Jose Ciscar, vice-president of the Generalitat Valenciana, said he was embarking on a “complete and thorough review” of the major events budget.

Valencia has a contract to host the race on a street circuit on the city’s waterfront until 2014.

Ciscar does not rule out cancelling the race. “We do not discount anything.”

He also said that he would be contacting F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone to discuss the city’s wishes.

The move makes Valencia, which is reputed to pay in the region of 25 million Euros (£20.6m) a year to host the grand prix, the second race to ask Ecclestone to reduce F1′s fees.

Korea, which made its debut on the calendar in 2010, is also reconsidering the future of its race.

There are also doubts about two races on the 2012 calendar – Bahrain because of ongoing unrest in the Gulf state and the new US Grand Prix, on account of delays in building the track in Austin, Texas.

Read more: bbc.co.uk

The 19-year-old won the Autosport British Racing Drivers’ Club award, which also includes £100,000 in prize money and full membership of the BRDC.

Rowland was runner-up in the Formula Renault UK race series in 2011.

The winner was announced after evaluation in Formula 2, HWA Mercedes-Benz DTM and McLaren MP4-12C GT3 cars at Silverstone, and Rowland said that it had been far from a smooth year.

“I don’t know what to say,” Oliver Rowland said. “It’s been a difficult year for me. I lost someone very close to me in [karting guru] Martin Hines, who passed away this year. He’s helped me for six or seven years. I’ve had lots to learn this year in my first year of Formula Renault. I have learned a lot and now I’m here. I just can’t believe it.”

The award is backed by McLaren, motorsport magazine Autosport and the BRDC. It was set up in 1989 to acknowledge young racing drivers from the UK.

Meanwhile Germany’s Sebastian Vettel, a double world champion after winning his second successive Formula 1 title with Red Bull this year, was named as International Racing Driver of the Year.

Force India F1 driver Di Resta was named Rookie of the Year.

The 32-year-old left F1 at the end of 2009 to pursue a career in rallying.

The Finn was strongly linked with a move to Williams just a few week ago, but Renault have pounced for his signature after it was confirmed that Robert Kubica will miss the start of next season due to the injuries he sustained during a rallying accident earlier this year.

“My hunger for F1 has recently become overwhelming,” said Raikkonen. “It was an easy choice to return with Lotus Renault GP.”

The Finn, who won the title in 2007 with Ferrari, added: “I have been impressed by the scope of the team’s ambition. Now I’m looking forward to playing an important role in pushing the team to the very front of the grid.

“My time in the World Rally Championship has been a useful stage in my career as a driver.”

Kimi made his Formula One debut back in 2001 with Sauber. He then spent five seasons with McLaren, from 2002 to 2006, winning nine Grands Prix and twice finishing runner-up in the drivers’ championship. He moved to Ferrari for 2007.

Team owner Gerard Lopez said the high-profile signing of Raikkonen was one of several steps the squad are taking to return to the front of F1, adding that he is delighted to have captured the services of a world champion.

“All year long, we kept saying that our team was at the start of a brand new cycle. Backstage we’ve been working hard to build the foundations of a successful structure and to ensure that we would soon be able to fight at the highest level,” he said.

Raikkonen’s return to F1 means there will be six World Champions on the grid next year as the Finn will line up next to Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel.

Vettel beats Hamilton in season opener

World champion Sebastian Vettel got his title defence off to the ideal start with a well-judged 11th career victory in the Australian Grand Prix.

The Red Bull ace made a perfect getaway from pole position and was never seriously threatened – though nor did he disappear into the wide blue yonder as it appeared he might when he finished the opening lap with a 2.4s lead.

Indeed, Lewis Hamilton kept him within sight for much of the race as McLaren again showed better than expected pace, then coped superbly with a detached undertray to bring the MP4-26 home in second place. read more

A brilliant start from Russian Vitaly Petrov propelled him to his first podium with third for Renault.

Scot Paul di Resta was 10th for Force India on his debut.

