Formula 1 gossip and rumours from international media

Bernie Ecclestone has travelled to Germany to meet a state prosecutor investigating alleged payments of $50m to a German banker during the sale of Formula 1's commercial rights five years ago.Full story: Reuters

Bernie Ecclestone, the billionaire head of Formula 1, has travelled to Germany to clear his name of involvement in one of the country's biggest corruption scandals. Full story: The Times

The most sought-after seat in Formula 1 belongs to Red Bull's Mark Webber. McLaren's Lewis Hamilton has been linked with it and so has Nico Rosberg from Mercedes. But Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal, has insisted that it is not up for grabs, even though Webber will be 35 this summer and is only on a year-to-year agreement.Full story: The Guardian

Lewis Hamilton has been warned that he must make his tyres last for a full race weekend if he is to avoid a repeat of last Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix, when he had to make an unscheduled fourth stop towards the end of the race which relegated him from second to seventh place. Full story: Daily Telegraph

The dense pollution cloud that shrouded Shanghai's showpiece racing circuit on Friday was the perfect allegory for the technological mist that has fallen on millions of brains. F1 in its latest incarnation is in danger of becoming not so much a chariot race as a secret society in which team principals confess to using codes to communicate and the gadgets and gizmos are the significant factors in helping to decide who is fastest at the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday. Full story: The Times

Group Lotus has managed to secure funding amounting to $440 million to fund its planned expansion in the course of the next seven years. Full story: Joe Saward's Grand Prix blog

Pirelli is ready to sit down with teams to discuss whether the situation of tyre 'marbles' in Formula 1 needs to be improved - but reckons the matter is well under control.Full story: Autosport

This story will be updated throughout the day