Force India deny Fisichella-Ferrari reports

Force India have denied reports that Giancarlo Fisichella is set to move to Ferrari for the forthcoming Italian Grand Prix, to take over from Luca Badoer, who has stood in for the injured Felipe Massa at the last two races.

In a statement issued by Force India on Monday, boss Vijay Mallya insisted Fisichella, who scored the team’s first world championship points at Spa on Sunday, had received no invitation from Ferrari, adding that the Italian was looking forward to driving the Force India car again at Monza.

Force India also distanced themselves from quotes in the press attributed to the team’s commercial director, Ian Philips, which suggested they were expecting a request from Ferrari to release Fisichella.

“Ian Philips’ comments do not reflect the views of the Force India Formula One Team Management since he is not the designated spokesperson for the team nor is he authorized to speak to the media,” said Mallya. “His comments should be ignored.”

Ferrari are expected to make a decision on their Monza line-up later this week once they have received the results of medical tests that Massa is undergoing in Miami.

Barrichello clinches for Brawn GP in Valencia Grand Prix !!

Rubens Barrichello claimed victory at the European Grand Prix with Lewis Hamilton finishing a close second.

An extraordinary pit-lane blunder by McLaren cost Lewis Hamilton a second successive victory as Brawn GP's Rubens Barrichello took the chequered flag at today's European Grand Prix in Valencia.

Pole-sitter Hamilton was leading the Brazilian veteran by around four seconds prior to his second stop on lap 37 but his afternoon came unstuck when McLaren's mechanics failed to have a new set of tyres ready.The incident cost Hamilton around six seconds and allowed the hard-charging Barrichello through for his first victory since the 2004 Chinese Grand Prix.

A great day for Brawn was made better by Jenson Button's damage-limiting drive to seventh, ahead of his nearest rival in the drivers' standings heading into this weekend, Red Bull's Mark Webber, who finished outside the points in ninth.Webber's team-mate Sebastian Vettel suffered an engine failure for the second day in succession to bring a premature end to his afternoon, and Brawn come away from Spain looking stronger than ever to claim both world titles.

Button's lead in the drivers' championship is now 18 points over Barrichello, while Webber is now 20.5 points back and Vettel 25. Brawn are 27.5 points clear of Red Bull in the constructors' championship.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen produced a solid drive to third place from sixth on the grid while McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen failed to deliver on his front-row start as he came home fourth.

Williams' Nico Rosberg produced a typically consistent drive to fifth ahead of Renault's Fernando Alonso, while BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica took eighth and the final point.

But the day belonged to Barrichello, who celebrated his 10th career win with characteristic emotion on the podium.

"It's been fantastic," said the veteran of 281 grands prix."It's been a weekend that I will never forget, especially because after five years, it's tough."Although you are pushing, there are some things that go through your mind - you want to do it for yourself, for your family and for your country."Hamilton, meanwhile, refused to point the finger of blame at his team for the pit-lane error which cost him a shot at victory."We win and lose together," he said."We had a great team effort to get here, so we cannot at all take second place for grated, or be disappointed that we did not get a win."I still believe it was a tremendous effort, and these things happen."At the start, Hamilton made a clean getaway from pole but further back Button suffered a miserable start.

Starting fifth on the grid, the world championship leader dropped to eighth after struggling through the first couple of corners, while a lunge on Alonso failed to come off further round the lap.Button's tribulations in the pack prompted Webber to come on the team radio claiming the Briton had cut a chicane, and on lap five Webber swept past him for eighth after Button's team told him to give up the place to avoid a penalty.

Vettel's doomed afternoon suffered its first setback on lap 15 when a problem the Red Bull fuel rig at his first stop meant no fuel went into his car and he had to complete another lap at a slow pace before finally refuelling and emerging down in 15th place.The German's race lasted just another eight laps, however, his Renault engine letting go once again following its failure in practice yesterday.After running third early on, Barrichello was on the move on lap 20, the Brazilian stopping four laps later than Kovalainen and getting ahead of the Finn.

And second became first on lap 37 when Hamilton suffered his setback in the pit lane.

All appeared calm when the 24-year-old pulled into his pit box as fuel went in and his used tyres came off, but it quickly became clear there were no fresh tyres to go on and the Briton lost crucial seconds while a set was brought out and the warmers removed.

Barrichello, who had been on the pace all weekend as his Brawn thrived in the sweltering Spanish heat, duly swept through to take a comfortable lead, which he held after his second pit stop and all the way to the flag, his margin of victory over Hamilton just under four seconds.

Elsewhere, It was another bad day for stand-in Ferrari driver Luca Badoer, who suffered a spin and a drive-through penalty for crossing the pit-lane exit line on his way to 17th and last of the finishers on the track.French debutant Romain Grosjean also suffered a spin in the Renault but was rather more impressive than Badoer on his way to 15th place at the flag.

