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Japanese carmakers are recalling over three million cars globally over a defect in passenger airbags.

News 11 Apr, 2013

The all-new SEAT Leon Cupra will be powered by a 2.0-litre TSI engine with as much as 261bhp

PSA/Peugeot-Citroen's credit rating was cut one step to four levels below investment grade by Moody's Investors Service, which said a contraction in Europe's car market will put at risk the automaker's plans to restore cash flow.

PSA/Peugeot-Citroen's credit rating was cut one step to four levels below investment grade by Moody's Investors Service, which said a contraction in Europe's car market will put at risk the automaker's plans to restore cash flow.

News 11 Apr, 2013

Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Mazda will recall 150,000 cars in the UK, after discovering a fault with passenger seat airbags

Citroen's Wild Rubis concept showcases the first SUV/crossover to be sold under the brand's upscale DS line. The concept will mainly be targeted at high-earning Chinese customers.

Citroen's Wild Rubis concept showcases the first SUV/crossover to be sold under the brand's upscale DS line. The concept will mainly be targeted at high-earning Chinese customers.

Goodyear was sued in its U.S. home city by French workers claiming the company violated laws of both countries as it implemented a plan to close a plant in Amiens, France.

Tata is hinting at offering pricier models based on the Nano, the $2,000 compact it introduced with great fanfare in 2008. The reason: Few buyers wanted a vehicle that was primarily pitched as a cheap alternative to a motor scooter.

Tata may launch higher priced models based on the Nano, the $2,000 compact it introduced with great fanfare in 2008. The reason: Few buyers wanted a vehicle that was primarily pitched as a cheap alternative to a motor scooter.

China's government has kept a tight grip on the domestic auto industry for years. But that may be about to change.

Opel/Vauxhall's new family of diesel engines could be hybridized if needed to help meet tougher European CO2 rules expected in 2020 and 2025, the automaker's head of diesel engineering told Automotive News Europe.

The European auto industry is in for a rough ride over the next few years. What are the solutions? Which companies will emerge as winners? The 16th Automotive News Europe Congress will explore answers to those questions on June 12 in Paris.

The head of Renault's entry-level models, Arnaud Deboeuf, will share insights on how Dacia has thrived during Europe's debt crisis at the 16th Automotive News Europe Congress on June 12 in Paris.

From GMM

Kimi Raikkonen has refused to confirm or deny rumours linking him to Red Bull for 2014, insisting even retirement remains an option.

In the wake of the 'Multi-21' saga, with some suspecting Mark Webber's place alongside Sebastian Vettel is now untenable, Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz said 2007 world champion Raikkonen is "cool, fast and always a candidate".

Raikkonen, 33, ran with Red Bull sponsorship in world rallying after leaving Ferrari a few years ago, returning to F1 with Lotus in 2012 and showing impressive form.

Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko echoed Mateschitz's comments about Raikkonen on Wednesday when he admitted the Finn "is someone who is on our list for next year".

But when asked if he has already turned his attention to the end of his current contract and 2014, Raikkonen insisted: "I have not."

"I could even retire. I don't have any contract - nothing - for next year. I am focusing on now," Raikkonen told Turun Sanomat newspaper.

Photo: WRi2

Well-connected paddock sources insist that Red Bull must at least be considering replacing Webber for 2014.

Raikkonen and German Vettel are good friends, which according to Auto Motor und Sport correspondent Michael Schmidt could make a big difference, given the likely venom of the continuing Webber/Vettel relationship.

"Well," the respected journalist is quoted by Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat, "Vettel and Webber's relationship will never be the same.

"Vettel has apologised, but really that was just for the public. Deep down, he knows the importance of those seven points. It is the difference between the champion and the normal racing driver. Champions think only of themselves."

Vettel's former trainer Tommi Parmakoski agrees: "The first thing is that everyone needs to follow their team boss. But on the other hand, knowing Sebastian as well as I do, he has this unbridled desire to win. It is the fundamental reason why he has won so much and endured the toughest pressures."

Caterham F1 Team has provided the press with some very interesting technical information about running a Formula 1 car on the permanent circuit of Shanghai, site of the Grand Prix of China this weekend.

Here below is the track map with the turn numbers, and for some of them the gear selected, speed and lateral g forces.


Here below is an example of a complete lap of the Caterham F1 car around the 5.451km circuit of Shanghai International Circuit. Renault Sport F1 has provided the graph below.


Red line: Engine speed (note the drop in RPMs during the gear changes. Lowest RPM is 8,000)
Blue line: Speed of the car in km/h (fastest speed is 320 km/h, slowest speed is 60)
Green line: Lateral g's (ranging from +4 g's to -4)
Pink line: Gear selected
Orange line: Percentage of throttle (0 being off the throttle, and 100% being throttle fully open)
Black line: Pressure on the brake pedal

From GMM

Sebastian Vettel has stepped away from post-Sepang apologies in the wake of the 'Multi-21' affair, suggesting the resulting controversy only frustrated him.

The German appeared contrite immediately after the Malaysian race, when he confessed that the implications of ignoring Red Bull's team order to settle for second place had "struck me like lightning".

He apologised not only to Mark Webber, but - according to team boss Christian Horner - also to Red Bull's hundreds of staff at Milton-Keynes.

But with the racing adrenaline set to flow again in China this weekend, the reigning triple world champion now insists: "I don't apologise for winning.

