The simple unveiling ceremony was held in Barcelona, Spain, during the penultimate pre-season testing day at the Circuit de Catalunya. The car is still lacking some of the parts though and it wasn’t able to run, meaning the drivers weren’t able to test its power, a drawback which can hit the team hard once the season starts this month.

A team of designers and engineers designed the HRT F111, under the joint leadership of technical director Geoff Willis and chief designer Paul White.

The design was great since it utilizes a 2010 Williams gearbox, but the car lacks the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS), another point of disadvantage for the new team. More popular teams like Ferrari and Mercedes-Benz equipped their F1 cars this year with the KERS technology to improve their performance and acceleration.

Willis was satisfied with the outcome of the car and praised his team’s joint efforts, although he was quick to admit the HRT F111 might not live up to everyone’s expectations.

“Starting the program to develop the F111 has been an enormous challenge… Given the tight time frame, I am very impressed with the result and the enormous efforts everyone has put in to achieve the objective. However we have to be realistic in our expectations of performance.”

The 2009 F1 world champion was distracted as he did test runs that day at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona. He was extremely worried about his girlfriend’s safety in Japan and anxiously waited for any reassuring message throughout the day. Button couldn’t reach the girl and had no idea whether his beloved was safe after a magnitude 8.9 quake struck Japan.

He was very much relieved though when his girlfriend of three years, Japanese-Argentine lingerie model Jessica Michibata, sent him a reassuring Twitter message. Since the quake disrupted almost all forms of communication in Japan, Button wasn’t able to speak to his girlfriend immediately, whom he fondly calls “Jessie”.

Though F1 test runs are extremely important and should be given utmost attention, Button was more concerned about Jessie’s safety. His girlfriend was in Tokyo when the quake struck. “She sent me a text saying: ‘How’s testing going?’ and I was like: ‘Honey, that’s not really the most important thing at the moment. How are you? How are you feeling?’” he said.

Button’s McLaren team didn’t quite achieve an impressive run on the final testing day. He was disappointed with their performance, but was more disturbed with the massive devastation on the other side of the globe.

“My heart and thoughts go out to all of the people (in Japan) because motorsport is one thing but something like that happening is so much bigger than the problems that we have here today,” he said.

He raced neck-to-neck against Citroen teammate Sebastian Ogier on the final day, but emerged victorious in the end after Ogier met an unfortunate crash on stage 20. Loeb took advantage of the circumstances, raced ahead with co-driver Daniel Elena and sealed his victory, bringing honor to the Citroen Total World Rally team.

The victory didn’t come easy though. Ogier won on the first day of the rally and had a good start ahead of Loeb on the final day after rally officials gave him a 50-second penalty due to a gearbox problem on stage 15. Ogier raced 20 seconds ahead of the Loeb after the penalty.

But Ogier wasn’t able to preserve his 20-second advantage after his DS3 WRC spiraled out of control and crashed on stage 20. He wasn’t able to get back on track since the damage on his car was too extensive and severe.

“It was a very difficult weekend, the fight with Ogier was fierce,” Loeb said.

The Ford team wasn’t too far behind as well, with Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matta Latvala placing second and third respectively. Hirvonen finished the race 1:28 seconds behind Loeb, and Latvala 2:23 seconds behind.

Team Citroen’s new racing car for the season, the DS3 World Rally Car, contributed greatly to Loeb and Elena’s success. It was the first victory for the new DS3 as well.

“We had an almost perfect weekend. I’m happy with the new car, it’s very fast,” Loeb said.

A report from Germany’s Auto Motor and Sport said the Silver Arrow is the “leader in terms of top speed” and dismissed earlier worries from a Mercedes-Benz team member Norbert Haug that the MPG won’t bring them to the top ten.

Haug backtracked though when he learned of the German media report, saying a race car that makes a quick straight line is advantageous and “important”, especially for this year’s Formula 1 season.

According to the Mercedes driver, “Because we were able to do more laps, we understand the car and the tires better. And that brings us lap time.”

