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109-560: The McLaren MP4-22 is a Formula One racing car that was constructed by the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team to compete in the 2007 Formula One World Championship . The chassis was designed by Paddy Lowe , Neil Oatley , Pat Fry , Mike Coughlan and Simon Lacey , with Andy Cowell and Mario Illien designing the bespoke Mercedes-Benz engine. The car was revealed in testing at Circuit de Valencia in Spain on 15 January 2007, and
218-483: A rev limiter . The Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) believed that allowing some teams to have such technical freedom would have created a 'two-tier' championship, and thus requested urgent talks with the FIA. But talks broke down and FOTA teams announced, with the exception of Williams and Force India , that 'they had no choice' but to form a breakaway championship series . On 24 June, Formula One's governing body and
327-470: A 10% stake, strong investor demand led Vodafone to nearly double the sale. Bharti Airtel , increased its stake in Indus to about 49% by purchasing around 1% of the shares. Vodafone sold 484.7 million shares at 310-341 rupees each, generating 153 billion rupees. The sale reduced Vodafone's stake in Indus from 21.5% to 3.1%. Following a period of worldwide expansion which began in 1999, in the 2010s Vodafone entered
436-587: A 35% share of Mannesmann , owner of the largest German mobile network. To gain antitrust approval for the merger, Vodafone sold its 17.2% stake in Mannesmann's German competitor, E-Plus . On 21 September 1999, Vodafone agreed to merge its US wireless assets with those of Bell Atlantic Corp to form Verizon . The merger was completed on 4 April 2000, just a few months prior to Bell Atlantic's merger with GTE to form Verizon Communications . In November 1999, Vodafone made an unsolicited bid for Mannesmann, which
545-619: A ban on ground-effect aerodynamics during 1983 . But by then, turbocharged engines, which Renault had pioneered in 1977 , were producing over 520 kW (700 bhp) and were essential to be competitive. By 1986 , a BMW turbocharged engine achieved a flash reading of 5.5 bar (80 psi) pressure, estimated to be over 970 kW (1,300 bhp) in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix . The next year, power in race trim reached around 820 kW (1,100 bhp), with boost pressure limited to only 4.0 bar. These cars were
654-469: A driver's fastest lap in that period (barring infractions) counts. Any timed lap started before the end of that period may be completed and will count toward that driver's placement. The number of cars eliminated in each period is dependent on the total number of cars entered into the championship. Currently, with 20 cars, Q1 runs for 18 minutes, and eliminates the slowest five drivers. During this period, any driver whose best lap takes longer than 107% of
763-457: A fierce rivalry between its drivers Hamilton and Alonso, as well as a fall out between Alonso and the team's management. This contributed to both drivers eventually losing the championship by one point to Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen , despite having led the championship for most of the season and Lewis Hamilton having a 17 point lead with 2 races to go. McLaren led the Constructors' Championship from
872-479: A guerrilla war with a very long-term aim in view". FOCA threatened to establish a rival series and boycotted a Grand Prix, and FISA withdrew its sanction from races. The result was the 1981 Concorde Agreement , which guaranteed technical stability, as teams were to be given reasonable notice of new regulations. Although FISA asserted its right to the TV revenues, it gave FOCA the administration of those rights. FISA imposed
981-613: A majority holding, despite disputes by local trade unions. In April 2011, Vodacom rebranded with the Vodafone logo. On 29 December 2003, Vodafone signed a Partner Network Agreement with Kuwait's MTC group. The agreement involved co-operation in Bahrain and the branding of the network as MTC-Vodafone. In November 1998, the Vodafone Egypt network went live under the name Click GSM, and was rebranded to Vodafone in 2002. On 8 November 2006,
1090-404: A management buyout to become Brawn GP , with Ross Brawn and Nick Fry running and owning the majority of the organisation. Brawn GP laid off hundreds of employees, but won the year's world championships. BMW F1 was bought out by the original founder of the team, Peter Sauber . The Lotus F1 Team was another, formerly manufacturer-owned team that reverted to "privateer" ownership, together with
1199-468: A new Concorde Agreement committing them to the sport until 2025, including a $ 145 million budget cap for car development to support equal competition and sustainable development. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the sport to adapt to budgetary and logistical limitations. A significant overhaul of the technical regulations intended to be introduced in the 2021 season was pushed back to 2022, with constructors instead using their 2020 chassis for two seasons and
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#17328768015841308-404: A partnership with Lego , with the first new sets releasing in 2025. The regulations governing Formula One are set to be revised for the 2026 season, with big changes planned to help encourage closer and more competitive racing. Changes include: In November 2024, General Motors reached an agreement to enter Formula 1 in 2026 with its Cadillac brand. A Formula One Grand Prix event spans
1417-641: A period of retrenchment and simplification of its operations. On 23 September 2016, Vodafone extended its activities to Cameroon by signing a partnership with Afrimax, a 4G-LTE telecommunications operator in Africa. Vodafone Cameroon Launched a "Youth Program" in the Universities to support and encourage the Cameroonian students. The partnership ceased to operate in September 2017 following the withdrawal of its license by
1526-466: A press release stating it had been informed it was not entered for the 2010 season, and an FIA press release said the FOTA representatives had walked out of the meeting. On 1 August, it was announced FIA and FOTA had signed a new Concorde Agreement, bringing an end to the crisis and securing the sport's future until 2012. To compensate for the loss of manufacturer teams, four new teams were accepted entry into
