Top 8 looks very strong, should be good next year.

Excellent video of USF1 building the tub of their first F1 car

http://www.usgpe.com/news/welcome-video.html

Some stats of F1 in the Noughties

RACE WINNERS

56: Michael Schumacher
21: Fernando Alonso
18: Kimi Raikkonen
11: Felipe Massa, Rubens Barrichello, Lewis Hamilton
7: David Coulthard, Jenson Button
6: Mika Hakkinen, Ralf Schumacher, Juan Pablo Montoya
5: Sebastian Vettel
3: Giancarlo Fisichella
2: Mark Webber
1: Jarno Trulli, Robert Kubica, Heikki Kovalainen

DRIVERS POINTS - TOP 20

1. Michael Schumacher ........ 799
2. Kimi Raikkonen ........ 579
3. Fernando Alonso ........ 577
4. Rubens Barrichello ........ 530
5. Jenson Button ........ 327
6. Felipe Massa ....... 320
7. David Coulthard ........ 314
8. Juan Pablo Montoya ........ 307
9. Ralf Schumacher ........ 267
10. Lewis Hamilton ........ 256
11. Jarno Trulli ........ 235½
12. Giancarlo Fisichella ........ 226
13. Nick Heidfeld ........ 219
14. Mark Webber ........ 169½
15. Robert Kubica ........ 137
16. Mika Hakkinen ........ 126
17. Sebastian Vettel ........ 125
18. Heikki Kovalainen ........ 105
19. Nico Rosberg ........ 75½
20. Jacques Villeneuve ........ 55

TEAMS POINTS

1. Ferrari ........ 1737
2. McLaren ........ 1262
3. Renault ........ 770
4. Williams ........ 610½
5. BMW Sauber ........ 308
6. Toyota ........ 278½
7. Red Bull ........ 256½
8. BAR ........ 227
9. Brawn ........ 172
10. Sauber ........ 111
11. Honda ........ 106
12. Jordan ........ 75
13. Toro Rosso ........ 56
14. Jaguar ........ 49
15. Benetton ........ 30
16. Force India ........ 13
=17. Minardi ........ 10
=17. Arrows ........ 10
=19. Super Aguri ........ 4
=19. Prost ........ 4
21. Spyker ........ 1

Bertrand Baguette said on a Belgian TV show he is certain he will drive F1 next season.

Didn't say wich team but I assume Renault.

As a 3rd(Test) driver from wot i've heard, i dont think he'll jump up straight-away into a race seat.

Briatore won his appeal today against his lifetime ban but today he officially lost his job at Renault, his replacement being Eric Boullier the former team manager at GP2 squad DAMS, brought in by the new team owner Gerard Lopez. Also Robert Kubica has confirmed he will honour the deal he signed at Renault in the Autumn.

http://en.espnf1.com/renault/motorsport/story/6053.html

And Peter Sauber has revealed that his driver choice to partner Kamui kobayashi wuill be a "suprise" It seems though to be a straight fight between 4 people for the drive, those being Fisichella, Heidfeld, Klien and de la Rosa.

http://www.crash.net/f1/news/155703/1/saub...or_f1_2010.html

And USF1 are due to shortly confirm their driver lineup, Argentine driver Jose Maria Lopez and British driver James Rossiter are the 2 favourites

http://www.crash.net/f1/news/155728/1/lope...ed_to_usf1.html

Pictures

USF1 have released pictures of their finished Tub



And so have Virgin, including their lead driver Timo Glock being test fitted, the man on the right is the team's chief designer Nick Wirth

Sauber are close to completing their driver lineup with the return of a certain Spaniard you might know from the "Spygate" scandal

http://en.espnf1.com/sauber/motorsport/story/6390.html

Car Launch dates announced

January 28th - Ferrari
January 29th - McLaren
January 31st - Renault, Sauber
February 1st - Mercedes, Williams, Campos Meta, Toro Rosso
February 8th - USF1
February 10th - Red Bull, Force India
February 12th - Lotus

TBA: Virgin

Pedro De La Rosa gets Sauber's lead seat, his first race drive since a half-season with McLaren in 2006

http://www.crash.net/f1/news/156087/1/saub...or_f1_2010.html


LINEUP AS OF NOW
Drivers in red are contenders for those seats, of which only 5 are available now

McLAREN MERCEDES
1. Jenson Button (GBR)
2. Lewis Hamilton (GBR)

MERCEDES
3. Nico Rosberg (GER)
4. Michael Schumacher (GER)

RED BULL RENAULT
5. Sebastian Vettel (GER)
6. Mark Webber (AUS)

FERRARI
7. Felipe Massa (BRA)
8. Fernando Alonso (SPA)

WILLIAMS COSWORTH
9. Rubens Barrichello (BRA)
10. Niko Hulkenberg (GER)

RENAULT
11. Robert Kubica (POL)
12. Romain Grosjean (FRA), Nick Heidfeld (GER), Bertrand Baguette (BEL), Vitaly Petrov (RUS)

FORCE INDIA MERCEDES
14. Adrian Sutil (GER)
15. Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA)

