Spaniard Maria De Villota has become a Marussia F1 Team test driver.

Maria has raced in a variety of single-seater and sports car categories, including Spanish F3, the Daytona 24 Hours, the Euroseries 3000 and Superleague Formula Championship.

Maria has also experienced a Formula One cockpit previously, having received a test drive courtesy of the team formerly known as Lotus Renault F1 Team at Paul Ricard in August of last year, where she achieved 300kms of running.

As the daughter of former F1 driver and British Formula One Series Champion Emilio de Villota, Maria has always dreamed of following in his footsteps to reach the highest level of motorsport. Her integration into the Marussia F1 Team means she will have the opportunity to work with racing drivers operating at the pinnacle of the sport and, later in the year, the chance to drive the MR01.

John Booth, Team Principal, Marussia F1 Team, commented:

“We are pleased to welcome Maria to our test driver programme, which will enable her to be integrated into a Formula One team environment and gain a vast amount of experience that will be useful to her career progression. We will also provide Maria with the opportunity to sample F1 machinery later in the year, further adding to her racing credentials.”

Maria De Villota had this to say:

“I am very happy to be joining the Marussia F1 Team test driver programme. This is a fantastic opportunity to work closely with a Formula One team and gain important experience to help me progress my career, including the chance to drive the new car later in the year at the Abu Dhabi test. I will be joining the team trackside so I’m looking forward to working alongside them at the first race next weekend and this can only help my future ambition to step up to Formula One racing.”

German police visited the Force India team in the Nurburgring paddock on Saturday.

Bild am Sonntag and Express newspapers report that the visit was not connected to the criminal assault charges laid against the team’s German driver Adrian Sutil by Renault co-owner Eric Lux.

Rather, a German supplier is pressing the Vijay Mallya-led team for an unpaid EUR 50,000 bill.

“After a brief interrogation, the officers left the paddock,” said Bild.

Express cited team manager Otmar Szafnauer as reporting that the debt dates back to the pre-Force India days, when the Silverstone based team was known as Jordan, Midland or Spyker.

Another piece of intrigue on Saturday was Sebastien Buemi’s exclusion from the qualifying results when his Toro Rosso was found running illegal fuel.

However, the Red Bull junior team had not cheated. Rather, a chemical inside a new fuel system installed in his STR6 on Friday contaminated the car’s fuel.

Swiss Buemi must now start the race from the back. “What can I do if there is something wrong with the fuel?” he is quoted as frustratingly telling Blick newspaper.

Meanwhile, Renault F1 PR representative Andy Stobart was struck by a car whilst cycling in Germany prior to this weekend’s Nurburgring race.

Now walking wounded in the paddock, he is sporting cuts to his eyebrow, chin, cheeks and torso after being knocked unconscious and hospitalised.

Tony Fernandes’ F1 outfit is pushing ahead with the Team Lotus moniker, despite lingering expectations he might drop the name before the start of the 2011 season.

The Malaysian, whose official license for his team’s 2010 identity Lotus Racing was terminated because Group Lotus wanted to enter F1 separately, has said several times recently that he favours a “pragmatic” solution to the dispute.

But the latest news is that green and gold ‘Team Lotus’ signage, including the famous CABC logo, has been erected outside the outfit’s Hingham (UK) factory.

The signage also features at the team’s new official website, which is located at teamlotus.co.uk because teamlotus.com is controlled by Group Lotus.

“The migration to (the) Team Lotus brand has started,” Fernandes wrote on Twitter. “It’s a shame. I liked Lotus Racing and always thought Team Lotus should be returned to (the) Chapman family.

“But that’s the deck of hand (cards) we got handed,” he added.

Renault F1′s new website, located at lotusrenaultgp.com, will be launched on January 31.

Proton intends to push ahead with a partial takeover of the Enstone based formula one team Renault.

Previously, it was believed the Malaysian carmaker was only in talks over a potential title sponsorship, with Renault F1 to be renamed after the Proton-owned British sports car maker Group Lotus.

But Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir, who is Proton’s group managing director, told the Malaysian newspaper The Star that Proton is in fact negotiating to buy 25 per cent of the Renault team before the start of the 2011 season.

“Yes, that’s the intent,” he confirmed. “A decision will be made soon.

“We’re close, just wait for a few days,” added Zainal. “(The) 25 per cent (shareholding) is something that we are discussing.

“It’s still too premature to disclose the exact percentage but it has to be a position where we can control our brand,” he said.

‘Proton 1Malaysia’ has been touted as a possible new name for Tony Fernandes’ formula one team in 2011.

