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After months of speculation Manor has finally confirmed that Indonesian Rio Haryanto will race for the team this season.

The GP2 race winner will thus join Pascal Wehrlein in a line-up that features two rookies. The news also puts an end to the hopes of both Alex Rossi and Will Stevens, who had also been in the frame for a drive.

“We are delighted to announce Rio as our second race driver for 2016,” said team boss Stephen Fitzpatrick. “Rio’s been racing since he first got into a kart at six years old. He’s tenacious on and off the track and made a big impression on last year’s GP2 battle. Rio’s huge following in Indonesia is great for the team and for F1. They are keen to see him on the grid and we’re confident that we’ll see him enjoying some exciting battles in the year ahead.”

Haryanto has tested for the team on three occasion, starting as long ago as 2010, when it was still known as Virgin.

“Manor Racing is a team with an exciting vision and ambitious plans,” said Haryanto. “They have produced a great package and I can’t wait to get in the car. Melbourne will be a huge moment for me, my country, supporters and fans and I want to thank everyone who’s been with me since I started in single seaters; 2016 is my chance to reward that faith and represent Asia in F1.”

Pascal Wehrlein is shortly to be announced as a race driver for Manor Racing, sources have now confirmed.

It always seemed highly likely that Mercedes would use the engine supply deal as leverage to find a seat for Wehrlein, as Ferrari previously did with Jules Bianchi.

However Toto Wolff insisted last year that the 2016 Manor package would be so attractive to drivers with sponsorship that the team could sell the seat for a price that exceeded any discount Mercedes would be willing to give on its power unit package. Clearly that scenario did not play out as Woolf suggested.

Rio Haryanto, Alex Rossi and Will Stevens have all been connected with the team over the winter. Haryanto has substantial backing while as recently as last week Rossi told Sky that he was still optimistic about the deal.

Meanwhile Merc’s other junior driver Esteban Ocon will continue to gain F1 mileage as Renault’s third driver.

Former Friends star Matt LeBlanc will be a regular presenter of the revamped BBC Top Gear show when it kicks off in May.

Since the departure of the original team last year there has been huge speculation about who will join lead presenter Chris Evans.

LeBlanc is a well known car guy with a passion for Porsches, and he has been a regular visitor to the US GP at COTA.

He has been on the show twice before, and holds the record as the fastest “Star in a Reasonably Priced Car” after lapping Top Gear’s airfield test track in a Kia. He also presented a recent standalone show called Top Gear: The Races.

“As a car nut and a massive fan of Top Gear, I’m honoured and excited to be a part of this iconic show’s new chapter,” he said. “What a thrill!”

“Matt’s a lifelong fellow petrol head and I’m thrilled he’s joining Top Gear,” said Evans. Acting out our craziest car notions on screen is a dream job and I know we’ll both be debating some epic road trip ideas. We can’t wait to share what we’ve been up to on screen later this year.”

Sebastian Vettel was fastest as Pirelli’s two-day wet tyre test concluded at the artificially soaked Paul Ricard track.

The day’s action ended early after the three teams present completed enough running to satisfy Pirelli’s requirements. The Italian company said: “Yesterday we tested in heavier wet conditions, today we simulated a drying track.” Between them the three teams completed 659 laps, for a total of 2326kms.

Having taken the 2015 Ferrari over from Kimi Raikkonen, who drove yesterday, Vettel set a best time of 1m.06.7s. He only just beat Dany Kvyat, who replaced Daniel Ricciardo at Red Bull. The Russian suffered a technical problem late in the day, having recorded 1m06.8s.

Meanwhile Stoffel Vandoorne set a best of 1m.07.7s for McLaren after losing time with an issue in the morning.

“As this was a ‘blind test’ the prototypes did not carry any colour markings on the sidewalls, and the teams and drivers did not know which specification of tyres they were testing,” Pirelli explained. “All the cars ran in unaltered 2015 specification.

“Temperatures remained consistently low throughout both days of the test, peaking at 11 degrees centigrade. Although these were not ideally representative conditions, a wide range of data was collected that will subsequently be analysed at Pirelli’s headquarters in Milan.

“The development programme will now continue back at base, when Pirelli will compare each team’s telemetry with its own data, in order to obtain a full picture of every prototype’s performance.”

The next major test with be with the 2016 cars at Barcelona on February 22^nd, although some teams may do filming days beforehand.