The Mercedes GP Petronas team unveiled the new Silver Arrow in Valencia earlier this month, setting their hopes on a race car that’s designed to be more competitive than last season’s.

The MPG W02 is equipped with a high-pitched nose and a narrower rear section, common features found on other 2011 F1 cars. It’s also installed with new side pods and a front wing that runs along the car’s width for better aerodynamic air intakes.

Briton Ross Brawn, the team principal and designer of the MPG W02, stated, “We are now seeing the benefits of our chassis group and our engine group working well together.”

Haug expressed confidence that the new Silver Arrow will speed its way to the top amidst earlier disappointments.

“If everything goes in the right direction, the Silver Arrow may surprise you,” he said.

The Silver Arrow will have the chance to prove its worth as the 2011 F1 season kicks off next month in Bahrain.

In his MotoGP blog, Pedrosa expressed his belief that Rossi might emerge as the world champion for the 2011 season. Despite the Ducati rider’s rather unimpressive 11th spot at the seasons’ first official test run in Sepang earlier this month, Pedrosa says Rossi might pull a surprise win and skyrocket to the top position at the end of the season.

He also considers the fact that Rossi might still be testing the waters since it’s his first season with the Ducati team.

“The great unknown quantity will perhaps be Rossi. It’s his first year with Ducati and in Malaysia he wasn’t amongst the fastest riders,” Pedrosa said.

The Honda rider might even get his predictions right, considering the fact that Valentino Rossi has nine MotoGP world championships under his belt, seven of which are under the premiere class division. Rossi is also considered as one of the top motorcycle racers in MotoGP history, with back-to-back championships from 2002 until 2005. The Italian motorcycle superstar has been with Honda and Yamaha previously before joining the Ducati Marlboro Team this year.

“But Rossi is Rossi, and you can never rely on anything. Even when he’s in last place on the Saturday he still has the capacity to surprise,” Pedrosa added.

But Pedrosa is still optimistic that his team will also gain top spots for this season using their new and upgraded Honda RC212V, saying it “seems to be functioning well”.

The second pre-season MotoGP test run will start on February 22nd at Sepang, Malaysia.

According to an announcement made by the team on Wednesday, Heidfeld will take over Kubica’s place temporarily for this season and will work together with other Renault team member Vitaly Petrov.

The 33-year-old veteran racer comes with a lot of experience, having finished 172 races with Prost, Sauber, Jordan and Williams during his entire career. His contract with BMW Sauber wasn’t renewed after last season, so Kubica’s injury certainly opened a window of opportunity for Heidfeld.

He was quick to point out though that he would have wanted to make a comeback for this season under different circumstances, but nevertheless, he’s still glad Renault chose him as a replacement.

“But I am proud to have been given this chance. Everything has happened so quickly,” Heidfeld said.

“I am extremely motivated and can’t wait for the season to begin,” he added.
Heidfeld showed his dedication and commitment to the race with his impressive test run at Jerez last week.

According to Team principal Eric Boullier, “We gave Nick a chance in Jerez last week and he really impressed us. He’s quick, experienced and is very strong technically with his feedback and understanding of the car. We always said the priority was to have an experienced driver in the car and we feel he is the ideal man for the job. We are pleased to welcome Nick to the team and look forward to a strong start to the season with him and Vitaly in Bahrain.”

The first race of the 2011 Formula 1 Season begins on March 13 in Bahrain.

Ford complained that Ferrari’s F150 is an obvious copy of the name of the US company’s popular line of pick-up truck, the F-150, and stated in the lawsuit filed Wednesday that Ferrari was trying to “capitalize on and profit from the substantial goodwill that Ford has developed in the F-150.”

On Thursday, Ferrari said in a brief statement that it has agreed “in good faith” to rename their racing car and use its full name instead—the Ferrari F150th Italia, a tribute to the country’s 150th unification anniversary.

Despite waving the white flag and bowing to Ford, the Italian carmaker said: “Ferrari retains that there can be no way to confuse the one-seater…or even think that there would be a link with another brand. It seems really difficult to understand what has been expressed by Ford.”