"That is why people employed me in the first place. I love racing and that's what I did," Vettel said in an interview for Red Bull's title sponsor Infiniti.

Photo: WRi2

Sebastian Vettel said his apology to Red Bull still stands because he put "himself above the team", but insists that he "did not mean" to do that.

British journalist Bob McKenzie wrote in the Express newspaper: "His words will only inflame the situation".

Sebastian Vettel indicated that the controversy, which became known as the 'Multi-21' affair, frustrated him because it diverted attention from the real story of Malaysia.

"I think unfortunately people didn't see that we worked well on the day. As a team I think we did a very good job with a fantastic result. I think that's what people forgot. What stuck in their heads was the way the race ended," said the 25-year-old.

Even Vettel had to acknowledge that the saga will surely continue in the days ahead. John Watson, a veteran commentator and former F1 driver, thinks it will be impossible to ignore within the Red Bull team as well.

"The atmosphere in the garage in China will be crap," he told Sun newspaper.

"But if you create the monster then lose control of him, you are going to pay the price. What happened in Malaysia showed that Helmut Marko and Vettel wield the power in the team," added Watson.

Indeed, on the eve of the action in Shanghai, Marko announced that Red Bull has scrapped the sort of team orders that Vettel simply ignored in Malaysia.

"For Sebastian Vettel, that is a belated vindication," wrote Simon Pausch in Die Welt newspaper.

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull RB9-Renault. (Photo: WRi2)

It is also reported that Vettel will keep his bonus prize money for winning in Malaysia.

Bild newspaper said Red Bull pays its drivers EUR 38,200 for every point scored. For a win, the bonus is just shy of a million euros.

Second place, in this case Webber, earned EUR 270,000 less than Vettel in Malaysia.

From GMM

The infamous 'Multi-21' affair stepped up another notch on Thursday in China, as a feisty Sebastian Vettel withdrew his apology to teammate Mark Webber.

"My apology was for the team, not Mark," the three-time world champion was quoted in Shanghai by German media.

Vettel insisted his apology to the team still stands, but he suggested saying sorry to Red Bull's entire staff at the factory may have been overdoing it.

"They did not really understand why I was apologising," said the 25-year-old German.

Vettel's change of tune on Thursday was spectacular and surprising. Once contrite, he now insists he heard Red Bull's team order but misunderstood it.

"The order came only once, and in a moment where I was distracted. As a driver, you still need to drive," he said.

Radio evidence, however, suggests that Vettel was told several times, in several different ways. Team boss Christian Horner even intervened at one point, saying “This is silly, Sebastian...”

"You can believe me or not," said Vettel. "Christian (Horner) rarely talks to me on the radio, and this time he caught me at full speed on the straight. I could hear something on the radio, but not what (was said)."

Photo: Red Bull Racing

Vettel's mood then turned even feistier, when he suggested that if he could live the very same moment again, he would "probably" ignore the order again and attack Webber.

"The bottom line is that I was racing, I was faster, I passed him, I won," he said. "I don't consider myself the bad guy."

Asked if there is trust between the pair now, Vettel answered: "I wouldn't call it trust to be honest."

In fact, when asked if Malaysia was 'payback' for some of Webber's earlier misdeeds, Vettel admitted: "You could say indirectly so."

He confirmed Horner's suspicion that, had another order come for him to give the place back to Webber, he would not have. "He (Webber) didn't deserve it," said Vettel.

"I never had support from his side," he added. "I respect him a lot as a racing driver, but I think there was more than one occasion in the past where he could have helped the team and he didn't."

From GMM

Robert Kubica has admitted he might never return to formula one.

After his new foray in the second-tier world rally championship was announced recently, the former BMW and Renault driver said he saw "tiny lights in the tunnel" that he might be able to resume his F1 career at some point in the future.

But the 28-year-old Pole, badly injured in a pre-2011 season rallying crash, has now told the Sun: "Of course I would like to come back in F1, but I know that it might not happen. Rally I think will help me get back to the sport and it will definitely keep my head up."

Robert Kubica. (Photo: Citroën Racing)

The reason Kubica has come back to rallying rather than single seater racing is because of the limited movement of his right arm, which was almost severed in his near-fatal crash.

The FIA has allowed Citroen, his new employer, to modify the controls of his car for 2013.

"We had permission from FIA, which I would like to thank, for a pad on the left side. I'm not really limited when I'm driving, it's more outside of the car that I'm more limited," added Kubica.

Will Power, Dario Franchitti, Simon Pagenaud and Marco Andretti all drove the Pocono tri-oval Wednesday and they were quite impressed with the quality of the track.

The four drivers were invited by Firestone to test tire compounds at the tri-oval. They came away as impressed with the track as they were with the speeds.

Specific aero package for Pocono. (Photo: LAT/IndyCar)

Franchitti, who was the only driver on hand to have competed on the Pocono track back in 2008 when driving in the Sprint Cup series, was able to make comparisons and, one thing for sure, he was running about 35mph quicker.

"I got to Turn 1 a lot quicker in an Indy car than a Cup car and I went through there flat out. I was flat all the way around and coming off Turn 3 at 217 mph so that's pretty impressive," said Franchitti.

Fuzzy's Ultra Premium Vodka, sponsor of Ed Carpenter, is offering a $1 million bonus to any driver winning Indy, Pocono and Fontana.

In the history of Indy car racing, only Al Unser Sr. managed to pull off the hat trick of winning Indy, Pocono and Ontario (California), back in 1978.