He finished 12th but the two Saubers were disqualified for a technical infringement.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso jumped Mark Webber’s Red Bull in his final pit stop to take fourth place from the Australian, who could only equal his career-best finish at his home race.

There was more frustration for Mercedes as both Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg retired from the race.
read more

Sauber’s Sergio Perez was another sensation. Driving on his debut with the spirit of Pedro Rodriguez at his shoulder, the young Mexican drove an incredible race with just one pit stop (up to four had been predicted) and beat team mate Kamui Kobayashi for seventh place on a great day for Peter Sauber’s team.

The Swiss cars’ pace was too much for Toro Rosso, who saw a resurgent Sebastien Buemi fighting with Massa for ninth place. The Swiss moved ahead on Lap 51, only to be repassed by the Ferrari three laps later. read more

Alonso Wins Singapore GP 2010

Flawless Fernando Alonso edges Vettel for Singapore win

Fernando Alonso moved himself right into the thick of the world title battle by taking his second consecutive victory with a consummate drive in the Singapore Grand Prix.

The brilliant pole position the Ferrari team leader earned on Saturday gave him the upper hand in a relentless race-long duel with Red Bull rival Sebastian Vettel, who finished just 0.2s behind in a rousing finish.

Alonso’s win moved him into second place in the championship standings ahead of Lewis Hamilton, whose title hopes took a further knock when he crashed out in a collision with Mark Webber shortly after half-distance.

Read more

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton failed to finish after colliding with the Red Bull of Mark Webber.

Webber went on to finish third, ahead of Hamilton’s team-mate Jenson Button.

Alonso’s win lifts the Spaniard to second in the drivers’ championship, just 11 points behind Webber, with Hamilton nine points adrift in third.

The twisting nature of the street circuit meant the start was likely to represent one of the only genuine overtaking opportunities in the race.

The fact the first five on the grid came out of the second corner in unchanged order did not appear to bode well for those hoping to see plenty of passing action.

Read more

Singapore Grand Prix result

1 ALONSO Ferrari 1h57m53.6s
2 VETTEL Red Bull +0.2s
3 WEBBER Red Bull +29.1s
4 BUTTON McLaren +30.3s
5 ROSBERG Mercedes +49.3s
6 BARRICHELLO Williams +56.1s
7 KUBICA Renault +1m26.6s
8 SUTIL Force India +1m52.4s
9 HULKENBERG Williams +1m52.8s
10 MASSA Ferrari +1m53.3s
11 PETROV Renault +1 lap
12 ALGUERSUARI Toro Rosso +1 lap
13 SCHUMACHER Mercedes +1 lap
14 BUEMI Toro Rosso +1 lap
15 DI GRASSI Virgin +2 laps
16 KOVALAINEN Lotus +3 laps
R GLOCK Virgin +12 laps
R HEIDFELD Sauber +25 laps
R HAMILTON McLaren +26 laps
R KLIEN HRT +30 laps
R KOBAYASHI Sauber +31 laps
R SENNA HRT +32 laps
R TRULLI Lotus +34 laps
R LIUZZI Force India +60 laps

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso wins at Monza

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso leapt back into title contention after winning a thrilling battle with McLaren’s Jenson Button in the Italian Grand Prix.

“Most of the thanks for the win is to the mechanics,” said Alonso.

“The pit stop felt so quick. I stopped, they changed tyres and there was a green light. I didn’t even have first gear in.

“When I came out of the pits I saw he was quite far behind and I thought OK, we have done it but I forgot he was coming at 320kmh (199mph) and he closed very fast.

“We went in the first corner nearly side by side and then I nearly spun when I got on the throttle.”

The Spaniard moves up to third in the championship, 21 points behind new leader Mark Webber of Red Bull, who leapfrogged McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton.

It was a disastrous day for Lewis Hamilton in the other McLaren, who jumped to fourth as Mark Webber’s Red Bull again started slowly, but at the second chicane Massa’s left rear wheel came into contact with Hamilton’s front right, and by the first Lesmo the McLaren driver was in the gravel, his day done.

