COOKIE POLICY

1. What Are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files that are placed on your device (computer, smartphone, or tablet) by a website when you visit it. They are widely used to make websites work more efficiently, to remember your preferences, and to provide website operators with information about how users interact with their services.

Cookies are stored in your browser and can be categorised by their lifespan:

• Session cookies are temporary files that expire when you close your browser or end your browsing session. They are used to enable certain features that require continuity within a single session;
• Persistent cookies remain on your device for a set period of time or until you delete them manually. They are typically used to remember your preferences across multiple visits.

Beyond traditional cookies, modern websites also use related technologies to store information locally on your device:

• localStorage: A web storage mechanism that allows websites to store data persistently in your browser. Unlike cookies, localStorage data is not transmitted to the server with every HTTP request — it remains on your device until you clear your browser data or the website removes it;
• sessionStorage: Similar to localStorage but temporary — the data is automatically deleted when you close your browser tab or window.

2. Types of Storage Technologies We Use

Ignition & Velocity uses the following categories of browser storage:

• Strictly Necessary: These are essential to the operation of the Service and cannot be disabled without significantly impacting your ability to use the site. They do not require your consent under most applicable laws;
• Functional / Preference: These allow the website to remember choices you have made (such as your preferred language) and provide enhanced, more personalised features;
• Analytics: Where analytics tools are used, they collect information about how visitors use the Service to help us understand and improve its performance. Any analytics data collected is anonymised or aggregated where possible.

We do not use advertising cookies, tracking pixels for retargeting, or cross-site tracking technologies designed to build advertising profiles about you without your explicit consent.

3. The Specific Storage Items We Use

The following table details the specific localStorage and sessionStorage items currently in use on the Ignition & Velocity Service:

This table will be updated promptly when new storage items are introduced or existing ones are removed.

4. Third-Party Cookies

In the normal operation of the Ignition & Velocity Service, we do not embed third-party advertising networks, social media tracking pixels, or retargeting services that would set third-party cookies without your consent.

However, the following third-party integrations may interact with your browser in the ways described:

• Google Fonts: The Service loads web fonts from Google Fonts (fonts.googleapis.com). Google may set a technically necessary session cookie to serve the font files efficiently. This is a standard web font delivery mechanism. For more information, see Google's Privacy Policy;
• Placeholder images (development/demo): In the current version of the Service, article hero images are loaded from picsum.photos, a free image service. This third-party service may log access requests. This will be replaced with hosted images in the production deployment;
• Social sharing buttons: If you click a social sharing button (share on X/Twitter, Facebook), you will be redirected to the respective social platform. At the point of clicking, the social platform may set its own cookies in accordance with its own privacy policy. We do not control these cookies and they are only set upon your deliberate action of clicking the share button.

If we integrate additional third-party services in the future that set cookies, we will update this policy and, where required by law, seek your consent before enabling them.

5. How to Control Cookies and Local Storage

You have the right to control the storage of cookies and local data on your device. Here are the methods available to you:

Browser Settings

All major browsers allow you to view, manage, block, and delete cookies and local storage. The following links will take you to the cookie management instructions for the most popular browsers:

Clearing Local Storage

To clear the localStorage data set by Ignition & Velocity, you can use your browser's developer tools. In most browsers: right-click the page → Inspect → Application → Storage → Local Storage → right-click ignitionvelocity.com → Clear. This will remove all Ignition & Velocity local data from your browser.

Alternatively, clearing all site data through your browser's privacy settings will remove all local storage associated with the Service.

Private / Incognito Browsing

Using your browser in private or incognito mode prevents cookies and local storage from being saved between sessions. In this mode, all locally stored data (including your language preference) will be cleared when you close the private browsing window.

6. Cookie Consent

We use strictly necessary storage items (those essential to the operation of the Service) without requiring your consent, as permitted by applicable law. These items are used solely to provide the functionality you request — such as remembering your language preference and maintaining your admin session.

For any non-essential cookies or tracking technologies that may be introduced in the future, we will obtain your specific, informed, and freely given consent before setting them, in accordance with applicable data protection law. You will be able to withdraw that consent at any time with the same ease with which you gave it.

The information in the table in Section 3 is provided to give you full transparency about all storage used on the Service, even where consent is not legally required.

7. Impact of Disabling Cookies

Disabling cookies or clearing local storage will have the following effects on your use of the Ignition & Velocity Service:

• Article cache (ignitionArticles): If the server is unavailable, articles may not load. Under normal server operation, this has no impact;
• View counting (ignitionViewCount_*): Article view counts may be incremented on every visit, as the site will not remember which articles you have previously viewed. This is an aesthetic issue only and does not affect your ability to read content;
• Newsletter status (ignition_subscribers): The newsletter subscription prompt may reappear even after you have subscribed;
• Admin authentication (ignitionAdminAuth): Admin panel users will not be able to remain logged in. This only affects editorial staff.

The core editorial content of the Service — all articles, news reports, features, and race coverage — remains fully accessible regardless of your cookie and storage settings.

8. Updates to This Policy

We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our use of storage technologies, new legal requirements, or updates to the Service. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page and may provide additional notice through the Service.

The most current version of this Cookie Policy will always be available at ignitionvelocity.com/cookies.html. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

9. Contact

If you have any questions about our use of cookies or local storage, or if you would like to exercise any of your rights in relation to your data, please contact us: