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From GMM

Sergey Sirotkin has admitted he will not begin his quest for a formula one seat until early next year.

As a 2014 race seat for the 17-year-old is part of Sauber's new deal with Russian partners, it had been suggested Sirotkin might appear on some Friday mornings later this year to gather experience.

But team boss Monisha Kaltenborn said: "That is not going to be an option, because he doesn't have the super license.

"We have to see what kind of possibilities we have," she added.

Photo: Sauber F1 Team

Work in a simulator is one option, while other reports suggested Sirotkin might work towards obtaining experience, and his mandatory FIA credential, at the wheel of an older F1 car.

But the young Russian told Switzerland's Motorsport Aktuell: "I will have to wait.

"The plan is that I will be sitting in the car in early 2014, for the first official (winter) tests," added Sirotkin.

A big talking point in Hungary last weekend was whether, at the tender age of 18 next year, Sirotkin can possibly be ready for F1.

"I wasn't ready at 18," Lewis Hamilton, who was 22 when he made his debut for McLaren, said. "And I was pretty good at 18."

From JR Motorsport

Canadian Ron Fellows, the accomplished sports car and road racer, will drive for JR Motorsports in the August 17 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

General manager Kelley Earnhardt Miller made the announcement today.

Fellows will drive the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro SS and carry primary branding from AER Manufacturing, a world leader in engine remanufacturing for the past 60 years.

AER has sponsored Fellows in previous NASCAR ventures - including last year at Road America - and has backed Fellows in the Trans Am Series and American Le Mans Series since 1990.

A former winner for JRM, Fellows a native of Windsor, Ontario, Canada was victorious in the No. 5 Chevrolet on Aug. 2, 2008, at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.

He holds four career Nationwide Series wins, earning three at Watkins Glen International. Along with those victories, Fellows has 12 top-fives, 15 top-10s and two poles in only 24 career starts.

Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay set the fastest lap time during the IndyCar test day that took place at Mid-Ohio Wednesday.

Unfortunately, the weather did hampered the activities on the track especially in the morning but once conditions improved, Hunter-Reay was able to set a best time of 1m05.6358.

Frenchman Simon Pagenaud (Schmidt) was second while Team Penske's ace Will Power came close behind.

IndyCar newcomers, James Davison (Dale Coyne Racing) and Luca Filippi (Herta) had their chance to get acquainted with their new surroundings; the Australian finishing 21st while the former GP2 driver was 17th.

Teams were able to test a new aluminum steering arm, which has been released by Dallara in an effort to minimise the likelihood of hand and wrist injuries in certain types of accidents.

Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport. (Photo: IndyCar)

Pos   Driver  Team/Engine   Time   Gap  Laps
1. Ryan Hunter-Reay  Andretti/Chevy   1m05.6358s  49
2. Simon Pagenaud  Schmidt/Honda  1m05.7965s  +0.1607s   62
3. Will Power   Penske/Chevy  1m05.8206s   +0.1848s   52
4. Sebastien Bourdais   Dragon/Chevy  1m05.9654s   +0.3296s  61
5. Helio Castroneves  Penske/Chevy  1m05.9710s  +0.3352s   50
6. Scott Dixon  Ganassi/Honda  1m06.1025s  +0.4667s  50
7. James Hinchcliffe   Andretti/Chevy  1m06.1100s   +0.4742s  37
8. Justin Wilson   Coyne/Honda  1m06.1541s   +0.5183s  32
9. Marco Andretti  Andretti/Chevy  1m06.1716s  +0.5358s  37
10. Charlie Kimball  Ganassi/Honda  1m06.2360s  +0.6002s  71
11. James Jakes  Rahal/Honda  1m06.2761s  +0.6403s   47
12. Oriol Servia   Panther/Chevy   1m06.3740s   +0.7382s  61
13. Tony Kanaan   KV/Chevy  1m06.4072s  +0.7714s   57
14. Takuma Sato  Foyt/Honda   1m06.4743s   +0.8385s   52
15. EJ Viso  Andretti/Chevy  1m06.5502s  +0.9144s  48
16. Simona de Silvestro  KV/Chevy  1m06.6743s  +1.0385s   48
17. Sebastian Saavedra  Dragon/Chevy  1m06.7436s   +1.1078s   40
18. Luca Filippi   Herta/Honda   1m06.7579s  +1.1221s  56
19. Tristan Vautier  Schmidt/Honda  1m06.8079s   +1.1721s  54
20. Josef Newgarden  Fisher/Honda  1m06.8416s  +1.2058s  32
21. James Davison  Coyne/Honda  1m07.0270s   +1.3912s  39
22. Dario Franchitti   Ganassi/Honda  1m07.1307s  +1.4949s  16
23. Ed Carpenter  Carpenter/Chevy  1m07.5398s  +1.9040s  60
24. Graham Rahal   Rahal/Honda   1m18.6062s  +12.9704s  3

From GMM

Ferrari's annual pre-season event on the slopes of Italian ski resort Madonna di Campiglio will take place no more.

