Block inspired by late McRae By David Evans Thursday, March 11th 2010, 08:53 GMT Monster World Rally Team driver Ken Block has talked about how Colin McRae inspired him to start rallying. Block, whose new team made its debut in the World Rally Championship on last week’s Rally Mexico, said he felt an affinity with the 1995 World Rally Champion, who he got to know as a friend and competitor at the X-Games competition in America.

Haug calls for patience for new teams By Jonathan Noble and Pablo Elizalde Thursday, March 11th 2010, 10:49 GMT 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. Teams like Lotus and Virgin have been over five seconds off the pace in testing, while the Spanish HRT squad has not even turned a wheel yet ahead of this weekend’s first race of the season

Fisher happy to hand car to Rahal By Matt Beer Thursday, March 11th 2010, 11:08 GMT Sarah Fisher says she has no qualms about stepping aside for Graham Rahal at the St Petersburg and Barber Motorsports Park IndyCar rounds - hailing the 21-year-old American as an “incredible talent.” Rahal revealed last night that he had secured a two-round deal with Sarah Fisher Racing, having been searching for a new drive following his winter split with Newman/Haas/Lanigan, which was prompted by a sponsor departure.

Zampieri seals Pons FR3.5 deal By Peter Mills Thursday, March 11th 2010, 11:49 GMT Reigning Italian Formula 3 champion and Ferrari Driver Academy protege Daniel Zampieri will contest the 2010 Formula Renault 3.5 season with Pons Racing. Double world motorcycle champion Sito Pons’s eponymous team claimed four victories in 2009 with Marcos Martinez, and previously carried Lotus Formula 1 driver Heikki Kovalainen to the World Series by Nissan title in 2004

Trulli says Lotus just aiming to finish By Edd Straw and Pablo Elizalde Thursday, March 11th 2010, 13:24 GMT Jarno Trulli admits his Lotus team’s target for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix is to make it to the finish of the race.

Vettel: Hot weather could alter order By Edd Straw and Pablo Elizalde Thursday, March 11th 2010, 16:05 GMT Sebastian Vettel believes the top four teams are just a few tenths off each other, but the Red Bull driver believes things could change significantly given the hot weather in Bahrain. “You don’t really know where you are, so we don’t know where we are,” Vettel told reporters in Bahrain.

McLaren’s car passes scrutineering By Pablo Elizalde Thursday, March 11th 2010, 16:18 GMT McLaren’s car has been given the all-clear to race at the Bahrain Grand Prix after passing scrutineering checks on Thursday. FIA technical chief Charlie Whiting checked the car’s rear wing this morning and gave it the green light, despite rival Red Bull Racing having expressed doubts about its legality ahead of Bahrain. Red Bull believed McLaren was making use of the air flow through the engine cover to deliver a straight-line speed advantage

FIA re-opens 2011 selection process By Pablo Elizalde Thursday, March 11th 2010, 16:37 GMT Formula 1’s ruling body will re-open the selection process for a potential 13th team to join the sport in 2011, the FIA said on Thursday.

HP signs Renault sponsorship deal Thursday, March 11th 2010, 16:56 GMT The Renault F1 team has announced a sponsorship agreement with HP for the 2010 and 2011 seasons. The new deal means the HP branding will appear on the Renault cars from this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

Edwards keen to end feud By Diego Mejia Wednesday, March 10th 2010, 09:16 GMT Carl Edwards says he is keen to bring an end to his feud with Brad Keselowski after the incident between the pair at Atlanta. NASCAR announced yesterday that Edwards was being put on probation after admitting that he deliberately drove into Keselowski in the closing laps last weekend