Brazilian Felipe Massa led Ferrari to a one-two victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday with team mate Kimi Raikkonen seizing the championship lead from McLaren's Lewis Hamilton. Massa's sixth career win brought him his first points of the Formula One season and came at the same Sakhir desert circuit where he fired up his title challenge last year with a pole-to-flag victory.
Poland's Robert Kubica took his and BMW Sauber's first Formula One pole position at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday. The 23-year-old from Krakow denied Ferrari's Brazilian Felipe Massa the top spot with a final flying lap of one minute 33.096 seconds right at the end of qualifying at the Sakhir desert circuit.
Motor racing chief Max Mosley, fighting to keep his job after a sex scandal, defended his behaviour, saying he is "the victim of a disgusting conspiracy". In a letter addressed to Peter Meyer, head of Germany's ADAC Automobile Club, the International Automobile Federation (FIA) president said his actions had been "harmless and completely legal".
Ferrari's Felipe Massa needs to repeat last year's dominant victory in Bahrain on Sunday to silence his critics after a poor start to the Formula One season. While McLaren's Lewis Hamilton leads the standings with 14 points, three clear of Ferrari's World champion Kimi Raikkonen and BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld, Brazilian Massa is yet to score.
Formula One's governing body faced calls to modify qualifying procedures for safety reasons after McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen were penalised in Malaysia at the weekend. Championship leader Hamilton and his team mate were demoted five places on the starting grid at Sepang for impeding rivals when they slowed to save fuel after completing their final qualifying laps.
Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton renewed their rivalry on Friday with pace-setting performances in the two practice sessions for Formula One's Australian season-opener.
Formula One takes a step into the dark this season with new faces and new races, including the first to be held at night in Singapore.
The season that fires up in Australia on March 16 is unlikely to see any repeat of the drama that scarred 2007.
Pre-season testing times suggest that Ferrari and McLaren, who won all the races between them last year, are still in a class of their own.
Eddie Jordan had fun in Formula One and now Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya intends to bring back the good times after buying the team founded by the Irish entrepreneur.
This year could be far more of a struggle for the 26-year-old Spaniard now that he is back at Renault.
FIA president Max Mosley said the cap will apply to all costs other than engines, drivers and expenditure exclusively for promotion.
Lewis Hamilton expects McLaren to be a far more harmonious team now that Heikki Kovalainen has replaced Fernando Alonso.
The renamed team, formerly Spyker, said on Wednesday that the two would each have a full day of testing in Jerez from December 4-7, joining fellow-hopefuls Christian Klien of Austria, Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi and France's Franck Montagny.
Former champions Renault hit back at allegations of spying on Friday, saying their cars were untainted by any data from Formula One rivals McLaren. They also said that a former McLaren engineer who joined them in September last year had been suspended as soon as they became aware that he had brought confidential technical information with him.
Michael Schumacher will come out of retirement to test Ferrari's 2007 title-winning car in Barcelona next week.
Spain's double Formula One world champion left McLaren in a mutual split after an acrimonious and controversial season with the Mercedes-powered team.
"Over there people don't come up to you, they leave you alone and give you space," the 22-year-old McLaren driver, who finished one point behind Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen in a remarkable debut season, told the BBC.
Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen fight for the Formula One title in Brazil on Sunday in what promises to be one of the sport's great showdowns.
Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen fight for the Formula One title in Brazil on Sunday in what promises to be one of the sport's great showdowns.
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