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Formula One, abbreviated to F1, is the highest class of open-wheeledauto racing defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsport's world governing body. The "formula" in the name refers to a set of rules to which all participants and cars must conform. The F1 world championship season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix, held usually on purpose-built circuits, and in a few cases on closed city streets. Drivers are awarded points based on their position in each race, and the driver who accumulates the most points over each calendar year is crowned that year's World Champion. As of the 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, there have been 820 FIA World Championship races since its first event, the 1950 British Grand Prix.
Seven-time champion Michael Schumacher holds the record for the most championships, while his 91 wins, 154 podium finishes and 68 pole positions are also records. Rubens Barrichello has entered more Grands Prix than anyone else—288 times in total—as well as having made an unsurpassed 284 race starts. The United Kingdom is the most represented nation, having produced a total of 157 different drivers. Eight nations have been represented by just one. Poland became the latest country to be represented by a driver when Robert Kubica made his Formula One debut at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix.
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Grand Prix 2, sometimes known as "GP2" and sold in the American market as Grand Prix II, is a racing simulator released by MicroProse in 1996. It was made under an official FIA license that featured the Formula One1994 season, with all of the circuits, teams, drivers and cars. The cars were painted with liveries reflecting the races that did not allow tobacco and beer sponsors (i.e. 1994 French Grand Prix).
It had 3D texture mapping and SVGA graphics, as well as an early but realistic physics engine. A large community of GP2 enthusiasts formed quickly and still exists today. Grand Prix 2 is recognized as one of the definitive racing simulations of its era.
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The 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix (formally the XXIII ING Magyar Nagydíj) was a Formula One motor race held on August 3, 2008, at Hungaroring in Mogyoród, near Budapest, Hungary. It was the 11th race of the 2008 Formula One season. Contested over 70 laps, the race was won by Heikki Kovalainen for the McLaren team, from a second position start. Timo Glock finished second in a Toyota car, with Kimi Räikkönen third in a Ferrari. It marked Kovalainen's first Formula One victory, which made him the sport's 100th driver to win a World Championship race, and Glock's first podium finish.
Much of the race, however, was dominated by a duel between Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa, who drove for McLaren and Ferrari respectively. Hamilton started from pole position on the starting grid but was beaten at the first corner by Massa, who passed him around the outside. The two championship protagonists commenced a battle for the lead that was resolved when Hamilton suffered a puncture just over half-way through the race, giving Massa a comfortable lead. The Ferrari's engine, however, failed with three laps of the race remaining, allowing Kovalainen to take the win.
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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 (6) 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.
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Article of the month – Bruce McLaren, current Start-Class article.
Bruce Leslie McLaren (30 August 1937 – 2 June 1970), born in Auckland, New Zealand, was a race-car designer, driver, engineer and inventor.
His name lives on in the McLaren team which has been one of the most successful in Formula One championship history, with McLaren cars and drivers winning a total of 20 world championships. McLaren cars totally dominated CanAm sports car racing with 56 wins, a considerable number of them with him behind the wheel, between 1967 and 1972 (and five constructors’ championships), and have won three Indianapolis 500 races, as well as 24 Hours of Le Mans and 12 Hours of Sebring.
As a nine year old, McLaren contracted Perthes disease in his hip which left his left leg shorter than the right. He spent two years in traction, but later often had a slight limp.
Les and Ruth McLaren, his parents, owned a service station and workshop in Remuera, Auckland. Bruce spent all of his free hours hanging around the workshop. The McLaren family homestead is located in Ngaruawahia in the Northern Waikato region and still stands today.
Michael Schumacher (6th, + 5.712) was given a 20-second penalty after the race for passing Fernando Alonso under neutralised safety car conditions, under which the race finished.