1635-622: A primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index . The company has a secondary listing on the NASDAQ as American depositary receipts (ADRs). The name Vodafone comes from vo ice da ta fone (the latter a sensational spelling of " phone "), chosen by the company to "reflect the provision of voice and data services over mobile phones". In 1980, Ernest Harrison , then chairman of Racal Electronics Plc –
1744-508: A reason to impose rule changes that otherwise, under the Concorde Agreement, would have had to be agreed upon by all the teams—most notably the changes introduced for 1998 . This so-called 'narrow track' era resulted in cars with smaller rear tyres, a narrower track overall, and the introduction of grooved tyres to reduce mechanical grip. The objective was to reduce cornering speeds and produce racing similar to rainy conditions by enforcing
1853-434: A season (13, since beaten by Max Verstappen ), and most Drivers' Championships (seven, tied with Lewis Hamilton as of 2021). Schumacher's championship streak ended on 25 September 2005, when Renault driver Fernando Alonso became Formula One's youngest champion at that time (until Lewis Hamilton in 2008 and followed by Sebastian Vettel in 2010 ). During 2006, Renault and Alonso won both titles again. Schumacher retired at
1962-495: A shareholding of 65%. In January 2021, Vodafone obtained a license to establish and operate public telecommunications services in Oman . In September 2021 Vodafone in Oman signed an agreement with Ericsson to deploy, operate and maintain 4G and 5G core and radio access (RAN) greenfield network and an agreement with Netcracker Technology to deploy Netcracker Digital BSS. Vodafone will be
2071-442: A smaller contact patch between tyre and track. According to the FIA, this was to reduce cornering speeds in the interest of safety. Results were mixed, as the lack of mechanical grip resulted in the more ingenious designers clawing back the deficit with aerodynamic grip. This resulted in pushing more force onto the tyres through wings and aerodynamic devices, which in turn resulted in less overtaking, as these devices tended to make
2180-556: A team—designing, building, and maintaining cars, pay, transport—at approximately £220,000,000 (or $ 265,000,000), Formula One's financial and political battles are widely reported. The Formula One Group is owned by Liberty Media , which acquired it in 2017 from private-equity firm CVC Capital Partners for £6.4 billion ($ 8 billion). Formula One originated from the World Manufacturers' Championship ( 1925 – 1930 ) and European Drivers' Championship ( 1931 – 1939 ). The formula
2289-427: A token system limiting which parts could be modified introduced. The start of the 2020 season was delayed by several months, and both it and 2021 seasons were subject to several postponements, cancellations, and rescheduling of races due to shifting restrictions on international travel. Many races took place behind closed doors and with only essential personnel present to maintain social distancing . In 2022,
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#17328768015842398-490: A trade agreement with the Chilean Entel PCS Chile, in which Entel PCS has access to the equipment and international services of Vodafone, and Vodafone will be one of the trademarks of Entel for the wireless business. This step will give the Vodafone brand access to a market of over 15 million people, currently divided between two companies: Telefonica Movistar and Entel PCS. In August 2013, Vodafone has started
2507-403: A weekend. It typically begins with two free practice sessions on Friday, and one free practice session on Saturday. Additional drivers (commonly known as third drivers ) are allowed to run on Fridays, but only two cars may be used per team, requiring a race driver to give up their seat. A qualifying session is held after the last free practice session. This session determines the starting order for
2616-399: A world championship race. It entered the 1961 British Grand Prix , the only front-engined car to compete that year. During 1962 , Lotus introduced a car with an aluminium-sheet monocoque chassis instead of the traditional space-frame design. This proved to be the greatest technological breakthrough since the introduction of mid-engined cars. In 1968 , sponsorship was introduced to
2725-457: Is a set of rules that all participants' cars must follow. Formula One was a formula agreed upon in 1946 to officially become effective in 1947 . The first Grand Prix in accordance with the new regulations was the 1946 Turin Grand Prix , anticipating the formula's official start. Before World War II , a number of Grand Prix racing organisations made suggestions for a new championship to replace
2834-497: Is allocated one set of the softest tyres for use in Q3. The cars that qualify for Q3 must return them after Q3; the cars that do not qualify for Q3 can use them during the race. As of 2022, all drivers are given a free choice of tyre to use at the start of the Grand Prix, whereas in previous years only the drivers that did not participate in Q3 had free tyre choice for the start of the race. Any penalties that affect grid position are applied at
2943-400: Is generated by front and rear wings. The cars depend on electronics, aerodynamics , suspension , and tyres . Traction control , launch control , and automatic shifting , and other electronic driving aids were first banned in 1994 . They were briefly reintroduced in 2001 , and have more recently been banned since 2004 and 2008 , respectively. With the average annual cost of running
3052-434: The 1955 Le Mans disaster . The first major technological development in the sport was Bugatti 's introduction of mid-engined cars. Jack Brabham , the world champion in 1959 , 1960 , and 1966 , soon proved the mid-engine's superiority over all other engine positions. By 1961 all teams had switched to mid-engined cars. The Ferguson P99 , a four-wheel drive design, was the last front-engined Formula One car to enter
3161-457: The 2002 Austrian Grand Prix . Other changes included the qualifying format, the point-scoring system, the technical regulations, and rules specifying how long engines and tyres must last. A 'tyre war' between suppliers Michelin and Bridgestone saw lap times fall, although, at the 2005 United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis, seven out of ten teams did not race when their Michelin tyres were deemed unsafe for use, leading to Bridgestone becoming
