2007–08 A1 Grand Prix season
The 2007–08 A1 Grand Prix season was the third in the relatively short history of the championship.
Teams
All teams used same A1 Grand Prix car including Zytek-powered, Cooper Avon-shod and Lola chassis. The following 22 teams are competitors in the 2007–08 championship :Race Team | Team | Seat holder | Race drivers | Rounds | Other drivers |
Alan Docking Racing | A1 Team Australia | Alan Jones | Ian Dyk | 1–4 | Daniel Ricciardo |
Alan Docking Racing | A1 Team Australia | Alan Jones | John Martin | 5–10 | Daniel Ricciardo |
Arena Motorsport | A1 Team India | Ravi Chilukuri | Narain Karthikeyan | 1–6, 8–10 | |
Arena Motorsport | A1 Team India | Ravi Chilukuri | Parthiva Sureshwaren | 7 | |
Argo Racing Cars Ltd. | A1 Team Brazil | Emerson Fittipaldi | Sérgio Jimenez | 1–6 | Clemente Faria Felipe Guimarães Raphael Matos |
Argo Racing Cars Ltd. | A1 Team Brazil | Emerson Fittipaldi | Bruno Junqueira | 7–8 | Clemente Faria Felipe Guimarães Raphael Matos |
Argo Racing Cars Ltd. | A1 Team Brazil | Emerson Fittipaldi | Alexandre Negrão | 9–10 | Clemente Faria Felipe Guimarães Raphael Matos |
Argo Racing Cars Ltd. | A1 Team Lebanon | Tameem Auchi | Chris Alajajian | 1, 3–6 | |
Argo Racing Cars Ltd. | A1 Team Lebanon | Tameem Auchi | Jimmy Auby | 2, 7, 10 | |
Argo Racing Cars Ltd. | A1 Team Lebanon | Tameem Auchi | Khalil Beschir | 8–9 | |
Charouz Racing System | A1 Team Czech Republic | Antonin Charouz | Erik Janiš | 1–3 | Jaroslav Janiš |
Charouz Racing System | A1 Team Czech Republic | Antonin Charouz | Tomáš Enge | 4–6 | Jaroslav Janiš |
Charouz Racing System | A1 Team Czech Republic | Antonin Charouz | Josef Král | 7 | Jaroslav Janiš |
Charouz Racing System | A1 Team Czech Republic | Antonin Charouz | Filip Salaquarda | 8–10 | Jaroslav Janiš |
Connor Racing | A1 Team France | Jean Paul Driot | Loïc Duval | 1, 3–7 | Guillaume Moreau Nicolas Prost Jean Karl Vernay |
Connor Racing | A1 Team France | Jean Paul Driot | Nicolas Lapierre | 2 | Guillaume Moreau Nicolas Prost Jean Karl Vernay |
Connor Racing | A1 Team France | Jean Paul Driot | Jonathan Cochet | 8 | Guillaume Moreau Nicolas Prost Jean Karl Vernay |
Connor Racing | A1 Team France | Jean Paul Driot | Franck Montagny | 9–10 | Guillaume Moreau Nicolas Prost Jean Karl Vernay |
Connor Racing | A1 Team South Africa | Tokyo Sexwale | Adrian Zaugg | All | Wesleigh Orr |
DSM | A1 Team Germany | Willi Weber | Christian Vietoris | 1–2, 5 | Michael Klein |
DSM | A1 Team Germany | Willi Weber | Michael Ammermüller | 3–4, 6–10 | Michael Klein |
DSM | A1 Team New Zealand | Colin Giltrap | Jonny Reid | All | Earl Bamber Brendon Hartley Chris van der Drift |
A1 Team Great Britain | A1 Team Great Britain | Tony Clements John Surtees | Oliver Jarvis | 1, 3–4, 7–8 | Duncan Tappy Danny Watts James Winslow Oliver Turvey |
A1 Team Great Britain | A1 Team Great Britain | Tony Clements John Surtees | Robbie Kerr | 2, 5–6, 9–10 | Duncan Tappy Danny Watts James Winslow Oliver Turvey |
A1 Team Indonesia | A1 Team Indonesia | N/A | Satrio Hermanto | 1–4 | |
Performance Racing | A1 Team Indonesia | N/A | Satrio Hermanto | 5–10 | |
Performance Racing | A1 Team Pakistan | Arif Hussain | Adam Khan | All | |
A1 Team Malaysia | A1 Team Malaysia | Alex Yoong | Alex Yoong | 1–5, 8–9 | Aaron Lim |
A1 Team Malaysia | A1 Team Malaysia | Alex Yoong | Fairuz Fauzy | 6–7, 10 | Aaron Lim |
A1 Team Portugal | A1 Team Portugal | Luis Vicente | João Urbano | 1–6 | Gonçalo Araújo Frederico Duarte Bruno Serra |
A1 Team Portugal | A1 Team Portugal | Luis Vicente | Filipe Albuquerque | 7–10 | Gonçalo Araújo Frederico Duarte Bruno Serra |
Max Motorsport | A1 Team Switzerland | Max Welti | Neel Jani | All | Sébastien Buemi Tom Dillmann Rahel Frey Natacha Gachnang Alexandre Imperatori |
