Paul Stoddart has dropped his legal action against Australian Grand Prix stewards and Minardi will compete this weekend with 2005 cars after hasty modifications.

Minardi are facing a race against time to convince rival Formula One teams to allow them to compete in this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix.

Minardi boss Paul Stoddart is prepared to go to court to ensure his team can race in the Australian Grand Prix next month.

Spain’s Fernando Alonso set the pace as the Minardis predictably plummeted down the time sheets when practice resumed for the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours this morning.

JORDAN-FORD’S Ralph Firman reached the dizzy heights of second fastest qualifier after Justin Wilson got a pat on the back from five-time world champion Michael Schumacher — then a slap in the face from the stewards in France.

Schumacher's lead had increased to just over seven seconds after 30 laps as he moved closer to a third victory in succession in Spain and a fifth overall.

Under-pressure Antonio Pizzonia saw his hopes of saving his Formula One drive suffer another setback this morning when he hit one of his Jaguar mechanics.

FORMULA One’s leading drivers last night joined forces to ridicule radical plans to stem waning interest in the sport.

Eddie Irvine has been told he must start from the back of the grid after his Jaguar Racing car failed a fuel test at the Spanish Grand Prix.

The Williams team's testing plans suffered an early blow when Juan Pablo Montoya's all-new BMW engine burst into flames.

Colombia’s Juan Pablo Montoya snatched his second pole in three races in a rain-hit qualifying session for the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps today.

Mika Hakkinen blasted Michael Schumacher off the top of the time-sheets during practice for Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix in Monte Carlo today.