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From GMM

Sebastian Vettel's 2012 struggle looks set to continue for now.

It has emerged that, despite the reigning back-to-back champion preferring the launch version of the RB8, Red Bull has decided that Vettel will drive the latest specification of the car's exhaust layout in Bahrain this weekend.

In China, the team allowed Vettel to go back to the previous spec, while Mark Webber qualified better and finished higher with Adrian Newey's latest developments.

"He can't get the confidence he needs with the car," admitted Dr Helmut Marko on Austrian Servus TV, "and this makes him make uncharacteristic mistakes."

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull RB8. (Photo: Red Bull Racing)

Nonetheless, Red Bull has decided that the 'Webber-specification' exhaust is the right way forward.

"We will go on with the Mark Webber car," Marko confirmed.

As for why the team's Australian driver feels more comfortable in the updated car, Marko surmised: "Mark is less sensitive to the (car's) behaviour. He just needs four wheels, but it's different for Vettel."

From GMM

Ferrari is looking ahead to Barcelona next month, as the famous Italian team plans to begin putting a difficult start to the 2012 season behind it.

Test driver Marc Gene, who is travelling to the grands prix this year, said the F2012 was "born well" but fell behind the other leading teams as the winter pre-season progressed.

"From here it will take time to improve it," he told the Spanish newspaper Diario Sport. "The next big developments will arrive in Barcelona, although at every race the team is making improvements and we know already that the main problem is aerodynamics. It's a car that also has its virtues, as it adapts well to the wet and also warms up the tyres well, but it is a car with a lot of 'drag'; we need better top speed and traction."

Photo: Pirelli

He said, however, that with at least an eight-tenth per lap dry circuit deficit to the ultimate pace, the F2012 is not likely to step to the front of the grid even with a big raft of developments for the Spanish grand prix.

"I have to admit that it (eliminating the entire gap) would be the most dramatic improvement I've seen in the 13 years I have been in formula one. (Improvement) throughout the season is much more feasible. I know that we are working on a very big package and even more positive is that we have the test at Mugello beforehand."

Marc Gene said the best car in the field at present is the McLaren.

"That is the car that works best if you take together all the different elements. Maybe not the fastest in qualifying, nor in the wet, but today it's the best car on the grid," he said.

Fernando Alonso said he is hoping the F2012 becomes "3 or 4 tenths" better at Barcelona.

"All the teams will bring updates," he is quoted by Finland's Turun Sanomat, "so if we could improve 5 or 6 tenths, while the others get only a couple of tenths, it will be better for us."

And Spain's Marca quotes Felipe Massa as saying: "I do expect a much better car in Spain; faster, better balanced and better traction."

Ford will debut an all-new pony car its staffers are calling Mustang III in mid-2014, just in time for the nameplate's 50th anniversary. If artist Sean Smith has it right, the new generation will eschew retro styling for a look based largely on the Evos concept, minus the gullwing doors.

Ford Evos Concept (Photo: Ford)

With the model planned to go global, marketers are looking to broaden the car's nostalgic appeal with a slicker look, leaner weight, and underpinnings from an all-new platform.

Rumour has it this ‘Stang will at last make the switch to fully independent rear suspension, the better to compete with Chevy's hit Camaro.

Power will likely come from a variation of the brand's EcoBoost engines, with a V8 iteration a possibility.

The Mustang III will likely debut this time next year in New York.


_{Source: The Detroit Bureau}

From GMM

Statistically, the Chinese grand prix raced straight into the history books as one of the most exciting formula one events of all time.

"For me, we are having some of the best races in formula one history," agreed Jenson Button after finishing Sunday's Shanghai race behind Nico Rosberg.

Finland's Turun Sanomat newspaper reports that only three grands prix in the history of the sport played host to more individual overtaking moves.

The report said there were 72 passes in total on Sunday, not including the first corner of the race. Seven of the moves were on Kimi Raikkonen on one lap, after the Lotus driver's Pirelli tyres gave up the ghost.