Currently, the team currently known as Lotus Racing is locked in a dispute with Group Lotus, who intend to separately enter F1 next year in collaboration with Enstone based Renault.

That raises the messy possibility of two teams being called ‘Lotus’; a situation that now involves the courts and also the Malaysian government, part-owner of the Group Lotus parent and carmaker Proton.

The proposed new name for Lotus Racing was published by The Advertiser, a regional UK newspaper close to the Norwich headquarters of both Fernandes’ team as well as Group Lotus.

It would be a tidy solution to the current dilemma, probably involving sponsorship for Fernandes’ small team to compensate for the lost FOM revenue due to a name change, and clearing the way for Renault F1 to be renamed Lotus-Renault in 2011.

And Fernandes’ team “will become a flagship Malaysian constructor hoping to build on tenth place in its first season”, said the report.

The branding of the Bank of Moscow will feature on the Renault R30 cars this weekend in Abu Dhabi.

The news would seem to be a further boost to Russian driver Vitaly Petrov’s hopes of retaining his race seat with the Enstone based team in 2011.

The bank, with a red and black logo to feature on the nose and the turning vanes, is partially owned by the Russian capital as well as the energy company Mosenergo, oil companies Surgutneftegaz and Lukoil and investment banks Bear Stearns and Goldman Sachs.

But in fact, Renault does not have a new sponsor.

Due to the anti-alcohol advertising laws in Abu Dhabi, the branding of Renault’s Russian sponsor Flagman is not allowed on the cars this weekend.

The Bank of Moscow is Flagman’s holding company.

Mike Gascoyne has questioned Group Lotus’ apparent intention to enter formula one next year in collaboration with the Renault team.

Gascoyne is the technical boss at the team currently known as Lotus Racing, but the official naming license has been revoked by Group Lotus for 2011 and beyond.

This year’s Lotus Racing cars have also run with branding of the Group Lotus owner Proton, but Gascoyne’s boss Tony Fernandes is reportedly dismayed the sports car maker did not embrace the opportunity to tie up with his team.

And Gascoyne is now confused about the reports linking Group Lotus with a three-year EUR 60 million title sponsorship of Renault F1.

“If they want to advertise their road cars, why spend so much money on it?” the Briton is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.

“With us, they could do it free of charge.”

The German report said Group Lotus is currently running at a loss, meaning it is essentially subsidised by Malaysian tax-payers due to its Proton ownership.

“The cynic might say they are going to blow away taxpayer money in formula one,” said Auto Motor und Sport.

Carlos Ghosn has admitted there are moves afoot to change the nature of French carmaker Renault’s association with the F1 team that currently bears its name.

The marque’s president attended Sunday’s Brazilian grand prix amid rumours Renault is set to further distance itself from F1 as Group Lotus looks to get involved with the Enstone based team.

But Ghosn said Renault has actually expanded its involvement as an engine supplier by agreeing a deal with 1Malaysia for 2011, and said the carmaker will continue to be involved with both the engine and chassis at Renault F1.

“Beyond this, there may be financial agreements, marketing agreements, to suit our interests,” he is quoted by Auto Hebdo.

“There may be some developments, but for the moment there is nothing,” added Ghosn.

“What I can tell you is that, increasingly, we will be technology suppliers to many teams that are involved in formula one,” he said.

Amid rumours Renault F1 could become Lotus-Renault in 2011, Ghosn also left the door open for a change of team name.

“Name changes are everywhere,” he said.  “The key is to preserve the Renault name.  Apart from Renault F1, yes, there may be other associated names.

“We don’t want to give the impression that we are an exclusive team.  We are now developing our technology with multiple teams,” added Ghosn.

As for whether Renault SA might sell more of its minority stake in Renault F1, he answered: “I am not going to give a running commentary about discussions that have or have not occurred.

“But everything concerning our financial participation in this team or another, is tactical.  We are not in F1 to have a particular team but to promote the name and the technology of Renault.

“We will do whatever is necessary to do so at a lower cost and less investment.  We will not put in more resources that is necessary for that purpose.

“What is important is the expansion of our role as an engine and technology supplier.”

A report in the O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper estimated Group Lotus’ likely naming sponsorship of the Renault F1 team at EUR $60 million over three years.

Tony Fernandes has denied his Malaysian formula one team Lotus is set to change its name ahead of the 2011 season.

When the team and Renault confirmed their engine supply collaboration in Brazil on Friday, neither party referred to Fernandes’ outfit as ‘Lotus’.

The situation comes amid the naming dispute with Proton-owned Group Lotus, and new speculation the carmaker is set to enter F1 in an alliance with Enstone based Renault F1.

