To mark the start of the 2010 season, Pitpass, in association with its good friends at Amalgam, is offering 5 readers an opportunity to win a 1:4 scale model of the steering wheel used on the championship winning Brawn BGP 001 in 2009.

They say time flies and after an exhaustive nine month programme of car design and development, team-building and pre-season testing, Virgin Racing's Grand Prix debut has finally arrived.

The 2010 version of SoftPauer's F1 live timing application for the iPhone and iTouch is the best selling sporting application for these devices in ten countries including the UK.

Two weeks after their Bahrain race one podium with Italy Luca Filippi, the Saudi/Malaysian owned team prepares for the ultimate and fourth round of the GP2 Asia season son their home track.

Athletics superstar Usain Bolt has been named Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for the second year running.

Despite regretting several low points from over the course of the team's first winter of pre-season testing, Timo Glock is highly pleased with the efforts of Virgin Racing as the squad carrying the name of Sir Richard Branson's worldwide brand makes Formula 1 history by running the first all-CFD-designed car in the sport.

Lucas di Grassi looks forward to introducing Virgin to Formula 1 this weekend as the team formerly known as Manor lines up for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix. Having been part of Renault's young driver development programme early in the last decade, Lucas also looks forward to racing alongside Timo Glock.

Like all in the Sakhir paddock, Christian Horner thoroughly looks forward to discovering how the much-awaited 2010 season will pan out, with chapter one commencing in the Bahraini desert this weekend. With Red Bull Racing having finished as runners-up in both title fights last year, its Team Principal looks forward to the exciting challenge which lies ahead.

The Bahrain International Circuit is just 10m above sea level and has an average pressure (approx. 1,000mbar), so baseline engine power should be good.

HRT F1, Hispania Racing F1 Team - the team formerly known as Campos prior to its acquisition by Jose Ramon Carabante in February - is ready for its Formula One debut this weekend in Bahrain.

This weekend sees Bahrain host the opening round of the Formula One World Championship for the second time, having first done so when Fernando Alonso's Renault edged ahead of Michael Schumacher's Ferrari to win in 2006. This year, the Spaniard is driving for the German's former team as the 7-time World Champion makes his racing comeback with Mercedes-Benz.

Kazuki Nakajima has vowed not to give up on his Formula 1 chances for the future after being left on the sidelines prior to the start of the upcoming season. The former Williams driver had hoped to compete with Serbian hopefuls Stefan Grand Prix although - despite a failure to enter from US F1 - the Belgrade-based squad was not granted a spot on the grid.

Having entered Formula 1 at the start of the 1997 season, Bridgestone will bow out of the sport at the end of the upcoming campaign after announcing that it will no longer continue as the sport's sole tyre supplier, a role it has held since the departure of Michelin at the end of 2006.

Hispania play down car safety fears, plus other gossip and rumours

World Champion Jenson Button heads to Bahrain as World Champion this weekend for the start of what promises to be one of the best seasons Formula 1 has ever had to offer. Having switched from Brawn to McLaren alongside fellow Champion Lewis Hamilton, the Frome driver risks making no predictions.

Nico Hulkenberg is one of the young drivers the Formula 1 paddock has kept a close eye on ever since he claimed the A1GP championship title for Germany in 2006. In 2007 he won the prestigous Masters of F3 title, the F3 Euro Series in 2008 and in 2009 the German won the GP2 championship. The statistics are positive for the 22-year-old but he will now have to prove himself in the highest class of motorsport - starting this weekend in Bahrain.

Nico Hülkenberg, one of five rookies in the field this year, has kept a close eye on Formula 1 ever since claiming the A1GP championship title for Team Germany in 2006. In 2007 he won the prestigous Masters of F3 title, the F3 Euro Series a year later and in 2009 the the GP2 championship, F1's feeder series. The statistics are positive for the 22-year-old but he will now have to prove himself in the highest class of motorsport, starting this weekend in Bahrain.

Williams F1 driver Rubens Barrichello is already the most experienced driver Formula 1 has had since the start of the series. This weekend the Brazilian will entering his eighteenth season in Formula 1 and according to 'Rubinho' he is in better shape than ever before.

Williams driver Rubens Barrichello is already the most experienced driver Formula 1 has had since the start of the World Championship in 1950. This weekend the Brazilian will be entering his eighteenth season in the sport and, according to 'Rubinho', is in better shape than ever before.