TORO ROSSO FERRARI
16. Sebastien Buemi (SUI)
17. Jaime Alguersuari (SPA)

LOTUS COSWORTH
18. Jarno Trulli (ITA)
19. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN)

CAMPOS DALLARA
20. Vitaly Petrov (RUS), Pastor Maldonado (VEN)
21. Bruno Senna (BRA)

USF1 COSWORTH
22. Jose Maria Lopez (ARG)
23. Jacques Villeneuve (CAN), Jonathan Summerton (USA), JR Hildebrand (USA), Kyle Busch (USA)

VIRGIN COSWORTH
24. Timo Glock (GER)
25. Lucas di Grassi (BRA)

SAUBER FERRARI
26. Pedro De La Rosa (SPA)
27. Kamui Kobayashi (JPN)

Its not due to be launched until next week but Ferrari have already released images of their new livery (they've painted it on last years car)

And the new list of Launch Dates according to Autosport magazine

JANUARY 25th
Mercedes

JANUARY 28th
Ferrari

JANUARY 29th
McLaren

JANUARY 31st
Renault
Sauber

FEBRUARY 1st
Toro Rosso
Williams

FEBRUARY 3rd
Virgin

FEBRUARY 8th
USF1

FEBRUARY 9th
Force India
Red Bull

FEBRUARY 12th
Lotus

FEBRUARY 17th
Campos Meta

Hmmmm. Too much white for a ferrari.

Racist.

Toro Rosso confirm Alguersuari

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport...one/8475881.stm

Thats 22 down, 4 to go

23 down 3 to go, USF1 will announce their first driver on Monday

http://en.espnf1.com/teamus/motorsport/story/7245.html

You might like this Nav, a top Irish team hoping to enter F1 in the near future, they are the current A1GP champions and currently run a team in GP3

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80891

Would be good to see.

we'd also most likely get smoother tracks

The new car is not due to be launched until next monday but Mercedea have released their new 2010 livery on one of last years Brawn cars for today's official team launch

Video of the launch, and although the interviewer is pretty, she's probably the worst interviewer i've ever seen

http://www.crash.net/f1/video/156263/1/mer...ery_launch.html

USF1 sign Jose Maria Lopez

http://www.usgpe.com/news/us-f1-team-annou...010-season.html

Only 3 seats left to fill now, including one at Renault

LAUNCHED TODAY - Ferrari F10



I think its OK, see they've adopted the Red Bull "nose horns" idea

LAUNCHED TODAY - McLaren Mercedes MP4-25





in my opinion, that is one bloody gorgeous car

And this also might please you Nav, Ireland's Adam Carroll is favourite for the 2nd seat at Campos Meta

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport...one/8486728.stm

Good to see, although it's also typical of the BBC to quickly point out that he is from Northern Ireland/ British if any success comes out of him.

A leaked story saying Renault have signed Russian youngster Vitaly Petrov to partner Robert Kubica

http://www.thecheckeredflag.co.uk/2010/01/...ns-for-renault/

Renault are expected to officially confirm this on Sunday at their car launch

LAUNCHED TODAY - Sauber Ferrari C29

LAUNCHED TODAY - Renault R30

Petrov confirmed at Renault

http://en.espnf1.com/renault/motorsport/story/7815.html

24 down, 2 to go

McLAREN MERCEDES: 1. Jenson Button (GBR), 2. Lewis Hamilton (GBR)

MERCEDES: 3. Michael Schumacher (GER), 4. Nico Rosberg (GER)

RED BULL: 5. Sebastian Vettel (GER), 6. Mark Webber (AUS)

FERRARI: 7. Felipe Massa (BRA), 8. Fernando Alonso (SPA)

WILLIAMS: 9. Rubens Barrichello (BRA), 10. Niko Hulkenberg (GER)

RENAULT: 11. Robert Kubica (POL), 12. Vitaly Petrov (RUS)

FORCE INDIA: 14. Adrian Sutil (GER), 15. Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA)

TORO ROSSO: 16. Sebastien Buemi (SUI), 17. Jaime Alguersuari (SPA)

LOTUS: 18. Jarno Trulli (ITA), 19. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN)

CAMPOS META: 20. ???, 21. Bruno Senna (BRA)

USF1: 22. ???, 23. Jose Maria Lopez (ARG)

VIRGIN: 24. Timo Glock (GER), 25. Lucas di Grassi (BRA)

SAUBER: 26. Pedro de la Rosa (SPA), 27. Kamui Kobayashi (JPN)

THREE Cars launched today

Mercedes MGP-W01



Williams Cosworth FW32



Toro Rosso STR-5

Results from day 1 of testing at Valencia

1. Felipe Massa - Ferrari ........ 1.12:574
2. Pedro de la Rosa - Sauber ........ + 0.210
3. Michael Schumacher - Mercedes ........ + 0.373
4. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes ........ + 0.969
5. Gary Paffett - McLaren ........ + 1.272
6. Rubens Barrichello - Williams ........ + 1.875
7. Sebastien Buemi - Toro Rosso ........ + 2.188
8. Robert Kubica - Renault ........ + 2.426