The latest rumour is that Fernandes will apply for a new name for his team at the F1 Commission meeting in December, at the same time that Renault F1 asks to be called Lotus-Renault in 2011.

But Fernandes wrote on Twitter: “Next season we are still Lotus.”

The team’s technical boss Mike Gascoyne, however, seemed to acknowledge on Friday the possibility of a name change.

“For me, the job I do on Monday doesn’t alter if the name changes,” he said at Interlagos.

Gascoyne referred to F1′s Brackley based team, which since 2004 has been called BAR, Honda, Brawn and now Mercedes, and said the outfit has “dealt with it very well”.

Arguably the bigger story is the apparent further scaling back of French carmaker Renault’s involvement with the team that bears its name, and the emergence of Group Lotus.

Renault SA chief executive Carlos Ghosn will be at Interlagos on Sunday “and maybe he will announce the deal”, French commentator Jean-Louis Moncet wrote on his Auto Plus blog.

According to Daniel Ricciardo’s team boss this year, the 21-year-old Australian is ready to move into formula one.

Currently the reserve driver for Red Bull’s two F1 teams, Ricciardo was replaced by David Coulthard for the Suzuka race last weekend as he contended for the Renault World Series title in Spain.

He ultimately lost out to Mikhail Aleshin, a 23-year-old Russian whose prize will be a Renault F1 test in Abu Dhabi next month.

But Ricciardo is also destined for formula one, his Tech 1 team boss Simon Abadi insists.

“We’re all convinced that not only will he get into F1, but above all he’ll win there.  It couldn’t be otherwise,” he said.

Red Bull-sponsored Ricciardo is now leaving the Tech 1 team, and is tipped for a seat in the GP2 championship for 2011.

“I should be taking part in the F1 rookies tests in Abu Dhabi,” he said.  “We’ll see in the coming weeks what Red Bull has in store for me.”

In Abu Dhabi, Red Bull’s sister F1 team Toro Rosso will be running Ricciardo’s Tech 1 teammate Jean-Eric Vergne.

Formula one costs more than expected, according to Renault’s new majority team owner Gerard Lopez.

He heads the Luxembourg based investment firm Genii Capital, who amid the crashgate scandal and car sales crisis last year bought most of the Enstone based team from carmaker Renault SA.

But while the team has performed better than expected with its new structure in 2010, it emerged recently that Renault F1 had applied to Bernie Ecclestone for an advance of its commercial revenue due to cash flow issues.

“From a commercial point of view, things are going well,” Lopez is quoted as saying in the Italian language Autosprint.

“We are in line with our plans.  But it (F1) costs more than we expected.  Formula one costs much more than we thought,” he added.

“We knew that our car was not born with as much speed as we wanted, and we had to inject resources to make it competitive,” Lopez is quoted by auto.it.

“And then there’s the development aspect, which is higher than expected, meaning additional costs.

“But regarding 2011, we are still looking forward with much enthusiasm,” he insisted.

Renault F1 has scoffed at reports suggesting its former French carmaker parent is considering buying back the Enstone based team.

Amid the car sales crisis and economic downturn, and the damaging crashgate scandal, Renault SA sold a rumoured 85 per cent of the team that still bears its name to Luxembourg-based investment firm Genii Capital.

But Finland’s Turun Sanomat claimed the carmaker’s financial situation has dramatically improved to the point that it is interested in returning wholeheartedly to F1.

“Rumour mill in overdrive with some creative stories on the web,” Renault F1 said via its official Twitter account.

“For the record, Renault are very happy with the Genii partnership, great visibility and a good relationship. No plans to change,” added RF1paddockpass.

Renault also dismissed rumours that Felipe Massa could be headed to Renault next year, with Robert Kubica linked once again to Ferrari.

“Has anybody seen Robert and Felipe standing next to each other? I’m not sure they’d fit in each other’s seats if they swapped,” wrote the team’s Twitter author.

French carmaker Renault SA is reportedly considering buying back a majority stake in the formula one team that bears its name.

Amid the car sales crisis and economic downturn, and the damaging crashgate scandal, Renault sold a rumoured 85 per cent of the Enstone based team last year to Luxembourg-based investment firm Genii Capital.

With its new owners, Renault F1 has fared better than expected in 2010, culminating in Robert Kubica’s strong performance and third podium of the season so far at Spa-Francorchamps last weekend.

Finland’s Turun Sanomat claims that Renault SA’s financial situation has dramatically improved to the point that the carmaker is interested in returning wholeheartedly to F1.

The rumour ties in with ongoing speculation, also once again alluded to at Spa by new team boss Eric Boullier, that Kimi Raikkonen could return to formula one next year with Renault.