F1-NOW.com

19 March 2010
The FIA has invited teams to express an interest in joining the F1 grid for the 2011 season having previously revealed that it would open up a new selection process to find new entrants into the sport.

Read more... »

Mark Webber is confident Formula One can recover from its less-than-emphatic season-opener in Bahrain and deliver excitement in 2010.

The Australian, who finished eighth for Red Bull last weekend, was one of a number of big names in the sport to criticise the lack of action - Webber labelling the race "pretty boring".

Read more... »

The FIA announced on Friday that it is to start the selection process for a 13th team to compete in Formula One for at least two years from 2011.

Read more... »

F1 Grand Prix, GP Australia, Albert Park Read more... »

Read more... »

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh is bullish about his team's chances ahead of the Australian Grand Prix and revealed the MP4-25 would run a number of minor upgrades at the race.McLaren finished on the podium in Bahrain after Lewis Hamilton took advantage of Sebastian Vettel's engine problem to finish third. The car was off the pace of Ferrari and Red Bull in qualifying and was giving away time in the lengthily middle sector of the lap. However, Whitmarsh thinks his team's performance last weekend was deceptive and said he is heading to Melbourne full of confidence."Coming just a fortnight after the opening race in Bahrain, there's been only minimal time to add developments to the MP4-25," he said. "But we've got a number of smaller components that we expect to add to the car ahead of the race. We've had the chance to reflect upon it, and I believe that our start to the season has been mostly encouraging. Our race pace in Bahrain looked respectable - we had the fastest car for much of the second half of the race - and I think we now have a clearer idea of how to set the car up over a grand prix weekend. Of course, we're under no illusions that the opposition will be tough - and we expect a fantastic battle in Melbourne this weekend."Jenson Button finished seventh in Bahrain and struggled with the car through the new tight and twisty section added for this year's race. He is confident that the McLaren will be better suited to Melbourne where he expects to be more competitive."I think we head to the Albert Park circuit feeling more confident of our overall pace," he said. "It's quite a contrast to Bahrain: no tight, low-speed sections and plenty of faster corners. We think the track configuration should suit our package. We learnt some very useful lessons about MP4-25 in the opening race, and the whole team is keen to put them into practice this weekend."

Monza will see Formula One racing until 2016 at the least under a new deal. STORY HIGHLIGHTSThe Italian Grand Prix will remain at Monza until 2016Track chiefs confirm they have signed a four-year extensionMonza hosted its first Grand Prix in 1922 and is one of the most famous circuits in the world

(CNN) -- The Italian Grand Prix will be held at the historic Monza track until 2016 after a new four-year deal was clinched.

Read more... »

Read more... »

Force India are to use the services of test and reserve driver Paul di Resta in practice sessions for the Australian Grand Prix next Friday.

The 23-year-old Scot will take the place of Adrian Sutil for the two 90-minute sessions with the latter's regular team-mate Vitantonio Liuzzi practising as normal.

Read more... »

Mike Gascoyne, the technical boss of the new Malaysian-backed Lotus team, has revealed that the battle at the back is actually a dash for many millions.Lotus was delighted that both its cars finished the Bahrain Grand Prix, even if by the end Jarno Trulli's green T127 was truly limping. But with 12 teams now on the grid, it is likely that only one of the newcomers will finish the 2010 constructors' championship among the top ten, therefore unlocking the financial benefits of the Concorde Agreement."At the next three races, it is important just to finish," Gascoyne said. "For now we focus on reliability. To score points is not realistic, but tenth place in the constructors' is the goal, because it is worth a lot of money."There will probably be no points [for the new teams], so the finishing places will be important - so one 11th, 12th or 13th place may eventually yield millions."Lotus has also earned an early reputation as arguably F1's most open team, with some observers amazed about the live information given away by Gascoyne throughout the Bahrain weekend.Referring to an advance warning about an impending pit stop posted on Twitter via Gascoyne's mobile phone, Germany's Auto Motor und Sport marvelled: "Can you imagine such a thing from McLaren, Ferrari and Co.?""We want to be open and transparent about what we are doing. And why not?" said Gascoyne. "Tony Fernandes is a big supporter of this, so we are going to try to tell everyone what is going on rather than hiding it or being cagey. We want to distinguish ourselves in that way."