Lewis Hamilton leads in European Grand Prix ..

McLaren confirmed their re-emergence in Valencia on Saturday afternoon as Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen set the fastest times to wrap up the front row of the grid for the European Grand Prix. Kovalainen was on course to take pole but made a small error on the last corner and failed to beat Hamilton’s 1m 39.498s best. The Finn's earlier 1m 39.532s was enough for second, however.

Rubens Barrichello confirmed Brawn GP’s return to form with the third fastest time of 1m 39.563s, with team mate Jenson Button fifth on 1m 39.821s. It was Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel who found himself the meat in the Brawn sandwich. After his engine failure this morning, the German was able to lap his Red Bull in 1m 39.789s for the other second-row slot.

Kimi Raikkonen made a late improvement to sixth for Ferrari on 1m 40.144s, and will be a dangerman at the start with his KERS.

Behind the Finn, Nico Rosberg took seventh for Williams with 1m 40.185s, ahead of Renault’s Fernando Alonso on 1m 40.236s, Red Bull’s Mark Webber on 1m 40.239s and BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica on 1m 40.512s.

Q2 weeded out Nick Heidfeld in the second BMW Sauber, who lapped in 1m 38.826s (Barrichello was quickest in 1m 38.076s so the times were very close), and Adrian Sutil was on his tail in the Force India with 1m 38.846s. Timo Glock was 13th for Toyota with 1m 38.991s. Romain Grosjean looked promising on his Formula One debut and was 14th in the second Renault on 1m 39.040s, comfortably ahead of Sebastien Buemi who wheeled the lead Toro Rosso round in 1m 39.514s for 15th.

Q1 accounted for Force India’s Giancarlo Fisichella, Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima, Toyota’s Jarno Trulli, Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari and Ferrari’s Luca Badoer, as Button set the pace with 1m 39.531s.

Fisichella lapped in 1m 39.531s, while Nakajima had worked down to 1m 39.795s before going off the road. Trulli’s best was 1m 39.807s, and Alguersuari lapped in 1m 39.925s (a second off Buemi’s time in the session). At the back, Badoer’s return was not impressive. The oldest man in the field lapped the second Ferrari in 1m 41.413s.

Trio doubtful for Arsenal's trip to Parkhead

Arsenal could be set for an injury blow ahead of the first leg of their Champions League play-off clash with Celtic at Parkhead on Tuesday night.

The Gunners have injury doubts over Bacary Sagna, Cesc Fabregas and Denilson, with captain Fabregas given only a 50-50 chance of playing.

Sagna took a knock in Saturday's 6-1 win over Everton while Denilson (groin) and Fabregas (hamstring) will also be assessed before the game, although midfielder Abou Diaby has recovered from a groin injury.

England forward Theo Walcott is still out with a back complaint and defender Johan Djourou knee) remains on the sidelines, as Arsenal look to progress to the lucrative group stages of Europe's biggest club competition with a depleted squad.

Manager Arsene Wenger, however, has claimed that Arsenal can cope with the 'special noise' at Celtic Park.Although Celtic have a terrible record away from home in Europe, the fans have proved the difference for the Scottish team at home - as they have pulled off some incredible results, including holding Manchester United to a 1-1 draw and beating AC Milan 2-1 in recent years

But Wenger told the club's official website: "Scotland is always a very special atmosphere, a special noise in the stands. But we have played everywhere in Europe and we can deal with that. It will be down to us and how well we play.

"We don't go into this game with fear. We go with respect for Celtic, but we know it is a very important game for us and we want to come home with a positive result."I always prepare my team first with determination and not with fear. We have played everywhere and have good experience in the Champions League. But every game is different and we know what we will face on Tuesday night - a very determined Celtic team with quality."

Indians recall Dravid for ODI series !!

Former India captain Rahul Dravid is to make a return to one-day international cricket after almost two years out.

The 36-year-old, who last played an ODI in October 2007, is included in India's tri-series trip to Sri Lanka and the Champions Trophy in South Africa.

Rohit Sharma has been dropped for Dravid, while opener Virender Sehwag is still out with the shoulder injury he suffered in the Indian Premier League.

However, Sachin Tendulkar and Suresh Raina return from injuries.

The duo missed India's trip to the West Indies for four one-day games in late June, early July - the tourists won the series 2-1, with one match abandoned because of rain.

And the selectors have returned to Dravid after Sharma scored just 15 runs in three innings in the Caribbean on the back of a mediocre World Twenty20 tournament.

In the bowling department, leg-spinner Amit Mishra is preferred to left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, while paceman Zaheer Khan's shoulder injury keeps him out of the squad.

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India squad: Mahendra Dhoni (capt & wk), Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, RP Singh, Amit Mishra, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Abhishek Nayar, Ashish Nehra.