Tony Stark’s own Formula 1!

Stark Industries Formula 1

Iron Man 2 is still being shot but we’ve got a little preview of one of the new car star thanks to the folks at Road & Track. They got their hands on a spy photography showing a Formula 1 proudly sporting the Stark Industries livery. It looks more like an Indy car, but that’s actually pretty close to some vintage Formula one models. It will be used for the historic race that the billionaire superhero participates in, the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique. The production recreated the circuit instead of going to Monaco to shoot the scene.
Apparently Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) will this time be facing Whiplash (Mickey Rourke), his weapons designer. The cast looks even better than in the first movie, with Gwyneth Paltrow returning as Pepper Potts, and Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle and Samuel L. Jackson joining the crew.
This second episode of the Ironman series is expected to hit theaters in April 2010.

READ MORE - Tony Stark’s own Formula 1!

Save our GP, say Button and Hamilton

Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton on Thursday issued an emotional rallying cry to preserve the British Grand Prix.

As Silverstone prepared for possibly its final weekend as the host circuit for the British race, the two Britons united to call for the traditional race to remain on the calendar.

The British Grand Prix is scheduled to move to the troubled venue of Donington Park next year after that track's new management won a 17-year deal to host the event.

But money and development problems have left the project in limbo and F1 commercial supreme Bernie Ecclstone has stressed that there is no way he would return to Silverstone after this weekend.

Defending world champion Hamilton, of McLaren Mercedes, said: "We just want to show our support and show the importance of the British Grand Prix.

"I think perhaps people look at the British Grand Prix and perhaps don't realise what it would be like without it - I think we should all step back and realise what motorsport would be like without it and understand that and then take action.

"We just all need to pull together and support it. I think we need support from the (British) government. We need support from other backers wherever we can get it.

"As long as we have a British Grand Prix then Formula One will always remain a great sport."

Championship leader Button of Brawn GP was equally keen to see his home race retained.

He said: "We both agree that we would love a British Grand Prix and we obviously want it to be at a good venue, but having a British GP is the point that we're trying to push.

"It's not us two sat here I think it's the whole of Formula One. There are a lot of British people that work in Formula One on the racing side of things and on the journalism side of things.

"So to not have a British race would be a real shocker for all of us involved and surprising I think for the fans, especially when we have packed out crowds for the races here."

Button admitted he would be sad not to race at Silverstone again.

"It is a very special race. The British fans are fantastic and we have so many fans in Britain for motorsport and Formula One," said Button.

"Last year was a sell-out crowd and I'm guessing it's going to be the same this year and you don't get that in many circuits around the world, especially with the way the economy is at the moment.

"This is a circuit that I love. It's a fantastic fast-flowing circuit like Spa, Suzuka - it's one of the true greats and has been through the last few decades."

READ MORE - Save our GP, say Button and Hamilton

F1 reaches compromise; Mosley to step down

PARIS (AP) — A breakaway Formula One series was averted Wednesday when Max Mosley ceded to the rebel teams' demand that a planned budget cap be scrapped and the FIA president said he won't seek re-election.

Mosley will immediately take a back-seat role until his 16-year reign ends in October — a move that will help to end the acrimonious atmosphere that has blighted F1 in recent months.

STANDINGS: Formula One points

"There will be no split. There will be one F1 championship in 2010," Mosley said at FIA's Paris headquarters.

"They've got the rules they want and they've got the stability. We've got the new teams and we've got the cost reduction."

FIND MORE STORIES IN: Renault | McLaren | Bernie Ecclestone | Max Mosley | BMW Sauber | British Grand Prix | John Howett | Luca di Montezemolo | Team Toyota Europe

Mosley backed down on the voluntary $65 million budget cap at the World Motorsport Council. Instead, teams were given a watered-down order to reduce costs to early 1990s levels.

But the Formula One Teams Association, which instigated the breakaway, had already implemented a series of cost-cutting measures themselves this season amid the global economic downturn, restricting on-track testing and the use of wind tunnels for aerodynamic testing.

Further efforts to create savings on engines and gearboxes in the next three years had already been announced by FOTA in May to help attract new teams. Campos Meta, Manor and Team US F1 will make their debuts next season. Additional cuts are expected to be agreed to Thursday at a FOTA meeting in Bologna, Italy.

"I am pleased FOTA's proposals have been endorsed and approved by the WMSC today," said John Howett, FOTA's vice chairman and Toyota Motorsport president. "We look forward to working with the FIA Senate to achieve a prosperous and exciting future for Formula One and its millions of fans around the world."

FOTA's members — Ferrari, McLaren, BMW Sauber, Renault, Toyota, Red Bull, Toro Rosso and Brawn GP — opposed the budget cap because it would have given those who signed up greater technical freedom than those who refused, creating a two-tier championship next season.

"We're very happy that common sense has prevailed as I always believed it would because the alternative was not good at all," said Bernie Ecclestone, F1's commercial rights holder. "Everything is in good shape."

The FIA also expects the teams to sign on to a new Concorde Agreement, the confidential commercial document governing the sport.

Last weekend's British Grand Prix had been overshadowed by the split between the FIA and FOTA members, some of whom were branded "loonies" by Mosley after their decision to form a rival series.

Mosley announced plans to sue FOTA on Friday, but backed down 48 hours later when he insisted that a deal was close.

What will help heal the rifts is the departure of the often divisive Mosley after four terms. His leadership style was criticized as too autocratic and was blamed by many of the teams for precipitating the split between FOTA and the FIA.

Even as the crisis intensified over the weekend, Mosley was still planning to run for a fifth term.

But he said Wednesday: "The teams were always ... going to get rid of me in October. Whether the person who succeeds me will be more to their taste than I am remains to be seen."

Mosley has been the president of the FIA, the international automobile federation that governs Formula One, since 1993. FIA Senate president Michel Boeri will effectively be in charge until the election.

"It is a great relief and that is going to enable me to take a step back for the summer," Mosley said. "I will be able to look at Formula One knowing it's peaceful and stable, and I will be able to stop — as was always my intention — in October of this year."

"This for me is an enormous relief," Mosley added, referring to "personal difficulties" he has faced.

His son, Alexander Mosley, was found dead at his luxury apartment May 5 after an accidental drug overdose.

The 69-year-old FIA president, the son of former British fascist leader Oswald Mosley, was at the center of a media frenzy last year when a tabloid newspaper reported he took part in a sadomasochistic orgy with five prostitutes in London. A video of the incident was widely circulated on the Internet.

Mosley successfully sued the News of the World for invasion of privacy.

The episode brought calls for Mosley's ouster as FIA president, but he won an overwhelming vote of confidence to stay on.

READ MORE - F1 reaches compromise; Mosley to step down