and 1997. This stood as a record until Ferrari surpassed it in 2000. Many famous racing drivers have driven for Williams, including Australia's Alan Jones; Finland's Keke Rosberg; Britain's Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill and Jenson Button; France's Alain Prost; Brazil's Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna, and Canada's Jacques Villeneuve, each of whom, with the exception of Senna and Button, have captured one Drivers' title with the team. After Senna died in a Williams car in a crash at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, Frank Williams, Patrick Head and designer Adrian Newey were all accused of manslaughter. The trial finally closed in 2005, when Williams, Head and Newey were cleared of any wrongdoing. Williams have worked with many notable engine manufacturers, most successfully with Renault: Williams won five of their nine constructors' titles with the French company. Along with Ferrari, McLaren, and Renault (formerly Benetton), Williams is one of the "Big Four" teams that won every constructors' championship between 1979 and 2008 and every driver's championship from 1984 to 2008.

Valtteri Bottas

Valtteri Bottas (born 28 August 1989) is a Finnish racing driver currently competing in Formula One with Williams. He currently resides in Monaco. Born in Nastola, Finland, Bottas finished eighth in the 2005 Karting World Cup for the P.D.B. Racing Team, using Gillard chassis and Parilla engines. Bottas won both the 2008 Formula Renault Eurocup and the 2008 Formula Renault Northern European Cup. In doing so, he repeated the feat of Filipe Albuquerque, who won both the NEC and Eurocup in the same season, in 2006. Bottas would have also won the 2007 Formula Renault UK Winter Series, had he been holding an MSA-registered licence for the championship. This did however not stop him from competing, and he won three out of the four races in the championship. He moved up into the Formula Three Euroseries for the 2009 season, competing for reigning champions ART Grand Prix. Despite not winning a race, Bottas set two pole positions on his way to third in the championship, edging out Alexander Sims at the final race. In June 2009, Bottas won the 2009 Masters of Formula 3, also claiming the pole position and setting the fastest lap of the race. By winning the event again in 2010, he became the first driver to win the F3 Masters title for the second time. In 2010 Bottas was assigned test driver for the Williams Formula One team and would continue as such for the 2011 and 2012 (where he took part in 15 Friday Free Practice sessions) seasons, during which he also contested the GP3 Series, remaining with F3 squad ART. After a tough start to the season, he claimed a win in each of the last four race weekends and secured the title by winning the penultimate race ahead of his team-mate James Calado.

Renault F1 Team

2015 Formula One season
Race drivers	8. Romain Grosjean 13. Pastor Maldonado
Test drivers	Jolyon Palmer

Full name	Lotus F1 Team
Base	Whiteways Technical Centre, Enstone, Oxfordshire, OX7 4EE, United Kingdom
Team principal(s)	Geerard Lopez
Technical director	Nick Chester

Lotus was one of the leading outfits of the sixties and seventies when it was run by Colin Chapman. Drivers like Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Emerson Fittipaldi and Mario Andretti won championships in a series of ground-breaking Lotuses. They were famed for producing leaps ahead in technology. Cars like the Cosworth DFV-powered 49, the wedge-shaped 72 and the ground effect 79 left the opposition reeling. But Lotus were also prone to producing over-ambitious and unreliable machines. Sometimes Chapman found himself pursuing what turned out to be technological dead-ends for F1 cars such as turbine power or four-wheel-drive. Other times he got into fights with the governing body, such as when he produced the twin-chassis 88 which was banned before it started a race. By the time of Chapman’s death in 1982 the team had already won its last championship. Further race wins followed, most coming courtesy of Ayrton Senna in the mid-eighties. But by the early nineties Lotus was on its last legs and it collapsed before the 1995 season. A new Lotus team, run by Tony Fernandes, entered F1 in 2010. However following a dispute with car manufacturer Group Lotus, the name changed hands in 2012. The team which competed as Renault in 2011 became Lotus, and Fernandes’ team was rebranded as Caterham. The third iteration of Lotus rediscovered its winning ways with Kimi Raikkonen in 2012, triumphing in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Raikkonen, returning to F1 after a two-year break, ended the year third in the drivers’ championship and the team beat Mercedes to fourth in the constructors’ points.

