McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh confirmed earlier this week that the teams’ group FOTA is pushing to add two testing sessions in Bahrain in March ahead of what is widely believed to be the season-opening race at the track. Combined with two tests in Abu Dhabi immediately after the end of this season and the traditional testing done in Spain, this would give teams a total of six test sessions during the off-season.

According to Whitmarsh, the increased off-season testing is a form of compromise between teams which want to see in-season testing brought back and other teams which are still concerned about its costs.

“We’ve agreed there will be six tests during the winter and, probably, the last one will be in Bahrain, but it hasn’t been quite agreed yet,” Whitmarsh said. “I personally would like to see more testing, but I am respectful of the fact that there are teams still hurting. We want to make sure that it’s cost effective for the small teams.

“We’ve now got at least six tests in the winter, so that’s a step further forward. What we haven’t got at the moment is agreement to test during the season. I’d like to see a couple of tests, but we’ve made some progress. To have six tests in the winter is more than we’ve had in recent years.”

Alonso turned a fastest lap of 1 minute, 49.032 seconds in a driving rain during the afternoon practice. That was 11 seconds faster than the leading pace he set in the morning session, placing him just ahead of Force India driver Adrian Sutil and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton. Current points leader Mark Webber’s best practice time was 18th overall, while Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel was sixth.

However, things could change rapidly this weekend thanks to the weather. Teams are limited to three sets of extreme wet weather tires, and with heavy rains expected during Saturday’s qualifying and perhaps during Sunday’s race, teams are having to take calculated risks in terms of their tire strategies.

“With these changing conditions you need to gamble a little bit in qualifying because you can gain two or three-tenths in one lap,” the two-time champion from Spain said. “Having five drivers in the title fight in these conditions, you can quickly lose a lot of places.”

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“You never know, but I will probably not return to Formula 1,” he said. “I became the F1 world champion, which I had always wanted to do, but times have changed.

“I do rallying now and there is far more to life than F1.”

Raikkonen left Formula 1 racing to drive in the World Rally Championship with the Citroen Junior team after being dropped by Ferrari one year earlier. He had been linked to potential openings at Renault, Mercedes and Red Bull Racing but apparently is quite content to continue his fledging rallying career.

The races are designed to serve as a warm-up to the track’s debut as a Formula 1 venue in October 24. The event was originally scheduled for August; however, track officials pushed the race back to late September, citing construction delays “caused by bad weather.” This did little to quell fears that the track won’t be ready for the inaugural Korean Grand Prix, but venue’s principal said that any concerns are misguided.

“This delay has caused many rumours about whether the event will ever take place,” said Motorsport Asia’s chief executive David Sonenscher. “I have personally visited the site several times and I feel very sorry for them that despite all their hard work, they missed the deadline by only a couple of weeks. I can assure you that it was not through lack of effort or commitment.”

The last American to attempt to race Formula 1 was Scott Speed, who left for NASCAR. It makes sense that bringing a popular American driver could spur interest in the sport. However, the fact that he singled out Indy Car star Danica Patrick is sure to raise some eyebrows within the sport.

“Regarding an American driver, we have tried that lately but obviously what’s missing is the right attitude,” Ecclestone said. “You can race successfully in the US without the huge effort you need to succeed in Formula One. But to have someone like Danica Patrick in F1 would be a perfect advert.”

Patrick is currently racing full-time in the Indy Car series along with racing on a part-time basis in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. The odds of her transitioning to Formula 1 are remote; she is considered to be an oval track specialist (her lone win came at the Motegi oval in Japan) and a weak road course racer. She has just two top five finishes in 19 career road course races in Indy Car competition.

Juan Pablo Montoya claimed his second career Sprint Cup victory with a dominating performance on Sunday, taking over the lead from his Ganassi Earnhardt Racing teammate Jaime McMurray. It was Montoya who sent shockwaves through the racing world by leaving Formula 1 for NASCAR in 2006 and he’s certainly been the most successful crossover driver. He made the series’ “Chase for the Championship” last season and has been agonizingly close to winning the Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway the past two seasons.

The other former Formula 1 driver in the field for the Sprint Cup race didn’t fare as well. Scott Speed finished dead last in the field of 43 cars after pulling his Red Bull car to the garage with engine problems just 28 laps into the race. Speed has struggled to find consistency in NASCAR after leaving Formula 1 and missing out on an opportunity for a solid road course finish has to be a disappointment.

Montoya and Speed weren’t the only former Formula 1 drivers in action at Watkins Glen over the weekend. Nelson Piquet Jr. was impressive in his debut in the NASCAR Nationwide Series as the former Renault driver finished seventh. That was one spot better than former Formula 1 champion Jacques Villenueve.

“We’ll resume as if it’s the start of the year, with everything to play for,” he said. “None of the top three teams are really behind on points. That’s exciting!”

One thing that isn’t exciting for Hamilton is the summer break, with the series off until the Belgian Grand Prix on August 29 and all teams closing up their shops for vacation. Hamilton told Autosport.com that the break comes at the wrong time for McLaren as they attempt to close the speed gap between them and the Red Bull cars of Webber and Sebastian Vettel.

“Of course [reliability] is a concern, but there’s nothing I can do about it - so it’s best just to focus on doing the best job I can with what I have,” he said.

“There’s nothing I can do, everything shuts down. They [Red Bull] are in a good position where they can go on holiday with a good car already, then they can come back and their car will be the same. Whereas we would of course love to improve our car over that period of time, but we won’t.”

“This morning was a bit not a clear picture but this afternoon was much more like it, much tighter and the Ferraris seemed very quick again, not just on short run but also on longer run, so I think they will be very quick again tomorrow as well,” Vettel said.

Vettel, who is looking of his fourth consecutive pole position, also said that the McLarens cannot be counted out, noting that “you cannot forget the McLarens, there were a lot of times this year when they made a good forward to Saturday.” With rain on the forecast for Sunday’s race, it appears that the qualifying results might not provide a lot of guidance for who will be best on race day.

Earlier this year, Formula 1 chief Bernie Ecclestone had piqued speculation by telling reporters that Formula 1 could survive without the Monaco Grand Prix, which dates back to 1929. “We can do without Monaco,” Ecclestone said at the time. “They don’t pay enough.” The Monaco Grand Prix is currently the only race on the schedule which doesn’t pay a sanctioning fee to the Formula One Management Group.

However, a meeting with Automobile Club de Monaco president Michel Boeri in London earlier this week convinced Ecclestone that continuing the Monaco Grand Prix was important. The 2011 edition of the race will be held on May 29.