Peter Brabeck, chairman of Swiss food group Nestle, has been selected as Formula 1 chairman after a board meeting ahead of this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix.

Formula 1 heads Ross Brawn and Jean-François Caubet have strongly put forward their opinions about a second engine delay. As rumours of such a happening circulate the Monte Carlo paddock, the respective representatives of Mercedes-Benz and Renault are sure that the new 1.6-litre, V6 turbo units should come in for 2014.

Bernie Ecclestone has all but confirmed that the twelve Formula 1 teams have signed the latest version of the Concorde Agreement, committing themselves to the World Championship up to and including the 2020 season. However Mercedes-Benz, which was widely known not to have agreed thus far, is yet to verify the news itself.

After two seasons of trying, Johnny Cecotto Jr. has converted his maiden GP2 pole position into a career-first victory in Monaco. Maintaining Venezuela’s impressive run of results, with Pastor Maldonado having won the Spanish Grand Prix, he was joined on the podium by Marcus Ericsson and Giedo van der Garde.

Thailand and capital city Bangkok will be hosting this year’s 25th edition of the Race of Champions, it was announced on Friday. The event, which will take place at the Rajamangala Stadium in December, therefore moves from Düsseldorf after spending two years at its ESPRIT Arena.

Shortly after Johnny Cecotto Jr. celebrated his first GP2 win on the streets of Monte Carlo, another Formula 1 feeder series was welcoming a maiden victor on Friday afternoon. On this occasion, it was Finland’s Aaro Vainio winning for Lotus in GP3, sharing the podium with Tamás Pál Kiss and Kevin Ceccon.

With exactly one quarter of the current Formula 1 campaign over already, the value of car upgrades become greater on a daily basis. With this in mind, GPUpdate.net has put together an analysis of each team's outright pace trend so far this year, highlighting the biggest performance gains and losses in the field.

On Thursday night an item viewed as suspicious was removed from the Monaco Grand Prix paddock courtesy of a small and controlled explosion by bomb disposal experts. It is believed to have contained electrical cables and equipment.

Fernando Alonso set the pace in Thursday’s first practice session for the Monaco Grand Prix. As Kimi Räikkönen managed only a single lap before his steering was modified, team-mate Romain Grosjean finished second from the Sauber of Sergio Pérez. The action ended three minutes early as Heikki Kovalainen suffered a huge engine blow.

Kimi Räikkönen is sporting a vintage James Hunt helmet design for this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix, including the iconic JAMES HUNT text on its side.