Pastor Maldonado

Pastor Rafael Maldonado Motta (born 9 March 1985) is a Venezuelan racing driver, currently competing in Formula One for Lotus F1. Before making his Formula One début with the Williams team in 2011, he won the 2010 GP2 Series championship. He became the first Venezuelan to win a Formula One Grand Prix when he won the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix, for Williams, from his first pole position. Born in Maracay, Venezuela, Maldonado's first experience of formula racing was in Italy in 2003. He competed in the Italian Formula Renault Championship with Cram Competition, and was classified seventh in the drivers' championship. His notable results included three podium finishes and one pole position. Cram Competition also entered one round of the German Formula Renault Championship at Oschersleben. In 2004, Maldonado ran a dual programme in Italian and Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup with Cram Competition. He won the Italian title, with eight wins and six pole positions from seventeen starts. In the European championship, he was classified eighth overall, with two wins. Maldonado also found the time to enter one round of the now defunct Formula Renault V6 Eurocup at Spa-Francorchamps, with a best finish of fifth place. In November 2004, Maldonado was given an opportunity to test with the Minardi Formula One team at Misano in Italy. The team's former owner, Giancarlo Minardi, was present at the test and commented positively about Maldonado's performance.

The team can trace its ancestry back to the Toleman team which entered F1 for the first time in 1981. The team became the Benetton team in 1986 following its purchase by the Benetton family. Renault purchased Benetton Formula Limited for $120 million on 16 March 2000, to return to Formula One. Renault maintained the Benetton name for the 2000 and the 2001 seasons. When reporting the purchase the International Herald Tribune commented that "the team will not race under the Renault name until it is ready to win and reap the marketing benefits." It was not until 2002 that this name change occurred.

Romain Grosjean

Romain Grosjean born 17 April 1986) is a racing driver, currently racing for the Lotus F1 Team. He races under the French flag in Formula One although he was born in Geneva and holds dual Franco-Swiss nationality. He dominated the 2005 French Formula Renault championship on his first attempt and joined the Renault young driver program. He was the 2007 Formula 3 Euro Series drivers' champion. In 2008 he became the inaugural GP2 Asia Series champion and came 4th in his first year in GP2. In 2009 he made his Formula 1 debut for Renault at the European Grand Prix and came 4th again in GP2 despite missing the final 8 races.After being dropped by Renault he returned to junior formula winning the 2010 AutoGP championship on his first attempt and winning the 2011 GP2 Asia Series and GP2 Series becoming the first – and as of December 2014, only – two-time GP2 Asia champion and the only driver to hold both the GP2 Asia series and main GP2 series titles simultaneously. (Due to the Asia and Main GP2 series being combined, it is likely that this will remain true for the foreseeable future). In 2012, Grosjean returned to Formula One with the Lotus F1 Team, alongside Kimi Räikkönen. He took his first podium in Formula One at the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix and took his first fastest lap in the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix. He became the first driver since 1994 to receive a race ban after causing a multi-car pile up at the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix. In 2013 he remained with Lotus, taking 6 podiums. He drove for Lotus again alongside Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado in the 2014 season. This line up was continued for 2015.

Force India F1 Team

2015 Formula One season
Race drivers	27. Nico Hülkenberg 11. Sergio Prez
Test drivers	TBC

Full name	Force India F1 Team
Base	Silverstone, England, UK
Team principal(s)	Bob Fernley

Engen Mercedes

Force India F1 is the trading name of Force India Formula One Team Limited, a Silverstone, England based Formula One motor racing team which currently holds an Indian licence. The team was formed in October 2007 when a consortium led by Indian businessman Vijay Mallya and Michiel Mol bought the Spyker F1 team for € 88 million. Force India F1 represents increased Indian participation within Formula One, with Greater Noida set to host the first Indian Grand Prix in 2011. The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile confirmed the change in name from Spyker to Force India on 24 October 2007. After going through 29 races without scoring points, Force India won their first Formula One world championship points and podium place when Giancarlo Fisichella finished second in the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix, Force India scored points again in the following race when Adrian Sutil finished fourth, and set the team's first fastest lap, at the Italian Grand Prix. The team's current drivers are Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta, with Nico Hülkenberg as the reserve.