On the other hand, Ford expressed concern that its F-150 brand will suffer reduced value. The company wants to prohibit Ferrari from using the F-150 logo in the US and sought court approval to have the Italian company recall all products, labels, tags, signs, prints, packages, videos and advertisements bearing the F-150 trademark.

The F-150 name has been under Ford since 1975 and has been under the company trademark since 1995.

The F150 racing car meanwhile was unveiled by Ferrari on January 28 and is currently being used for test drives in preparation for the Grand Prix which will kick off in Bahrain next month.

Team Vodafone McLaren Mercedes faces the 2011 FIA Formula 1 World Championship with more confidence and exuberance with the unveiling of the new MP4-26 chassis, their team’s F1 car this season.

The unique unveiling ceremony was held in Potsdamer Plaza, Berlin, Germany yesterday and was attended by hundreds of fans, sponsors, VIPs and reporters. The brand-new chassis was constructed part by part by fans and Vodafone sponsors, each of them carrying essential components. The car was built right in front of a huge and supportive crowd. The team’s champion drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button assembled the final pieces to complete the new MP4-26.

“We’ve seen it in the wind tunnel quite a lot, but it looks even better full-size,” 2008 World Champion Lewis Hamilton said. “It’s great to see how many fans braved the Berlin weather to come to the event. I hope it’s been an exciting day for everyone. I think people saw a unique way of revealing our 2010 car, something that’s never been done before. I hope the car proves just as innovative once we take to the track.”

The racecar has aerodynamic features and U-shaped sidepods to effectively supply more air to the car’s rear end. It also has an electronically adjustable rear-wing system, a 2011 upgrade, designed for potential overtaking purposes during the race.

McLaren, in partnership with Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines, incorporated a new electric hybrid KERS system into the engine for an absolute boost of power that would increase the team’s chances of bagging the 2011 championship.

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes continues this season’s fight with the winning pair of 2008 and 2009 world champions Lewis Hamilton and Jensen Button.

It seems like a promising season for Honda as their riders swept five of the top six positions during the second test session day for the 2011 MotoGP championship held in Sepang Circuit, Malaysia.

Dani Pedrosa of Repsol Honda Team finished first while Casey Stoner followed closely behind and ended in second place. Fiat Yamaha’s Ben Spies came after Stoner, and another Repsol Honda rider, Andrea Dovizioso, came in fourth. Simoncelli and Aoyama of Team San Carlo Honda Gresini finished fifth and sixth respectively. The riders used their much improved .

Pedrosa confidently sealed his second day victory with a complete test check of his new engine, chassis and rear shocks. Even though he’s still recovering from a broken collarbone and an injured shoulder, Pedrosa is determined not to let his injuries affect his performance.

“I think it’s the first time I’ve ridden so fast on this track, but you’re just fresh in the morning and I did four very good first laps. I was not looking for a time, but I saw that the track conditions were good and I pushed. The closer you get to the limit, the clearer the changes you are doing on the bike become, which lead you in the right direction,” the Spanish rider said.

The session test would run until Thursday and the second pre-season test is set to start after approximately 19 days in Sepang, Malaysia as well. The 2011 MotoGP season will officially start on March 20^th at Losail, Qatar.

The issues to be settled on March 21 include legal matters relating to the dispute on Team Lotus, which are run by Tony Fernandes and the road car company Group Lotus. The dispute arises when Group Lotus terminated the five-year licensing deal it has with Team Lotus which now affects the team using the Lotus moniker in F1.

According to Tim Lowles, an associate partner at Collyer Bristow and one of UK’s foremost motorsport legal experts: “The summary judgement application was made by Group Lotus, and it was a fairly gutsy application to make. You have to be fairly confident when you make an application like that, and it would appear to me, as I was not in court, that the judge did not decide to get into the nuts and bolts of the application. He felt it better to decide all the issues at a proper hearing on March 21.” He further stated, “If anything, it is victory for Team Lotus because Group Lotus has not been able to bring the claim to an end. However, all the issues remain in the air, and there has been no further clarity as to the issues involved in the dispute.”