In brief, March 2008

* Having announced his retirement from Formula 1 last October, Alex Wurz has made a surprise U-turn and signed up as Honda’s third driver. His reserve role means he would race should either Jenson Button or Rubens Barrichello be unable to compete.

* Champ Car star Graham Rahal enjoyed his first taste of F1 power during a demo run in a BMW at a makeshift course outside a Las Vegas exhibition hall. Rahal’s famous father Bobby raced briefly for Wolf in 1978 and later ran Jaguar Racing.

* The FIA’s official F1 entry list has revealed Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson as Super Aguri’s drivers for 2008. However, the financially-challenged team had not confirmed either man as we closed for press. Japanese Sato, around whom the team was built, is believed to be seeking a pay increase.

* Swiss Sebastien Buemi has been named as Red Bull Racing’s third driver. The 19-year-old emerged as Red Bull’s favoured young driver last year, and was promoted from F3 to GP2 during the season. He will continue to race for Christian Horner’s Arden GP2 team.

* Iceland’s Baugur Group has been linked with the possible acquisition of a stake in Williams, which is 70 per cent owned by founder Sir Frank and 30 per cent by Patrick Head. Regarding a possible sale of shares, Head recently said: “These things are always possible. It’s certainly being talked about now more than it was a year ago, but I can’t put any time schedule to it.” Previously linked to Prodrive, Baugur is a major player in retailing and owns Williams sponsor Hamley’s.

* Michael Schumacher and Jean Todt have joined forces again as the stars of a new film, Asterix at the Olympic Games. Schumacher plays a chariot racer named Schumix, while Todt supports him from the ‘pits’. The film was released in France on January 30.