• Manor to run as Virgin Racing in #F1 then. Shock, and indeed, horror. http://is.gd/58Jdw #
• Motorbase won't be running as Airwaves BMW in #BTCC next year (http://is.gd/58VZ0). Disappointing, but not surprising (http://is.gd/58VZr). #
• In other Airwaves news, if GSE can't find a new sponsor within a month, the team will leave British Superbikes entirely. http://is.gd/58WjM #
• Andrew Jordan back to family team for 2010 #BTCC. Hopefully the final livery for 'Team Pirtek' won't be as awful as this: http://is.gd/59SuX #
• I've always thought David Richards to be a good thing, so I do hope Prodrive does end up taking over the Renault F1 team. http://is.gd/5b6mS #
• FIA confirms that Sauber will take Toyota's place on the 2010 grid (http://is.gd/5bjlz). It's the right decision for everyone. #
• Former F1 champion Raikkonen finds it easier to put together a WRC deal than former WRC champion Solberg. That's not right, surely? #
• BMW restrict WTCC to Priaulx & Farfus with RBM (http://is.gd/5dTP7); Schnitzer to do GT2, not racing for ham (http://bit.ly/7OTqpG). #

Andy Soucek had failed to get a foot in the door of Formula 1 after two years in GP2, and saw Formula Two as his next best chance. It worked: he won the championship, and today received his prize of a day testing for Williams.

What’s more, he topped the timesheets at Jerez. Admittedly it’s a young driver test, so there are no hugely experienced Formula 1 hands to compare him against, but I think it’s a significant achievement nonetheless.

He was more than two-tenths faster than anyone else, which is a pretty good start. Those he was faster than included Gary Paffett in a McLaren, and Mike Conway in a Brawn, both of whom have tested for those teams before.

Nico Hulkenberg – GP2 champion and regular Williams driver for 2010 – will be in the car for the remaining two days of testing. It will be interesting to see how his times compare to Soucek’s.

So where will Formula Two success lead for Soucek? Today could give him a chance of a Formula 1 test role. Perhaps it will convince a front-running GP2 team to sign him up.

But it’s important for Formula Two that it leads somewhere. There wouldn’t be much prestige associated with the championship if the best Soucek gets is a season in Superleague Formula.

• Brits went well in Macau then: a win for Rob Huff in WTCC; a podium for Sam Bird in F3; and another win for Stuart Easton on the bikes. #
• #F1 Nico Rosberg confirmed at Mercedes Grand Prix; publicity shot truly ghastly. http://is.gd/51L6z #
• Alex Zanardi has retired from the WTCC. No future plans yet, but it seems like he could do anything he put his mind to. http://is.gd/543rE #
• Interesting: Joe Saward has heard that Toyota F1 team has been sold to "Stefan from Serbia". http://is.gd/54wgu #
• And more interesting #F1 news this morning: Volkswagen considering supplying engines from 2012. http://is.gd/54wto #
• Yet more interesting #F1 news! Qadbak deal falls through, so BMW sells team to Peter Sauber, if there's a grid slot. http://is.gd/54BtL #
• #F1 news day continues: Force India retain both Sutil and Liuzzi. http://is.gd/54ElV #

• Yesterday I pondered when the Mercedes/McLaren/Brawn GP/Button shenanigans would be resolved. The answer on Mercedes is due this morning. #
• #F1 The news is out: Brawn to become works Mercedes team; McLaren's engine supply extended to 2015. #
• #F1 BBC suggests that it'll be Rosberg & Heidfeld at Mercedes, Hamilton & Button at McLaren. http://is.gd/4Wbvp #
• #F1 Timo Glock is Manor Grand Prix's first confirmed driver for 2010 (http://is.gd/4WTCT). He'll not be at Mercedes then. #
• First reviews of F1 2009 for the Wii are coming in positive (http://is.gd/4X4Nh). My copy should be waiting for me at home, I hope. #
• No-one will pay Raikkonen more to race in #F1 than he's already being paid to not race by Ferrari, then. WRC next on his list? #
• #F1 BBC says Button to McLaren announcement later today. http://is.gd/4XRLb #
• If there's one thing Jenson Button hasn't got the hang of in #F1, it's leaving a team on good terms. http://is.gd/4YTat #
• #F1 BBC headline: "Schumacher 'to get Mercedes seat'". The caveat: "…Eddie Jordan believes." Hmm. http://is.gd/4ZI2a #
• Looking good for Brits in Macau: Huff on WTCC pole, Priaulx 2nd. Tarquini, Muller & Thompson all released from hospital. http://is.gd/4ZJpD #
• And, as expected, Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix qualifying dominated by Brits, Easton coming out on top. http://is.gd/4ZJcE #