Italian Grand Prix result

1 ALONSO Ferrari
2 BUTTON McLaren +2.9s
3 MASSA Ferrari +4.2s
4 VETTEL Red Bull +28.1s
5 ROSBERG Mercedes +29.9s
6 WEBBER Red Bull +31.2s
7 HULKENBERG Williams +32.8s
8 KUBICA Renault +34.0s
9 SCHUMACHER Mercedes +44.9s
10 BARRICHELLO Williams +64.2s
11 BUEMI Toro Rosso +65.0s
12 LIUZZI Force India +66.1s
13 PETROV Renault +78.9s
14 DE LA ROSA Sauber +1 lap
15 ALGUERSUARI Toro Rosso +1 lap
16 SUTIL Force India +1 lap
17 GLOCK Virgin +2 laps
18 KOVALAINEN Lotus +2 laps
19 YAMAMOTO HRT +2 laps
20 DI GRASSI Virgin +3 laps
21 TRULLI Lotus +7 laps
22 SENNA HRT +42 laps
23 HAMILTON McLaren +53 laps
24 KOBAYASHI Sauber +53 laps

Hamilton won Belgian Grand Prix 2010

Lewis Hamilton won the Belgian Grand Prix after an incident-packed race at Spa-Francorchamps.

Hamilton took control of the race with a perfect start from the outside of the front row, while pole-sitter Webber bogged down as his Red Bull’s anti-stall function kicked in and tumbled to seventh place.

Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso crashed out, and Sebastian Vettel failed to score a point.

“I’m ecstatic, it was a great weekend,” said Hamilton, whose driving was praised by his team principal Martin Whitmarsh. “A race like that can be a lottery, so I’m so happy and grateful to come out on top.”

Belgian Grand Prix 2010 Result (44 laps)

1 HAMILTON McLaren 1h29m04.3s

2 WEBBER Red Bull +1.6s

3 KUBICA Renault +3.5s

4 MASSA Ferrari +8.3s

5 SUTIL Force India +9.1s

6 ROSBERG Mercedes +12.4s

7 SCHUMACHER Mercedes +15.5s

8 KOBAYASHI Sauber +16.7s

9 PETROV Renault +23.9s

10 LIUZZI Force India +34.8s

11 DE LA ROSA Sauber +36.0s

12 BUEMI Toro Rosso +39.9s

13 ALGUERSUARI Toro Rosso +49.5s

14 HULKENBERG Williams +1 lap

15 VETTEL Red Bull +1 lap

16 KOVALAINEN Lotus +1 lap

17 DI GRASSI Virgin +1 lap

18 GLOCK Virgin +1 lap

19 TRULLI Lotus +1 lap

20 YAMAMOTO HRT +2 laps

R ALONSO Ferrari +7 laps

R BUTTON McLaren +29 laps

R SENNA HRT +39 laps

R BARRICHELLO Williams +44 laps

This means Red Bull have taken 13 pole positions in the 14 races this season.

But Hamilton delivered a superb performance to take second, ahead of Kubica.

Sebastian vettel wasn’t able to do better on his final lap and so ended up fourth in the second Red Bull, while world champion Jenson button did find time on his final run to snatch fifth place.

Belgian GP starting grid

1 WEBBER Red Bull

2 HAMILTON McLaren

3 KUBICA Renault

4 VETTEL Red Bull

5 BUTTON McLaren

6 MASSA Ferrari

7 BARRICHELLO Williams

8 SUTIL Force India

9 HULKENBERG Williams

10 ALONSO Ferrari

11 ALGUERSUARI Toro Rosso

12 LIUZZI Force India

13 BUEMI Toro Rosso

14 KOVALAINEN Lotus

15 GLOCK Virgin

16 ROSBERG Mercedes*

17 TRULLI Lotus

18 KOBAYASHI Sauber

19 SENNA HRT

20 YAMAMOTO HRT

21 SCHUMACHER Mercedes**

22 DE LA ROSA Sauber

23 DI GRASSI Virgin

24 PETROV Renault

The Spanish driver signalled his intention with a lap of 2 minutes, 0.797 seconds in a rain-affected morning session.