Last year in Shanghai, there were 63 passes. So far in 2012, there were more overtaking moves in China, Malaysia and Australia compared to the same races last season.

First lap of the Chinese race. (Photo: Pirelli)

Canada 2011 still stands as the site of the most passes during a single grand prix, at 89.

In second place are the 1983 US grand prix and the 2011 Turkish grand prix (79 passes), followed by China last weekend.

McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh is celebrating the spectacle of the 2012 season so far.

"Who's going to predict who will win?" he said, referring to this weekend's grand prix in Bahrain. "I won't. We've had three very different races and I think we are going to have potentially 20 very different races this year."

2012 Mercedes-Benz E350 BlueTEC

Mercedes and Audi are vying for the title of best luxury brand use of a diesel engine. At the moment, Mercedes is winning.

As luxury brands try to appeal to the eco-conscious crowd (and meet upcoming CAFE regulations) we're going to see a lot more diesel or hybrid offerings. Right now Mercedes and Audi are vying for the title of best luxury brand use of a diesel engine outside the traditional SUV segment. At the moment, Mercedes is winning.

Photo Gallery: 2012 Mercedes-Benz E350 BlueTEC - Editors' Notebook - Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: 2012 Mercedes-Benz E350 BlueTEC - Editors' Notebook - Automobile Magazine

2012 Mercedes-Benz E350 BlueTEC | Digg It | Add to del.icio.us

Also in this episode: The end is near for the Chevrolet Avalanche, we go for a spin in the

April 14 marked the 85th anniversary of the first Volvo ÖV4 rolling off the assembly line in Göteburg, Sweden.

Drivers of electric vehicles such as GM's Chevrolet Volt and Nissan's Leaf may save as much as $1,200 a year compared with operating a new gasoline-powered compact car, scientists studying improved fuel economy found.

Four years ago, your author was standing on a balcony in the Monterey Bay fog, a calm, midnight moment during the manic event-to-event scramble of Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance week.

The Ford Mustang will get a major makeover for the 2014 model year, The Wall Street Journal reported today.

While luxury supercars have been a status symbol of the new upper class in Russia, owners often have resorted to buying secondhand or going out of the motherland for their latest top-dollar vehicle acquisitions.

This year marked the 10th time Barrett-Jackson has rolled into the fairgrounds in Palm Beach. The event, April 5-7, brought a record

Hyundai Motor's Indian unit plans to raise diesel engine imports from South Korea by 50% to cut long waiting periods for its Verna sedan and the i20 hatchback.

Japan's carmakers have got their US inventory back to the levels they were at before last year's earthquake and tsunami in their home country.

Fiat unveiled its new 1-billion-euro production line in the Serbian industrial town of Kragujevac, where the carmaker's 500L model will be produced for sale by late 2012.

Fiat unveiled its new production line in the Serbian industrial town of Kragujevac, where the carmaker's 500L model will be built for sale in Europe and the United States.

Nissan and PlayStation will hold their fourth GT Academy in 2012.

Opel is distancing itself from reports it could move some Astra production from Russelsheim to Gliwice in Poland as it looks to address over-capacity issues in Europe.

Toyota will begin production of the first hybrid version of the Lexus ES in Kyushu from July according to the Nikkei newspaper.

2012 Sneak Preview: American Cars

Here is the scoop on the American cars you will be hearing about over the next two years.

200. That’s the number of new and updated cars that are scheduled to debut over the next twenty-four months. You don’t really want to read about every reskin or 5-hp bump, so we’ve filtered that list down to the 25 cars you most need to know about. Much of our information is hard fact, while some of it is educated guesswork or pure conjecture. We have included a “speculation meter” for each car to indicate what’s what. Here, then, is the scoop on the cars you will be hearing a lot about over the next two years.

Photo Gallery: 2012 Sneak Preview: American Cars - Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: 2012 Sneak Preview: American Cars - Automobile Magazine

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