It's not easy getting globetrotting Australian sport stars and in the same place - but The Mole emerged to find them both basking in the on Monday.
Australia cricket captain Ponting was guiding his squad through a mid-morning training session ahead of this week's Ashes warm-up match against the England Lions at New Road.
And, with 11 days to go before the Formula 1 circus arrives at Germany's , Red Bull driver Webber took the chance to catch up with his old mates Ponting and .
Webber is pretty handy with a tennis racquet and on a bike and also played cricket as a youngster, growing up in with Aussie wicket-keeper Haddin.
But actually joining in the slip fielding practice or nets session was not on the agenda for the racing driver - when Ponting threw a pair of pads at him, he threw them right back with a laugh.
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When Richard Branson at the British Grand Prix that his Virgin brand would not be continuing to sponsor next season, what he did not say was what it would be doing.
Branson told ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio 5 Live: "I suspect next year the price will be astronomical and we may have to look somewhere else with a smaller team."
But the Mole understands things have already gone a lot further than that.
The word on the street is that Branson has already signed a deal with the - and that the team will be named after Virgin, which apparently was one of the sticking points in negotiations with Brawn.
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The Mole welcomes ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ F1 pit lane reporter back on to the blog, to fill us in on some of the stories behind the scenes at the British Grand Prix.
Everyone at Red Bull had their own way of celebrating at the British Grand Prix.
The mechanics climbed the pit fence to shake their clenched fists at as he took the chequered flag, the hospitality staff ran out from the paddock to hug their team-mates in the pitlane, and the guy who controls the fuel rigs just sat back, smiled, and shut down his laptops.
Team boss Christian Horner leaned across to his left to hug chief technical officer Adrian Newey, whose design team produced the updates that led to such .
I was standing behind them on the pit wall, and heard Horner say: "You've done it, Adrian, well done", while slapping him on the back. That was the trigger for Newey to dissolve into tears in a way not seen in F1 since did the same in Brazil last year.
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As the weekend has developed, more and more details of the behind-the-scenes political shenanigans have come out, and they make interesting reading.
The Mole's sources say that on Wednesday last week, the teams' umbrella group Fota had agreed a compromise with president Max Mosley that would have seen everyone sign up for F1 in 2010.
It appears, though, that when Mosley sent through the documentation the following morning, he had changed the date until which the teams had to commit to F1 from 2012 to 2014.
For Fota, it seems this was the final straw - one more piece of evidence of what they see as Mosley's autocratic and arbitrary decision-making.
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Red Bull drivers Sebastian Vettel and appear to be the only men who have any chance of winning the British Grand Prix when it comes to the pure pace of their cars.
Brawn's split the two on the grid, relegating Webber to third place, but once the weight of the cars in qualifying is taken into account, Vettel and Webber were first and second fastest. And Vettel's advantage over Barrichello, the fastest non-Red Bull, was more than 0.6 seconds.
The top 10 drivers in qualifying are not allowed to refuel between qualifying and race, so they must qualify with the fuel with which they will do their first stint on Sunday - which varies depending on when they will be making their first pit stops.
When the are taken into account, the fuel-corrected grid, with estimated first pit stops, looks like this:
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The dramatically changing landscape of Formula 1 makes anxious viewing for some at the moment, but there are those scanning the horizon for opportunities.
Jacques Villeneuve, the 1997 world champion, is at Silverstone to sniff out the lie of the land.
With eight of the sport's major teams announcing and plenty of new teams vying to join the existing championship, the number of race seats for top-class drivers could potentially double.
Villeneuve's F1 career came to an abrupt end in 2006 when his contract with was terminated halfway through the season. Is the time now ripe for a return?
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Shepperton Studios
Ever wondered exactly what happens in those few high-pressured seconds of a Formula 1 pit stop?
Well, you're in luck. The Mole grabbed a behind-the-scenes peek at a ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ shoot of a film which will be part of our British Grand Prix race coverage this weekend.
The basic concept of the TV feature is to use to freeze the action and move around the pit lane so expert analyst can explain, in simple terms, exactly what happens in the critical window of time in which races can be be won or lost.
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The Mole welcomes ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ F1 pit lane reporter on to the blog, to fill us in on some of the stories behind the scenes at the Turkish Grand Prix.
For all his cheeky-chappy grin and easy manner, Red Bull's is a pretty hard little driver, and he was distinctly unhappy after the .
The German believes he can win the world championship this season and finishing third behind 's and his Red Bull team-mate after starting from pole was not what he had in mind.
Vettel knows his car is fast - if not as consistently fast as the Brawn - and that it should get better over the summer. Button may be miles ahead on points, but it only takes one or two reliability glitches to come his way (Button's team-mate has already had one) and Vettel would be right back up there.
So Vettel was mystified as to why Red Bull kept him on a three-stop strategy after he fell behind Button on the first lap - and particularly displeased that it resulted in him falling behind Webber.
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It has become something of a custom for the Mole to bring you a round up of the off-track gossip in the aftermath of a race.
And in the F1 rumour mill was churning in top gear ahead of the .
It might surprise some readers to know that one of the world's highest-profile sports is played out in such small circles, where world champions past and present blur with the media, mechanics, meal-makers and movers and shakers along the length of the paddock.
The network is so tightly-knit, and at times impenetrable, that learning how to decipher fact from spin becomes a necessary skill.
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There has been a noticeable shift in Lewis Hamilton's mood this weekend at the Turkish Grand Prix.
The clouds have parted to reveal an occasional glimpse of the world champion's trademark smile back in place as he was spotted going about his paddock duties, jumping into cabs and hanging out with pals at his hotel.
It has been a troubled season for the 24-year-old and as a result he has been keeping a low profile.
For the first time in his racing career, from through to Formula 1, he finds himself grappling with an uncompetitive car.
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The and the news you have been waiting for is that was once more the fastest car on the track in Turkey once fuel loads have been taken into account.
may have claimed his second pole of the season but the figures confirm that is because his Red Bull had less fuel in the tank.
The cars in the top-10 shoot-out are not allowed to refuel between and race, so they go into qualifying with differing fuel loads depending on how long their first stint in the race is going to be.
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The Mole is delighted to welcome ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Sport's F1 reporter Lee McKenzie onto the blog, as the pit-lane reporter gets the inside track on the drivers
took time out before practice and qualifying on Saturday to sit down and have breakfast with me in the Williams motorhome.
It was a lovely chat with the driver, who is in the midst of a pretty busy weekend at the Turkish Grand Prix.
The topic of conversation involved cars and living in England but what really sparked him off was the .
Mulling over his muesli and strawberry yoghurt, Kazuki was delighted with his beloved Barcelona's 2-0 triumph in Rome over Manchester United.
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The grey clouds glowering over Istanbul on Thursday seemed to match the in the paddock ahead of the Turkish Grand Prix.
If Monte Carlo's sunshine signalled an entente cordiale between the sport's governing body, the FIA, and Association (Fota) over the future of the sport then Turkey's damp weather brought more confusion and uncertainty.
At the it appeared that FIA president Max Mosley was prepared to give ground on his plans to impose a 45m euro (£39.6m) budget in 2010.
It all seemed to be agreed; the teams would continue to compete under the existing rules and would be able to spend up to 100m euro (£87.6m) next year with the full cap introduced in 2011.
Mosley was also understood to be ready to sign a new Concorde Agreement - or at least an extension to the one that expired in 2007 - which would give the teams more say in how the sport is governed.
In return, the established teams offered to share knowledge with any new outfits entering next season.
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