3270-403: The 2014 Japanese Grand Prix , where Jules Bianchi collided with a recovery vehicle after aquaplaning off the circuit, dying nine months later from his injuries. Since 1994, three track marshals have died, one at the 2000 Italian Grand Prix , one at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix and one at the 2013 Canadian Grand Prix . Since Senna's and Ratzenberger's deaths, the FIA has used safety as
3379-425: The 2017 and 2018 seasons featured a title battle between Mercedes and Ferrari. Mercedes ultimately won the titles with multiple races to spare and continued to dominate in the next two years, eventually winning seven consecutive Drivers' Championships from 2014 to 2020 and eight consecutive Constructors' titles from 2014 to 2021. During this eight-year period between 2014 and 2021, a Mercedes driver won 111 of
McLaren MP4-22 - Misplaced Pages Continue
3488-593: The Alfa Romeo name, Sauber introduced a title partnership with the online casino Stake.com , resulting in the team's new identity as Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber . Sauber will hold Stake's sponsorship name until the end of 2025, after which it will become the Audi works team for the 2026 season onwards. Scuderia AlphaTauri , Red Bull's junior team, dropped its name and took on sponsors from Hugo Boss and Cash App, becoming Visa Cash App RB, or VCARB for 2024. Formula One announced
3597-486: The Grand Prix Manufacturers Association (GPMA), the manufacturers negotiated a larger share of Formula One's commercial profit and a greater say in the running of the sport. In 2008 and 2009, Honda , BMW , and Toyota all withdrew from Formula One racing within a year, blaming the economic recession . This resulted in the end of manufacturer dominance of the sport. The Honda F1 team went through
3706-697: The Imperial Tobacco 's Gold Leaf livery at the 1968 Spanish Grand Prix . Aerodynamic downforce slowly gained importance in car design with the appearance of aerofoils during the 1968 season. The wings were introduced by Lotus's owner Colin Chapman who installed modest front wings and a rear spoiler on his Lotus 49 B at the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix . In the late 1970s, Lotus introduced ground-effect aerodynamics, previously used on Jim Hall 's Chaparral 2J in 1970, that provided enormous downforce and greatly increased cornering speeds. The aerodynamic forces pressing
3815-463: The Jaguar Racing team, new manufacturer-owned teams entered Formula One for the first time since Alfa Romeo's and Renault's departures in 1985. By 2006, the manufacturer teams—Renault, BMW , Toyota , Honda, and Ferrari—dominated the championship, taking five of the first six places in the Constructors' Championship. The exception was McLaren, which at the time was part-owned by Mercedes-Benz. Through
3924-520: The Premier League team Manchester United F.C. in football from 2000 until the 2005–06 season. In 2007, Vodafone entered into a title sponsorship deal with the McLaren Formula One team (previously Vodafone sponsored Scuderia Ferrari in 2002 until 2006), which traded as "Vodafone McLaren Mercedes" until the sponsorship ended at the end of the 2013 season. On 1 December 2011, it acquired
4033-734: The Reading -based Bluefish Communications Ltd, an ICT consultancy company. The acquired operations formed the nucleus of a new Unified Communications and Collaboration practice within its subsidiary Vodafone Global Enterprise , which was to focus on implementing strategies in cloud computing , and strengthen its professional services offering. In April 2012, Vodafone announced an agreement to acquire Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CWW) for £1.04 billion. The acquisition gave Vodafone access to CWW's fibre network for businesses, enabling it to offer unified communications to enterprises. On 18 June 2012, Cable & Wireless shareholders voted in favour of
4142-409: The 'sprint shootout'; such a system made its debut at the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix and is set to be used throughout all sprint sessions in place of the traditional second free practice session. Sprint qualifying sessions are run much shorter than traditional qualifying, and each session required teams to fit new tyres – mediums for SQ1 and SQ2, and softs for SQ3 – otherwise they cannot participate in
4251-570: The 160 races, with Hamilton winning 81 of these and taking six Drivers' Championships during this period to equal Schumacher's record of seven titles. In 2021 , the Honda-powered Red Bull team began to seriously challenge Mercedes, with Verstappen beating Hamilton to the Drivers' Championship after a season-long battle that saw the pair exchange the championship lead multiple times. This era has seen an increase in car manufacturer presence in
4360-592: The 1960s and 1970s. Promoters held non-championship Formula One events for many years. Due to the increasing cost of competition, the last of these was held in 1983. This era featured teams managed by road-car manufacturers, such as Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Maserati . The first seasons featured prewar cars like Alfa Romeo's 158 , which were front-engined , with narrow tyres and 1.5-litre supercharged or 4.5-litre naturally aspirated engines. The 1952 and 1953 seasons were run to Formula Two regulations, for smaller, less powerful cars, due to concerns over
4469-528: The 2010 season ahead of a much anticipated 'cost-cap'. Entrants included a reborn Team Lotus —led by a Malaysian consortium including Tony Fernandes , the boss of Air Asia ; Hispania Racing —the first Spanish Formula One team; and Virgin Racing — Richard Branson 's entry into the series following a successful partnership with Brawn the year before. They were also joined by the US F1 Team , which planned to run out of
McLaren MP4-22 - Misplaced Pages Continue
4578-561: The 2010 season, Mercedes-Benz reentered the sport as a manufacturer after it purchased Brawn GP and split with McLaren after 15 seasons with the team. During the 2009 season, Formula One was gripped by the FIA–FOTA dispute . FIA President Max Mosley proposed numerous cost-cutting measures for the next season, including an optional budget cap for the teams; teams electing to take the budget cap would be granted greater technical freedom, adjustable front and rear wings, and an engine not subject to
