Caterham have announced that Cyril Abiteboul has been promoted to team principal with immediate effect, taking over from team founder Tony Fernandes. Abiteboul will combine the role with his current responsibilities as CEO, a post he took up in September after joining Caterham from engine suppliers Renault.

The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps will host the 12th round of the 2012 Formula One World Championship as the Grand Prix of Belgium signals a return to racing following the series’ summer break. The track, which winds up and down through the Ardennes, has its reputation built on speed. At around 20 seconds, the section from La Source to Les Combes is the longest duration an F1 car will spend on full-throttle in 2012 – should the driver take the Eau Rouge/Raidillon combination flat-out.

Williams’ Pastor Maldonado has had 20 seconds added to his race time by the European Grand Prix stewards after colliding with McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton on the penultimate lap in Valencia. As a result of the penalty, Maldonado drops from 10th to 12th in the final classification.

Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi and Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne have both been handed grid penalties for the next round of the season in Great Britain after causing collisions in Valencia on Sunday.
Kobayashi will be demoted five places on the grid, following his coming together with the Ferrari of Felipe Massa.

Formula One racing’s governing body, the FIA, has confirmed it is in talks with teams over potential changes to the sport’s technical regulations aimed at further reducing the cost of competing in the sport.
In a statement released following Friday’s meeting of its World Motor Sport Council in Paris, the FIA said the intention was “to help all teams participate in the Championship in a fair and equal manner.”

Mercedes are free to continue using their innovative ‘double DRS’ rear wing after stewards in Shanghai rejected a protest from rival team Lotus on Thursday evening regarding its legality.
Mercedes’ rear wing has holes in its endplates which are exposed when the DRS is activated. Airflow entering the holes is channelled through the chassis to the front wing, where it is released to stall the wing, cutting downforce and boosting top speed in much the same way as the DRS itself does for the rear wing.