After weeks of speculation Mercedes confirmed on Wednesday that Michael Schumacher will make a comeback to race for the team next season alongside fellow German Nico Rosberg. Schumacher, who retired at the end of 2006, has signed a deal that will see him return to the Formula One grid at the age of 41, bidding to add to his record tally of 91 wins and seven world titles…

The new Mercedes team, formed following the German carmaker’s recent purchase of Brawn GP, has announced Malaysian national oil and gas company Petronas as its title sponsor. Under a newly-signed long-term agreement, the German squad plan to compete as the Mercedes GP Petronas Formula One Team next season.

Ferrari have set up a new driver academy to find and support talented young drivers from around the world, with the eventual aim of getting them into the Formula One arena. The first youngster to be selected for the programme is Frenchman Jules Bianchi, who won this year’s Formula Three Euroseries and made his F1 debut with Ferrari in the recent Jerez test session…

Formula One racing is a difficult beast to master, with team, car and driver all striving in unison to deliver the best possible performance. Collectively the package is far greater than the sum of its parts, but it’s important to remember that winning is in the detail. Wheels are an interesting case in point.

From next year, drivers joining a team mid-season may be eligible for a day’s testing prior to racing. In 2009 strict testing restrictions meant Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari made his Formula One race debut with no F1 experience outside of straight-line aero testing, while Michael Schumacher was unable to sample the current Ferrari ahead of his planned comeback…

Following a meeting in Monaco last week, the FIA’s International Court of Appeal (ICA) has decided to adopt a new system for Formula One appeal hearings ahead of the 2010 season. The revised arrangement grants the teams the authority to nominate judges, who will then be allowed to sit on the ICA panels. The body is traditionally made up of independent judges from 18 countries but will now be comprised of its existing elected membership plus these ‘co-opted’ judges.

Following weeks of speculation about their future plans, Renault confirmed on Wednesday that they remain committed to Formula One racing. The French car manufacturer also announced that they have agreed to sell ‘a large stake’ in their team to Luxembourg investment company Genii Capital. The new partners plan to run the outfit together, with the team continuing to use Renault engines and race under the Renault name.

After competing in GP2 for four seasons and regularly testing for Renault, Lucas Di Grassi has been a familiar face in the Formula One paddock for a number of years. In fact, ever since he won the prestigious Formula Three Macau Grand Prix back in 2005, Di Grassi has been on the radar of many team principals as a young talent to watch.

Lotus team principal Tony Fernandes admitted he was still pinching himself after signing two of the biggest names on the grid to drive for his new, Malaysian-backed squad next season. In Jarno Trulli, Heikki Kovalainen and Malaysian tester Fairuz Fauzy, Fernandes believes he has the perfect driver combination…

Lotus’s signing of Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen for 2010 gives the new Malaysian-backed team one of the quickest and most experienced driver line-ups on the grid. So why did two seasoned F1 professionals agree to drive for an unproven squad