An aspiring A1 Team Malaysia driver would have had to go through the same career ladder as an aspiring Formula 1 driver. The 600bhp A1GP powered by Ferrari race car with sophisticated chassis, aerodynamics and electronics is a complex machine and requires years of single seater racing in order to be competitive. A1GP drivers are highly skilled and are experienced enough to also drive in F1.

A1GP rules allow only Malaysian nationals to drive our car. The usual starting point is to begin karting usually between 10-12 years of age. After a few years of success in karts drivers 'graduate' to open wheeled, single seater race cars. From an entry level series like Formula BMW drivers move up to more powerful and sophisticated machines. Once they are competitive in higher level series such as the World Series by Renault, GP2 or F3, they would have gained sufficient experience and technical knowledge to drive the A1GP car. By this time they would have also earned an International Class B race license, the minimum race license required in A1GP.

For further information on how to become a racing driver please click here to read our feature article on the subject.

No it is not. The new A1GP Powered by Ferrari car was designed in consultation with Ferrari with design reference based on the Ferrari F2004/F2005. However it is NOT a Ferrari F2004/F2005 modified  for A1GP.

The new car is designed by A1GP and built in the UK. The gearbox is supplied by XTrac from the UK who also supplied the gearbox for the old car. Suspension components are by Pankl, dampers from Penske, clutch from AP Racing, carbon brakes by Brembo.

Only the 600bhp 4.5Litre V8 engine is from Ferrari and the sophisticated electronics from Magnetti Marelli. If you were to look beneath the bodywork of an F2004/F2005 and the A1GP cars you will find signififcant differences. 

The A1 Team Malaysia race car was actually assembled by our team mechanics with parts supplied by A1GP.  

Very fast! The actual top speed varies between circuit to circuit depending on length of the straights. Speeds of around 300kph can be achieved on some high speed A1GP circuits.

Compared to the old Lola-Zytek race used in the first 3 seasons, the new car is quicker  thanks to significantly improved downforce, more engine power, better brakes and better tyres. This new car is a step forward in technology compared to the old car.

A1GP drivers like the new car citing higher grip levels and good handling balance. Team engineers also report that the new car responds well to set up changes. Fairuz Fauzy who has tested or driven F1, GP2 and Renault World Series cars, expressed that the A1GP Powered by Ferrari car is much closer to F1 or GP2 cars.

PowerBoost is a feature in the A1GP Powered By Ferrari race car which allows short bursts of extra power to encourage overtaking for close wheel to wheel racing.

A button on the steering wheel when pressed under certain conditions unleashes an additional 60 horsepower. However there is a pre-set number of activations allowed in the Sprint and Feature races.

Because of this limitation drivers have to be mindful of when to use it. Normally it is used to overtake another car provided the driver is close enough to the car in front. It is usually used at the beginning of a long straight after exiting well from the previous corner.

A driver may also activate his PowerBoost as a defense measure ie. when he thinks the driver behind is using the PowerBoost to overtake on the straight. It is therefore quite common to see on the TV screen both drivers activating their PowerBoost simultaneously. The driver who exhausts his PowerBoost activations first will obviously be at a disadvantage.

From A1GP Sepang 2008/2009 onwards the organizers have introduced an extra dimension to the use of PowerBoost during the race weekend. For qualifying, teams are allowed to use PowerBoost during one of the four qualifying sessions. Teams will have to decide strategically which of the sessions would be beneficial to use it. When used in qualifying, PowerBoost will stay 'ON' for the whole lap.  

PowerBoost is an exciting tactical tool in A1GP.        

It boils down to how quick a team can work together to find the correct optimum set up for the car. Teams only receive their cars from A1GP on the Wednesday before the race weekend. The first on track practice session begins on Friday morning.

Teams work on the car before Friday practice and perform scheduled maintenance and preparation to ensure the car is ready to run. At that point the car's set up is 'guessed' based on previous year's data if available and data obtained from examining the track itself mostly during inspection walks with the driver. 

The 'base' set up is then verified and fine tuned during official track sessions. The engineering team work very closely with the driver to understand how the car is responding to suspension set up changes. The team that finds the correct set up quickest gets to start near the front for the race.

Therefore even before the race starts there is already a frantic race between the engineers to find the best chassis set up. How quickly the engineers find this set up is again down to team work and experience. 

No. Our race car like the race cars for all the other teams were built in the UK by A1GP with consultation from Ferrari while the engine is a 600bhp 4.5 Litre V8 unit supplied by Ferrari.

A1GP differs from F1 because it is an entirely new concept. Pitting nation against nation for the first time in history, A1GP brings together 22 nations, representing 80 per cent of the world's population, to compete as equals, without financial or technological advantage. All the cars are supplied by A1GP to the teams and are indentical with no private testing allowed. Performance is thus down to teamwork, engineering and driver skill - how well the technicians work with driver to find correct set up and eventually how well the driver competes against other drivers.

F1 is a technology game. Each team invests in Research and Development and builds their own cars, conforming to rules governed by FIA. Depending on budgets and resources available some teams build cars capable of finishing at the front the whole season while others are always circulating near the back. 

A back end team in F1 would not hope for a race win by outperforming a front running team. Their goal would be to catch the nearest rival. Their drivers would mostly try to race each other within the team.

In contrast, every A1GP team goes into a race weekend knowing that a win is possible. There is also a lot more on track overtaking action as the cars were designed to encourage overtaking.     

No. It is not an abbreviation. The name 'A1GP' encapsulates the two key aspects of the World Cup of Motorsport; Unity and Excellence.

The letter 'A',being the first letter of the majority of the world's continents (Africa, North America, South America, Asia, Australasia, Antarctica and Europe) represents the world and its population.

The number '1' signifies the unity between them -- All as One, One World.

In most languages, 'A1' is a term used to describe the best. A1GP is the pinnacle of driver skill and national pride. Each nation's best driver will race for the pride of their nation to win the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport.