Abu Dhabi  - The Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Grand Prix, set to close the season that starts Sunday, could become a night-time race in 2010.

"The fact that we can run the track 24 hours a day leaves us in a very good position to run the circuit at night-time. There are a lot of possibilities," the race's general manager Richard Cregan said in an interview with German Press Agency dpa.

Melbourne  - A row was looming ahead of the start of the Formula One season with leading teams questioning the legality of the bodywork of three of their rivals including newcomers Brawn GP.

A rift appeared to open Wednesday ahead of Sunday's Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, with Red Bull saying it would lodge a protest if the Brawn GP, Williams and Toyota cars were allowed to race as they now stand.

Governing body FIA is set to check whether the cars conform to the regulations on Thursday.

Hockenheim, Germany  - A German state premier is to seek talks with Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone in an effort to safeguard the future of the Hockenheim Grand Prix, it was agreed Tuesday.

The Baden-Wuerttemberg economics ministry said it was agreed at a cabinet meeting that state premier Guenther Oettinger meet Ecclestone over the loss-making circuit.

The state urged Hockenheim's regional council to shelve making any decision at a meeting Wednesday on the circuit's future.

Melbourne - Ferrari will be calling on the experience of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher for the start of the Formula One season.

For the first time since his retirement at the end of the 2006 season, Schumacher will be with his former team for the season's start in Melbourne on Sunday.

The 40-year-old German will also be acting as an adviser for the following week's Malaysian Grand Prix.

Rio de Janeiro - Surprised over the poor pre-season performance of the McLaren-Mercedes team, but worried about the excellence of Brawn GP and the evolution of Toyota, Ferrari's Brazilian Formula 1 driver Felipe Massa travelled to Australia Monday.

"So far it is difficult to have a clear idea, because it is the first race that counts, but I think we have never seen a McLaren so far behind, a McLaren with so many difficulties as this year," Massa said in comments that were made public by his press team Monday.

Hamburg - Former world champion Kimi Raikkonen appears to be standing before a make-or-break season at Ferrari.

"As a driver and a Ferrari man, he is well aware that it's an important season. He's intelligent enough to understand that," Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali told Monday's Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper.

The 2009 season getting underway this weekend with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, and Domenicali said Raikkonen's performances this year were certainly important as to whether he has a long-term future with the Italian marque.