This cost-cutting initiative is likely to take place at the Ciudad de las Artes y de las Ciencias complex in Valencia on January 30, and is backed by most teams.

Mercedes Chief Executive Nick Fry said;

“We’ve agreed among the teams to do a joint launch. It’s a demonstration of how we’re working together.”

The boss of the new team Lotus – Tony Fernandes said that the supposed launch on January 30 2010 is too soon for his team, who plan to roll out their car in February. He joked;

“I won’t have a car at that time. I could come with a Matchbox car.”

In the final day of young driver testing at the Jerez circuit in Spain, it was reigning British F3 champ Aussie Daniel Ricciardo in the Red Bull who set the quickest time – a 1.17.418s, despite having a premature end to the day.

The engine in Ricciardo’s Red Bull gave up the ghost after completing 77 laps.

The second quickest driver of the day was Scot Paul di Resta in the Force India, who’s morning session was cut short when his car came to a halt in the gravel at the chicane.

Third fastest in the McLaren was yesterday’s pacesetter Gary Paffett.

Times
01. Ricciardo Red Bull 1.17.418s 77 laps
02. Di Resta Force India 1.18.736s 53 laps
03. Paffett McLaren 1.18.746s 59 laps
04. Conway Brawn 1.19.096s 77 laps
05. Hulkenberg Williams 1.19.226s 106 laps
06. Baguette Sauber 1.19.356s 70 laps
07. Turvey McLaren 1.19.358s 32 laps
08. Ericsson Brawn 1.19.382s 49 laps
09. Di Grassi Renault 1.19.602s 123 laps
10. Hildebrand Force India 1.19.873s 41 laps
11. Sanchez Ferrari 1.21.147s 39 laps
12. Zampieri Ferrari 1.21.279s 42 laps
12. Zipoli Ferrari 1.21.725s 41 laps
13. Hartley Toro Rosso 1.22.493s 50 laps
15. Bortolotti Toro Rosso 1.23.271s 34 laps
16. Tung Renault 1.32.477s 4 laps

Gary Paffett of McLaren topped the timesheets in today’s second young drivers test at Jerez, with the 2005 DTM champion and long-time McLaren test driver setting a fastest time of 01:18.718 in a day dogged by rain.

The Williams driver Nico Hulkenberg with a 2010 race seat for the team set a time of a 1:19.184 in his 94 laps to finish second fastest ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in the Red Bull.

Jules Bianchi could only manage 9th fastest with a 01:20.586 in his 113 laps for Ferrari, after announcing earlier he has signed a long-term contract with the team and will continue his race towards Formula One with a GP2 seat with the ART team in 2010.

The two Brawn GP drivers were almost inseperable – Mike Conway set a 01:20.222 and Marcus Ericsson a 01:20.440, despite the former completing 46 more laps than the Swede Ericsson.

The only driver who forced the red flags to come out was Mirko Bortolotti, when the Toro Rosso man stalled out on track. Bortolotti finished the session last, with his fastest time being a 01:21.761 in his 79 laps.

Times:
01 G. Paffett (McLaren) 01:18.718 80 laps
02 N. Hulkenberg (Williams) 01:19.184 94 laps
03 D. Ricciardo (Red Bull) 01:19.243 92 laps
04 P. di Resta (Force India) 01:19.411 58 laps
05 E. Gutierrez (BMW-Sauber) 01:20.190 68 laps
06 M. Conway (Brawn GP) 01:20.222 83 laps
07 M. Ericsson (Brawn GP) 01:20.440 37 laps
08 J.R. Hildebrand (Force India) 01:20.517 49 laps
09 J. Bianchi (Ferrari) 01:20.586 113 laps
10 L. Di Grassi (Renault) 01:20.898 67 laps
11 H. Tung (Renault) 01:21.492 57 laps
12 M. Bortolotti (Scuderia Toro Rosso) 01:21.761 79 laps

The young drivers test or ‘Kindergarten week’ as it was dubbed by Toro Rosso has today begun at the Jerez Circuit, Spain with 12 hot prospects all setting lap times at the circuit.

British F2 champ Spaniard Andy Soucek was the fastest driver in the 2009 Williams under the sunny skies at the circuit, where there was a track temperature of just 22′C. He clocked a 1:19.158 in his 87 laps.

However, it wasn’t all good for Soucek as twice he forced the red flags to come out, and brought the session to a temporary halt.

Scot Paul di Resta went second fastest in the Force India 0.211s off the pace, ahead of third place and former DTM champion Gary Paffett.

Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley finished last of the 12 after colliding with the barriers in the morning session.

Finishing 7th in the BMW Sauber was Alexander Rossi who’s quickest time was a 1:20.227. When speaking about his day he said;

“I very much enjoyed this day. It is impressive what the car does, how predictable and precise its reactions are, and how high the overall grip level is. But I have to admit I am also a little bit disappointed because being a racing driver you always want to be the fastest!

“I think in the afternoon we didn’t manage to find the perfect balance. Physically I have to say it was as demanding as I expected it would be. The power steering is a great help compared to GP2, but the g-forces obviously are higher.”

The Young Drivers testing runs until December 3rd.

Times
01 A. Soucek (Williams) 1:19.158 87 laps
02 P. Di Resta (Force India) 1:19.369 46 laps
03 G. Paffet (McLaren) 1:19.426 54 laps
04 D. Ricciardo (Red Bull) 1:19.534 113 laps
05 J. Bianchi (Ferrari) 1:19.626 91 laps
06 M. Conway (Brawn GP) 1:19.920 58 laps
07 A. Rossi (BMW-Sauber) 1:20.227 82 laps
08 M. Ericsson (Brawn GP) 1:20.333 50 laps
09 B. Baguette (Renault) 1:20.511 105 laps
10 J.R. Hildebrand (Force India) 1:20.537 49 laps
11 O. Turvey (McLaren) 1:20.856 27 laps
12 B. Hartley (Toro Rosso) 1:21.325 69 laps

Force India have today announced their drivers for next season – the two who finished the season with the team; Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi.

