Formula One is buzzing today as news begins to reverberate around the industry about the return of F1 legend, Michael Schumacher, to replace injured Ferrari driver Felipe Massa. The 40 year old former 7 times champion, Schumacher, has stated that he will drive for Ferrari until Massa has fully recovered. Now, Schumacher has just a few weeks to gear himself up for the European Grand Prix held in Valencia on 23rd of August.

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Formula One racing giants, Ferrari, have spectaculary claimed they will quit the sport next season if the FIA successfully impose a budget cap. Renault have also made it clear that they will follow Ferrari, out-the-door, if the FIA get their way. But is it really just toys thrown from fuel-injected prams from Ferrari and Renault or are their threats real? Could Formula One survive without Ferrari? Is this the beginning of the end for the troubled sport?

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Jenson Button is confident he can add to his fantastic start to the Formula One championship and make it 4 wins out of 5 by winning the Spanish Grand Prix (10 May 2009). The Brit and his Brawn-Mercedes team are currently sitting 12 points clear, with his team mate, Rubens Barrichello 2nd with 19pts and Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull-Renault on 18pts. Lewis Hamilton is currently languishing in 7th position with a solitary 9pts after a dissapointing start to his defence of the championship.

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After what has seemed like a winter of discontent for Formula 1 Championship at last the season is about to start again this Sunday and we can all concentrate on what is happeing on the racetrack instead of the financial woes of the industry. Melbourne is the setting for the Australian Grand Prix, with the race taking place on Sunday the 29th March, 07:00 hours British time.

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The first race of the Formula 1 season, in the Australian Grand Prix, on March 29, will see a new set of colours in the line-up after Honda has agreed a deal with Ross Brawn and Nick Fry to take over the team in a last-minute management buy-out. The new team will be known as Brawn GP and has received the enthusiastic backing of the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) and Formula One Management (FOM). All have pitched in with help and advice to preserve an important member of the Formula 1 family. Engines will be supplied by Mercedes who are also giving the new team extensive background support.

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Richard Branson and the Virgin Group are deep in talks about buying Honda’s Formula 1 team. With the new season beckoning (29th March) it is hopeful that Honda and Virgin can quickly come to some arrangement before deadlines are reached. Honda is currently for sale at the price of £1.00 but any buyer would need around £40 million to bankroll the team for just 1 season. If no deal is reached then Honda would need to get rid of their Formula 1 team, around 700 employees including British driver Jenson Button.

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In another twist for the motorsport industry this week, Formula One big guns Ferrari have teamed up with Indian car makers, ‘TaTa’, the company who produce the World’s cheapest car. We highlighted last week, Formula One Hits The Skids, the seriousness of the financial market stifling the motorsport industry. No sooner had we published the story that Suzuki and Subaru pulled out of the World Rallying Championships. Now the news stories are that the drivers inflated wages are next in line to be downsized.

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The headlines being written about Formula One and Motor Racing these last few days have not been kind to the image of the sport. The withdrawl of Honda from the competition, due to the economic downturn in the car manufacturing industry, had the sport splattered all over the front pages of the newspapers for all the wrong reasons. The obscene amount of money required to take a team through a season, estimated around $250 million, may yet force other car manufacturers to rethink the necessity of having their name associated with the Formula One brand.

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All Hail Hamilton – there’s nothing to be said to diminish the massive achievement of this man, who pitted his wits and skill against a crop of excellent rivals and, at the age of 23, came out on top to become the youngest Formula 1 Champion of all time. Ironically, his arch rival, Fernando Alonso had been the previous youngest champion having won the title in 2005 at the age of 24. Hamilton is also the first Afro-Caribbean driver and the first black man to take the top Formula 1 title.

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This is the big one this Sunday. The final race of the Formula One season and the deciding race on who will lift the coveted Drivers Championship Title. Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton have only 7pts keeping them apart and if Hamilton were to finish the race in any of the top 5 positions then the Championship is his. Seems straight forward … Stay out of trouble, drive a nice clean race, heck you don’t even need to challenge for the top positions, fifth will be fine, and Hamilton will take the silverware. Except, Formula One betting fans are aware that Massa wants that title, Brazil want that title for Massa, Ferrari will do anything to stop Mclaren taking the title and Hamilton, himself, has a habit of schoolboy errors that lead to him blowing important races.

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