Jean Todt says he is optimistic that the four F1 power unit manufacturers have been able to respond to the challenge the FIA set them last month, and that there will be no need to pursue the alternative customer engine plan.

The prospect of F1 having two completely different types of engines on the same grid thus appears to be receding.

In order to stop the plan being forced through – despite it being rejected by the F1 Commission in December – the manufacturers were asked to come up with ways of cutting costs and guaranteeing supplies to customers by today. If they didn’t then Todt and Bernie Ecclestone could use the mandate they were given by the World Motor Sport Council “to make recommendations and decisions regarding a number of pressing issues in Formula One such as governance, Power Units and cost reduction.”

Following a series of meetings of the manufacturers at which the FIA was also represented it’s understood that satisfactory conclusions have been reached on both counts, along with a move towards some standardisation of parts.

However there will be no definitive decision until the plans are formally discussed in further meetings in Geneva next week, culminating in the F1 Commission.

“I think we are very close,” Todt said today. “It would be inappropriate to answer this question before what comes out. Maybe it’s a question I could answer in 72 hours.

“I am optimistic. I hope that people have some good sense, because it’s our championship. It’s in their interests – it’s in the interests of the teams, it’s in the interests of the commercial rights holder. That’s why I think in a normal world, with sensible people, we should all be able to agree and find a good solution.”

Former Ferrari chief designer Nikolas Tombazis has been appointed as chief aerodynamicist of Manor F1, giving the Banbury a team a huge credibility boost.

The 47-year-old Greek began his career at Benetton in November 1992 under Ross Brawn, becoming chief aerodynamicist just two years later. Brawn recruited him to Ferrari in February 1997, and he became Maranello’s chief aerodynamicist in July 1998.

He joined McLaren in April 2004 as chief engineer (aerodynamics). He later became vehicle project director, but after just two years he returned to Ferrari as chief designer, and remained a key member of the Italian team for nine years.

“The team has impressive plans and is investing in all the right areas to achieve its on-track ambitions, so I am very much looking forward to being part of that journey,” said Tombazis. “The existing design team is already very strong and I look forward to working with a great group of people to make the most of the opportunities that lie ahead to help us progress through the field over the next few seasons.”

Technical director John McQuilliam added: “I believe this appointment will help to amplify the efforts of a very talented design team that, in recent years, has not had the opportunity to showcase the full extent of their experience and capabilities.

“I am confident that, together with our new Mercedes power unit and Williams gearbox and technical partnership, our new aero structure will provide us with the strength to design and develop consistently competitive racing cars to help steer us towards our long-term ambitions.”

Red Bull Racing has confirmed the expected split with title sponsor Infiniti from next season, despite the two parties having a contract that extended into 2016.

It was always unlikely that the Renault-owned brand would continue with RBR given the takeover of Lotus F1, and the fact that under the revised engine supply deal Renault’s name is no longer attached to the Red Bull programme. Infiniti branding is expected to appear on the Lotus next year.

A team statement said: “Red Bull and Renault have reached a mutual and amicable agreement that will see the French car manufacturer continue to supply the team with engines for the 2016 Formula One season, and this new agreement does not cover any marketing activity for the Renault-Nissan Alliance.”

Infiniti first joined Red Bull in its second World Championship season in 2011, becoming title sponsor two years later.

“We would like to say a big thank you to Infiniti for their contribution to the team since they joined us as a commercial partner in 2011,” said Christian Horner. “They became the title sponsor of the team in 2013 where Infiniti enjoyed greater visibility than any other manufacturer in the sport. We wish them all the best with their plans for the future.”

Toro Rosso has finally officially confirmed that it will 2015 Ferrari engines next season.

Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen have also been formally confirmed, although there was never any doubt about their positions.

The engine deal has been in place for some time but the team was not able to confirm until it knew that Red Bull Racing would be competing next season, as it was clear that the junior team would not continue on its own. Earlier this week the FIA World Motor Sport Council gave Ferrari permission to supply a “fourth team” with a year-old engine.

A statement said: “Scuderia Ferrari and Scuderia Toro Rosso have reached an agreement that will see the Faenza-based squad use the current Ferrari Power Unit in the 2016 Formula One Season. On-track testing will begin in February, 2016 at the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain.”

Toro Rosso boss Franz Tost said: “It’s great to be working with Ferrari again. We had a fruitful relationship in the past and I’m sure it won’t take long for us all to be working together very well again. It’s true that time will be very tight for us to be ready for the first test, but we have the right team of people for this and I’m confident that together we will achieve a competitive package for next year – bring on 2016!”.