Nico Hülkenberg

Adrian Sutil ( born January 11, 1983 in Starnberg, West Germany) is a German Formula One racing driver. Sutil is the son of professional musicians Monika, a German, and Jorge, a Uruguayan. He has two brothers named Daniel and Raphael. He weighs 165 pounds (75 kilograms) and is 6 feet (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, Spanish and a little Italian. He is close friends with Lewis Hamilton and is friends with fellow German driver Nico Rosberg.

The team has its origins in 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 and achieving third place in the 1999 constructors title. However, like many of the smaller teams in the 2000s, financial problems meant the team's performance dried up, and team owner Eddie Jordan sold to the Midland Group in 2005. The re-named Midland F1 Racing team spent two seasons at the back of grid, before owner Alex Shnaider sold the team on to Spyker Cars mid-way through the 2006 season. Spyker F1 scored a point in 2007 and briefly led the European Grand Prix; despite this, the team once again hit financing issues, and was sold on to Indian businessman Vijay Mallya, Chairman of the United Breweries Group and Michiel Mol, Spyker’s Formula One Director.

Sergio Perez

Sergio Pérez Mendoza born 26 January 1990) also known as "Checo" Pérez, is a Mexican racing driver, currently driving for Force India. Pérez was a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy until 2012. He also took his first Formula One podium at the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix with Sauber, a drive which won him plaudits and fuelled speculation of a move to Ferrari in the near future. However, Pérez later told reporters that he expected to stay with Sauber until at least the end of the 2012 season. Due to his young age and performance, he has been referred to as "The Mexican Wunderkind". Pérez joined McLaren for the 2013 season however the car failed to deliver the team a single podium finish. Subsequently for the 2014 season, the team decided to replace Pérez with Danish driver Kevin Magnussen very late into the season almost leaving Pérez without a seat. In December 2013, it was announced that Force India had signed Pérez in a €15 million deal.

Scuderia Toro Rosso

2015 Formula One season
Race driver	33. Max Verstappen 55. Carlos Sainz
Test drivers	TBC

Full name	Scuderia Toro Rosso
Base	Faenza, Italy
Team principal(s)	Franz Tost
Technical director	James Key

Engen Renault

Toro Rosso is the second Red Bull-operated team (‘Toro Rosso’ is Italian for ‘Red Bull’) which was formed after Red Bull purchased Minardi. Originally Red Bull and Toro Rosso used chassis developed by Red Bull Technologies, but this practice ended after the 2009 season. In 2008 Sebastian Vettel scored the team’s first F1 win in the Italian Grand Prix. Vettel went on to race for Red Bull and the team has continued to bring in and replace young drivers at a rapid rate, serving as a training ground for prospective Red Bull drivers.

Max Verstappen

Max Emilian Verstappen (born 30 September 1997) is a Belgian-Dutch racing driver who competes under the Dutch flag in Formula One with the Scuderia Toro Rosso racing team. Verstappen is the youngest World Championship Grand Prix driver in the history of the sport, having made his début, aged 17 years, 166 days, at the 2015 Australian Grand Prix. He is the son of former F1 driver Jos Verstappen. Verstappen's family has a long association with motor sports. His father, Jos Verstappen, is a former Formula One driver, while his mother Sophie Kumpen was a successful kart driver. She won two Belgian championships and in 1995 the prestigious Trofeo Margutti in Lonato, Italy, competing against drivers such as Jarno Trulli and Giancarlo Fisichella. His grandfather, Robert Kumpen, competed in endurance karting at international level. Robert's brother Paul Kumpen, the godfather of Sophie, is a former rallycross and GT endurance driver and the founder of the Belgian team PK Racing. Paul's son Anthony (Sophie's cousin) is known as the most successful driver at Circuit Zolder. He won the Spa 24 Hours with a Corvette, participated in the Le Mans 24 Hours and became the champion in the 2014 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series season. In February 2015 he made his American NASCAR debut in the 2015 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, finishing 14th in New Smyrna. Although he was born in the Belgium town of Hasselt to a Dutch father and Belgian mother, lives in Belgium and travels with a Belgian passport, Verstappen decided to compete with a Dutch racing licence as he spent most of his karting time surrounded by Dutch people while growing up in Maaseik, a Belgian town at the Dutch border.

