Formula 1 2010 season preview: teams, drivers, calendar and regulations

Calendar for season 2010

The 2010 Formula One season start on March 14 in Melbourne and, after 19 races, ends on November 14 in Abu Dhabi. South Korea is to make its first appearance with a race being held at the Korean International Circuit in Yeongam. The Canadian Grand Prix returns in 2010 after one-year absence.

The Japanese Grand Prix was due to return to Fuji Speedway for 2010, as part of a year-on-year rotation with Suzuka Circuit. However, Fuji's owners Toyota announced that they had abandoned plans for Fuji to hold the race and Suzuka will continue to hold the event in 2010 and in 2011.

The British Grand Prix was due to move from Silverstone Circuit to Donington Park in 2010, but the owners of Donington Park admitted that plans to raise £135 million had failed. The agreement have reached that Silverstone will host British GP for the next 17 years.

Main team changes in 2010

• Toyota withdraws from Formula One.
• BMW Sauber was sold back to Peter Sauber. Despite the departure of BMW from the sport and the team's use of Ferrari engines, they will retain the name BMW Sauber F1 Team.
• Brawn GP have been sold to Mercedes and have new name: Mercedes GP Petronas Formula One Team. McLaren will purchase Mercedes' 40% stake in the McLaren Group before the 2011 season, but Mercedes will continue to supply McLaren engines until 2015.
• Renault F1 Team was purchased by Genii Capital investment company. Under the terms of the deal, Renault will retain a 25% minority holding, while the team will continue to race under the Renault name.
• Three new teams join the Formula One this year: Lotus Racing, Virgin Racing and Hispania Racing Team.

This is introduction to Formula 1 season 2010. Latest F1 news, stats and results you can find on our main Formula 1 page.

Driver changes in 2010

• Michael Schumacher returns to Formula 1 after he has agreed a one year deal with Mercedes GP.
• Kimi Raikkonen will take a one-year absence from F1 to drive in the World Rally Championship.
• McLaren have acquired 2009 World Champion Jenson Button from Brown GP.
• Fernando Alonso moves from Renault to Ferrari, replacing Kimi Raikkonen.
• Rubens Barrichello joins William from Brawn.
• Timo Glock, who was Toyota's driver last season, moves to Virgin Racing.
• Jarno Trulli will drive for Lotus Racing. He was in Toyota last year.
• Kamui Kobayashi, also from Toyota, joins Sauber team.
• Heikki Kovalainen moves to Lotus Racing from McLaren.
• Robert Kubica will drive for Renault in 2010 after leaving BMW Sauber.
• Nico Rosberg left Williams to join Mercedes GP.
• Pedro de la Rosa returns to F1 driving for the Sauber team after he was test driver for McLaren last year.
• Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok will make their debut in F1 with the new Hispania Racing F1 Team.
• Lucas di Grassi from GP2 Series Racing Engineering joins Virgin Racing.
• Nico Hulkenberg, 2009 GP2 Series champion with ART Grand Prix, will drive for Williams.
• Vitaly Petrov, second in the 2009 GP2 Series, moves from Barwa Addax to Renault.

New regulations

Cars will no longer be able to refuel during a race.

Qualifying has been altered. 7 drivers will now be eliminated in Q1 and Q2 rather than the previous 5. Q3 will be run on low fuel but drivers must use the same tyres with which they will start the race.

A new points system will be used. The winner will be awarded 25 points, the runner up 18, 3rd place will receive 15, 12 for fourth and then 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, and 1 for tenth place.

The minimum car weight will be increased from 605 kg to 620 kg to stop heavier drivers being at a disadvantage if KERS is added to their car, which will still be allowed in 2010, despite FOTA's agreement not to use the system.

Wheel covers which have been used by the teams since 2006 are banned.

The front tyres have been narrowed from 270mm to 245mm to improve the balance of grip between the front and rear.

Drivers will now have just eleven sets of tyres over the course of a weekend, down from fourteen in 2009. Three of these sets are for practice only and must be returned before the start of qualifying, regardless of whether they are used or not.

2010 teams and drivers line-up

McLaren

chasis: MP4-25   engine: Mercedes FO 108X
drivers: [1] Jenson Button, [2] Lewis Hamilton, Gary Paffett

Mercedes

chasis: MGP W01   engine: Mercedes F0 108X
drivers: [3] Michael Schumacher, [4] Nico Rosberg, Nick Heidfeld

Red Bull

chasis: RB6   engine: Renault RS27-2010
drivers: [5] Sebastien Vettel, [6] Mark Webber, Brendon Hartley, Daniel Ricciardo

Ferrari

chasis: F10   engine: Ferrari 056
drivers: [7] Felipe Massa, [8] Fernando Alonso, Giancarlo Fisichella, Luca Badoer, Marc Gene

Williams

chasis: FW32   engine: Cosworth CA2010
drivers: [9] Rubens Barrichello, [10] Nico Hulkenberg, Valtteri Bottas

Renault

chasis: R30   engine: Renault RS27-2010
drivers: [11] Robert Kubica, [12] Vitaly Petrov, Ho-Pin Tung Jerome d'Ambrosio, Jan Charouz

Force India

chasis: VJM 03   engine: Mercedes F0 108X
drivers: [14] Adrian Sutil, [15] Vitantonio Liuzzi, Paul di Resta

Toro Rosso

chasis: STR5   engine: Ferrari 056
drivers: [16] Sebastian Buemi, [17] Jaime Alguersuari, Brendon Hartley, Daniel Ricciardo

Lotus

chasis: T127   engine: Cosworth CA2010
drivers: [18] Jarno Trulli, [19] Heikki Kovalainen, Fairuz Fauzy

HRT

chasis: HRT   engine: Cosworth CA2010
drivers: [20] Karun Chandhok, [21] Bruno Senna

Sauber

chasis: C29   engine: Ferrari 056
drivers: [22] Pedro de la Rosa, [23] Kamui Kobayashi

Virgin

chasis: VR-01   engine: Cosworth CA2010
drivers: [24] Timo Glock, [25] Lucas di Grassi, Andy Soucek, Luiz Razia

2009 driver standings

2009 team standings