MANAMA (Reuters) – Richard Branson declared the successful birth of his Virgin Formula One team on Saturday after they were first of the newcomers in qualifying for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

Germany’s Timo Glock will start 19th of the 24 drivers, immediately ahead of the two Lotus cars.

The British billionaire, who last year sponsored the title-winning Brawn team, said it would take time for Virgin to catch up with the established teams but he was satisfied with the situation so far.

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MUMBAI – The Force India Formula One Team’s long-standing Director of Business Affairs, Ian Phillips, is now leaving the Silverstone-based team after 19 years with the outfit.

In his tenure for the team, starting with Jordan Grand Prix, Ian has been responsible for sponsorship acquisition and activation, commercial direction and ongoing negotiations with the FIA and commercial rights’ holder, FOM, and the signing of over 50 drivers.

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MUMBAI -GP2 driver Karun Chandhok yesterday became the second Indian Formula One driver after Narain Karthikeyan, signing a deal with Hispania Racing Team (HRT) to driver in the 2010 season.

“I’m pleased to announce our official car livery today,” team principal Colin Kolles told reporters in Murcia, Spain.

“We also complete the driver’s team line-up with the Indian Karun Chandhok at the wheel of the car for our first ever season,” Kolles told the press conference there.
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LONDON (Reuters) – Russian carmaker Lada’s branding will appear on Renault Formula One cars this season under an agreement announced on Thursday.

The team, who have Russia’s first F1 driver Vitaly Petrov making his debut in Bahrain at next week’s season-opener, said in a statement that the deal also covered overalls and team uniform.

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Force India unveiled their new car on February 10, 2010,  saying greater stability than other Formula One teams would boost their chances this season.

Vijay Mallya’s team finished ninth out of 10 last season but improved significantly in the closing stages and are bullish for 2010 despite missing a deadline to file their annual accounts.

It has been a smooth transition for the VJM03 from last year’s car which again uses a Mercedes engine and McLaren gearbox, whereas the start of last season was hit by a late switch of suppliers.

LONDON (Reuters) – CNN International will sponsor Lotus F1 in a long-term deal, the new Malaysian-backed Formula One team said on Tuesday.

The agreement will see the news network’s branding on the race cars, drivers’ overalls and all team clothing from this season.

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LONDON (Reuters) – Formula One will have 12 teams this season, instead of a planned 13, after a late replacement for the USF1 entry was ruled out by the governing body on Wednesday.

The International Automobile Federation (FIA) said in a statement that USF1 had “indicated that they will not be in a position to participate in the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship.

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MUMBAI – The Force India Formula One Team today announced a restructure to its technical department ahead of the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship season, due to James Key, technical director, leaving the team to pursue new opportunities. Mark Smith, formerly design director, will now become technical director and will assume responsibility for the entire mechanical and aerodynamic design of the team’s challengers.

James has been a long-standing member of the team, first joining Jordan Grand Prix in 1998 as a data engineer before progressing to test engineer and later senior race engineer for Takuma Sato. In 2003, James joined the aerodynamic group and was then promoted to head of vehicle science towards the end of that year before becoming technical director in 2005.

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MILAN (Reuters) – Lotus have named shareholders S.M. Nasarudin and Dato Kamarudin Meranun as deputy team principals, the Formula One team said in a statement on Tuesday.

The pair will work alongside team principal Tony Fernandes.

The Lotus brand is returning to Formula One after a 16-year absence thanks to a Malaysian consortium.

Image: REUTERS/Bazuki Muhammad

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – A social networking campaign by Formula One fans has swayed Singapore Grand Prix organisers into creating a new Premier Walkabout ticket, allowing greater access to this year’s event for roving spectators on a budget.

Instead of paying $767 for a grandstand seat, the $245 three-day ticket will offer fans various viewing points around the circuit, including designated areas right at the heart of the street circuit around the pit lane and entertainment area. “The Premier Walkabout has opened up a niche for a new group of fans as the grandstand prices could be prohibitive for some of the real F1 fanatics,” Singapore GP’s executive director Michael Roche told Wednesday’s Straits Times.

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