Bernie Ecclestone, billionaire Formula 1 overlord and Muppet, has given the parties behind the troubled 2012 United States Grand Prix at Austin's Circuit of the Americas exactly one week to fix everything before the race is finally cancelled.

The Formula Drift Qatar race is going on right now and is streaming live right here. Something else to distract you from working today.

There are two lessons here: One, looking through the corner is important. Two, there's nothing like a helmet cam to make in-car footage more interesting. It's bumpy. It's choppy. It's wet. His head gets knocked around. Manly!

We'll give you a hint: It goes in a racing car that helped a certain Argentinean win two F1 championships. Four words: direct injection and desmo. (If you know your history, that last bit should clinch it.)

These images represent plausible designs from the floundering USF1 team. One is a Spanish-flagged toaster. The other claims to be the first 3D image of the USF1 Type 1 racer. Both are still renderings. [via Paddocknews, Axis Of Oversteer]

A blog post on the "Horse Whisperer" section of Ferrari's website wants you to know something: The Italians are not little bitches. Most of Formula One is little bitches. Speed is not for the meek. Vaffanculo, ladies!

The bloom is officially off the new Lotus F1 effort — ex-McLaren F1 driver Heikki Kovalainen smacked his green and yellow T127 into a tire wall at Jerez during testing today. Lots Of Trouble, Usually... Scandanavian?

The first Formula One test of 2010 took place this week in Spain. It concluded yesterday, but Sebastien Buemi's steely gaze is already piercing deep into the heart of our wire service. Eye-popping gallery time!

The formula for the perfect parallel parking job was recently worked out by mathematician Simon Blackburn. It is: Minimum space needed=length of car + √[(r²-I²)+(I+k)²-(√(r²-I²)-w)²]-I-k Easy, right? Full solution below.

We made it over to the Shanghai Grand Prix again yesterday for some F1 action, but the weather was most definitely not on our side. We'll put it this way, we got wet. Spoilers below.