2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season

Calendar

Ten events were scheduled to be held in the 2008–09 series.

Cancellations

On 21 August 2008, the Italian round at Mugello was postponed following a delay in the build schedule of the new chassis. A replacement date was not announced and the event was never held.

Further timetable changes were announced on 26 August 2008. The Chinese round was confirmed to be held at Chengdu Goldenport Circuit, and swapped places in the calendar with the Indonesian round at Jakarta. Subsequent to that, the Indonesian race was moved back further, to 8 February due to track construction. The Indonesian round was later cancelled on 16 January due to the circuit missing a construction deadline.

On 9 September 2008, Brands Hatch was confirmed as hosting the British round at the end of the season. On 19 December, Interlagos was announced as the season finale on the weekend of 15–17 May 2009. On 5 March, the Interlagos race was removed from the circuit's official calendar – making Brands Hatch the finale.

The Mexican round was also moved back by one week, so as to avoid clashing with a concert held in the baseball stadium inside the circuit on the original date. On 17 February 2009, an official preview reported that the Mexico City round was no longer to take place on the weekend of 20–22 March and a replacement date was being sought. eTicket.com.mx advertised the event as it should take place on the weekend of 22–24 May, and was confirmed on 31 March 2009, subject to the FIA-stipulated changes to the Peraltada corner. On 29 April 2009, the Mexican round was cancelled due to an outbreak of swine flu.

Entry list

Teams representing Monaco and South Korea joined the grid, whilst the Czech Republic left the series. Canada and Pakistan appeared on the pre-season entry list, but did not participate in any rounds.

Rule changes

Technical changes

• On 11 October 2007, A1GP and Ferrari announced a six-year collaboration on the new generation of A1GP cars. The new "Powered by Ferrari" car is a modification of the Formula One Ferrari F2004 chassis with a V8 Ferrari engine producing 600 bhp. The car was officially revealed and driven for the first time by John Watson in May 2008. Michelin supplied the tyres for the new car.

Sporting changes

• The four qualifying sessions were reduced in length from fifteen minutes to ten minutes each.
• Teams may now utilise a "joker" qualifying lap (from Malaysia onwards). In one of the four qualifying sessions the team may elect to utilise their joker – for the flying lap in that session, the driver is granted the availability of the PowerBoost button for the entire lap.
• A mandatory pit-stop was added to the Sprint Race, brought into effect starting in Malaysia. Sprint Race time certainty was decreased to 24 minutes + 1 lap

Results and standings

Results summary

Championship standings

;Points system The Sprint Race awards points to the top eight positions as opposed to the top ten in the 2007–08 season. The teams that competed in all 7 events were required to drop their worst round pointscore as a number of teams missed the season-opener in Zandvoort due to delays in producing the new chassis.

;Championship standings

|}

Notes

References

References

1. (2008-06-08). "2008/09 schedule announced". a1gp.com.
2. "A1 Grand Prix – 2008-2009: Racing Calendar". Speedsport Magazine.
3. (2008-08-21). "A1GP delays start of Season Four". a1gp.com.
4. "ローヤルゼリーは男性の健康にも".
5. (2008-08-26). "Chengdu race announced". a1gp.com.
6. (2009-01-16). "Lippo circuit fails build deadline". a1gp.com.
7. (2008-09-08). "The battle of the Brands". a1gp.com.
8. (2009-01-06). "1GP heads to Interlagos for season finale".
9. "calendario 2009".
10. (2009-01-16). "A1GP Mexico City date change". a1gp.com.
11. "糖尿病の初期症状を予防する".
12. "ETicket".
13. (2009-03-31). "Mexico City to conclude A1GP season". autosport.com.
14. (2009-04-29). "A1GP Mexico City cancelled". a1gp.com.
15. Beer, Matt. (2009-04-29). "Mexico cancelled due to swine flu". [[Haymarket Group.
16. (2008-04-14). "Korea joins A1GP". a1gp.com.
17. (2008-08-29). "A1 Team Monaco joins A1GP". a1gp.com.
18. "A1GP : The World Cup of Motorsport".
19. (2008-09-10). "Khan to lead and race for Pakistan". a1gp.com.
20. "A1 Grand Prix - 2008-2009: Entrylist". Speedsport Magazine.
21. "A1 Grand Prix - Season 2008-2009: Results". Speedsport Magazine.
22. [https://archive.today/20080516221221/http://www.a1gp.com/News/NewsArticle.aspx?newsId=41524 The new A1GP car] ''a1gp.com'' (May 12, 2008 )
23. [https://web.archive.org/web/20200723170636/http://www.a1gp.com/News/NewsArticle.aspx?newsId=41758 Michelin to supply A1GP ] ''a1gp.com'' (July 21, 2008)
24. a1gp.com. "Rule changes for new season".
25. (2008-11-21). "Teams to get joker qualifying lap". a1gp.com.
26. (2008-09-29). "New points system for 2008/09". a1gp.com.
27. "A1 Grand Prix – 2008-2009: Point standings". Speedsport Magazine.
28. "Season 2008/09 standings after race 14 of 14". A1 Grand Prix.