Former Ferrari champion Niki Lauda has counted the Italian team's reigning title winner out of the running for the 2008 crown.

The great Austrian concedes that the 2008 championship is set to be a down-to-the-wire battle of Ferrari versus McLaren.

Takuma Sato's manager has confirmed that he is fully concentrated on trying to bring the Japanese racer back to the formula one grid.

It emerged recently that, following the demise of the Super Aguri team, 31-year-old Sato turned down offers to contest Le Mans and American series in order to focus on resurrecting his F1 career.

McLaren's 2008 car is now benefiting from the superior performance of its Mercedes-Benz engine, according to the German magazine Auto Motor und Sport.

The report claims that recent chassis improvements, including the Honda and BMW Sauber-like nose wings that debuted in Hungary, are allowing the car to perform more efficiently through the air.

Adrian Sutil is sporting a new colour-scheme for his helmet.

The German driver has reportedly adapted his usual multi-coloured yellow, orange and green livery to better match his current team, Force India.

Not yet a week after announcing deepening financial losses, motor sport engineering company Mecachrome's involvement in formula one is said to be at an end.

The Montreal based firm, involved in the preparation of Renault's F1 engines and also the chief supplier to GP2, last week said the engine freeze in formula one had contributed to its current struggle with losses.

Following the second consecutive week with no testing or grands prix on the schedule, F1 drivers will now be gearing up to return to their cockpits at the new Valencia city circuit this weekend.

The grid's twenty race drivers enjoyed the so-called August break in a range of different ways -- from lying on a luxury yacht, to simply swapping their normal single seater for a different form of motor racing.

David Coulthard is enjoying the last weekend of F1's so-called August break trackside at the MotoGP race.

The Brazilian publication Grande Premio reports that the Scot, who races for Red Bull Racing, has been spotted at the Brno circuit, scene of the Czech Republic grand prix.

Narain Karthikeyan, who three years ago became the first Indian to race in formula one, has declined to answer speculation he may soon be on his way back to the grid.

Force India supremo Vijay Mallya has hinted the Silverstone based team will not move away from its current lineup, featuring Giancarlo Fisichella alongside Adrian Sutil, ahead of the 2009 season.

Nelson Piquet Jr must wait until the end of September to learn if he will be retained by Renault in 2009, the German magazine Auto Motor und Sport claims.

According to the report published on Friday, the French team recently decided against simply taking up an option on the Brazilian rookie's current contract.

Reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen has hit back at claims he has lost the will to win.

Amid rising speculation that the Ferrari driver plans to retire soon, it is suggested a loss of motivation is at the core of his current performance slump.

Paul di Resta, a Scottish driver who currently races in Germany's DTM series, believes he deserves Sebastian Vettel's spot on the formula one grid.

At 22, di Resta is slightly older than Vettel, the highly-rated German driver who last year debuted for Toro Rosso and is already confirmed to move up to the senior team Red Bull in 2009.

F1 veteran David Coulthard is planning a dream present for his son's twentieth birthday -- a Ferrari contract!

The 37-year-old Scot, who will hang up his grand prix racing helmet at the end of the year, revealed that his pregnant fiancee Karen is expecting a boy.