• Catching up on all the #F1 news. The Button/Brawn/McLaren/Mercedes situation is complicated, isn't it? #
• If Mercedes buy Brawn GP, and Orange sponsor the team (http://is.gd/4UWTp), may I suggest 'Orange (Silver) Arrows' as team name? #

• Toyota out of #F1 (http://is.gd/4MHUx). Gutted for Kobayashi and everyone at the team. Presumably means Sauber will be on the 2010 grid. #
• Mattias Ekstrom beat Michael Schumacher to win the Race of Champions. He's done it a remarkable three times. http://is.gd/4N68G #
• Race of Champions was live on Eurosport and ROC website. Should be on ROC website on demand and to download later: http://is.gd/4N5XZ #
• #F1 quitters: Honda, BMW, Toyota, Bridgestone, maybe Renualt. Future-proof summary: Formula 1 is considering quitting Formula 1. #
• Motorsport bad news continues: next two rounds of A1GP cancelled, future looking shaky at best. http://is.gd/4NIzg #
• So, #SaveTheBritishGrandPrix then. Bernie says 48 hours for Silverstone to sign, or the race is off. http://is.gd/4NN2r #
• Another bizarre missive from Ferrari on the state of #F1: http://is.gd/4NQAy #
• Apologies for yesterday's tweet about the videos on the Race of Champions website. They're not of the racing at all. They're shit. #
• Toseland is ahead of Spies in #MotoGP FP1 so far in Valencia. Will it stay that way all weekend? I'm inclined to think it will. #
• #MotoGP FP1 finished Stoner, Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Rossi. Toseland 13th, Spies 15th, so JT's okay for now. http://is.gd/4ORPE #
• Site will be quiet for the next week, as I retreat to the countryside. I do hope motorsport doesn't implode while I'm away. #