Vitantonio Liuzzi scored the team's first point in its first season at the 2006 United States Grand Prix. The team's first pole position, podium and victory were scored by Sebastian Vettel at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix. For the 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 seasons, Toro Rosso used Ferrari V8 engines, taking over the contract that their senior team broke from at the end of 2006. The team principal is Franz Tost, formerly of BMW's motor sport division. The team's set 2008 driver lineup was Sebastian Vettel, third driver for BMW Sauber in 2006 before switching to a race seat at Toro Rosso midway through the 2007 season, and Sébastien Bourdais, the four-time winner of the Champ Car World Series. Sébastien Buemi replaced Vettel for the 2009 season, while Bourdais was dropped after the German Grand Prix, following a series of poor performances and had scored only two points. 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 have been retained by the team until the end of the 2011 season. Minardi had competed in Formula One from 1985 to 2005. Despite having a large fan base, they had been one of the least competitive teams in the sport, due to a relatively restricted budget. Owner Paul Stoddart claimed to have had 41 approaches to buy the team, but preferred to sell it to someone who could 'take it further' than he could and who would maintain it in its traditional base in Italy. 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, the use of the Italian language in the name is intended to hint at the team's Italian heritage. 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, to 'Scuderia Toro Rosso'. Many Minardi fans were upset by this move, and over 15,000 signed an online petition to keep the Minardi name, but were unsuccessful.

Carlos Sainz

Carlos Sainz, known as Carlos Sainz Jr. (born 1 September 1994) is a Spanish Formula One racing driver and the son of former double World Rally Champion Carlos Sainz. In 2012 Sainz Jr. raced in the British and European Formula 3 championships for Carlin. He raced for DAMS in Formula Renault 3.5 in 2014 winning the championship. On 28 November 2014, it was announced that he will drive for Scuderia Toro Rosso in the 2015 Formula One season. He scored points on his début at the 2015 Australian Grand Prix, finishing in ninth position. Born in Madrid, Sainz began his career in karting. In 2008 he won the Asia-Pacific KF3 title, as well as finishing runner-up in the Spanish Championship. In 2009 he won the prestigious Junior Monaco Kart Cup, and was runner-up in the European KF3 Championship.

2015 Formula One Season

Race drivers	28. Will Stevens 98. Roberto Merhi
Test drivers	Jordan King

Full name	Manor
Base	1 Manor Drive Dinnington Sheffield S25 3QU
Team principal(s)	Graeme Lowdon
Engen	Ferrari
Technical director	John Booth

In 2012 the Virgin team was renamed Marussia following investment from a Russian sports car company. The small team narrowly missed out on tenth in the constructors’ championship that year, being pipped by Caterham in the final race, but came out ahead the following year. Finally in 2014, the team’s fifth year of competition, it earned its first points in Monaco thanks to Jules Bianchi. But the year came to a disastrous end. Bianchi was seriously injured in a crash during the Japanese Grand Prix. Meanwhile the team was in increasingly serious financial trouble, and having run a single car for his team mate Max Chilton in Russia, withdrew from the rest of the championship. However that winter an 11th-hour rescue package allowed the team to return to the championship, now branded as Manor Marussia.

Will Stevens

William Stevens, known as Will Stevens, (born 28 June 1991 in Rochford, Essex) is a British racing driver. He has competed in such series as Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, Toyota Racing Series and the British Formula Renault Championship. He has also raced for Caterham F1 in the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, replacing Marcus Ericsson for the double points race. On 25 February 2015, Manor F1 announced that they had signed Stevens for the 2015 season. Stevens started his racing career in 2003 at age of 12 in karts. After one year of racing in the National Cadet championship he joined Rotax Mini Max. After racing in a lot of different championships in Britain and outside, and mostly because of winning the Asia-Pacific Championship in 2007, he joined Formula Renault 2.0

Manor Motorsport Ltd is a British motor racing team that was formed in 1990 by former single-seater champion John Booth. Throughout its history, the team primarily competed in Formula Renault, with past drivers including 2007 Formula One World Champion Kimi Räikkönen, 2008 and 2014 Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton and other Formula One drivers such as Antônio Pizzonia. They entered Formula Three in 1999, winning successive British titles with Marc Hynes and Pizzonia. In 2007, Manor Motorsport saw a change of ownership when Formula Renault UK team manager, Tony Shaw, bought out John Booth and continued operating under the name of Manor Competition from a completely separate base. In turn, John Booth retained the Manor Motorsport name and continues to race in the Formula 3 Euro Series until 2009. From 2010, Manor Motorsport has been participating in the Formula One World Championship.