Toro Rosso previously utilised Ferrari power from 2007 to 2013, before it was decided that both teams would be with Renault from the start of the new hybrid era in 2014.

The intriguing scenario is of course that the 2015 Ferrari will potentially be stronger than Red Bull’s upgraded 2016 TAG Heuer/Renault, although the latter could clearly improve during the season.

Red Bull Racing has finally confirmed that its 2016 Renault engine will be badged as TAG Heuer.

The decision allows the French manufacturer to put its full support behind the works former Lotus team and allows both parties to distances themselves from this year’s troubled relationship.

In addition the works team will benefit from extra technical support from Ilmor which has been orchestrated by Red Bull.

In a statement the team said: “The new partnership, which represents a shift away from F1’s conventional supply systems, will see TAG Heuer take up naming rights of the team’s power unit, which will be supplied by Renault. The new car will be christened the Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer RB12.”

“TAG Heuer and Red Bull are two transcendent brands which have both a passion for racing and a drive to do things differently,” said Christian Horner. “And this unique collaboration is further evidence of that. TAG Heuer has been an icon in the world of Formula One for many years and we’re delighted that they’ve chosen to continue their association with the sport by teaming up with us.

“Our shared values of innovation and a desire to stand out from the crowd make this one of the most exciting partnerships in F1. We are also pleased to see Renault confirm its long-term commitment to F1 and would like to thank them for their contribution to the team since 2007. Their technical partnership with Ilmor gives us confidence, and we look forward to the 2016 season.”

Jean-Claude Biver, CEO of TAG Heuer added: “Formula One is deeply-rooted in TAG Heuer’s DNA, and Red Bull Racing is a young, dynamic and driven team, which perfectly fits with our marketing strategy. It will give TAG Heuer great visibility and allow us to make our partnership exciting, different and innovative. Our motto #DontCrackUnderPressure will be the guiding principle behind all our actions with the support of the Red Bull Racing team and its highly contagious enthusiasm.”

Renault has finally confirmed that it will stay in F1 next year and will return as a works effort with Lotus.

Negotiations have dragged on for months and reached a critical point over the Abu Dhabi weekend as a long-term deal – believed to be for nine years – was negotiated with Bernie Ecclestone and F1 owner CVC.

“Renault had two options: to come back at 100 percent or leave,” said CEO Carlos Ghosn. “After a detailed study, I have decided that Renault will be in Formula 1, starting 2016. The final details supplied by F1’s main stakeholders gave us the confidence to accept this new challenge. Our ambition is to win–even if it will take some time.”

In a statement Renault made it clear that it was important to be a works effort: “Following the September announcement of the signing of a Letter of Intent with Lotus F1 Team, teams at Renault continued to evaluate the possibility of a return to Formula 1. Particular attention was paid to competing successfully with its own team in a financially sound way starting in 2016.

“As a full team, Renault will take maximum benefit from its victories. The payback as an engine supplier proved to be limited. The return on the investment necessitated by the new engine regulations and the return in terms of image were low.

“Work continues on finalizing the terms of the acquisition of Lotus F1 Team in the shortest timeframe possible. The principal contracts were signed on December 3, 2015. Lotus F1 Team effectively stands out as the best partner. Renault and Lotus F1 Team have known each other for 15 years and were world champions together in 2005 and 2006.”

Renault says that it will gain a lot from its involvement: “Renault’s decision to continue its involvement in Formula 1 is confirmation that it sees motorsport as an essential part of the brand’s identity. Formula 1 is the ultimate symbol of the passion for automobiles. Passion defines Renault as expressed by its brand signature, ‘Passion for Life’.

“In addition to attracting many customers, Formula 1 also fuels employee motivation. As the pinnacle of motor sport, Formula 1 demands technological and operational excellence. The championship serves as a showcase for the technological expertise that Renault dials into its products for the benefit of its customers.

“Formula 1 serves to promote awareness of the Renault brand and its image in all its markets across the world. Formula 1 is one of the sports that enjoys the most media coverage worldwide thanks to a following on five continents, particularly in emerging markets. It attracts 450 million television viewers annually and its scope for growth is enormous thanks to opportunities founded on new technologies, social networks, video games, etc. that have yet to be fully exploited.

“In January, we will provide more detailed information about Renault’s F1 programme ahead of the 2016 championship that begins next March.”