4687-634: The 5G MiFi M1100 in Qatar. It is the first commercially available 5G mobile hotspot in the region. On 28 January 2009, the group announced a partner network agreement with Du , the second-largest operator in the United Arab Emirates. The agreement involved co-operation on international clients, handset procurement, mobile broadband etc. Vodafone's network partner in Canada was Rogers Wireless . but has since changed to Telus On 11 May 2008, Vodafone sealed
4796-654: The 80% that it did not already own of Astec Communications, a service provider with 21 stores. In January 1997, Whent retired and Chris Gent took over as CEO. In the same year, Vodafone introduced its Speechmark logo, composed of a quotation mark in a circle, with the Os in the Vodafone logotype representing opening and closing quotation marks and suggesting conversation. On 29 June 1999, Vodafone completed its purchase of American service provider AirTouch and changed its name to Vodafone AirTouch Plc. The merged company commenced trading on 30 June 1999. The acquisition gave Vodafone
4905-570: The European Championship, but due to the suspension of racing during the conflict, the new International Formula for cars did not become formalised until 1946, to become effective in 1947. The new World Championship was instituted to commence in 1950 . The first world championship race, the 1950 British Grand Prix , took place at Silverstone Circuit in the United Kingdom on 13 May 1950. Giuseppe Farina , competing for Alfa Romeo , won
5014-491: The F1 governing body announced a major rule and car design change intended to promote closer racing through the use of ground effects , new aerodynamics, larger wheels with low-profile tyres, and redesigned nose and wing regulations. Red Bull emerged as the dominant force after the rule shakeup. The 2022 and 2023 Constructors' and Drivers' Championships were won by Red Bull and Verstappen, with multiple races to spare. In 2023
5123-475: The FIA opened applications for new teams to enter Formula 1 in the then near future. Of the teams that applied, only Andretti were approved by the FIA, with them then being rejected by Formula One Management , though they have launched an appeal. In early 2024, the Formula One landscape underwent a significant change in the sphere of team sponsorships and collaborations. Having competed for five seasons under
5232-623: The Mannesmann board agreed to an increased offer of £112 billion, then the largest corporate merger ever. The EU approved the merger in April 2000 after Vodafone agreed to divest the 'Orange' brand, which was acquired in May 2000 by France Télécom . On 28 July 2000, the Company reverted to its former name, Vodafone Group Plc. On 17 December 2001, Vodafone introduced the concept of "Partner Networks", by signing TDC Mobil of Denmark. The new concept involved
5341-615: The Racal Strategic Radio Ltd subsidiary was established. Jan Stenbeck , head of a growing Swedish conglomerate, set up an American company, Millicom Inc , and approached Gerry Whent in July 1982 about bidding jointly for the UK's second cellular radio licence. The two struck a deal giving Racal 60% of the new company, Racal-Millicom Ltd, and Millicom 40%. Due to concerns of the Government of
5450-651: The UK's largest manufacturer of military radios – negotiated a deal with Lord Weinstock of the UK General Electric Company (GEC), which gave Racal access to some of GEC's battlefield radio technology. Harrison directed the head of Racal's military radio division, Gerry Whent , to explore the use of that technology for civilian purposes. Whent visited a mobile radio factory run by the US company General Electric (unrelated to UK GEC) in Virginia , that same year. In 1981,
5559-610: The United Kingdom about foreign ownership, the terms were revised, and in December 1982 the Racal-Millicom partnership was awarded the second UK mobile phone network licence. Final ownership of Racal-Millicom Ltd was 80% Racal, with Millicom holding 15% plus royalties, and the venture firm Hambros Technology Trust holding 5%. According to the UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade , "the bid submitted by Racal-Millicom Ltd … provided
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#17328768015845668-550: The United States as the only non-European-based team in the sport. Financial issues befell the squad before they even made the grid. Despite the entry of these new teams, the proposed cost-cap was repealed and these teams—which did not have the budgets of the midfield and top-order teams—ran around at the back of the field until they collapsed; HRT in 2012, Caterham (formerly Lotus) in 2014 and Manor (formerly Virgin, then Marussia), having survived falling into administration in 2014, at
5777-712: The Vodafone offer. On 2 September 2013, Vodafone announced it would be selling its 45% stake in Verizon Wireless to Verizon Communications for $ US130 billion. With the proceeds from the deal, it announced a £19 billion Project Spring initiative to improve network quality in Europe and emerging markets, such as India . In June 2017, the company took measures to prevent its advertising from appearing within outlets focused on creating and sharing hate speech and fake news. In January 2020, Vodafone confirmed that it has pulled out of Diem Association (known as Libra Association at
5886-858: The ban on driver aids was in name only, as they "proved difficult to police effectively". The teams signed a second Concorde Agreement in 1992 and a third in 1997. On the track, the McLaren and Williams teams dominated the 1980s and 1990s. Brabham was also competitive during the early 1980s, winning two Drivers' Championships with Nelson Piquet . Powered by Porsche , Honda , and Mercedes-Benz , McLaren won 16 championships (seven constructors' and nine drivers') in that period, while Williams used engines from Ford , Honda, and Renault to also win 16 titles (nine constructors' and seven drivers'). The rivalry between racers Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost became F1's central focus during 1988 and continued until Prost retired at