Racing for Holland | A1 Team The Netherlands | Jan Lammers | Jeroen Bleekemolen | All | Arie Luyendyk Jr. |
Team Astromega | A1 Team China | Liu Yu | Congfu Cheng | All | Marchy Lee Qinghua Ma Lin Po-Heng |
Team Ghinzani | A1 Team Italy | Piercarlo Ghinzani | Enrico Toccacelo | 1–3 | Paolo Bossini Frankie Provenzano Davide Rigon Giuseppe Termine |
Team Ghinzani | A1 Team Italy | Piercarlo Ghinzani | Edoardo Piscopo | 4–10 | Paolo Bossini Frankie Provenzano Davide Rigon Giuseppe Termine |
Status Grand Prix | A1 Team Canada | Wade Cherwayko | James Hinchcliffe | 1–2, 10 | Daniel Morad |
Status Grand Prix | A1 Team Canada | Wade Cherwayko | Robert Wickens | 3–9 | Daniel Morad |
Status Grand Prix | A1 Team Ireland | Mark Kershaw | Ralph Firman | 1 | Niall Quinn |
Status Grand Prix | A1 Team Ireland | Mark Kershaw | Adam Carroll | 2–10 | Niall Quinn |
Teamcraft Motorsport | A1 Team Mexico | Juan Cortina Julio Jáuregui | Salvador Durán | 1 | Juan Pablo Garcia Arturo González Esteban Gutiérrez Picho Toledano |
Teamcraft Motorsport | A1 Team Mexico | Juan Cortina Julio Jáuregui | Michel Jourdain Jr. | 2–3 | Juan Pablo Garcia Arturo González Esteban Gutiérrez Picho Toledano |
Teamcraft Motorsport | A1 Team Mexico | Juan Cortina Julio Jáuregui | David Garza Perez | 4–8 | Juan Pablo Garcia Arturo González Esteban Gutiérrez Picho Toledano |
Teamcraft Motorsport | A1 Team Mexico | Juan Cortina Julio Jáuregui | Jorge Goeters | 9 | Juan Pablo Garcia Arturo González Esteban Gutiérrez Picho Toledano |
Teamcraft Motorsport | A1 Team Mexico | Juan Cortina Julio Jáuregui | David Martínez | 10 | Juan Pablo Garcia Arturo González Esteban Gutiérrez Picho Toledano |
A1 Team USA | A1 Team USA | Rick Weidlinger | Buddy Rice | 1–2 | Charlie Kimball |
A1 Team USA | A1 Team USA | Rick Weidlinger | Jonathan Summerton | 3–10 | Charlie Kimball |
Swiss drivers Rahel Frey and Natacha Gachnang are the two first females to drive A1 Grand Prix cars this season. Their first steps were test drivers during Silverstone, September 18-19, 2007, test session. Then Natacha Gachnang drove in rookie sessions in Czech round, on October 12, 2007 and Rahel Frey in Malaysian rookie sessions, on November 23, 2007
Since January 2008, the Performance Racing manage A1 Team Indonesia. Bagoes Hermanto, brother of Satrio Hermanto, became the new Team Principal.
Season calendar and winners
All 2006-07 A1 Grand Prix circuits were returned to 2007–08 A1 Grand Prix season with an exception of Beijing and Sentul rounds.Due to Zandvoort's noise restriction, Netherlands round wasn't able to conduct Friday sessions and so rookie session. Saturday morning was dedicated to practice sessions and Saturday afternoon to qualify sessions for each Sunday race.
Tests
Rule changes
- Qualifying will remain the current format, however the first two qualifying sessions will determine the grid for the sprint race while the second two qualifying sessions will determine the grid for the feature race.
- There are now 2 pit stops required in the feature race.
- The feature race remains a distance of 69 minutes plus one lap, while the sprint race has increased to 29 minutes plus one lap.
- Points are now assigned in the same manner for both the sprint and feature races using the following format with one bonus point awarded for the fastest lap in each race.
- Prize awarded in both sprint and feature races.
A new light close to the entry of pit lane is introduce since round 5, in Taupo when safety car is out. When the lights are on, drivers can pit but it is not counted as one of the two mandatory stops. Pits are allowed for mechanical work to be carried out.