As usual the paddock at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace in Interlagos drew in familiar faces from Brazil’s racing scene. Nelson Piquet Sr made a brief visit on Friday morning, and fellow former world champion Emerson Fittipaldi braved the rain on Saturday. Former March Formula One racer and FIA safety car driver Alex Ribiero, Arrows pilot Enrique Bernoldi, Prost racer Luciano Burti, super-sub Roberto Moreno and ex-Formula Three star Maurizio Sandro Sala were also present, together with Formula One hopeful Bruno Senna, while the IRL was represented by upcoming local star Mario Moraes.

Force India’s Vitantonio Liuzzi is set to receive a five-place grid penalty from the Interlagos race stewards after his team decided his car needs a new gearbox following his accident in qualifying.

Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima set the fastest times for Williams in a truncated final practice session on Saturday morning on an Interlagos circuit that had been turned into a skating rink after a thunderstorm. The anticipated heavy rain arrived at 10.20, and the start of practice was delayed from 11.00 until 11.42, when the medical helicopter was finally able to take to the sky. The rain had backed off, but the track was still awash as car after car veered into a sudden spin…

Welcome to the 16th and penultimate round of the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship, the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos. It looks like being a wet weekend, with thunderstorms and an ambient temperature high of 27 degrees Celsius on Thursday giving way to showers for the remaining three days as the temperature slides down to 18 or 19 degrees…

Williams confirmed on Wednesday that they will cease using Toyota engines at the end of this year. The British team’s cars have been powered by the Japanese automaker’s V8s for the past three seasons, scoring 93.5 world championship points together

Brazilian title hope Rubens Barrichello joins championship rivals Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel to answer questions on Thursday, while injured Ferrari driver Felipe Massa is among those taking to the stage on Friday. The line-up in full…

Ferrari’s Felipe Massa was back behind the wheel of a Formula One car on Monday for the first time since fracturing his skull at July’s Hungarian Grand Prix. With the in-season test ban ruling out a run in this year’s F60, Massa used a privately-owned 2007-spec car fitted with GP2 tyres at Ferrari’s Fiorano circuit in Italy. “The moment I got into the car it was exactly like before the accident, as if nothing had happened,” the Brazilian explained…

Renault’s Romain Grosjean and third driver Lucas di Grassi took to the streets of Bucharest on Saturday and Sunday for the Romanian leg of the French team’s Roadshow programme. The two-day event, which took place on a specially created 600-metre circuit along Bucharest’s famous Libertatii Boulevard, attracted over 70,000 spectators. Grosjean and Di Grassi took turns behind the wheel of last year’s Renault R28, entertaining the crowds with tricks including doughnuts, burnouts and power slides.

Although he is scheduled to get back behind the wheel of a 2007-spec Formula One car at Fiorano on Monday morning, Ferrari have confirmed that driver Felipe Massa will not return to competition this season. Massa, who fractured his skull in a qualifying crash at July’s Hungarian Grand Prix, underwent a medical in Paris on Friday and Saturday, which established that he is fit enough to return to the test track. However, the Italian team don’t want to rush the Brazilian’s return to the Formula One grid.

Toyota have announced on Sunday that driver Timo Glock will not participate in next weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix due to injuries he suffered during qualifying at the Japanese race earlier this month. Third driver Kamui Kobayashi will fill in for Glock at the Interlagos event. Glock was initially diagnosed with only a minor cut to his leg following his accident in Suzuka, but subsequent medical checks in Germany have revealed a cracked vertebra