Kamui Kobayashi will replace France's Franck Montagny as Toyota's test and reserve driver next season, the Formula One team said on Friday. After his final test in Barcelona, Montagny said farewell to the Toyota team.

The 21-year-old Japanese has been backed by Toyota since 2001 as part of the company’s young driver programme. Kobayashi is a product of Toyota’s TDP scheme which is aimed at honing young drivers.

"He (Kobayashi) tested the car last winter and showed he had the potential to drive in Formula One in the future," said Toyota head honcho Tadashi Yamashina.

The Japanese auto giant is still seeking a replacement for Germany's Ralf Schumacher, who left at the end of the season last month, alongside Italian Jarno Trulli in their 2008 race lineup.

Kobayashi has competed in the Formula 3 Euro Series for the past two seasons, finishing fourth in the championship in 2007 with one race win, and had his first F1 test with Toyota last December, divulged iTV.

“The TDP scheme has been very supportive of me during my career and I am very grateful for all that support,” he said. “This is a great challenge for me and I am very excited about becoming a Formula 1 driver. Since the start of my career I have dreamed of reaching Formula 1 and to have the chance to join Panasonic Toyota Racing as third driver is a fantastic opportunity for me.”

“My first tests for the team last winter went well but I still have things to learn about Formula 1 and it will be a great experience for me to test more regularly for the team. The role of third driver is very important as I will be helping a lot with the development of the car throughout the year. I am sure I will learn a lot about Formula 1 cars and hopefully this will help me in my future career but for now I am focused on helping the team move forward,” the Japanese driver concluded.

“I am very pleased to welcome Kamui to the team. He tested the car last winter and showed he had the potential to drive in Formula 1 in the future. Now, after another season gaining experience in Formula 3, we believe he is ready for the challenge of Formula 1. It is also very gratifying to see the TDP scheme delivering results and helping a promising young driver to reach Formula 1,” added Yamashina.

Additionally, another Japanese driver to have emerged from the TDP, Kazuki Nakajima, and he will be racing for Toyota-powered Williams in 2008.

Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen put his best at the recent Formula 1 season finale (the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix) in Sao Paolo to claim the 2007 Driver's Championship. Raikkonen now dethrones Alonso with the Spaniard's championship title.

Raikkonen teammate Felipe Massa followed him and landed the 2nd place. Massa helped out his Raikkonen to bag the championship title although the Brazilian driver also wanted to win the race in his hometown.

Check out the final standings below.

Driver's Championship

1. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 110
2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 109
3. Fernando Alonso McLaren-Mercedes 109
4. Felipe Massa Ferrari 94
5. Nick Heidfeld BMW 61
6. Robert Kubica BMW 39
7. Heikki Kovalainen Renault 30
8. Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 21
9. Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 20
10. David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 14
11. Alexander Wurz Williams-Toyota 13
12. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 10
13. Jarno Trulli Toyota 8
16. Sebastian Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari 6
17. Jenson Button Honda 6
18. Ralf Schumacher Toyota 5
19. Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 4
20. Vitantonio Lizzi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 3
20. Adrian Sutil Spyker-Ferrari 1

Constructors' Championship:

1. Ferrari 204
2. BMW 101
3. Renault 51
4. Williams-Toyota 33
5. Red Bull-Renault 24
6. Toyota 13
7. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 8
8. Honda 6
9. Super Aguri-Honda 4
10. Spyker-Ferrari 1

The Chinese Grand Prix is scheduled to be held from the 5th to the 7th of this month.

The Formula One season visits Shanghai for the Chinese Grand Prix. Going into the penultimate race, the constructors' championship has already been decided as McLaren was disqualified from the championship after the Ferrari spying scandal. Hamilton now has one hand on the driver's championship. At the upcoming Chinese Grand Prix, he can clinch the title and become the first rookie to win the championship.

Heidfeld described the track in Shanghai saying: "Turns one, two and three are among my favourite sections in the race calendar. You approach the first turn at high speed, go into it flat out, but then the corner increasingly tightens up and you have to shift right down to second. Making a clean exit will be even more interesting next year when we'll be driving without traction control again. Overall I'm rather fond of this circuit."

His teammate Kubica also described the track as a "nice" one. "Quite a nice track with, again, a very long straight," said the Pole Formula One driver. "Maybe there is an overtaking possibility at the end of the long back straight. This is very long, but it is not easy because before the straight there is a really quick right hand corner and it is always difficult to follow the cars very closely there."

Teams are now in China preparing for the penultimate race of the season which might see Hamilton setting a record once again.

In a recent hearing held in Paris, France, WSMC finds the British Formula 1 team (McLaren) guilty as Mike Coughlan, Chief Designer of McLaren team was found out to have possession of a document that belongs to Ferrari, which is a 780-page record of the Italian team's Ferrari's 2007 race car technical data.

Here's the official statement of WMSC:
"The WMSC has stripped Vodafone McLaren Mercedes of all constructor points in the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship and the team can score no points for the remainder of the season. Furthermore, the team will pay a fine equal to $100m, less the FOM income lost as a result of the points' deduction."

