Hamburg - A new American Formula One team will unveil plans Tuesday to enter the sport in 2010 with female Indy Car Series driver Danica Patrick as a possible driver.

The new USF1 team, which involves former Ferrari and Williams team manager Peter Windsor as well as designer Ken Anderson, will officially announce plans on Speed TV.

"Proving that American technology, American drivers and the American competitive spirit can compete and win on the F1 global stage has been our mission for several years now," said the team on its website ahead of the official launch.

London - Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson admitted in an interview Saturday that he would consider becoming involved in Formula One if certain financial and environmental conditions were met.

"They need to get the rules changed to make F1 economically viable in these tough times," he told BBC 5 Live radio.

"F1 should be also championing cleaner technology. If we were to get involved we'd want our cars run on clean fuels."

Salzburg, Germany  - The owner of the Red Bull and Torro Rosso Formula One teams has called into question the ownership of the event.

Dietrich Mateschitz, who is the billionaire owner of the Red Bull energy drink told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that presently Formula One is owned by a private equity company.

"They have neither expertise nor passion about and for motorsport. Their engagement, which is a natural under the circumstances, is simply a financial one, geared towards maximizing profits."

Amsterdam -  will have to look around for a new sponsor for next season after Dutch insurance conglomerate ING announced on Monday that they would not be renewing their three-year sponsorship with Renault.

Earlier Credit Suisse had announced that they would not be sponsoring BMW-Sauber this year.

ING said they would cut back their sponsorship investment by 40 per cent this year already, without saying whether they would cut back the money given to Renault during the season.

Stuttgart  - German Formula One driver Nico Rosberg has called for a minimum weight for Grand Prix drivers.

In an report by Der Spiegel news magazine made available ahead of Monday's publication, the Williams driver said that if a pilot did not weigh enough, weights should be placed in the car.

Several drivers are said to have lost a considerable amount of weight since last season to compensate for the heavier weight of their cars which has been brought about by new regulations.

Vienna - Three-time world champion Nicki Lauda believes Formula One has taken the steps necessary to make it through the financial crisis but has little time for the new KERS system.

"Formula One is well prepared for the crisis, it's cutting costs," the Austrian told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

"Fortunately apart from Honda (who pulled out from the sport late last year), nothing else has happened. That's as much as you can hope for in these times."

FIA president Max Mosley and F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone are doing everything to keep costs under control but the sport in a way regulates itself, said Lauda.