It's official. After a week of speculations, Renault made a formal announcement that Nick Heidfeld will replace the injured Robert Kubica for the 2011 F1 season.
Renault was left searching for a new driver after Kubica suffered terrible injuries in a rally accident and has undergone a series of operations that apparently would sideline him for the most if not the whole F1 season.
Mercedes GP Petronas F1 Team has set their hopes on the brand new Mercedes MPG W02 that debuted in Valencia, during the first pre-season testing. After the disappointing results of the previous season, Mercedes hopes the MPG W02 will be far more competitive, and the team is aiming for podium finishes.
Ferrari becomes the first F1 team to launch its 2011 car at its base in Maranello, which is named F150 as a tribute to the 150th anniversary of Italian unification.
As it was expected during the latest weeks, Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta have been officially confirmed as Force India's official drivers for the 2011 season while Nico Hulkenberg who was ousted by Williams Grand Prix in favor of Pastor Maldonaldo will be team's reserve and team driver. Latest announcement means that Tonio Liuzzi will lose his Force India driving seat although having a contract for one more year.
Rome has officially declared the abandonment of interest about hosting a F1 Grand Prix, although having previously been given a potential slot for the 2013 F1 season. Moreover, the city will shift its focus to the chase of the 2020 Olympic Games, marking the 60th anniversary of the 1960 event that took place in the same city.
Although FIA has banned the sponsorship of tobacco brands since 2007, it seems that tobbaco industry has found indirect ways to continue its ties with racing.
Lotus Renault GP announced that the 28-year-old Malaysian Fairuz Fauzy has secured a reserve driver role which is part of a wider plan for a Lotus Renault GP driver academy.
Renault F1 announced that will race under a British licence in F1 for the 2011 season as Lotus Groups looks to forge a new British identity of the team in the sport. In fact a new Lotus-based livery for the 2011 season was already presented at the Autosport International Show in Birmingham.
Although, it was recently announced that F1 Grand Prix schedule is likely to be expanded to 20 races in the forthocming years, it now considered that apart form F1 teams oppositions, there are furthermore significant issues that should be ressolved consernming the Rome Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix in Sochi.
Red Bull has revealed its new car for the 2011 season featuring the No.1 entry for reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel who will line up alongside Australian Mark Webber for the third year in a row.
Williams unveiled its FW33 in Valencia with the goal of getting back to the front end of the grid. The team did not perform a formal unveiling ceremony, and thus Barrichello simply drove out of the garage in an interim blue livery, after the the team decides to do an official launch at the Bahrain test before the Grand Prix. Although Pastor Maldonado’s PDVSA backer is on the car, other sponsors are still to be added.
Sauber unveiled its new C30 car in Valencia with the goal of providing greater consistency and more points finishes in 2011. The car retained its white-dark grey colors like the 2010 car although there is more sponsor logos in the car. However, many have been expecting the car to be colored to a more Telmex blue livery whose sponsorship has promoted Sergio Perez as team's official driver along with Kamui Kobayashi. Instead of that minor Telmex advertising is found on the car.
The Lotus Renault Grand Prix has unveiled in Valencia its racing car for the 2011 season and brings the historical black-gold JPS livery of Lotus during 80s driven by Ayrton Senna. Moreover, the car is the first since Renault relinquished any shareholding to the new owners Genii Capital and will be significantly sponsored by Group Lotus.
Six years after his F1 debut, Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan is set to make a comeback as a race driver after joining Hispania Racing Team for the 2011 season.
