Some news tidbits from the world of Formula 1:

Mercedes ‘Not Dropping’ 2010 Car – Brawn: Mercedes is still working on its current car but has started to design the W01′s successor, team boss Ross Brawn has revealed. Michael Schumacher, who is 75 points behind the championship leader Lewis Hamilton, said in Canada that his attention is now turning to 2011. But while not denying that the next Mercedes car is now on the drawing boards at Brackley, Brawn said the team is not giving up on 2010. “I think everybody is looking at their cars for 2011,” the Briton is quoted by France’s Auto Hebdo. “But we still have various things to put on the W01 in the coming races. We are not dropping this car, that’s for sure,” added Brawn.

Sauber To Drop BMW From Name After 2010 Season: F1′s Swiss team will keep the “BMW” in its name until the end of the season. After the F1 Commission meeting on Monday, it emerged that the BMW Sauber F1 Team had applied to change its name to simply Sauber Motorsport. The next step was the approval of F1′s governing body, which met for a World Motor Sport Council meeting in Geneva on Wednesday. A spokesman for the Hinwil based team said on Thursday that the FIA approved Sauber’s request, with the change to take effect after November’s season finale in Abu Dhabi.

Cosworth Preparing Engines To Accommodate KERS In 2011: Cosworth is tweaking the design of its Formula One engine in order to accommodate KERS systems in 2011. Although already permitted by the technical regulations, the teams voluntarily agreed to not use the energy-recovery technology this season. But for 2011, the FOTA ban will lapse, and teams currently powered by Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault have indicated they will fit KERS systems to their cars. Williams has also indicated it will run KERS in 2011, and as well as the British team, Northampton-based Cosworth also currently powers Lotus, Virgin and HRT. “We have to make several new configurations to our V8 and also change some of the accessories,” Cosworth’s business director Mark Gallagher is quoted by Autosprint’s Italian-language auto.it. He confirmed: “Our partners will be able to use KERS if they so choose.”

De La Rosa Paid Three Times More By McLaren: His McLaren job involved a much higher salary, but Pedro de la Rosa is not keen to go back to mere test driving. At 39, the Spaniard returned with Sauber to the Formula One grid this year after a long spell helping McLaren develop its cars. The C29, however, has not been a good car, and de la Rosa said after the Canadian GP that he is “available” for future employment, “even if I have to go back testing or as a reserve driver.” But in an interview with El Pais newspaper, de la Rosa insists he is much happier with an actual race seat, even if he is paid “three times less” than he was by McLaren. “I have enough goals … I want to be the oldest champion in history,” he said. “Fangio won at 45, and (at that age) was just as good.” Salary aside, there are other ironies: such as the fact that when he was at McLaren, he learned the layout of the Valencia circuit on the Woking based team’s state-of-the-art simulator. But now that he actually has to race on the streets of the port city this weekend, Sauber does not have a simulator.

Terror Threat Eases In F1 Host City Valencia: A terrorist threat eased as evening fell on Wednesday in Valencia, the Spanish host of this weekend’s European Grand Prix. We reported earlier that as the F1 world winged its way to the country’s third largest city, the armed separatist group ETA was threatening to blow up roads and railways. But police found no bombs after an intense search and soon afterwards lifted controls on the port city, according to agency reports.

Frentzen To Be FIA Steward In Valencia: Heinz-Harald Frentzen will be the former driver serving alongside three conventional FIA stewards at this weekend’s European Grand Prix. The German won three Grands Prix during his 160-race career between 1994 and 2003. Frentzen, now 43, drove for Sauber, Williams, Jordan, Prost and Arrows, and subsequently for Opel and Audi in the German touring car series DTM.

Ferrari Poaching McLaren’s Fry ‘Wise’ – Verstappen: Ferrari is “wise” to have poached an experienced engineer from McLaren, according to former Grand Prix driver Jos Verstappen. Briton Pat Fry, McLaren’s former joint chief engineer who was with the Woking team for 17 years and recently working on the 2011 car, will start his new role at Ferrari next week as assistant technical director. “Getting Pat Fry is a wise move,” Verstappen wrote in a column for the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf. “Like last season, you could say again that Ferrari’s performance has not been good enough. It is not the drivers’ fault – in particular, I estimate (Fernando) Alonso very highly. But in recent years Ferrari has lot some very important people and I think they are still affected by that.”

F1 Figures To Answer Fan Questions In London: Team bosses and F1 figures are to appear for a question-and-answer session with fans. The initiative, organized by the teams association FOTA, will see bosses including McLaren’s Martin Whitmarsh and Lotus’ Tony Fernandes front an audience at London’s British Academy of Film and Television Arts next Thursday. Telegraph writer Tom Cary revealed that Nico Rosberg’s race engineer Jock Clear, as well as Ferrari spokesman Luca Colajanni and Force India reserve driver Paul di Resta, will also be on the panel.

Horner Not Ruling Out Gearbox Change For Vettel: Christian Horner is not ruling out a five-place grid penalty for Sebastian Vettel in Valencia. Vettel’s Red Bull teammate Mark Webber lost his front-row starting place in Canada due to needing a precautionary gearbox change prior to the race. And Vettel finished the Montreal race with a different gearbox problem, meaning that if it needs to be changed at Valencia during its four-race life, the German will also be penalized. According to a report in the Cologne publication, Express, there is a possibility the Montreal gearbox is damaged. Horner is quoted as saying Vettel’s problem in Canada was “an oil leakage.” But as for whether the gearbox will be changed, the team’s British boss added: “We must look into that.”

McLaren Confirms New Exhaust To Debut In Britain: McLaren on Wednesday confirmed reports a Red Bull-style exhaust layout will debut on the MP4-25 at Silverstone. Several teams are embarking upon a similar approach, with designers working to install low-mounted exhausts that allow air to flow more efficiently into the double diffuser. The benefit, with also the fast-moving exhaust fumes channelled through the diffuser, is believed to be up to half a second per lap. “We’ll be doing trials at an aerodynamic test before Silverstone and hope to have it working on the practice sessions and race it on the Sunday,” engineering director Paddy Lowe told reporters during a teleconference. He admitted that the biggest challenge is equipping the suspension and bodywork to withstand being “blasted” by hot engine fumes, and rued that Ferrari has managed to have its version ready for this weekend’s Valencia race. “That is a concern,” answered Lowe when told Ferrari’s step forward could be half a second per lap. “We’ll have to see how they get on with it. It’s a shame that some others have been slightly quicker than we were getting it, but we are where we are.”