Charlotte, North Carolina  - Formula One is known throughout the world for its glitz and glamour, where money seems to flow freely and teams spend millions to stay competitive.

In contrast, Tuesday's launch in Charlotte, North Carolina, of a new Formula One team that is to compete for the first time in 2010, was refreshingly simple.

Team leader Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor, who is responsible for the sporting side of the USF1 team, held a 30-minute press conference at their Charlotte headquarters, broadcast by the American TV station SpeedTV, where they presented their goals and plans for the future of their new team.

Santiago  - The Rally Dakar is set to be held in South America again in 2010, the Chilean government said Tuesday.

The Chilean government's Chief of Staff Francisco Vidal said Rally Dakar organizers had confirmed the plan, which would give Chile a larger number of stages than it had in the 2009 edition.

This year was the first time that the classic extreme motorsport competition took place completely outside Africa. Fourteen stages were held in January in Argentina and Chile, and proved to be very popular with local spectators.

Milan, Italy  - Former Ferrari engineer Nigel Stepney is still facing action over the spying scandal that rocked Formula One two years ago, an Italian newspaper reported Tuesday.

Gazzetta dello Sport said that prosecutor Guiseppe Tibis said he is hoping to wrap up by March a probe against Stepney.

Earlier, Italian authorities ended legal action against McLaren's former chief designer Mike Coughlan and three of the British Formula One team's current technicians, after ordering them to pay fines related to a spying case involving rival team Ferrari.

India's status as the hottest emerging market for Formula One has been reinforced by reports that Renault F1 has approached an Indian multinational for a sponsorship deal starting from next year.

A Renault India official has been quoted as saying that the French team was in talks with an Indian multinational company following the decision by its main sponsor ING to withdraw from Formula One from 2010.

Meanwhile, an official of Renault F1 confirmed that the team was exploring a number of opportunities in new and developing markets including Asia and the Far East. "But at this stage discussions are of a confidential nature," he remarked.

Hamburg - A new American Formula One team will unveil plans Tuesday to enter the sport in 2010 with female Indy Car Series driver Danica Patrick as a possible driver.

The new USF1 team, which involves former Ferrari and Williams team manager Peter Windsor as well as designer Ken Anderson, will officially announce plans on Speed TV.

"Proving that American technology, American drivers and the American competitive spirit can compete and win on the F1 global stage has been our mission for several years now," said the team on its website ahead of the official launch.

London - Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson admitted in an interview Saturday that he would consider becoming involved in Formula One if certain financial and environmental conditions were met.

"They need to get the rules changed to make F1 economically viable in these tough times," he told BBC 5 Live radio.

"F1 should be also championing cleaner technology. If we were to get involved we'd want our cars run on clean fuels."