Minardi was an Italian automobile racing team and constructor founded in Faenza in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal following of fans. In 2001, to save the team from folding, Minardi sold it to Australian businessman Paul Stoddart, who ran the team for five years before selling it on to Red Bull GmbH in 2005 who renamed it Scuderia Toro Rosso. Initially called "M" then a number, from 2001, all of Minardi chassis were called "PS", the PS being the initials of team owner, Paul Stoddart.
Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on full-size motorsport circuits. Karting is commonly perceived as the stepping stone to the higher ranks of motorsports, with most Formula One drivers—including Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, Kimi Räikkönen, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg, and Max Verstappen—having begun their careers in karting.
Alessandro "Alex" Zanardi is an Italian professional racing driver and paracyclist. He won the CART championship in 1997 and 1998, and took 15 wins in the series. He also raced in Formula One from 1991 to 1994 and again in 1999; his best result was a sixth-place finish in the 1993 Brazilian Grand Prix. He returned to CART in 2001, but a major crash in the 2001 American Memorial resulted in the amputation of his legs. He returned to racing less than two years after the accident, competing in the European Touring Car Championship in 2003–2004 and then in the World Touring Car Championship between 2005 and 2009; he scored four wins.
Original Kart, commonly abbreviated as OK, is a kart racing class for drivers aged 14 and over, sanctioned by the CIK-FIA. OK is the primary direct-drive class in FIA championships.
Superkart is a form of motorsport road racing that uses karts on long circuits. The bigger difference between a superkart and most other forms of kart is that they have full aerodynamic bodykits, as well as having a longer wheel base than sprint chassis, and are generally raced on car circuits over 1,500 metres in length. The power unit, most often but not exclusively two-stroke 250 cc engines, can be specially designed kart engines or production motorcycle engines with either five- or six-speed sequential manual gearboxes. Owing to their high top speed and superb cornering ability, a superkart's aerodynamic bodywork includes a front fairing, larger sidepods, and a rear wing. They use either 130-or-150-millimetre-diameter tires and wheels and most often race on full size auto-racing circuits.
The FIA Karting World Championship, officially known as the Mondokart.com FIA Karting World Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a kart racing competition organised by the CIK-FIA. Hosted annually since 1964, it is widely regarded as the most prestigious karting competition in the world.
The 1994 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 48th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1994 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1994 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a sixteen-race series that commenced on 27 March and ended on 13 November.
Johannes Franciscus "Jos" Verstappen is a Dutch former racing driver, who competed in Formula One between 1994 and 2003.
Red Bull Racing, currently competing as Oracle Red Bull Racing and also known simply as Red Bull or RBR, is a Formula One racing team, competing under an Austrian racing licence and based in the United Kingdom. It is one of two Formula One teams owned by conglomerate Red Bull GmbH, the other being RB Formula One Team. The Red Bull Racing team has been managed by Christian Horner since its formation in 2005.
Tom Romeo Coronel is a Dutch professional racing driver. Tom's twin brother Tim is also a racer, just like their father Tom Coronel Sr. His most important results are winning the Marlboro Masters of Formula 3 race in 1997, the Formula Nippon championship in 1999, and the 2006 and 2009 World Touring Car Championship Independents' Trophy. As of September 2016, Tom Coronel has driven over 1,000 races.
Mick Schumacher is a German racing driver, currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Alpine. Schumacher competed in Formula One from 2021 to 2022.
The Commission Internationale de Karting, also known as the CIK-FIA, is the primary governing body for international kart racing. Founded in 1962, it is one of seven World Championship commissions of the FIA.
The German Formula Three Championship was the national Formula Three championship of Germany, and the former West Germany, from 1950 to 2002, then as Formel 3 until 2014. In 2003, the series had merged with the French Formula Three Championship to form the Formula 3 Euro Series. The lower-level series, the ATS Formel 3 Cup, subsequently operated in Germany, but it folded after the end of the 2014 season. Since the late 1980s, the list of German F3 champions has included many notable drivers, including Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher and nine-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen.
KZ is a kart racing class for drivers aged 15 and over, sanctioned by the CIK-FIA. KZ is the primary gearbox class in FIA championships.
The CIK-FIA Monaco Kart Cup was a kart racing competition organised by the ACM and sanctioned by the CIK-FIA, taking place at the Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo.
The Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals (RMC) is a kart racing series owned and organized worldwide by BRP-Rotax and its distributors, approved and in compliance with CIK-FIA. Competition takes place on a club, national and international level which culminates in the Grand Finals once a year.
Prema Racing is a motorsport team from Italy. It operates in the FIA Formula 2 Championship and FIA Formula 3 Championship as well as various junior championships. In 2022 the team made its FIA World Endurance Championship and European Le Mans Series entries, beginning the efforts in the endurance racing. The team was founded in 1983 and is located in Grisignano di Zocco, in the Veneto region. Prema has been a talent pool for several Formula 1 junior programs: from Toyota and Renault in the early days; to Alpine, Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull, and Williams in recent years. For 2023, the team will enter nine championships, fielding a total of 28 drivers. Prema is also set to participate in the IndyCar Series from 2025.
KF1 was the top level of karting. It is open to drivers aged 15 and up.
Max Emilian Verstappen is a Dutch and Belgian racing driver, currently competing under the Dutch flag in Formula One for Red Bull Racing. Verstappen has won four Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won consecutively from 2021 to 2024 with Red Bull, and has won 62 Grands Prix across 10 seasons.
The FIA Karting European Championship, officially known as the Mondokart.com FIA Karting European Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a kart racing competition organised by the CIK-FIA. Alongside the Karting World Championship, it is one of two major karting competitions sanctioned by the FIA.
