Races and Competitions

McLaren on Monday confirmed reports Fernando Alonso is preparing to return to action this weekend in Malaysia.   Spanish media reported on Sunday that, after meeting with FIA-appointed doctors at Cambridge, the 33-year-old got the green-light.   McLaren announced on Monday that Alonso will indeed race in Malaysia "subject to a successful final FIA medical assessment" on Thursday.   The team also revealed for the first time on Monday that Alonso "recalls a sense of 'heavy' steering"...

Yazeed Al-Rajhi stormed to an emphatic fourth victory in the Ha’il Nissan International Rally, which finished in the north-central region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Sunday.   The Hummer driver was the class of the record entry from the start with German co-driver Timo Gottschalk and celebrated a fourth win in four different makes of car with a winning margin of nearly 70 minutes.   “It was a fantastic event and I am delighted to have won here with the Hummer,” said Al-Rajhi....

Mercedes offered to help keep the German grand prix alive in 2015.   On Friday, the FIA revealed that it has removed the scheduled July 19 date from this year's calendar because Bernie Ecclestone and a German circuit "did not reach agreement".   Earlier, as F1 supremo Ecclestone discussed the crisis with the financially embattled Nurburgring as well as the potential substitute Hockenheim, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said: "As far as we are able to, we will try to help.   "It is an...

Germany's other F1 circuit has joined Hockenheim in pulling out of the running to host the scheduled July 19 race.   Earlier this week, Hockenheim chief Georg Seiler told Bild newspaper: "We have no more hope that formula one will take place here" in 2015.   And now the Nurburgring has followed suit, as DPA news agency quoted spokesman Pietro Nuvolini as saying: "We have reached the decision that it makes no more sense to wait any longer for timing, organising and economic...

Lewis Hamilton kicked off his world championship title defense in style as he won the opening round of the 2015 Formula 1 world championship in Australia today.   The pole-sitting Hamilton controlled the race from start to finish to beat his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg who was never able to mount a serious challenge for the race lead.   Sebastian Vettel began his Ferrari career with a podium as he beat the Williams of Felipe Massa to third place, with the Brazilian finishing fourth,...

Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah, the defending FIA Middle East rally champion, leads 19 rivals into the start of the Kuwait International Rally on Friday morning.   The event is being organised by the Basil Salem Al-Sabah Motor Racing Club (BMRC) in conjunction with the Kuwait International Automobile Club (KIAC) and day one action revolves around two loops of three desert special stages and a late afternoon sting in the tail.   > Nasser Al Attiyah jets in from Mexico to top impressive Kuwait...

Lewis Hamilton has slammed a newspaper report that suggested he was demanding $1.5 million per week to sign a new Mercedes deal.   Boss Toto Wolff has already rubbished the claims, telling a reporter "You must question where you get your drugs from".   The original report, labelled as exclusive by the London newspaper The Times' correspondent Kevin Eason, cited sources who said Hamilton "has decided that he must be the best-paid man on the grid".   Indeed, Hamilton's negotiations with...

Bernie Ecclestone has described the fate of F1 legend Michael Schumacher as a "tragedy".   15 months ago, the seven time world champion fell whilst skiing with his son Mick in the French alps, suffering serious brain injuries.   "I know nothing about his current condition," F1 chief executive Ecclestone, who has known the now 46-year-old German for over two decades, said.   "This may sound strange," the 84-year-old Briton told Germany's Welt am Sonntag newspaper, "but it would have...

Sebastian Vettel made the right choice in deciding to leave Red Bull for Ferrari.   That is the view of 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve, who said it became clear last year that despite winning four titles with the energy drink marque, the Vettel era at Red Bull was over.   "There was this young guy now with a big smile," said the Canadian, referring to Daniel Ricciardo, "and everyone knew - that's the future of Red Bull.   "At 27, he (Vettel) was in Red Bull's view a...

Manor Marussia is on the way to Melbourne.   Although the revived team officially launched its 2015 earlier this week, it was still scrambling to prepare a car for the new regulations.   The modified 2014 car was crash tested on Thursday, with the team now confirming "We have passed".   "That's it," Manor said on Twitter, "we're all set for Melbourne!"   A spokesman told Germany's Bild newspaper: "The team has prepared the cars with which it will start the 2015 season. The cars meet...