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Mercedes is modifying its 2010 car to better suit Michael Schumacher's driving style.While the seven-time world champion has struggled with the W01 on his return to the sport, team-mate Nico Rosberg is second in the world championship after finishing on the podium at the last two grands prix.But team boss Ross Brawn is worried about the car's basic characteristics."Our car does not have enough front downforce," he told The Times. "New regulations have made the front tyres narrower, which means you need to generate more downforce at the front than before. Michael needs to be able to lean heavily on the front of the car to make his driving style work."The front of the car has therefore been the focus of Mercedes' big upgrade for Barcelona, featuring a longer wheelbase."We've got a modification of the car coming for Barcelona which puts us into a better range for the weight distribution we can achieve," Brawn confirmed.But three-time champion Niki Lauda, who won his final title after returning to the sport from retirement, thinks it should be up to Schumacher to adapt to the car."He must change his driving style as quickly as possible," he told Blick newspaper. "The new Formula One with the much narrower front tyres obviously surprised him, while Rosberg has had no problems and is doing a sensational job."

Rookie Nico Hulkenberg has joined Williams team bosses in raving about the form of Formula One's most experienced driver Rubens Barrichello.At the end of a miserable 2008 season with Honda,Barrichelloseemed set to end his F1 career on a low.But the team reinvented itself as Brawn, where Barrichello out-performed his team-mate and eventual champion Jenson Button in the second half of 2009.Barrichello, 37, switched to Williams this year and so far has shown the way to his highly-rated young team-mate Hulkenberg, the reigning champion of GP2."How he drives the car just eight tenths slower than the front is puzzling," the 22-year-old German told Auto Motor und Sport. "And then when the car is really difficult, Rubens puts in a lap that really makes me wonder how he does it."However, he sees the situation as a positive one. "He's an experienced driver who last year won races in a winning car. If I'm with him in qualifying and beating him in the races, it will be a success."But if it takes some more time to catch up to Barrichello, Hulkenberg said he is not worried."It is a learning year and part of the development process," he said.But Barrichello himself believes Williams needed to find a second's worth of pace to compete with the top teams. "We know exactly where we need to find some of our pace," he said. "We shall not suddenly somewhere, get a second. The important thing is that I am firmly convinced that this second is in the car. We will improve the car further and further. We have to come in qualifying in the top six. Even to achieve this, we need to find half a second."

Former world champion Mika Hakkinen has joined those defending Michael Schumacher as pressure mounts following disappointing results since his return to the sport, but has warned it won't get any easier for him."I'm pretty certain though that Schumacher will still win a race this season," Hakkinen said. "I know what drives him, how hard he works when he has set himself a goal. But it will be difficult for him. Formula One will not give him any time. It knows no mercy and allows you no excuses."He's not thinking about his reputation for a single second, but he will be upset if he does not manage to race according to his own expectations. That is the situation at the moment."Hakkinen said a combination of new technical elements to F1 cars allied to Schumacher's age made things very hard for him."This sport expects total concentration. This is difficult to achieve when you are 41. At that age different things are important in your life."

British Racing Drivers' Club president Damon Hill is confident that the new-look Silverstone circuit has the potential to be "a real corker".

The Northamptonshire circuit signed a new contract with Bernie Ecclestone to host the British Grand Prix late last year after Donington Park, which had earlier signed a deal with F1's commercial supremo, suffered financial problems.

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Ferrari are keen to see Formula One introduce Gasoline Direct Injection technology should the sport opt to use smaller turbocharged engines in 2013.

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Mercedes GP are to introduce a major set of updates for their W01 car at next month's Spanish Grand Prix.

Chief among them is a significant increase in the car's wheelbase, with a raft of aerodynamic changes also to be added for the race at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya on May 9.

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Damon Hill has said that Silverstone will be a "racetrack for the future" as a result of the multi-million pound investment which culminates in the re-launch of the circuit next week."There were sleepless nights and many stressful moments," Hill, who heads the British Racing Drivers' Club, told the Mail On Sunday. "We think we have produced a racetrack of the future. It looks like it has the potential to be a real corker."Less than five months ago Silverstone's future was in doubt. Donington had been identified as the future venue for the British Grand Prix and the historic track's days as England's premier venue for F1 appeared over. But Donington's finances proved to be false and Silverstone not only found itself back as host for the British Grand Prix, but secured a 17-year deal as well. That enabled the owners to raise capital to make needed improvements."The boat has been pushed out and, as usual, Bernie was right when he asked us to pull our socks up," Hill told the newspaper. "But we must stress that a risk is being undertaken by the circuit owners, the BRDC."The work done since Christmas includes a track redesign, with six new corners and an increase in the length by almost half a mile. However, it will be faster, so much so that the longer course is only expected to add four seconds to lap times."Drivers have historically loved Silverstone, and we hope we have designed a challenging, exciting track for them that will make them like racing here more than ever," Hill explained. "I'm not sure drivers will everbe satisfied with what they get, but we've create some challenging corners as well as overtaking opportunities. What's important is that we have a circuit to test the world, at a track that has a rich history and heritage."But we can't be complacent. You only have to look across the Channel and see the effects on French motorsport now that it doesn't have a grand prix any more."The revamped Silverstone will hold its first event next weekend when the highlight will be a round of the FIA GT1 championship.

Stefan GP, the Serbian outfit led by Zoran Stefanovich which failed to gain a spot on the grid this season, has re-launched its plans for a Formula One team.Stefanovich said the team had "signed an agreement" with the mayor of Stara Pazova, located 25 kilometres from Belgrade, for the construction of a F1 circuit and team headquarters."This is proof that we want to put ourselves on the map as a serious hi-tech company, and that we are serious about competing in formula one for the long term," said Stefanovich on the team's re-launched website. "We want to be a part of F1 for both the long and short term future, and I hope that we will finally have the success we deserve."Stefan GP confirmed that it is bidding for next year's final spot on the grid, revealing that talks for its failed 2010 plans had taken place with drivers including Sebastien Loeb and Christian Klien.

25 April 2010

After failing to make it to the start of the 2010 Formula 1 season Stefan GP announced that it wishes to enter the sport as early as 2011. The team has officially subscribed as potential candidate to join the series next season.

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25 April 2010

After so much glory on track at The Race of Champions, Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel are celebrating again as Germany has now won the race to host the event itself.

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