Formula-1 news

The title fight couldn’t be better poised as it enters its final European stage after the summer break, with only 20 points – less than you get for a win – separating the top five drivers.

In Hungary Mark Webber moved up to the lead with 161 points after becoming the only driver to win four times this season. He is chased by McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton on 157, Red Bull team mate Sebastian Vettel on 151, McLaren’s Jenson Button on 147, and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso on 141…

Drivers: Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso), Pedro de la Rosa (Sauber), Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) and Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull).

Q: Gentlemen, first of all, what did you do during the break? Pedro, with the family I guess?
Pedro de la Rosa: Yes, it has been a very good break. I was always with the family. We went to Majorca, on holiday, where we normally go. Great time I must say, very good. I did a lot of cycling and realised how bad I am at that, but it was very good…

Kamui Kobayashi surprised everybody with his sterling work for Toyota at the end of last season, and his excellent performances in the Brazil and Abu Dhabi rounds eventually secured him a seat with BMW Sauber for this season. Although Kobayashi’s raw pace continued to impress onlookers, poor luck and the hit and miss reliability of his Ferrari-engined C29 saw him endure a disappointing start to his first full Formula One season. However with the car finally finding its form, the young Japanese driver is craving more success

Lotus’s chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne is not your typical paddock personality. From his tattoos to his ‘Rottweiler’ nickname, Gascoyne is one of Formula One racing’s biggest characters. But after honing his skills during spells with Force India, McLaren, Sauber, Tyrrell, Jordan, Renault and Toyota, he’s also an ace in the design department. Here he discusses Lotus’s debut year, the team’s driver line-up and the 2011 season

There was a nice little ceremony in a packed Williams hospitality area at Spa on Thursday, as Rubens Barrichello celebrated his 300th Grand Prix with all of his friends in the paddock. Everyone who was anyone was there, including most of his fellow drivers with the notable exception of Michael Schumacher

As expected, it rained in Spa on Friday morning. And rained. At one stage nobody was out on the track as a torrential downpour kept all 24 cars and drivers in their garages.

But everyone went out at one time or other as full wet Bridgestones remained the order of the day, and Fernando Alonso set the pace all the way through with Lewis Hamilton hot on his heels…

After all the rain in Belgium on Friday morning and through lunch, it was dry for the second practice session during the afternoon, which was halted for a few minutes with a quarter of an hour to run because spectators were suspected to be in a dangerous area.

Adrian Sutil set the pace throughout for Force India, only to be upstaged right at the end when Fernando Alonso bettered him by 0.125s in the Ferrari. The Spaniard lapped in 1m 49.032s, compared to the German’s 1m 49.157s.

Team principals: John Booth (Virgin), Ross Brawn (Mercedes), Mike Gascoyne (Lotus) and Martin Whitmarsh (McLaren).

Q: A question to you all. This time of the year some people tend to wind down on the development of the current car, perhaps work more on the 2011 car. Some people less so as they are still in the championship. Can I just hear what your team’s concentration is on for the rest of the season?
Mike Gascoyne: For us it is very clear that we are fully focused on next year’s car…

For many F1 experts Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel is still the hottest candidate for the 2010 drivers’ title, despite his occasional mistakes – notably his safety-car lapse at the last race in Hungary. Spa-Francorchamps, venue for this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, puts intense pressure on car and driver and if Vettel can succeed here then his championship odds will shorten dramatically. But can he put those previous errors out of his mind and go on the offensive? The German believes so

Many teams were cautious in reading too much into their performance, since the rain in the morning disrupted things so significantly and with more bad weather possible, they wanted to preserve their three sets of full wet Bridgestone tyres and four sets of intermediates. And as expected, for once Red Bull were not among the pacesetters. We take a team-by-team look at Friday progress at Spa