Corriere dello Sport newspaper reports that the main sponsor of F1 and MotoGP teams Ferrari and Ducati, Philip Morris, has cancelled the 2014 edition of 'Wrooom' for financial reasons.

The newspaper said the media event has been running every January for 23 years.

"The costs of the event are no longer sustainable," said Philip Morris vice president, Maurizio Arrivabene.

Photo: WRi2

From GMM

A key figure of next year's inaugural Russian grand prix has played down suggestions the Sochi race might never take place.

The latest reports suggest a dispute between the Russian automobile federation and race organisers Omega has delayed the official application to the FIA beyond its July deadline.

But Oleg Zabara, Omega's deputy general director, told Russia's Championat: "I cannot understand why there would be doubt.

"In 2010, in the presence of Vladimir Putin, the agreement was signed and work (on the circuit) has gone according to the plan. Maybe all this (uncertainty) is due to the fact that not everything is running smoothly with New Jersey. No, we're fine -- everything is according to plan."

Indeed, while the rest of the 2014 calendar is still the subject of speculation, Sochi already has its provisional race date -- October 19.

Team buildings. (Photo: Formula Sochi)

And more news could be in the pipeline. Zabara met with Bernie Ecclestone at the Hungaroring last weekend, and also present was Igor Mazepa, of the new Russian GP2 team Russian Time.

Igor Mazepa admitted that Russian Time is working closely with Williams.

"Now we're going to strengthen our relationship," he said. "We are already talking to Claire Williams about the possibility of a Russian driver coming, if there is a vacancy for 2014 due to one of the current drivers going to another team."

Williams' current drivers are Valtteri Bottas and Pastor Maldonado.

Team Principal of Caterham F1 Team, Frenchman Cyril Abiteboul reflects on the season so far and the brilliant performance of his drivers, Giedo van der Garde and Charles Pic who finished in 14th and 15th places respectively in Hungary.

“It's been an interesting first half of season for the team and for me personally,” said Abiteboul during an interview published by the team.

“As far as we're concerned, we've been fighting with Marussia who have done a great job over the last year. We started the season clearly behind them, but over the last three races a comfortable gap has appeared between us and them, which shows our rate of development. That's also helped us on a couple of occasions to race a Williams or a Sauber and that shows where we're setting our targets,” he added.

Photo: Caterham F1 Team

Abiteboul admits that the factories move of August of last year was distracting, yet necessary.

“Since moving to Leafield last August, and especially since the start of 2013, the focus was on making sure the factory was up and running and putting ourselves in control of our manufacturing process, reducing lead times and increasing economic efficiency, with the right level of integration,” he explained.

The French engineer also confirmed that the team was hiring new people and was heavily involved with the design of its 2014 challenger.

“We must take advantage of the opportunities 2014 will bring and we're already above our initial targets for next year, so much so we're looking at reviewing them for more aggressive ones! The car has been in the tunnel for a while now, and we're seeing good numbers, all of which is being achieved while we keep progressing this year, hopefully showing without a doubt that we are on the right path to reduce the gap to the midfield,” he said.

The Caterham boss is also pleased with the performance of his two drivers.

“As a rookie, Giedo (van der Garde) has had his challenges, but his last race in Hungary was a good reward for his determination and his positive attitude that the team loves. He's also going to be helped by the new tires which will definitely suit his style better than those used for the first nine races,” Abiteboul explained.

“For Charles (Pic), after only one year of experience with Marussia, he immediately made a positive contribution to our development strategy this year and that's a clear sign of his maturity and of his determination. It's possible the new tires take away one of his strengths over the other drivers as he was very good at tire management, but therefore he must adapt and develop other skills in terms of pure race pace to cope with what's to come. He demands a lot from himself and from us, and I like that. I think that sort of spirit will help push the team forwards,” Abiteboul concluded.

The 2013 Los Angeles Auto Show, which will run from November 22nd to December 1st, will feature more than 50 vehicle launches, including 9 world premieres:

• BMW (7-8 debuts, including one world premiere);
• Chevrolet;
• Ford;
• Honda;
• Mercedes-Benz;
• MINI (word premiere of next-generation MINI)
• Porsche (world premiere of Macan SUV);
• Subaru;
• Volkswagen.

“As the first major North American show of the season, Los Angeles sets the tone for 2014, and we expect that automakers will pull out all the stops to excite new-car buyers,” said Terri Toennies, the Show's new General Manager. “In virtually every category, from the greenest electric vehicle to high-horsepower performance models, the technological advancements we are seeing today eclipse all previous automotive eras.”

The Connected Car Expo (November 19-21), which brings together some of the biggest players in both the automotive and technology fields, will occur in conjunction with the Los Angeles Auto Show Press Days (November 20-21).

Photo: Matthieu Lambert