The Car Hub

Japanese F1 driving sensation Kamui Kobayashi (KK) is revealed as the first driver to sign up for Sauber  next season.
Prior to the end of last season hardly anyone had heard of KK until he took over the injured Timo Glock's ride at Toyota but the last two races of last season at Brazil and Abu Dhabi where he finished 9th and 6th respectively caught everyone's eye.

News form the Richard Branson camp today is that Manor GP will be rebranded as Virgin Racing in time for the coming Formula1 season. Timo glock is signed up as lead driver backed up by F1 newcomer Lucas di Grassi

Final approval is awaited today on a new points scoring system for Formula1 races for the 2010 season.
With the proposed 25 points for the winner, 20 points for 2nd., 15 points for 3rd., then 10, 8, 6, 5, 3, 2, 1, respectively down to tenth, F1 teams aiming for a safe finish just will not get near the top of the table.

A new deal signed today will see the  Formula1 British Grand Prix safe at Silverstone for the next 17 years.
The deal has been signed following the Silverstone management agreeing to complete the redevelopment of the pit lane and paddocks by 2011.

There always has been a lot of uncertainty about the happenings inF1, some uncertainty has been about whether the technical aspect of a car is correct or not, whether a circuit will continue to host GP races and who will drive for whom next season.
Regarding drivers the F1 rumour machine is well revved-up with Michael Schumacher in the spotlights.

All the banns have been heard and the marriage due to take place in March at the start of the next G.P. season.
But the question is? Will they be equal partners in a marriage where both will want to dominate?

So now we have it – official. The turmoil that has been brewing within the Formula 1 camp since before the start of the season in March has now come to a face-off. It really seems a make or break situation for one side.

Trouble started well before March with the "diffuser" row, 3 teams who interpreted newly introduced rules in a different way to all the other teams were backed up by a court of appeal. Evidence of the benefit to these 3 teams, Brawn, Williams and Toyota can be seen in the current championship tables.

Firstly this week we had Ferrari stating they are not going to continue participating in Formula One racing because of new rulings announced by the FIA on the 29th. April. Their main contention with these rulings was that there would be an optional cap in place for all F1 teams next season of £40 million.

Behind this FIA ruling is the idea of giving the smaller and newer racing teams a more even playing field to compete on.

If you missed the 2009 Chinese Grand Prix yesterday then you missed a master class in serious wet weather driving from the young, 21 year old German, Sebastian Vettel.

Ina race that was driven from start to finish in treacherous wet conditions Vettel drove a perfect race. It would be difficult to name any other driver who could have matched his technique in the wet, even the recently retired Michael Schumacker, a renowned wet weather expert, would have had the utmost difficulty to in matching his flawless drive.

Formula One is certainly continuing to make the headlines both on and off the track.

Off the track the International Automobile Federations court of appeal has ruled today that the so-called controversial rear diffusers on the Brawn, Toyota and Williams cars are not illegal, it therefore follows that the drivers of these teams who have won points in this seasons 2 races to date keep those points.