Spanish Grand Prix - Circuit de Catalunya - Barcelona, Spain

With the first four races in 2009 - Australia, Malaysia, China and Bahrain - now in the history books, the "European season" on this year's Formula One calendar begins with the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.

All teams are very familiar with Circuit de Catalunya, since pre-season testing is held at the 2.892-mile road course, which has hosted F1 races since 1991.

The recent Barcelona tests marked the debut of Brawn GP, as drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello recorded the quickest laps during the four-day session.

Since then, Brawn has been superb with Button already winning three races and holding the lead in the world championship standings with 31 points so far.

"Although the team only completed four days of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya in March this year, I know the track inside out, and it feels very familiar to be heading back there for the start of the European season this weekend," Button said.

Barrichello is currently second in points with 19.

Ross Brawn, a fixture in F1 since the mid-1970's, acquired the former Honda Racing team at the beginning of the year and immediately surprised the competition during testing at Barcelona and Jerez, Spain.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen is the defending winner of the Spanish GP. Raikkonen crossed the finish line 3.228 seconds ahead of teammate Felipe Massa for his second victory of the season and the 17th of his F1 career. Lewis Hamilton from McLaren finished third. Nine drivers failed to finish the 66-lap event.

Massa won at Barcelona in 2007, holding off Hamilton and then McLaren driver Fernando Alonso, a Spaniard. Eight drivers did not complete the distance in that race.

Alonso won the 2006 Spanish GP in front of his home crowd.

Hamilton, the defending World Champion, sits seventh in the standings with nine points.

McLaren's MP4-24 has not performed up to the team's early-season expectations, but recent modifications to the car helped Hamilton finish fourth two weeks ago at Bahrain.

"The schedule for the first four races was very tough for everyone, so going back to Europe almost feels like a fresh start," Hamilton said. "After such a positive performance in Bahrain, we're fully aware that the characteristics of the Barcelona track won't suit our car so well."

Hamilton was disqualified from the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in March after race stewards concluded his McLaren team gave "misleading evidence" during a post-race hearing.

Last week, the FIA's World Motor Sport Council handed McLaren a three-race ban for bringing the sport into disrepute after misleading stewards, but F1's governing body decided to suspend the ban in light of the "open and honest way" team principal Martin Whitmarsh addressed the council. The ban will be assessed if further evidence emerges or McLaren breaches another International Sporting Code.

INDYCARS

Indianapolis 500 Pole Day - Indianapolis Motor Speedway - Indianapolis, IN

The 93rd running of the Indianapolis 500 is not scheduled until May 24, but on-track activities at Indianapolis Motor Speedway begin this week with practices scheduled from Wednesday to Friday and then Pole Day set for Saturday, followed by second-round qualifying on Sunday.

Forty cars and 32 drivers are currently on the entry list for this year's Indy 500.

Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti have won the two previous Indy 500s. Dixon won last year's race from the pole position, while Franchitti scored the victory in the 2007 event, driving for Andretti Green Racing at the time.

Dixon and Franchitti also captured the IndyCar Series championship the same years they won the Indy 500.

Qualifications for IndyCar's biggest race of the season is determined in four days of time trials. Each driver's qualifying time and speed will be based on the total time and average speed of four laps around the 2.5-mile oval. Each car has up to three qualifying attempts per day in the current format, which went into effect in 2005. Theoretically, a car could make 12 attempts to earn a spot in the field, three on each of the four qualification days.

Starting positions one through 11 are secured on Pole Day, while positions 12 through 22 are determined during the second day of qualifying. On day three (scheduled for Saturday, May 16) the 23 through 33rd spots are filled, and on "Bump Day" (May 17), the slowest driver regardless of day is bumped once the field is full.

The current entry list of drivers is one short of filling the 33-car field, but seats with such teams as KV Racing Technology, Dale Coyne Racing and Conquest Racing remain vacant.

Oriol Servia, Buddy Rice, Bruno Junqueira and Tomas Scheckter competed in last year's Indy 500, but are currently without a ride.