Team McLaren was shocked by the decision and said they do not deserve this kind of penalty. The team also insisted that only their designer Mike Coughlin should be responsible for the penalty because the team did not gain advantage and did not use Ferrari's technical documents. The team will indeed appeal WMSC's decision to the higher court.

Team principal of McLaren, Ron Dennis also stated: "The entire engineering team in excess of 140 people provided statements to the FIA affirming that they had never received or used the Ferrari information." While McLaren team is shocked and frustrated with the verdict, Scuderia Ferrari team celebrates with bliss flying over their heads as the Italian stable can now secure their F1 Constructor's Championship trophy.

Ferrari said: "In light of new evidence, facts and behaviour of an extremely serious nature and grossly prejudicial to the interest of the sport have been further demonstrated. Ferrari is satisfied that the truth has now emerged."

McLaren is being accused of spying on Ferrari and using Ferrari data to get the advantage over the Italian team.

Earlier this year, just four days after the European Grand Prix, McLaren was summoned to face the FIA - the ruling body of the sport. One strange twist to this saga is the suggestion that McLaren's team principal, Ron Dennis, retire and the whole scandal will disappear. Although Dennis and the team are facing trying times, the Italian Grand Prix became a much needed boost for them. The MP4-22 that the two McLaren drivers used employs an engine provided by German automaker Mercedes.

After the race, Dennis was in tears. "I am pretty emotional, but I am more emotional about the support the team showed me, and that's what we are - a team," said Dennis in the post-race interview.

Dennis, though, will now stand alone on Thursday in defence of his team as what he described as "a very trying weekend" turns to what will be another traumatic day in Paris.

"Clearly, there's now a need to turn our attention to other issues that confront the team, to give a full and detailed explanation as to all the circumstances we've found ourselves involved in over the past few months."

He said that the support of the team members as well as their partners Vodafone and Mercedes-Benz has been great for the whole organization. "We've tried to maintain our motivation and dignity in challenging circumstances," concluded Dennis.

McLaren has been accused by Ferrari of spying. The said dossier was turned over to Coughlan by former Ferrari senior engineer Nigel Stepney.

Ferrari’s team Principal Jean Todt was furious of the decision. The Italian team is appealing the verdict and is planning to file charges against McLaren, Coughlan, and Stepney.

McLaren’s team principal, Ron Dennis, recently answered back and criticized Ferrari. According to Dennis, Stepney acted as a whistleblower, telling McLaren’s Coughlan that the Ferrari cars fielded for the Australian Grand Prix uses questionable components. McLaren requested the FIA to clarify the use of the said components. Dennis said that: “As far as we are aware, Ferrari ran their cars with this illegal device at the Australian Grand Prix, which they won". Dennis also clarified that Coughlan took the dossier from Stepney not to use it for the McLaren team. McLaren currently leads both the drivers’ and constructors’ championship standings.

“I replied that I found it impossible to believe him because we had seen that certain commitments had always been disregarded by McLaren,” said Todt. “There was an exchange of views and, believing in their good faith, I agreed to sign this agreement on June 9. So, on the one hand, they had come to say ‘let us trust one another’ and, on the other, they were hiding serious facts but making no effort to inform us as would have been in the spirit and to the letter of our agreement.”

Todt pointed out that since McLaren was found guilty, they should be punished. “There is not even a sign of logic in this verdict. Either they are guilty or they aren't. McLaren were found responsible of having violated the regulations of F1, of having behaved in a fraudulent manner, but they haven't been punished,” he shared.

McLaren though was not found guilty of having used the Ferrari data on their cars which would have given them immense advantage over the Italian team. If the FIA punished McLaren that would either come in form of a monetary fine docking points from the team and drivers. Currently, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso are leading the race to the championship.

The Formula One team was summoned by the FIA, the ruling body of the sport to an emergency World Motor Sport Council to answer the allegation of using Ferrari technical details on their Formula One cars.

The meeting was held yesterday and the decision is that McLaren was found guilty of the possession of Ferrari documents but the team will not be punished since there is no sufficient evidence showing that the team has used the Ferrari technical specs on their cars. It has 138 points while Ferrari is in second place with 111 points. Ferrari then had Coughlan’s house searched and sure enough, 780 pages of Ferrari documents are found in his possession.

McLaren’s reputation was somewhat tainted by the controversy as well as its partners like Vodafone and Mercedes-Benz. Mercedes-Benz’ Norbert Haug, the automaker’s chief for motorsports, is confident that the team is innocent.

"But if it is found in the future that the Ferrari information has been used to the detriment of the championship, we reserve the right to invite Vodafone McLaren Mercedes back in front of the WMSC where it will face the possibility of exclusion from not only the 2007 championship but also the 2008 championship." - GPUpdate.net

The statement coninued: "The WMSC will also invite Mr Stepney and Mr Coughlan to show reason why they should not be banned from international motor sport for a lengthy period and the WMSC has delegated authority to deal with this matter to the legal department of the FIA." - GPUpdate.net