Michael Schumacher is still the man F1’s young guns most want to beat if this week’s test at Barcelona is anything to go by.

The seven-times world champion turned up at the Circuit de Catalunya on Monday with his consultancy hat on as he set about reliability and set-up testing. But his presence was to have a far more significant impact on proceedings as Lewis Hamilton and Mclaren finally showed their true pace.

A year ago Frank Williams was told his business model was dead. His Williams F1 team – founded on the back of a spare-parts business and moulded with grit and determination into a championship winning machine – had just suffered one of its worst seasons in motor-racing and doubt was being cast over the future of independent constructors in F1.

The incidents at Barcelona a fortnight ago in which a small minority of Spanish fans hurled racist abuse at Lewis Hamilton caused a media backlash in the British press and led the FIA to introduce a new global anti-racism campaign. Christopher Hayes talks to Lino Uruñuela, webmaster of the Spanish Fan Site Fernando-Alonso.org, and assesses the reaction to events in Spain.

Alarm bells started ringing in the F1 community this week as Kimi Raikkonen set a searing pace in the new F2008. But just how worried should fans be about a Ferrari whitewash in 2008?

Red Bull Racing have set their sights on the much coveted ‘best of the rest’ accolade in 2008. But the launch of the RB4 and its early testing performances suggest that the Milton Keynes based team still have a lot of work to do before Melbourne.

The idea of watching teams race around a track on a Sunday afternoon is not as modern as motorsport pundits would have us believe. For centuries, people have been drawn to the pursuit of speed, danger and celebrity. The excitement felt by every F1 supporter was an emotion understood and shared by our ancestors two thousand years ago.

While most of us were out shopping for presents and piling on the pounds over Christmas, David Coulthard was up in the hills around Monaco attempting to reduce his total body fat by another 2%!

Money doesn’t buy you happiness, nor does it buy you success as Honda have been quick to realise this season.

The arrival of former Ferrari Technical Director Ross Brawn to the struggling Brackley based team, along with a series of other high profile appointments, illustrates Honda’s new found commitment to long term capacity building as well as continuing to throw money at research and development. But patience will also be required if Honda are to return to winning ways.

Weeks of speculation have ended with the announcement that Fernando Alonso will be racing for Renault next season. His team-mate at the French manufacturer will be Nelsinho Piquet Jr making it an all-new line-up for Renault for the 2008 season.

It has been a bittersweet year for Mclaren. It began with the explosive debut of Lewis Hamilton whose unexpected speed fostered progressive competition in the team. Both drivers were getting the best out of a good car and by mid-season Mclaren were looking clear favourites to take the driver’s title. But it was a weary Mclaren machine that returned to Woking at the end of the season. The team had left Interlagos with a $50 million tab and no silver wear to show for it. And a few weeks later, the news everyone expected was confirmed; Fernando Alonso was packing his bags.