Full Throttle

Former world champion Fernando Alonso is sure he will not retire until he adds a third title to the two won while competing for Mclaren.

It was announced in July 2008 that Donington Park has been awarded the contract to host the British Grand Prix for 10 years from 2010. It will be the first time the BGP will be held away from Silverstone 21 years.

Red Bull chief Dietrich Mateschitz has reassumed total ownership of Toro Rosso after buying back a 50% share in the Formula One outfit from team boss Gerhard Berger.

After warming up in a private drive at Silverstone Sebastien Loeb hiked down to Barcelona, Spain, to join real F1 team testing. A one-day deal and lo and behold if he didn’t stick a Red Bull RB4 eighth-best on time charts. Eighth among 17 drivers testing for nine teams.

Formula One driver Mark Webber was seriously hurt after being hit by a car during a charity multi-sport race in Hobart, Australia.

Slavica Ecclestone, who has been married to Bernie Ecclestone for 24 years, has filed for divorce.

The Honda Formula One team has reported the highest costs of any organization in Formula One, according to its latest accounts.

Rumours suggest that the IndyCar Series could be eyeing the slot left vacant by F1’s decision to dump Canadian GP.

Off season Formula One testing commenced this week at Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain. Among those testing are BMW, Red Bull, Ferrari and Mclaren, but it was the BMW that caught my eye.

The BMW Sauber F1 Team carried out testing with two F1.08B interim cars featuring a modified 2008 chassis with some of the bodywork complying to the 2009 regulations, running with regular driver Robert Kubica and test driver Christian Klien.

In what is surely the final death rattle for the Canadian Grand Prix Gérald Tremblay, Mayor of Montréal, has called Bernie Ecclestone’s demands “unreasonable.”

It’s been a strange year for Jeff Gordon to say the least. He’s watched teammate Jimmie Johnson put on another Sprint Cup clinic and new arrival Dale Earnhardt Jr. take some of the media spotlight off the four-time Sprint Cup Champ.

Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo has joked that he wants Kimi Raikkonen’s slower and less motivated ’stunt double’ to step aside in 2009 for the real Raikkonen.
The Finn, who only a year ago was wallowing in championship glory having beaten Lewis Hamilton to the title in Brazil, endured a trying season this year, his apparent [...]

Force India owner Vijay Mallya terminated the team’s contract with Ferrari as its engine supplier. The agreement was supposed to last through 2009, but Mallya wasn’t confident in Ferrari’s ability to supply the team with a complete engine, gearbox, KERS package for 2009.

The 23-year-old McLaren driver returned to Stevenage where he grew up earlier this week and where the local council have plans to name a road after him.

The World Motor Sport Council met in Paris in order to review several matters, including a reform of the procedures stewards will follow starting with next year’s races. The WMSC confirmed the use of three-race engines as well.

The Senna name returns to Formula One this month when Bruno, nephew of the late three-time champion Ayrton, tests for the Honda Racing team.
The GP2 championship runner-up will join Honda for the team’s first test of the winter in Barcelona from 17 to 19 November.
The Brazilian, 25, will test this year’s RA108 as Honda evaluate [...]

Britain’s last world champion Damon Hill has paid tribute to Lewis Hamilton, who became the sport’s youngest ever title-holder in a dramatic season finale in Brazil.

Lewis Hamilton has been crowned Formula One champion after finishing fifth in the Brazil Grand Prix.

History suggests Lewis Hamilton’s path to the world title today is strewn with hazards. In the 57 years years since its inauguration, the Formula One Drivers Championship has gone down to the final race on just 25 occasions.
Only nine drivers have managed to overhaul a deficit going into the final race to become come-from-behind champions. [...]