Overall test times after day 2 at Valencia

1. Felipe Massa - Ferrari ........ 1m 11.722
2. Kamui Kobayashi - Sauber ........ + 0.334
3. Lewis Hamilton - McLaren ........ + 0.534
4. Robert Kubica - Renault ........ + 0.704
5. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes ........ + 1.177
6. Rubens Barrichello - Williams ........ + 1.655
7. Pedro de la Rosa - Sauber ........ + 2.032
8. Sebastien Buemi - Toro Rosso ........ + 2.101
9. Michael Schumacher - Mercedes ........ + 2.225
10. Gary Paffett - McLaren ........ + 3.124

And also today, a new points system confirmed today by both the teams and the FIA will be used starting from this season

THE OLD SYSTEM

1st - 10 points
2nd - 8 points
3rd - 6 points
4th - 5 points
5th - 4 points
6th - 3 points
7th - 2 points
8th - 1 point

THE NEW SYSTEM

1st - 25 points
2nd - 18 points
3rd - 15 points
4th - 12 points
5th - 10 points
6th - 8 points
7th - 6 points
8th - 4 points
9th - 2 points
10th - 1 point

Today, the first of the newbie's gets to show off their new car, and she's a real beauty

LAUNCHED TODAY - Virgin Cosworth VR-01

Favourite is the Williams, followed close by the McClaren. The Renault is awful who thought of that

Virgin car is sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet. Reminds me of the Midland car.

Here's a great video showing some sweet behind the scenes footage of the launch, including Lucas di Grassi describing his new fondness for Yorkshire Tea

http://www.virginracing.com/cars/#/video

LAUNCHED TODAY - Force India Mercedes VJM-03

LUNCHED TODAY - Red Bull Renault RB6

TIMES FROM DAY 1 OF 4 AT THE 2nd PRE-SEASON TEST

1. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes ................ 1m 20.927*
2. Sebastien Buemi - Toro Rosso ................ + 0.104*
3. Niko Hulkenberg - Williams ................ + 1.326
4. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari ................ + 1.965
5. Kamui Kobayashi - Sauber ................ + 2.860
6. Jenson Button - McLaren ................ + 4.020
7. Vitantonio Liuzzi - Force India ................ + 4.041
8. Vitaly Petrov - Renault ................ + 4.512
9. Mark Webber - Red Bull ................ + 5.425
10. Timo Glock - Virgin ................ No Time Recorded

* Times set in dry weather

Silverstone to use Arena track for 2010 grand prix

Here's a computer made image of the new layout, including a brand new pit complex between Club and Abbey



And the satellite view of it

http://joesaward.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/100185.jpg

OVERALL TEST TIMES AFTER DAY 2

1. Kamui Kobayashi - Sauber ........ 1m 19.950
2. Sebastien Buemi - Toro Rosso ........ +0.076
3. Jenson Button - McLaren ........ + 0.668
4. Niko Hulkenberg - Williams ........ + 0.679
5. Vitantonio Liuzzi - Force India ........ + 0.804
6. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes ........ + 0.977
7. Michael Schumacher - Mercedes ........ + 1.133
8. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari ........ + 1.474
9. Robert Kubica - Renault ........ + 2.053
10. Mark Webber - Red Bull ........ + 2.093
11. Vitaly Petrov - Renault ........ + 5.489*
12. Timo Glock - Virgin ........ +10.014**


* Set their best time during wet conditions
**Only did limited running due to technical problems

This is it, arguably the most eagerly awaited launch of the whole winter, and die-hard fans of the team have waited SIXTEEN years for this

LAUNCHED TODAY - Lotus Cosworth 127

Great to see the return of Lotus and the green and yellow

Wow, what a beautiful looking beast

OVERALL TEST TIMES FOR 2nd OFFICIAL TEST

1. Lewis Hamilton - McLaren ................ 1m 19.583
2. Jaime Alguersuari - Toro Rosso ................ + 0.336
3. Kamui Kobayashi - Sauber ................ + 0.367
4. Sebastien Buemi - Toro Rosso ................ + 0.443
5. Adrian Sutil - Force India ................ + 0.597
6. Rubens Barrichello - Williams ................ + 0.758
7. Robert Kubica - Renault ................ + 0.775
8. Michael Schumacher - Mercedes ................ + 1.030
9. Jenson Button - McLaren ................ + 1.035
10. Niko Hulkenberg - Williams ................ + 1.046
11. Pedro de la Rosa - Sauber ................ + 1.153
12. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes ................ + 1.344
13. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull ................ + 1.620
14. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari ................ + 1.841
15. Felipe Massa - Ferrari ................ + 1.902
16. Vitaly Petrov - Renault ................ + 2.417
17. Mark Webber - Red Bull ................ + 2.460
18. Lucas di Grassi - Virgin ................ + 3.329
19. Vitantonio Liuzzi - Force India ................ + 5.385
20. Timo Glock - Virgin ................ + 10.381

Should show it to renault and say thats how to paint a f1 car

Well the Renault itself is a retro livery too, its a replica of their original F1 racing colours from the turbo era

RENAULT 1978


RENAULT 1985