5995-632: The best prospect for early national coverage by cellular radio." Vodafone was launched on 1 January 1985 under the new name of Racal-Vodafone (Holdings) Ltd, with its first office based in the Courtyard in Newbury, Berkshire , and shortly thereafter Racal Strategic Radio was renamed Racal Telecommunications Group Limited. The first non-Vodafone employee to make a UK mobile phone call was comedian Ernie Wise , from St Katharine Docks , London on 1 January 1985. On 29 December 1986, Racal Electronics issued shares to
6104-622: The buy-out of the Renault team by Genii Capital investors. But a link with its previous owners still survived, with its car continuing to be powered by a Renault engine until 2014. McLaren also announced that it was to reacquire the shares in its team from Mercedes-Benz (McLaren's partnership with Mercedes was reported to have started to sour with the McLaren Mercedes SLR road car project and tough F1 championships, which included McLaren being found guilty of spying on Ferrari ). Hence, during
6213-461: The car with a new unique front wing design that would see extensive use throughout the remainder of the season. It featured a thin carbon fibre wing that spanned from the top of each end plate, bypassing the nosecone by arching over it. This new wing subsequently made its racing debut at the Spanish Grand Prix . The wing was deemed surplus to requirements during the 2007 Italian Grand Prix due to
6322-403: The cars to the track were up to five times the car's weight. As a result, extremely stiff springs were needed to maintain a constant ride height , leaving the suspension virtually solid. This meant that the drivers depended entirely on the tyres for any small amount of cushioning of the car and driver from irregularities of the road surface. Beginning in the 1970s, Bernie Ecclestone rearranged
6431-620: The company announced a deal with Telecom Egypt , resulting in further co-operation in the Egyptian market and increasing its stake in Vodafone Egypt. After the deal, Vodafone Egypt was 55% owned by the group, while the remaining 45% was owned by Telecom Egypt. On 29 January 2020, Saudi Telecom Company (STC) and the Vodafone Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the sale of Vodafone's entire 55 percent stake in Vodafone Egypt to STC. With
6540-566: The constructors' championship in Hungary. * McLaren scored 218 WCC points, but they were stripped them due to the 2007 espionage controversy . Formula One Formula One , commonly known as Formula 1 or F1 , is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one of
6649-456: The dearth of Formula One cars. When a new Formula One formula for engines limited to 2.5 litres was reinstated for the 1954 world championship, Mercedes-Benz introduced its W196 , which featured things never seen on Formula One cars before, such as desmodromic valves , fuel injection , and enclosed streamlined bodywork. Mercedes drivers won the championship for the next two years, before the team withdrew from all motorsport competitions due to
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#17328768015846758-457: The drivers , and one for the constructors (the teams). Each driver must hold a valid Super Licence , the highest class of racing licence the FIA issues, and the races must be held on grade one tracks , the highest grade rating the FIA issues for tracks. Formula One cars are the world's fastest regulated road-course racing cars , owing to very high cornering speeds achieved by generating large amounts of aerodynamic downforce , much of which
6867-409: The end of 1993 . Senna died at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix after crashing into a wall on the exit of the notorious curve Tamburello . The FIA worked to improve the sport's safety standards since that weekend, during which Roland Ratzenberger also died in an accident during Saturday qualifying. No driver died of injuries sustained on the track at the wheel of a Formula One car for 20 years until
6976-541: The end of 2006 after 16 years in Formula One, but came out of retirement for the 2010 season, racing for the newly formed Mercedes works team, following the rebrand of Brawn GP . During this period, FIA frequently changed the championship rules with the intention of improving the on-track action and cutting costs. Team orders , legal since the championship started during 1950, were banned during 2002, after several incidents in which teams openly manipulated race results, generating negative publicity, most famously by Ferrari at
7085-439: The end of 2016. A major rule shakeup in 2014 saw the 2.4-litre naturally aspirated V8 engines replaced by 1.6-litre turbocharged hybrid power units. This prompted Honda to return to the sport in 2015 as the championship's fourth power unit manufacturer. Mercedes emerged as the dominant force after the rule shakeup, with Lewis Hamilton winning the championship closely followed by his main rival and teammate, Nico Rosberg , with
7194-485: The end of qualifying. Grid penalties can be applied for driving infractions in the previous or current Grand Prix, or for changing a gearbox or engine component. If a car fails scrutineering, the driver will be excluded from qualifying but will be allowed to start the race from the back of the grid at the race stewards' discretion. 2021 saw the trialling of a 'sprint qualifying' race on the Saturday of three race weekends, with
7303-466: The fastest getting first place on the grid, referred to as pole position . From 1996 to 2002, the format was a one-hour shootout. This approach lasted until the end of 2002 before the rules were changed again because the teams were not running in the early part of the session to take advantage of better track conditions later on. Grids were generally limited to 26 cars – if the race had more entries, qualification would also decide which drivers would start
7412-505: The fastest time in Q1 will not be allowed to start the race without permission from the stewards. Otherwise, all drivers proceed to the race albeit in the worst starting positions. This rule does not affect drivers in Q2 or Q3. In Q2, the 15 remaining drivers have 15 minutes to set one of the ten fastest times and proceed to the next period. Finally, Q3 lasts 12 minutes and sees the remaining ten drivers decide
