It was unique in its field in that competitors solely represented their nation as opposed to themselves or a team, the usual format in most formula racing series.

The series was ratified by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), and races were held in the traditional Formula One off-season, the northern hemisphere winter.

[2] Once the series had received the backing of the FIA, a management structure including new executive directors Brian Menell and Tony Teixeira were appointed to oversee the sale of franchises for the operation of international teams.

At the final race of the season in Shanghai, A1 Team France were crowned the first-ever A1 Grand Prix world champions with 172 points.

[6] Katherine Legge was the first woman to drive A1 Grand Prix cars during test session in December 2005 on Dubai Autodrome.

However, after securing funding Team Portugal competed in the final four rounds of the second season in South Africa, Mexico, China and Britain.

Having devoted all my efforts to making A1GP the success it is today, this transaction will allow me to devote more time to my Dubai International Holding Company which currently manages a substantial portfolio of assets and new ventures and which continues to actively pursue other significant investment opportunities.Maktoum announced his intended resignation in September and his exit from the organisation was confirmed in December.

According to 2007–08 champion Neel Jani, 90% of teams in the paddock warned Teixeira ahead of time that this car change was untimely and an inefficient use of funds.

The opening round of the season, scheduled as part of the already well established Nikon SuperGP race meeting, was cancelled five days before practice was due to begin.

[13] The event was underwritten by the Queensland state government, who mentioned the possibility of taking legal recourse against A1 Grand Prix.

[16] The Ferrari involvement was intended to ease some of the concerns regarding A1GP's ongoing financial viability, the continued input of existing backers, and the platform's ability to attract sponsors.

CEO Pete da Silva reported a loss for the initial season, and yet RAB Capital paid $200 million to the exiting Dubai founder for his 80% stake.

Before the 2008–09 "Powered by Ferrari" season was to begin, Bloomberg reported that RAB Capital announced that the A1GP investment had been written down for a third time.

As part of the restructuring, administration had been applied for the previously liquidated A1 Grand Prix Operations Ltd.[19] A dispute over the ownership of the series' cars was heard on 18 January 2010 at the High Court of Justice in London,[20] with a judicial decision on 21 January 2010 ruling that the Administrator, Tim Bramston, had won the case with A1 Holdings.

[22] While the A1GP liquidators were apparently selling all intellectual property rights along with cars,[23] it is unclear if a buyer was also expected to assume franchise agreements and financial obligations, or if the series and its necessary operating entities could be bought free and clear of any and all claims by Teixeira, Lyndhurst, and RAB.

[25] If a revival plan for the series could not be agreed with interested investment parties then the A1 Grand Prix assets were to be put up for auction.

[26] On 5 July 2010 Autosport magazine published in its "rumours & speculation" blog that the series, in one form or another, was to be revived for a new 2011–12 season, citing an unidentified source who claims backing from a group of new investors.

The season would constitute 18 countries making up the grid and ten race weekends, spread out either side of Christmas 2011, visiting many of the series' previous venues.

AFRIX stated that the cars were to form the basis for a one-make series to be run in South Africa during the southern hemisphere summer.

China India Indonesia Japan Korea Lebanon Malaysia Pakistan Singapore Austria Czech Republic France Germany Great Britain Greece Ireland Italy Monaco Netherlands Portugal Russia Switzerland Australia New Zealand A1 Grands Prix of Nations took place over a three-day period, from Friday to Sunday.

Primarily, the three practice sessions were for car setup and track familiarisation before the official competition began with Saturday qualifying.

[12] In addition, one point was awarded to the team that set the fastest single lap time in either the Sprint or Main Race.

Each car was mechanically identical, built with many technical restrictions designed to limit performance, reduce running costs, and prevent any one or number of teams gaining an advantage through better equipment.

These chassis were fitted with 3.4-litre Zytek engines delivering up to 550 brake horsepower (410 kW) in PowerBoost mode, and ran on Cooper tyres.

However, another problem arose in qualifying when manhole covers on the roads were coming undone due to the racing cars' high downforce and low ride height.