In brief, June 2010

* Sakon Yamamoto has signed up as test and reserve driver for HRT. The former Super Aguri and Spyker driver will be in action in some Friday practice sessions, in place of regulars Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok.

* Durango has announced that it will submit a 2011 F1 entry bid, a move that has caused some surprise because the Italian outfit was unable to sustain its GP2 campaign. Meanwhile both Prodrive and Lola have indicated that they will not bid.

* Alain Prost, Tom Kristensen, Johnny Herbert and Alex Wurz have now all taken a turn as the FIA’s driver representative on the stewards panel. Damon Hill is expected to serve in Monaco.

* Sauber’s veteran technical director Willy Rampf had his last race with the Swiss team in China. Sadly Rampf’s F1 career ended with an early double retirement.

* Lotus F1 Racing owner Tony Fernandes has been awarded the Legion d’Honneur by the French government. It’s the highest honour France can award to a non-French citizen and follows his firm AirAsia’s contribution to the French and European economies.

* Two of US F1’s bespoke F1 trailers have been seized under a High Court order that was issued by a UK creditor. The trailers were acquired from Brawn GP, before it became Mercedes GP, and were put up for sale on eBay.

* Richard Lapthorne has left McLaren after only a year as non-executive chairman. Lapthorne was brought in when Ron Dennis decided to step down from the Formula 1 side of the business. He commented that all the issues which he was appointed to sort, had now been solved.

* Ferrari, Williams and Mercedes have all started testing their own versions of the McLaren F-duct. The aerodynamic device is designed to stall the rear wing and improve straight-line speed. Red Bull Racing will also take a version to the Spanish GP.