7521-455: The first Drivers' World Championship, narrowly defeating his teammate Juan Manuel Fangio . Fangio won the championship in 1951 , 1954 , 1955 , 1956 , and 1957 . This set the record for the most World Championships won by a single driver, a record that stood for 46 years until Michael Schumacher won his sixth championship in 2003. A Constructors' Championship was added in the 1958 season . Stirling Moss , despite being regarded as one of
7630-483: The first ten grid positions. At the beginning of the 2016 Formula 1 season, the FIA introduced a new qualifying format, whereby drivers were knocked out every 90 seconds after a certain amount of time had passed in each session. The aim was to mix up grid positions for the race, but due to unpopularity, the FIA reverted to the above qualifying format for the Chinese GP, after running the format for only two races. Each car
7739-480: The government. On 3 July 2008, Vodafone agreed to acquire a 70% stake in Ghana Telecom for $ 900 million. The acquisition was consummated on 17 August 2008. The same group-led consortium won the second fixed-line licence in Qatar on 15 September 2008. On 15 April 2009, Ghana Telecom, along with its mobile subsidiary OneTouch, was rebranded as Vodafone Ghana . In February 2023, Vodafone Group has concluded
7848-454: The greatest Formula One drivers in the 1950s and 1960s, never won the Formula One championship. Between 1955 and 1961, Moss finished second in the championship four times and third the other three times. Fangio won 24 of the 52 races he entered—still the record for the highest Formula One winning percentage by an individual driver. National championships existed in South Africa and the UK in
7957-571: The group, and demerge the other 35 per cent to its shareholder. Meanwhile, Vodafone has agreed to make Vodacom its exclusive sub-Saharan Africa investment vehicle, as well as continuing to maintain the visibility of the Vodacom brand. The transaction closed in May/June 2009. On 18 May 2009, Vodacom entered the JSE Limited stock exchange in South Africa after Vodafone increased its stake by 15% to 65% to take
8066-487: The high speed/low drag characteristics required. As part of new FIA rules for the 2008 season which included banning driver aids via the introduction of a standard ECU for all teams, the MP4-22 was the last McLaren Formula One car to use traction control. The MP4-22 proved to be far more competitive than its similar-looking predecessor and McLaren scored eight victories, compared to a winless 2006 season. The car proved to be
8175-475: The intention of testing the new approach to qualifying. The traditional qualifying would determine the starting order for the sprint, and the result of the sprint would then determine the start order for the Grand Prix. The system returned for the 2022 season, now titled the 'sprint'. From 2023, sprint races no longer impacted the start order for the main race, which would be determined by traditional qualifying. Sprints would have their own qualifying session, titled
8284-430: The introduction of Vodafone international services to the local market, without the need of investment by Vodafone. The concept would be used to extend the Vodafone brand and services into markets where it did not have stakes in local operators. Vodafone services would be marketed under the dual-brand scheme, where the Vodafone brand is added at the end of the local brand. (i.e., TDC Mobil-Vodafone etc.) Vodafone sponsored
8393-550: The management of Formula One's commercial rights; he is widely credited with transforming the sport into the multibillion-dollar business it now is. When Ecclestone bought the Brabham team during 1971, he gained a seat on the Formula One Constructors' Association , and in 1978, he became its president. Previously, the circuit owners controlled the income of the teams and negotiated with each individually; Ecclestone persuaded
8502-550: The merger was approved, asserting the merger would strengthen competition. In November 2024, the Competition and Markets Authority provisionally concluded that the Vodafone and Three Merger could go ahead – if both companies make price promises for consumers and commit to boosting the UK's 5G rollout. In June 2024, Vodafone Group sold an 18% stake in Indus Towers , raising $ 1.82 billion to reduce its debt. Initially planning to sell
8611-511: The mid-2030s, including a spectrum shift to aid Vodafone's $ 19 billion merger with Three UK, which faced a Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigation. The deal, involved selling some of its combined 59% of the best 5G spectrum to Virgin Media O2, aimed to address regulatory concerns about reducing mobile networks from four to three in Britain. Vodafone pledged a £11 billion investment in 5G if
8720-604: The minority shareholders of Vodafone worth £110 million, and Vodafone became a fully owned brand of Racal. On 26 October 1988, Racal Telecom, majority held by Racal Electronics, went public on the London Stock Exchange with 20% of its stock floated. The successful flotation led to a situation where Racal's stake in Racal Telecom Plc was valued more than the whole of Racal Electronics. Under stock market pressure to realise full value for shareholders, Racal demerged Racal Telecom in 1991. On 16 September 1991, Racal Telecom
8829-505: The most powerful open-wheel circuit racing cars ever. To reduce engine power output and thus speeds, the FIA limited fuel tank capacity in 1984 , and boost pressures in 1988 , before banning turbocharged engines completely in 1989 . The development of electronic driver aids began in the 1980s. Lotus began to develop a system of active suspension , which first appeared during 1983 on the Lotus 92 . By 1987, this system had been perfected and
8938-459: The most reliable car of the season, with no mechanical retirements in any race, and one of the two fastest cars on the field (along with the Ferraris). The low downforce package of the MP4-22 was extremely competitive. McLaren, with the aid of their improved car, scored as many team points in the first half of 2007 as they had done during the entire year in 2006. However the team's season was marred by