Then he capitalised on a chaotic finish to a mainly dry afternoon stint to stop the clock at 1:49.032, 0.125 seconds ahead of Force India’s Adrian Sutil.

Hamilton was 3rd but Red Bull’s championship leader Webber was 2.6secs off the pace at Spa.

Kubica, testing the team’s brand-new F-duct aerodynamic system, came through 4th fastest and Alonso’s teammate Massa was sixth.

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, third in the drivers’ rankings, was 0.657secs behind and reigning world champion Button of McLaren was a further 0.066secs back.

Alonso ended up on top but his rivals may point to the open track on which he was able to post his top time following a red flag towards the end of second practice.

Williams driver Rubens Barrichello, who is set to become the 1st Formula 1 driver to contest 300 races this weekend, was almost 1.1secs off the pace.

Mercedes’ seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher goes into the race with a 10-place grid penalty after nearly running Barrichello into a pit wall at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Belgian Grand Prix free practice session two times

1 ALONSO Ferrari 1m49.032s
2 SUTIL Force India 1m49.157s
3 HAMILTON McLaren 1m49.248s
4 KUBICA Renault 1m49.282s
5 MASSA Ferrari 1m49.588s
6 VETTEL Red Bull 1m49.689s
7 BUTTON McLaren 1m49.755s
8 DE LA ROSA Sauber 1m50.081s
9 BARRICHELLO Williams 1m50.128s
10 KOBAYASHI Sauber 1m50.200s
11 PETROV Renault 1m50.251s
12 SCHUMACHER Mercedes 1m50.341s
13 ROSBERG Mercedes 1m50.382s
14 ALGUERSUARI Toro Rosso 1m50.682s
15 HULKENBERG Williams 1m50.831s
16 LIUZZI Force India 1m51.520s
17 BUEMI Toro Rosso 1m51.523s
18 WEBBER Red Bull 1m51.636s
19 KOVALAINEN Lotus 1m53.480s
20 TRULLI Lotus 1m53.639s
21 DI GRASSI Virgin 1m54.325s
22 SENNA HRT 1m55.751s
23 YAMAMOTO HRT 1m56.039s
24 GLOCK Virgin 2m03.179s

Vettel on pole - German Grand Prix 2010

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel will start on pole position at his home Grand Prix in Germany after he edged out Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso by 0.002 seconds.

After Red Bull’s Mark Webber made a mistake in the first sector of his final run, he was jumped by Felipe Massa in the second Ferrari, who thus starts third after a lap of 1m 14.290s. Webber is fourth on 1m 14.347s.

Alonso had looked set to end Ferrari’s long wait for a pole – which stretches back to the final round of 2008 – after impressively topping the first two qualifying segments and then setting the pace in the early Q3 forays.

“We have to be happy, we are in the first row for the first time, that’s a step forward for us,” said Alonso.

“We expected the Red Bulls to give something more in Q3 as we have seen them do before.

“We are in a way surprised to be that close and finally fighting for pole position after 10 races, it took a little bit of a long time but now we are very close.”

German Grand Prix 2010 Grid

1 VETTEL Red Bull

2 ALONSO Ferrari

3 MASSA Ferrari

4 WEBBER Red Bull

5 BUTTON McLaren

6 HAMILTON McLaren

7 KUBICA Renault

8 BARRICHELLO Williams

9 ROSBERG Mercedes

10 HULKENBERG Williams

11 SCHUMACHER Mercedes

12 KOBAYASHI Sauber

13 PETROV Renault

14 DE LA ROSA Sauber

15 ALGUERSUARI Toro Rosso

16 BUEMI Toro Rosso

17 TRULLI Lotus

18 KOVALAINEN Lotus

19 SUTIL Force India

20 SENNA HRT

21 LIUZZI Force India

22 YAMAMOTO HRT

23 DI GRASSI Virgin

24 GLOCK Virgin