Biaggi delighted with MF1 test

MotoGP star Max Biaggi got behind the wheel of a Formula One car at Silverstone on Wednesday. The flamboyant Italian, known in bike circles as ‘The Roman Emperor’, was invited to test at the British Grand Prix circuit by MF1 Racing.

Villeneuve not done with F1 yet

Jacques Villeneuve will enjoy his eleventh season in Formula One with BMW Sauber F1 this year. The 1997 Formula 1 World Champion will see his contract expire at the end of the year, but he is not finished with the sport just yet.

Honda on the pace

On the second day of testing at the Spanish Jerez track Jenson Button was the quickest man at the end of the day. The Honda driver set a quickest time of 1.18.398 and completed almost 100 laps.

Alonso's early McLaren move a risk

In December McLaren announced it has signed Fernando Alonso's services for the 2007 season. Renault team principal Flavio Briatore was not amused with the way McLaren handled the whole driver transfer, and now also feeld that it wasn't a smart move of Alonso to sign this early.

Trouble-free first test for new BMW

At 1.20 pm today Nick Heidfeld drove the very first lap with the BMW Sauber F1.06 at the Valencia circuit in Spain. After this installation lap he returned to the garage for the usual checks before continuing to clock up a total of 29 laps of systems checks.

De la Rosa upbeat on Michelin development

McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa testing for all four days of the team's test at Jerez last week and completed 291 laps or 1,280 km in that time. The Spaniard was working through a Michelin tyre testing programme and reported that the team is finding some good performance with the French tyre manufacturer..

First Ferrari test a success

On Monday Michael Schumacher began to work with Ferrari's new F2006 car at Fiorano, Italy. The shakedown of the car went without any major problems. There weren't any official times released but according to Italian media Schumacher's lap time was less than one minute.

The F2006's performance, fitted with a V8 engine, was good. Fiorano's lap record is 55.9 seconds and set in 2004. The F2006 covered 33 laps in the morning. The only problem that halted the test in the afternoon, after 45, laps was a problem that looked like a fuel problem. Schumacher stopped at the straight and couldn't go any further.

No space for private teams says Richards

Dave Richards has called on Formula One to follow rallying's lead and slash costs - so he can take his Prodrive company back to the top.
Richards and Prodrive ran BAR until Honda's buy-in at the end of 2004, which pushed them to one side.
As one of the motorsport industries success stories, Prodrive have ambitions to enter Formula One in their own right but founder Richards concedes spiralling costs make that impossible.

Tonio wants to achieve what Minardi never could

Vitantonio Liuzzi has challenged the new Scuderia Toro Rosso team to shock Formula One and finish on the podium in their debut season.
The ex-Formula 3000 Champion, who drive in four races last year with Red Bull Racing, has been given a full season for the new team, set up partly to keep him in the Red Bull family.
The soft drink giant bought Minardi, renaming it Scuderia Toro Rosso and installing Liuzzi and American Scott Speed as drivers.
Minardi never managed a Formula One podium in their 340 races but, with new owners and more financial backing, Liuzzi has targeted a top three in 2006.

Toyota officially launches 2006 car

Toyota officially kicked off its 2006 Formula campaign with a special event for the world's media at the Toyota manufacturing facility in Valenciennes, France on Saturday. The factory is the home of the corporation's top-selling Yaris car.