9047-708: The pit crews time to clear themselves and their equipment from the grid for the race start. Vodafone Vodafone Group Plc ( / ˈ v oʊ d ə f oʊ n / ) is a British multinational telecommunications company . Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire , England. It predominantly operates services in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania. As of October 2024 , Vodafone owns and operates networks in 16 countries, with partner networks in 46 further countries. Its Vodafone Global Enterprise division provides telecommunications and IT services to corporate clients in 150 countries. Vodafone has
9156-426: The race on Sunday. Each driver may use no more than thirteen sets of dry-weather tyres, four sets of intermediate tyres, and three sets of wet-weather tyres during a race weekend. For much of the sport's history, qualifying sessions differed little from practice sessions; drivers would have one or more sessions in which to set their fastest time, with the grid order determined by each driver's best single lap, with
9265-461: The race. During the early 1990s, the number of entries was so high that the worst-performing teams had to enter a pre-qualifying session, with the fastest cars allowed through to the main qualifying session. The qualifying format began to change in the early 2000s, with the FIA experimenting with limiting the number of laps, determining the aggregate time over two sessions, and allowing each driver only one qualifying lap. The current qualifying system
9374-683: The sale of its 70% stake in Vodafone Ghana to Telecel Group in a bid to streamline its African portfolio, thus exiting the Ghanaian market. On 24 February 2010, the group signed a partner network agreement with the second-largest operator in Libya, al Madar. On 3 November 2004, the company announced that its South African affiliate Vodacom had agreed to introduce Vodafone's international services, such as Vodafone live! and partner agreements, to its local market. In November 2005, Vodafone announced that it
9483-408: The sale, Vodafone would be exiting the Egyptian market as a telecom operator. Telecom Egypt said that it has no plans to sell its 45% stake. On 21 December 2020, Vodafone announced that had failed to reach an agreement in its discussions with STC regarding the sale of Vodafone's 55% shareholding in Vodafone Egypt. Vodafone sold its shares in Vodafone Egypt to Vodacom in 2022 in which Vodafone has
9592-459: The session. The race begins with a warm-up lap, after which the cars assemble on the starting grid in the order they qualified. This lap is often referred to as the formation lap, as the cars lap in formation with no overtaking (although a driver who makes a mistake may regain lost ground). The warm-up lap allows drivers to check the condition of the track and their car, gives the tyres a chance to warm up to increase traction and grip, and also gives
9701-406: The sole tyre supplier to Formula One for the 2007 season by default. On 20 December 2007 Bridgestone signed a contract that officially made it the exclusive tyre supplier for the next three seasons. During 2006, Max Mosley outlined a 'green' future for Formula One, in which efficient use of energy would be an important factor. Starting in 2000, with Ford's purchase of Stewart Grand Prix to form
9810-482: The sport . Team Gunston became the first team to run cigarette sponsorship on its Brabham cars, which privately entered in orange, brown and gold colours of Gunston cigarettes in the 1968 South African Grand Prix on 1 January 1968. Five months later, the first works team , Lotus, initially using the British racing green , followed this example when it entered its cars painted in the red, gold, and white colours of
9919-646: The sport. After Honda's return as an engine manufacturer in 2015, Renault came back as a team in 2016 after buying back the Lotus F1 team. In 2018, Aston Martin and Alfa Romeo became Red Bull and Sauber's title sponsors, respectively. Sauber was rebranded as Alfa Romeo Racing for the 2019 season, while Racing Point part-owner Lawrence Stroll bought a stake in Aston Martin to rebrand the Racing Point team as Aston Martin for 2021. In August 2020, all ten F1 teams signed
10028-704: The start of the season until the Italian Grand Prix, after which they were excluded from the championship due to allegations that the MP4-22 used data obtained from rivals Ferrari . This led the MP4-22 failing to win either championship despite its competitiveness. The McLaren race drivers completed 5,340 racing kilometres in the 2007 season, 45% of which were whilst leading a race. The MP4-22 also completed 27,150 kilometres in testing; Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Pedro de la Rosa , Gary Paffett and Jamie Green completed 8,277 km, 7,714 km, 8,277 km, 2,842 km and 28 km respectively. The MP4-22
10137-532: The team winning 16 out of the 19 races that season. The team continued this form in the next two seasons, again winning 16 races in 2015 before taking a record 19 wins in 2016 , with Hamilton claiming the title in the former year and Rosberg winning it in the latter by five points. The 2016 season also saw a new team, Haas , join the grid, while Max Verstappen became the youngest-ever race winner at age 18 in Spain . After revised aerodynamic regulations were introduced,
10246-502: The teams reached an agreement to prevent a breakaway series. It was agreed teams must cut spending to the level of the early 1990s within two years; exact figures were not specified, and Max Mosley agreed he would not stand for reelection to the FIA presidency in October. Following further disagreements, after Mosley suggested he would stand for reelection, FOTA made it clear that breakaway plans were still being pursued. On 8 July, FOTA issued
10355-600: The teams to "hunt as a pack" through FOCA. He offered Formula One to circuit owners as a package they could take or leave. In return for the package, almost all that was required was to surrender trackside advertising. The formation of the Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA) in 1979 set off the FISA–FOCA war , during which FISA and its president Jean-Marie Balestre argued repeatedly with FOCA over television revenues and technical regulations. The Guardian said that Ecclestone and Max Mosley "used [FOCA] to wage
