Although the team still needs to confirm its place on the grid for 2010, BMW Sauber have snagged Japanese rookie, Kamui Kobayashi, for the next season – after having been impressed by his performance in last two races of the 2009 season. Replacing Toyota’s injured driver, Timo Glock, for the final two races at Brazil and Abu Dhabi, the Japanese rookie put in a gritty performance – with some hard driving that got him noticed. At Brazil, coincidentally, this was at the expense of his countryman, Kazuki Nakajima. Nevertheless, he finished the season on a high, by earning an impressive 6th position at the season ender at Abu Dhabi.

Taking a sabbatical from Formula 1, the ‘Ice Man’ has decided to turn his attention to the WRC. Having been released from his Ferrari contract one year early, the Finn has decided to take a temporary break from F1 altogether, as he’s signed a one-year deal with the Citroen Red Bull Racing Team to participate in the next season of the WRC. This is not the first time Kimi has taken to the dirt, however, as he put in some impressive performances whenever he got the chance in his Fiat rally car in 2009. F1’s loss is WRC’s gain – as, regardless of what you might say about his work ethic, his sheer talent is unparalleled. We wish him all the best, and look forward to seeing him display his raw speed on dirt as well.

The newly formed Mercedes team will have Petronas as its title sponsor for the next season. The announcement comes not long after the German car manufacturer bought over the Brawn racing team. Ross Brawn will still lead the newly formed Mercedes GP Petronas Formula 1 team.

Renault has confirmed that it will stay in Formula 1 for next season, after having sold a large number of shares to a Luxembourg investment firm called Genii Capital. After the disastrous race fixing scandal, it’s good to see Renault make the gritty decision of staying in F1 – even if it’s at the expense of some disinvestment by the French manufacturer.

In the month of December, Filepe Massa got behind the cockpit of an F1 car for the first time since his horrific mid-season crash. On a two-day testing programme, Massa got behind the wheel of the F2007, and completed 30 laps of the Mugello circuit before being interrupted by bad weather. That apart, Filepe and Ferrari were pretty satisfied with the way things went. Rest assured, he’ll at his fighting best before the start of the 2010 season, which sees him partnering double world champion, Fernando Alonso, at the Scuderia.