• Lots of #F1 folk are in Abu Dhabi now, and tweeting about how amazing the circuit etc is. Jealous? Me? YES. #
• More normal Friday practice times for #F1 in Abu Dhabi: 9am and 1pm GMT. 1pm GMT is 5pm local – also the start time for the day-night race. #
• #F1 FP1 is go in Abu Dhabi, and Caroline Cheese is on BBC live text duties (http://is.gd/4HVeV). Happy Friday. #
• #F1 Only Sutil yet to post a time in FP1. Fast laps coming thick and fast. VET, KOV, KUB, WEB, TRU is your top 5 right now. #
• #F1 Hello hello, Button's just whacked to the top the time sheets, pretty much from nowhere. And now he's going faster. WEB P2, HAM P3. #
• That's #F1 FP1 then. Hamilton top, a smidgen ahead of Button. Then VET, BAR, HEI, BUE, SUT, WEB. Buemi P6?! Madness. FP2 at 1pm. #
• #F1 FP2 in Abu Dhabi starts in the light, and pretty much everyone's out on track straight away. #
• #F1 This is the time the race will start, so we'll see how dark it is in 90 mins. I also want to see how much the temperature drops. #
• #F1 Halfway through FP2, and your top five is HAM, KOV, BUE, BAR, VET. Looks excellent with the sun going down. I want to be there. #
• And that's your #F1 FP2 lot. Top 8: KOV, HAM, BUT, VET, KOB, BUE, WEB, BAR. Anyone else get the feeling it's McLaren vs Brawn on Sunday? #
• #F1 Eddie Jordan loves touching people, doesn't he? He can't help himself. #
• #F1 Jay Kay says "we" need to catch up with the likes of Abu Dhabi. Why don't you finance the British GP then, Jay Kay? Cretin. #
• #F1 Martin Brundle should do the grid walk alone. Or at least without Eddie Jordan. #
• #F1 That computer generated replay thing is all good and well, but can we have that for Ross Brawn's face when Webber hit Barrichello? #
• #F1 Nothing happening on track, not yet pit stop time, and I'm used to the lovely scenery now. Need is the sun to go down – that looks good. #
• #F1 Everyone loves Kobayashi. If Toyota sign him for 2010, they might become a little less anonymous. #
• #F1 Kobayashi still the only interesting thing in the race, then. #
• #F1 At least it's dark enough for the hotel's fun multi-coloured lights to be on now. #
• #F1 It's tough: I really want Button to get one more podium, but Kobayahsi on the podium would be fantastic. Everyone Loves Kobayahsi. #
• #F1 Damn it. Reduction of BBC Red Button on Freeview means no 5 Live commentary option. Even though 5 Live is on Freeview already. Pff. #
• #F1 So: not as good a race as Brazil. At all. But it will be something of a fitting final race if Button gets a podium. #
• #F1 Exciting end to the race, even if Button failed to pass Webber. Vettel wins. That's 2009 done then. #
• #F1 It looks all spanky there now, but quite fun to look at the Yas Marina Circuit on Google Maps. http://is.gd/4K6Dy #
• #F1 Slappy man hugs all round at Red Bull Racing. #
• #F1 Sweary Jenson Button! Oh dear. #

• #F1 Button has to be back by Tues for: an appearance at Bluewater for Virgin Media. That does not befit a world champion! http://is.gd/4qt2f #
• Loeb won't be in a Toro Rosso for the final #F1 race in Abu Dhabi then (http://is.gd/4tEuF). It's Rally GB at the weekend though. Go Mikko! #
• Gascoyne tells BBC Radio Norfolk how different Lotus & Brawn are. BBC headline: 'Lotus hope to rival Brawn debut'. Fail. http://is.gd/4tGNo #
• It's FIA election day! Todt or Vatanen? Todt seems to be favourite. I reckon Vatanen has done well to emphasise mobility though. #
• Do we find out who is new FIA president today, or is the result delayed? I can't see any obvious answers. #
• And in other news, Donington Park's bond scheme failed, so they have until Monday to raise £135 million. F1 back to Silverstone then! #
• All-knowing @NobleF1 says new FIA president announcement around lunchtime. Hardly Nick Griffin on QT, but the result will be interesting. #
• #WRC After the first 3 stages of Rally GB, Loeb is 8.9 secs ahead of Hirvonen. Come on Mikko! http://is.gd/4xkLT #
• New FIA predident is Jean Todt then. Shame. Not surprising though. Ho hum. #
• #WRC After day 1 of Rally GB, Loeb still leads, but Hirvonen is now 5.3 secs behind, down from 8.9 secs at lunchtime. http://is.gd/4xkLT #
• #WRC Looks like a storming scrap for the final podium place in Rally GB: P Solberg has it after day 1, but Sordo just 1.1 secs behind. #
• On Freeview this weekend: #MotoGP from Sepang at 7am Sunday on BBC One, repeated 12.30pm BBC Two; #WRC Rally GB on Dave at 6pm Sunday. #
• Hope Dave atones for its past #WRC sins and shows plenty of rally footage for Rally GB. There's a championship at stake! #
• #WRC Hirvonen took 2.4 secs out of Loeb on SS7, but lost 10.2 on SS8 and 11.9 on SS9, so now 25 secs behind. No news on what's wrong yet. #
• #WRC So, no reason for Hirvonen dropping so much time to Loeb this morning (http://is.gd/4zqnl). He's recovered 2.1 secs on SS10. Come on! #
• #WRC Loeb dropped 11.2 secs to Hirvonen on SS14. With 2 stages to go, Loeb's lead down to 18.2 secs. Still half a chance? #
• #WRC Looks like the championship is Loeb's then, Hirvonen having lost a minute ripping his bonnet off after it flipped up. Damn it! #

The FIA held a World Motor Sport Council yesterday, and calendars for pretty much all it’s championships came out of it.