10464-672: The technological advances of the 1990s, the cost of competing in Formula One increased dramatically, thus increasing financial burdens. This, combined with the dominance of four teams (largely funded by big car manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz), caused the poorer independent teams to struggle not only to remain competitive but to stay in business. This effectively forced several teams to withdraw. Michael Schumacher and Ferrari won five consecutive Drivers' Championships (2000–2004) and six consecutive Constructors' Championships (1999–2004). Schumacher set many new records, including those for Grand Prix wins (91, since beaten by Lewis Hamilton ), wins in
10573-595: The third operator in the Sultanate of Oman. In December 2007, a Vodafone Group-led consortium was awarded the second mobile phone licence in Qatar under the name "Vodafone Qatar". Vodafone Qatar is located at QSTP, the Qatar Science & Technology Park . Commercial operations officially began on 1 March 2009. In February 2018 Vodafone Europe agreed to sell their stake in the Qatar joint venture. On 25 November 2019, Vodafone in collaboration with Inseego Corp. introduced
10682-499: The time), the governing council for the Facebook -created global digital currency initiative. In June 2023, it was announced that Vodafone UK would merge with Three UK ; Vodafone would own 51% of the combined company, and CK Hutchison Holdings 49%. If approved by regulators, the merger will create a group with 27 million mobile customers. On 3 July 2024, Vodafone and Virgin Media O2 announced to extend their network-sharing deal into
10791-478: The track as well. Drivers from McLaren , Williams , Renault (formerly Benetton ), and Ferrari , dubbed the "Big Four", won every World Championship from 1984 to 2008 . The teams won every Constructors' Championship from 1979 to 2008 , as well as placing themselves as the top four teams in the Constructors' Championship in every season between 1989 and 1997 , and winning every race but one (the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix ) between 1988 and 1997 . Due to
10900-425: The wake behind the car turbulent or 'dirty'. This prevented other cars from following closely due to their dependence on 'clean' air to make the car stick to the track. The grooved tyres also had the unfortunate side effect of initially being of a harder compound to be able to hold the grooved tread blocks, which resulted in spectacular accidents in times of aerodynamic grip failure, as the harder compound could not grip
11009-458: The world's premier forms of racing since its inaugural running in 1950 . The word formula in the name refers to the set of rules all participants' cars must follow. A Formula One season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix . Grands Prix take place in multiple countries and continents on either purpose-built circuits or closed roads. A point-system is used at Grands Prix to determine two annual World Championships: one for
11118-525: Was adopted in the 2006 season. Known as "knock-out" qualifying, it is split into three periods, known as Q1, Q2, and Q3. In each period, drivers run qualifying laps to attempt to advance to the next period, with the slowest drivers being "knocked out" of qualification (but not necessarily the race) at the end of the period and their grid positions set within the rearmost five based on their best lap times. Drivers are allowed as many laps as they wish within each period. After each period, all times are reset, and only
11227-416: Was demerged from Racal Electronics as Vodafone Group Plc, with Gerry Whent as its CEO. In July 1996, Vodafone acquired the two-thirds of Talkland it did not already own for £30.6 million. On 19 November 1996, in a defensive move, Vodafone purchased for £77 million Peoples Phone , a 181-store chain whose customers were overwhelmingly using Vodafone's network. In a similar move the company acquired
11336-460: Was driven by double World Champion Fernando Alonso and debutant Lewis Hamilton . The MP4-22 proved to be one of the most competitive cars of the season, with Alonso and Hamilton achieving four victories each. However, a fierce rivalry between the two drivers, combined with the 2007 Formula One espionage controversy , resulted in McLaren losing both championships to Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro . This
11445-537: Was driven to victory by Ayrton Senna in the Monaco Grand Prix that year. In the early 1990s, other teams followed suit and semi-automatic gearboxes and traction control were a natural progression. The FIA, due to complaints that technology was determining races' outcomes more than driver skill, banned many such aids for the 1994 season. This resulted in cars that previously depended on electronic aids becoming very "twitchy" and difficult to drive. Observers felt
11554-572: Was in exclusive talks to buy a 15% stake of VenFin in Vodacom Group, reaching agreement the following day. Vodafone and Telkom then had a 50% stake each in Vodacom. Vodafone now owns 57.5% of Vodacom after purchasing a 15% stake from Telkom. On 9 October 2008, the company offered to acquire an additional 15% stake in Vodacom Group from Telkom. The finalised details of the agreement were announced on 6 November 2008. The agreement called for Telkom to sell 15 per cent of its 50 per cent stake in Vodacom to
11663-470: Was rejected. Vodafone's interest in Mannesmann had been increased by the latter's purchase of Orange , the UK mobile operator. Gent would later say Mannesmann's move into the UK broke a "gentleman's agreement" not to compete in each other's home territory. The hostile takeover provoked strong protests in Germany, and a "titanic struggle" which saw Mannesmann resist Vodafone's efforts. However, on 3 February 2000,
11772-456: Was succeeded by the McLaren MP4-23 . Much like with its predecessor, the MP4-22 turned out in the same chrome livery and red accents; with a title sponsor from the telecommunication company Vodafone . Aigo and Santander joined as a team's new main sponsor. ( key ) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap) † McLaren did not receive points for
11881-666: Was the first McLaren Formula One ran with Bridgestone tyres since the MP4-16 in 2001. In its design philosophy behind the new car, the team says the MP4-22 features "some advanced engineering concepts" and "novel aerodynamic solutions". On 17 January 2007, Fernando Alonso completed a shakedown test in the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia, setting the fastest lap time of 1:12.050. At testing in Catalunya on 1 May 2007, Pedro de la Rosa tested
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