Roberto Merhi

Roberto Merhi Muntan (born 22 March 1991) is a Spanish racing driver of Lebanese origin, currently driving in Formula One for the Manor Marussia F1 Team. Merhi is also a part of the revitalized Mercedes-Benz Junior Team, together with Christian Vietoris and Robert Wickens. In 2011, Merhi won the Formula 3 Euro Series championship, while driving for Prema Powerteam. In 2007, Merhi mainly competed in Italian Formula Renault and the Formula Renault Eurocup, finishing 4th and 18th respectively. In 2008 he competed in the West European Series, where he was runner-up, and he finished 4th in the Eurocup. He also did five races in the Spanish Formula Three Championship. Merhi made the full-time step-up to Formula Three in 2009 when he was signed by Manor Motorsport for their Formula 3 Euro Series campaign, finishing seventh, with four podiums. He moved to Mücke Motorsport for the 2010 season, improving on his debut season by finishing fifth in the standings, with four podiums, including his maiden win at Hockenheim. 2011 saw another change in teams for Merhi, this time joining Prema Powerteam. Merhi subsequently won the championship, getting 20 top-3 finishes, including 11 wins.

Sauber F1 Team

2015 Formula One season
Race drivers	9. Marcus Ericson 12. Felipe Nasr
Test drivers	Raffaele Marciello

Full name	Sauber F1 Team
Base	Hinwil, Switzerland
Team principal(s)	Peter Sauber
Technical director	James Key

Sauber entered F1 in 1993 using engines supplied by Mercedes, whose world endurance championship team they had run. For a while they were expected to become Mercedes’ works F1 outfit but that plan changed when Mercedes became engine suppliers to McLaren in 1995. Sauber remained as an independent F1 team and eventually switchedto Ferrari engined badged by Petronas. The team was the first destination for several upcoming drivers including Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa. It enjoyed a particularly strong season in 2001 with Raikkonen and Nick Heidfeld taking the team to fourth in the constructors’ championship.Team owner Peter Sauber sold his team to BMW at the end of 2005 but five years later he was back in charge of the team once more after the car manufacturer withdrew from the sport. He later handed team principal duties to Monisha Kaltenborn. Following BMW’s departure the team return to using customer Ferrari engines. The team officially took over the Sauber name once again at the beginning of 2011. Sergio Perez scored the team’s best result as an independent constructor when he finished second in the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix.

Marcus Ericsson

Marcus Ericsson (born 2 September 1990) is a Swedish race car driver. After a successful début in car racing in 2007 which saw him take the British Formula BMW title with Fortec Motorsport, he moved up into the British team's British Formula Three squad. After finishing as one of the top rookies in the category, Ericsson turned his attentions to the All-Japan Formula Three Championship where he won the championship in his debut year. In 2010, he moved up to the GP2 Series where he secured one victory during his maiden campaign for Super Nova Racing. Between 2011 and 2012, Ericsson drove for iSport. Ericsson completed the 2013 GP2 season with DAMS, and debuted in Formula One in 2014 with Caterham F1.

Since the 1970s, Peter Sauber built sports cars. After using turbocharged Mercedes V8 engines in the 1980s, his team became the official factory team of Mercedes-Benz, reviving the Silver Arrow legend. They won the 24 hours of Le Mans and the World Sportscar Championship (1989 and 1990), competing against Jaguar and Porsche. Amongst others, drivers like, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Michael Schumacher, Karl Wendlinger, Jochen Mass, Jean-Louis Schlesser and Mauro Baldi raced for Sauber.

Felipe Nasr

Luiz Felipe de Oliveira Nasr (born 21 August 1992) is a Brazilian racing driver. He was the 2009 Formula BMW Europe champion and the 2011 British Formula Three champion. After a year as the official test driver for Williams in 2014, he joined Sauber as a full-time Formula One driver in 2015. Born in Brasília, DF, Nasr began karting in Brazil when he was seven years old. Between 2000 and 2007 he won several championship titles in Brazil. Nasr made his open-wheel racing debut in the final round of the 2008 Formula BMW Americas season at Interlagos, which supported the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix, claiming a podium finish in the second race in a championship that was dominated by Alexander Rossi.

TRIBUTE

Alain Prost Ayrton Senna

Juan Manuel Fangio Nigel Mansel