It’s interesting to see where the British events stack up. It’s mainly not at Donington Park.

The Formula 1 calendar doesn’t specify venues, so it’s just Great Britain down for 11th July 2010, but the FIA will be working on the assumption that it is Donington Park. We shall see about that.

The standalone Formula Two round moves from Donington Park to Silverstone, which also hosts the new FIA GT1 World Championship. The World Touring Car Championship – with F2 in support – remains at Brands Hatch.

Away from the FIA, we know that A1GP won’t be visiting Britain in its fifth season. Since I last mentioned that sad fact, I’ve found this article from Kent News. In short, Brands Hatch decided against having A1GP back, due to the financial uncertainty of the series, and falling ticket sales for the event.

Brands Hatch does, however, appear on a provisional Superleague Formula calendar released yesterday, which was quickly retracted. Silverstone is the other British circuit on the possibly wrong calendar. Donington Park hosted the two previous British rounds of Superleague Formula.

MotoGP moves to Silverstone next year, so if the Formula 1 falls through for Donington Park, the only international event left there would be the Superbike World Championship.

Talk about putting all your eggs in one basket. In Donington Park’s case, a really expensive basket that hasn’t been built yet.

• Massa on how today's F1 test went: "I'm the same bastard as before." That's a bit strong! http://is.gd/4fvLe #
• Donington has yet another British F1 GP deadline extension (http://is.gd/4gSn8). Giving them enough rope to hang themselves, I suppose. #
• Brilliant: there are concerns about the weather in Wales for Rally GB – it might be too nice. http://is.gd/4haFJ #
• Just noticed #F1 qualifying will be on BBC One on Sat at 1720 (http://is.gd/4j5Ga), not BBC Two as originally intended (http://is.gd/4j5JB). #
• It's another flyaway #F1 race – Brazil – so odd practice times again: FP1 at 2pm, FP2 at 6pm. UK time, that is. #
• #F1 FP1 is go, and Caroline Cheese is on BBC live text (http://is.gd/4mr3v). She's talking about Felipe Massa's breasts already. #
• #F1 FP1 in Brazil was wet and dry. Hope the rest of the weekend is like that. Top 8: WEB, BAR, VET, KOV, HAM, NAK, BUT, ROS. #
• #F1 Brilliant, just switched on BBC coverage, and it's an owl. Why? I have no idea. It's wet though, so this should be a fun hour. #
• #F1 Great, just made a cup of tea and sat down to watch properly, and Fisichella's spun and brought out the red flags. Will we carry on? #
• #F1 While we're waiting, of the title contenders, Button came out on top this morning, it having been Barrichello in both Friday sessions. #
• #F1 Hamilton is good in the wet, isn't he? Not today. He ain't going through. Vettel looks a bit boned at the moment too. #
• #F1 Q1 done. Hamilton and Vettel out. Kobayashi 7th and Grosjean 8th, both ahead of their more experienced team-mates. Good work chaps! #
• #F1 Session delayed. Coulthard and Jordan arguing. Carry on! #
• #F1 Don't we – and TV – need to know when we're either going to get going again, or decide to give up hope of getting going again? #
• #F1 Ooh, bugger me, Q2 about to start! We will have more action, so the BBC lot can relax. #
• #F1 Hmm, Liuzzi's crash is rather red flaggy. All back to the garage! Will we see the end of Q2, let alone Q3? #
• #F1 On the one hand: stop this madness, won't somebody think of the drivers, etc. On the other: it could be a lot of fun. #
• #F1 Excellent. #BBC pundits resorting to talking about the fact that they've got no information to pass on. Let's just give up, shall we? #
• #F1 Oh God, #BBC has resorted to interviewing Nick Fry. It's got that bad. This must end, for the sake of us all. #
