Your Source for all the Latest News in Real World and Virtual Motor Sports

Nico Rosberg is optimistic that he will be able to hold his own against Mercedes team-mate Michael Schumacher this season and says that he is looking forward to proving himself against the seven-times world champion. Rosberg, who left Williams at the end of last year to join the championship-winning former Brawn outfit, ended the final pre-season Barcelona test with a faster time than Schumacher

Mercedes boss Norbert Haug has called for patience for the new teams coming into Formula 1 this year, but he admits they will have to make big steps to put on a decent showing.

World champion Jenson Button won a prestigious Laureus award on Wednesday evening, the Briton receiving the Breakthrough of the Year accolade.

Jacques Villeneuve is set to join the BBC’s Radio 5 Live commentary team for the Bahrain Grand Prix. The 1997 Formula 1 world champion, who has been disappointed in recent weeks after his plans to return to F1 this year with Stefan GP collapsed when the team was not granted a last-minute 2010 entry, will move into the commentary box for the first race of the season. The incumbent Radio 5 Live team consists of David Croft and ex-Honda driver Anthony Davidson

Bruno Senna says there will not be a problem with disparity in speed between cars this weekend in Bahrain, as long as the drivers respect each other.

Bruno Senna had a few scares in the last few weeks as Campos was restructured as Hispania, but despite briefly fearing he was about to lose his Formula 1 seat, the team was saved and he will make his grand prix debut this weekend. AUTOSPORT was there to hear Senna’s thoughts on the task ahead and the last few nervous months as the Brazilian met reporters in the Bahrain paddock today

Bruno Senna says he can finally enjoy being a Formula 1 driver now - after admitting the uncertainty about his future that clouded the last few weeks had been hard to accept.

Formula 1 will witness some truly ‘titanic’ battles on track this season with no team holding a clear advantage heading into the first race of the season.

Karun Chandhok: I am really looking forward to my F1 debut this weekend. It will also be the first time I will be driving the new HRT F1 car so I can’t wait to get my hands on it

Former grand prix driver Eliseo Salazar is working to raise funds for the victims of the recent devastating earthquake in Chile by organising a major charity auction at the end of the month.

Karun Chandhok’s last minute deal with Hispania completed the Formula 1 grid for 2010, but the Indian makes his grand prix debut for a team that has not tested its car yet. As preparations for the Bahrain Grand Prix got underway at Sakhir today, Chandhok spoke exclusively to AUTOSPORT about his expectations and getting used to being an F1 driver. Q

Formula 1 rookie Karun Chandhok thinks it unfair that the new teams are on the receiving end of criticism that their slow speed could cause trouble in Bahrain this weekend. With the new Virgin Racing, Lotus and HRT outfits likely to be several seconds off the pace on their F1 debuts this weekend, a number of F1 figures - including Felipe Massa – have questioned the benefits they will bring the sport.

Felipe Massa believes Ferrari could enjoy its best start to a season for several years given its performance in winter testing. The Italian squad was quickest throughout the first test at Valencia and remained among the front pack throughout the month, while also having very few reliability issues. Massa reckons his team will therefore not only put its 2009 misery behind it, but can get off to an even stronger start than it did when battling for titles in the previous three seasons.

Rubens Barrichello: I’m delighted to be entering my eighteenth season. I’m so motivated and I’m in a much better physical condition than I have been at any other time. I’m also really happy to be driving for AT&T Williams.

Michael Schumacher, one of the most successful drivers in the history of the sport, is making his return to Formula One this season after three years in retirement. If the 41-year-old Schumacher will be able to regain his former glory is just one of the many fascinating plots in the upcoming F-1 season that kicks off in Bahrain on March 14

Massa Healed, Ready For New Season, New Teammate At Ferrari The best thing about Felipe Massa’s accident during qualifying for last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix is that he doesn’t remember anything about it. He was traveling at 160 miles per hour in his Ferrari when a steel spring, weighing about 28 ounces and somehow having fallen off of Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn, struck him in the face.

McLaren believes that it is critical that Formula 1’s new teams are stabilised as quickly as possible, for the good of the sport. Following on from the withdrawals of BMW and Toyota at the end of 2009, and US F1’s inability to make it to the grid this season, the Woking outfit’s managing director Jonathan Neale said that the newcomers, such as Virgin and Lotus, should be welcomed into the fold, rather than disregarded for any lack of experience at the top level. “As a group we have to be supportive in getting new teams off the ground,” Neale told reporters via teleconference

McLaren says it is heading to Bahrain fully relaxed about the controversy that has surfaced over its rear wing design - and says it expects the concept to be given the green light by the FIA later this week. FIA technical chief Charlie Whiting will take a look at the rear wing design of the MP4-25 in Bahrain ahead of this weekend’s season opener, following complaints from Red Bull Racing that it could be in breach of the regulations. Red Bull Racing believes McLaren is making clever use of air flow through the engine cover and air box – and perhaps even from the cockpit – to stall the wing at high-speed and deliver a straight-line speed advantage

BMW Sauber has a real chance of becoming a thorn in the side of Formula 1’s ‘big four’ teams this year because its car is so good at looking after its tyres, Bridgestone analysis has revealed.

Michael Schumacher says he is raring to go and fully prepared for the challenges of his Formula 1 comeback in Bahrain this weekend - even though he is not expecting a strong start to his campaign. The seven-time champion’s efforts will be one of the main focuses at the season opener at Sakhir, even though both he and his German car manufacturer team does not believe it will hit peak form until much later in the year.