News bits from the world of Formula 1:

Mercedes GP To Show 2010 Livery On January 25: The 2010 Mercedes GP car will not be revealed when the Brackley based team stages its launch event in Stuttgart on January 25. Some reports Friday said the car will be displayed at the carmaker’s Unterturkheim museum later this month, but in fact only the new livery is to be launched at that event. The DPA news agency said the new color-scheme will be shown in Stuttgart on the championship-winning Brawn car, before the 2010 single seater is tested for the first time on February 1 at Valencia. We reported recently that the car will be called the ‘Mercedes-Petronas RB1′, with the ‘RB’ standing for team boss Ross Brawn.

2010 Force India Car To Miss Opening Test: Force India will not take its 2010 car to the first test of the pre-season. German driver Adrian Sutil said Friday that the Mercedes-powered VJM3 would instead make its debut the week after the first Valencia action begins in early February. “For sure the new rules are a big challenge for everybody, so to make a clear statement about how good we have been in interpreting those new regulations we will have to wait until the first test in Jerez, where I will drive the VJM3 for the first time,” he told F1′s official website. The first Jerez test is a four-day schedule running from February 10-13. It will be followed by another test at Jerez, and then a final group test in Barcelona prior to March’s season opener in Bahrain.

Virgin Boss Booth Launches GP3 Team: Virgin Racing, which is also contesting its first season in Formula One in 2010, will field a team in this year’s new GP3 category under the Manor GP3 banner. Manor GP was the team’s original F1 name until it was re-branded in December last year. Team boss John Booth is “eager to maintain close links with grassroots racing”, read a media statement, referring to his earlier years fielding future stars including Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen in his F3 team. “A driver development program was always part of the master plan in the formation of Virgin Racing,” the statement added. GP3 kicks off as a 280 horsepower support series for GP2 at this year’s Spanish Grand Prix. “The icing on the cake is the fantastic prize of an F1 test with Virgin Racing for the most successful Manor GP3 driver,” Booth said.

Superleague Champion To Win F1 Test: The next champion of the football-meets-racing Superleague Formula series can expect to win a F1 test. The category, in which drivers race for teams bearing the colors of prominent football clubs, said Thursday it is “in negotiations to offer the 2010 champion a prize test drive with a top Formula One team”. The series’ 2009 champion is Spaniard Adrian Valles, who raced in Liverpool FC colors for Hitech Racing.

Renault, McLaren Announce Launch Dates: Renault will launch its 2010 car on the day before it is tested for the first time at Valencia, while the McLaren machine for 2010 will be launched on 29 January. Both teams announced their dates Thursday. With the first group test of the winter set to kick off on 1 February, the Genii Capital-controlled team announced that the wraps will come off the R30 at the same Ricardo Tormo circuit one day earlier. The unveiling will take place on the afternoon of Sunday 31 January, by which time a teammate for Robert Kubica will have been decided. McLaren said on its official Twitter page TheFifthDriver, that the Woking based team’s event will take place somewhere in the UK on the Friday morning.

Raikkonen Tests Citroen C4 In France: Kimi Raikkonen this week shifted preparations for his first full season of world rallying into a higher gear. The Finn, who has switched after a career spanning nine seasons and 18 wins in Formula One, made his debut at the wheel of the Red Bull-branded Citroen C4 he will drive in next month’s Swedish Rally opener. Before Sweden, he will contest the Arctic Lapland rally later this month. 2007 world champion Raikkonen, 30, conducted a short shakedown on a test track at Satory in France, according to the Auto Hebdo and Marca publications.

Bahrain Loses F1 Track Boss To Australia: The boss of Bahrain’s formula one track is moving to Australia. Martin Whitaker, who before running the Sakhir circuit was a motor racing director at Ford, will become chief executive of the Gold Coast-based Australian touring car series V8 Supercars in April — after Bahrain’s F1 season opener. Briton Whitaker was initially a motor racing reporter, before holding press-related roles with the FIA, FOCA Television and McLaren. Bahrain International Circuit appointed Shaikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa as his successor.

Sato’s Management Quiet On Renault Rumor: Takuma Sato’s management has declined to comment on reports the Japanese is a leading candidate to fill the second Renault race cockpit in 2010. France’s Auto Hebdo reported earlier this week that the 32-year-old veteran of 93 Grands Prix is in the running with Nick Heidfeld for the seat. New team boss Eric Boullier said last week that five drivers, believed to include the Gravity Sport-managed Ho-Pin Tung and Jerome d’Ambrosio, are on the shortlist to be Robert Kubica’s teammate. He added: “We have made progress but are still far from being able to disclose the (driver’s) name.”

No Formal Launch For New Williams: Williams will not stage a formal launch event prior to the track debut of its 2010 single seater. The Cosworth-powered FW32 is scheduled to run for the first time at the Valencia group test at the beginning of next month. Rubens Barrichello said this week he will be at Williams’ Oxfordshire headquarters shortly before traveling to Spain for the test, but his visit will not be for a car launch. “I have seen a gleam in the eyes of the team staff, they are as passionate about what they do as I am. The atmosphere is great,” said the 37-year-old Brazilian.

Campos To Announce Teixeira Investment: A partnership between the South African millionaire Tony Teixeira and the new Spanish F1 team Campos could be announced imminently. That information was reported by the sports newspaper Diario AS following reports linking A1GP boss Teixeira with the possible part-sale of the Campos Meta 1 outfit. “The agreement will become public in the next hours,” said the Spanish publication, adding that Teixeira’s investment will be between EUR 3 and 4 million.