• #F1 My God, Eddie Jordan has an amazing capacity for smugness. It hurts. #
• #F1 Right, so over to BBC2 at 7.30pm, when there will be a track inspection, so we might get a decision. In the meantime: la la la. #
• #F1 Oh for the love of God, they're doing another track inspection at 7.45pm UK time. This is becoming tiresome. #
• #F1 I've been and had my dinner, and still we don't know if we're going to keep going or not. Tum te tum. #
• #F1 Oh hell, Button's making life hard for himself again. Everyone else seemed to know he should have changed tyres, so why didn't Brawn? #
• #F1 This is good, isn't it? Maybe even worth waiting two hours for. Maybe. #
• #F1 There we go then. Nearly three hours of qualifying, and it's Barrichello on pole at home. I think he might be happy. #
• #F1 First thing worth tweeting: EJ jumping as a car speeds by him in the pit lane. And now Brundle's grid walk. All is well in the world. #
• #F1 Ah lovely, Brundle just ignores a rival interviewer and lunges at Vettel. Brundle wins. #
• #F1 What's the funky beat behind the national anthem? This is most unusual. #
• #F1 Hooray! It's Ted Kravitz's face on telly! I like Ted. For no discernible reason. #
• #F1 The big question for the race is: how long until Legard drives me insane and I switch to 5 Live commentary? I reckon about half an hour. #
• #F1 I'm actually quite nervous about the start of the race. I just hope Button makes it to lap 2… #
• #F1 Bloody hell, what happened there? Everything, mainly. Safety car out, and now we breathe. #
• #F1 So numerous crashes, and a fireball in the pit lane caused by Kovalainen dragging the fuel hose with him, and Raikonnen igniting it. #
• #F1 Lots of drama, but everyone's okay. Button is up to 9th, fuelled to the moon and back. This could just be a good race! #
• #F1 God, this is good! It's a right old overtake-me-do! Proper stuff. #
• #F1 Button is cutting through the field like… a championship contender overtaking a load of less experienced drivers! #
• #F1 Button has been faster than Kobayashi for the last few laps. Just needs to, you know, do something. Soon, preferably. #
• #F1 Brundle repeatedly referring to Kobayashi as 'Mr Kobayashi'. Does he not fancy pronouncing 'Kamui'? #
• #F1 Properly excited now. Button takes Kobayashi, and looks to be flying now. Go go go! #
• RT @willbuxton: #F1 Kovalainen now has three separate investigations going on into his race. #
• #F1 Could Button be doing much more to prove his detractors wrong? Tremendous stuff. #
• #F1 Button in 4th now – as high as he can hope to finish without incident. Faster than anyone behind him on the last lap. Looks hopeful. #
• #F1 Vettel closing the gap to Button. It's going to be close between the two of them and Hamilton for 4th. No let up in tension today! #
• #F1 Button has overtaken wonderfully at the start of every stint. Let's have him come out 6th, and overtake Vettel and Hamilton please! #
• #F1 At this rate, Button will win the title in the same underwhelming manner as Hamilton last year: by scoring the minimum points he needs. #
• #F1 Poor Barrichello. In the pits with a puncture. He's not a lucky man on home soil. Button is pretty much world champion. Shh! #
• #F1 As Hamilton did last year, Button looks likely to seal the champ with a 5th place. Not the most satisfying way to do it, but never mind! #
• #F1 If it ends like this, at least Abu Dhabi will just be for fun, and Button can push push push to WIN ANOTHER RACE. #
• #F1 Brilliant drive from Webber to win. So too Kubica in 2nd. Hamilton a remarkable 3rd. And we can all relax, Button is champion. Hooray! #
• #F1 British World Champion, British Constructor, British Broadcasting Corporation. Now THAT is a winning combination. #