Paul Henman at henman.ca

Last few Formula One new items from 2009:

• Lotus F1 have confirmed Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen as their drivers for the 2010 Formula 1 season. [source: BBC]

• Renault has confirmed its F1 team will remain in the sport in 2010. It will also continue to supply engines to Red Bull. [f1fanatic]
• Updated 2010 F1 rules include new testing, engine and safety car regulations [f1fanatic]
  There are quite a few rule changes (as happens most years) – the notable ones for 2010 are the ban on refuelling and the new 10-place points system (see next news item)

• Think the new F1 points system is weird? We’ve seen much stranger than that… [f1fanatic]
  The article list some of the weird and wonderful points systems used in the past; I remember some of the seasons when only the best N results counted, where N changed each year. I’m not entirely sure why they’re changing it (Jenson would still have won last season using this new scoring system) but it beats Bernie’s idea of awarding gold, silver and bronze medals.

• Michael Schumacher signs up for F1 return with Mercedes [BBC]
  It’s three years since he retired but I’m sure he’ll still be competitive, especially as he’ll be working with Ross Brawn again.

• New Year honours: Ross Brawn, OBE and Jenson Button, MBE [BBC]
  No great surprise there.

Did I miss anything?

It’s been a few weeks since my last Formula One post, so it’s time for another round-up of news and gossip:

• Michael Schumacher’s rumoured return to F1
  The BBC reported that Brawn Mercedes GP were courting MS, despite Schumacher’s spokeswoman Sabine Kehm telling BBC Sport a return was “highly unlikely – but never say never”. Read more »

With the turmoil of teams quitting Formula One or changing ownership dying down, it’s time to return to the fight for seats: who’s driving what in 2010?

It’s just over a month since I posted about the start of “silly season” but a lot has changed, most notable Jenson Button joining McLaren. [BBC] Read more »

As many people expected, Mercedes have invested in the Brawn team. [source: BBC news]

Mercedes will buy 75% of Brawn in partnership with an Abu Dhabi investment company but will continue as McLaren’s engine partner until 2015.

This is great news for the Brawn team, but I wonder what impact it will have on McLaren. Read more »

A couple of days ago tyre manufacturer Bridgestone announced it will not be renewing its contract to supply Formula 1 after their current deal expires at the end of the 2010 season. [BBC]

Then this morning Toyota confirmed that it is pulling out of Formula 1 racing after posting its worst financial loss. [BBC] The BBC article says:

Toyota’s withdrawal leaves the sport with no Japanese team after Honda left F1 at the start of the 2009 season. They become the third manufacturer to quit the sport in the last 11 months after BMW announced it was leaving in July.

Well, it could be four! Renault just announced they will decide whether to remain in the sport with its own team, switch to simply being an engine supplier or quit altogether. [BBC]

Both Toyota and Renault are citing financial reasons but Bridgestone were quite clear that their rationale is “looking more at where tyre demand needs to be focused”, i.e. they’ve achieved the impact they wanted through F1 and now it’s time to look elsewhere.

I wonder how many teams will make it to the grid for the first race in 2010 (which is Bahrain, March 12-14) – there are 13 teams signed up for next year; Toyota will likely be replaced by Sauber, but I wonder what will happen to Renault’s spot if they decide to withdraw. Fortunately there are other teams keen to get in to F1, so we should still see a 26 car grid.