The team will announce the third driver following the Young Driver’s Test at Jerez in early December.

Force India’s team boss Vijay Mallya said;

“We are very pleased to retain the services of both Adrian and Tonio for another season. We have always maintained that consistency is key at this stage in the team’s development and for the first time in many years we will have the continuity of not only the same drivers, but also the same engine and senior management.”

“With this stability now in place I truly believe we have an excellent platform to build on and move forward on our strong 2009 performance.

“I am sure we have one of the most dynamic line-ups on the grid and I hope this will stand us in good stead in what we all hope will be a transitional year for the team.”

Force India are obviously keeping their options for 2010 drivers open – no less than 6 drivers are in the running for the seats, including the drivers who ended last season with the team; Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi.

Giancarlo Fisichella who went to Ferrari last season to cover for the injured Felipe Massa will most likely stay at the Italian team as test driver next season with Massa and Fernando Alonso having the race seats, although Fisichella has not completely ruled himself out, saying:

“Why not? It is open. It could be Force India. There are a lot of teams without drivers so far.”

Another driver in the running is former Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr. who was heavily involved in the ‘Crashgate’ scandal, although it seems his whistleblowing has not deterred Force India. Piquet said:

“I am close to Force India at the moment, but to me NASCAR is very interesting, so I don’t know yet what is going to happen. I don’t want to take a decision without knowing how things work here in the United States, so I came to be with the drivers and team owners.

“It is clear that the F1 cars are very much better technologically – the best in the world – but I find that if it is enjoyable, it doesn’t matter if I am racing in karts. The important thing is to compete.”

The other two drivers in the running are Pedro de la Rosa who was denied a drive at the new team Campos for the lack of Spanish sponsors that come with him, although he is still a possibility for the Force India drive.

The final driver rumoured to join the team sure is an interesting one – Scot Paul di Resta. Di Resta finished 3rd in this years prestigious DTM championship driving for the AMG Mercedes team, including one race win on home soil at Brands Hatch. Di Resta is set for a test at Jerez for the team in early December.

Etihad Airways and Aldar Properties have to pay Force India $4.683million in damages after breaking their sponsorship agreements.

The companies signed as sponsors when the team was known as Spyker in 2007, although when the team was bought by Vijay Mallya who renamed it Force India and brought in his Kingfisher airline’s sponsorship, they pulled out of their deal.

The matter was taken to court this week. Etihad now sponsor the Ferrari F1 team.

Adrian Sutil is expected to sign with his current team Force India within the next 2 weeks. The driver is out of contract at the end of 2009, however a clause in his contract allows Force India to retain him if Sutil agrees. His manager, Manfred Zimmermann has been speaking about the negotiations to the SID news agency,

“We have several possibilities. Force India is a good option and probably the best one.”

Sutil has been linked with McLaren as a possible team mate to Lewis Hamilton, however that has seemed to cool since rumours of Kimi Raikkonen or Nick Heidfeld are trounced around as other options for the possible McLaren seat. Zimmermann has also described the new contract offer from Force India as “very interesting”.

For more information on the Formula 1 driver lineup for 2010, check out our Ultimate Guide.

Lewis Hamilton will line up alongside Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel for tomorrow’s inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina circuit after setting an electrifying lap in Q3, more than 0.5secs faster than the rest of the field.

Hamilton set a 1:40.948 after the chequered flag had dropped in Q3 compared to Vettel’s 1:41.615. The fellow Red Bull driver Mark Webber will line up 3^rd alongside Rubens Barrichello and World Champion Jenson Button will start 5^th.

Hamilton’s teammate Heikki Kovalainen will start 13^th, despite topping Friday Practice 2, although this is because he suffered a brake problem in Q2.

Elsewhere it was a reasonably impressive qualifying session in BMW Sauber’s last ever Grand Prix with Kubica and Heidfeld making it an all BMW 4^th row. They qualified 7^th and 8^th respectively.

Ferrari had another nightmare with Giancarlo Fisichella in particular, who will start last on the grid and Kimi Raikkonen who will start an average 11^th on the grid.

It was a disappointing session for Renault as both of their drivers failed to get through Q1. In twice former world champion Fernando Alonso’s final qualifying for Renault he qualified 16^th. His teammate Romain Grosjean will start 19^th.

The full classification is below. 

Many people believe that this will be Giancarlo Fisichella’s last weekend in Formula 1 now he has left Force India for a drive at Ferrari while Felipe Massa is recovering from injury. However Felipe Massa will be back for next season and he will drive alongside Fernando Alonso who is replacing the outgoing Kimi Raikkonen, so where will the 36 year old Italian Fisichella go now?

He has had a less than impressive time since joining Ferrari, but he is refusing to rule out a move back to Force India. He said:

“Why not? It is open. It could be Force India. There are a lot of teams without drivers so far.”

“It is a bit frustrating,” he said. “I would be disappointed, but I am doing my best. It is not easy to jump from Force India and jump to the Ferrari car, which has completely different handling and completely different behaviour.

“I have driven for 14 years in F1 how I want and now I need to change, in braking and downshifting, my style of driving. I am doing my best. In the last couple of races, the race pace was good, the problem was the qualifying session. Here in the long runs I had the same pace as Kimi.”

For more information on the Formula 1 driver lineup for 2010, check out our Ultimate Guide.