LONDON: Mercedes GP Petronas team principal Ross Brawn (pic) fears his pride in defending the Formula One world titles may come before a fall in the seasonopening Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday.

Of the four teams poised to challenge for the win in Sakhir and ultimately this year's championships, Mercedes remain circumspect about their chances.

KUALA LUMPUR: Lotus Racing has finally finished packing up the six airfreight boxes needed for the journey to Bahrain and the beginning of the 2010 Formula One season.

Two cars and a 60-strong team have now made their way to the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Bahrain International Circuit for the first race of much anticipated 2010 season.

BAHRAIN: MalaysiaQI-MeritusMahara.com’s Luca Filippi finished the first free practice session in fourth place after clocking a time of 1:45.046s. His teammate, American rookie Alexander Rossi, is ninth after finishing with a best time of 1:45.424s.

It was a perfect day for a trouble-free practice session that opened the third week-end of the GP2 Asian 2010 Series at Sakhir track.

LONDON: While the country adds another page to its history books with the involvement of Lotus F1 Racing and Mercedes GP Petronas in F1 this season, our very own Sazlan Sirajudin is also bent on hogging the limelight.

The KL-born driver has set his sights on racing in the Formula Renault UK 2010 season. Sazlan, 17, was in London earlier this week for a two-day test session at Brands Hatch.

“It was a cold outing and being from a tropical country, I got the chills easily. However, it was a great session and I learnt a lot while driving the machine,” said Sazlan.

JEREZ: Top drivers are not expecting another Brawn-like phenomenon of the kind which stunned Formula 1 last year. Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull and McLaren will be the forces to be reckoned with in 2010, they forecast this morning.

Last year Brawn, which has become Mercedes, rose from the ashes of the departed Honda to conquer the constructors' championship and help Jenson Button to the drivers' title. However, this year the new 'Big Four' look to be ahead of the rest.

LONDON: Heikki Kovalainen is confident his Lotus Formula 1 team can live up to their name — given time. The team are set to make their Formula 1 debut this season but despite carrying the “Lotus” name, this team are not the Lotus outfit of old.

Kovalainen’s team are a new outfit, starting from scratch and the only reason they are carrying the “Lotus” name is because they are backed by the Malaysian national car maker Proton, who own Lotus.

VALENCIA: Fernando Alonso delighted his legions of Spanish Formula 1 fans this morning with the quickest time in testing on an emotional debut for Ferrari.

The double world champion, who was cheered on by an astonishing 36,000-strong weekday crowd at Valencia's Ricardo Tormo circuit, played down suggestions of being the early favourite in the title race, however.

"No, I don't think so. It's just the first day," the former Renault driver said.

BERLIN: Michael Schumacher's doctor confirmed this morning that the German legend has completely recovered from his neck injury and is fully fit to challenge for the Formula 1 world title this season.

The seven-time world champion has returned to the sport after a three-year absence and is currently taking part in pre-season testing with his new Mercedes team in Valencia, Spain.

VALENCIA: Tung Ho-pin broke new ground with Renault this morning when be became the first Chinese driver to be named in a Formula 1 team line-up. The Dutch-born 27-year-old, already the first Chinese national to drive a Grand Prix car, will be Renault's official third (reserve) driver this season. Tung will also be racing in the GP2 support series with the DAMS team in Renault colours.

"This step will be the breakthrough I think in terms of media attention, of interest," he said at the launch of the new Renault F1 car.

LONDON: Lewis Hamilton looked forward to his most exciting Formula 1 season yet this morning while jokingly casting himself as 'just a number two driver' alongside Jenson Button at McLaren.

The 2008 world champion, who celebrated his 25th birthday last week, will have the No 2 on his car while fellow-Briton Button enjoys the number one after taking the title with Brawn last year.

MUNICH: Ralf Schumacher has refused to confirm or deny that he is in talks to join Toro Rosso. The German driver admitted earlier in the week that he is looking to return to Formula 1, and according to reports was made a firm offer by one of the four new teams. But the former Williams man insists he will not name any parties he may or may not be in discussions with.

"Franz Tost (Toro Ross team principal) and I are very good friends," Schumacher told SID news agency. "But it should be understood that I am not going to name any teams. It is all speculation."

BERLIN: Seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher has agreed a one-year deal to come out of retirement and drive for Mercedes in 2010, Bild newspaper reported this morning.

The newspaper said the 40-year-old German, who won his titles with Benetton and Ferrari and retired at the end of 2006, signed the deal at the team’s offices in Brackley, England, after a month of talks.

LONDON: Renault confirmed that they are to remain in Formula 1 after selling off a large part of the team to
Luxembourg company Genii Capital.

After weeks of uncertainty about their future, the French car manufacturer issued a statement revealing their
link-up with Genii Capital, a company led by businessman Gerard Lopez.

Precise details of what percentage Genii Capital will hold were not given but it is reported to be in the region
of 75 per cent.

ROME: Ferrari will not stand in Michael Schumacher's way if the seven-time Formula 1 world champion decides to come out of retirement and race for Mercedes, president Luca di Montezemolo said this morning.

 

 

KUALA LUMPUR: Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen who boast of only one win each in the F1 races, were today named as the drivers for the Lotus F1 team ahead of the 2010 F1 season, while local ace driver Fairuz Fauzy was named as the reserve driver.

MONACO: The FIA today hosted the first meeting of the F1 Commission in their new structure since the signing of the 2009 Concorde Agreement this morning.

Chaired by Commission President Bernie Ecclestone, and with FIA President Jean Todt in attendance, the F1 Commission is made up of key championship stakeholders from F1 teams, promoters, suppliers and sponsors.

The F1 Commission agreed that the Brawn team will be allowed to change their chassis name from Brawn to Mercedes. The team will continue to receive payments based on its historical performance.

LONDON: The Mercedes Formu la 1 team named Nico Rosberg as one of their 2010 drivers yesterday while failing to kill off speculation that retired champion Michael Schumacher could partner him in an all-German line-up.

Rosberg, son of Finland’s 1982 world champion Keke, will be the first German to race for a factory Mercedes team since Karl Kling and Hans Herrmann competed for the old “Silver Arrows” in 1955.

The 24-year-old has spent the last four seasons at Williams, with second place in Singapore last year his best result in 70 starts.

LONDON: Bruno Senna has carried a burden of expectation ever since he first stepped into a racing car and it will only grow heavier when he makes his Formula 1 debut next year.

LONDON: Twice Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso made his first public appearance with his new Ferrari team at an event in Valencia, Spain this morning.

The 28-year-old, who begins a three-year deal with the Italian team in January when his Renault contract expires, appeared with new teammate Felipe Massa and president Luca di Montezemolo.