From GMM
The opening races of this season's world championship will be crucial, according to Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali.
In 2012, runner-up Ferrari had a dire start to its campaign, while eventual champion Red Bull also took some time to establish its full potential.
But with the sweeping rule changes of 2014 looming large, Domenicali said the dynamics of this season's battle will be different.
"Next season (2013) will be decided in the first races," he is quoted by Germany's
Auto Motor und Sport.
"The teams will do their work for 2013 and then move on to the preparations for 2014. I think this switch will happen in July, so you will need to start the year well," the Italian added.
Referring to the 2014 rules, featuring the move from V8 to turbo V6 engines, Williams' technical director Mike Coughlan confirmed: "It's a huge change."
"There are very few teams who will be able to do a fully-focused run on the 2013 championship and the year after," he is quoted by the
Sun newspaper.
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| The two Ferrari at the 2012 Korean Grand Prix. (Photo: WRi2) |
However, Stefano Domenicali said he is confident Ferrari will succeed where it failed in 2012.
"What happened to us last year in the Jerez test will not be repeated this year," he insisted.
"Now we are sure that the wind tunnel will not give us surprises," added Domenicali, referring to the closure of the Maranello facility for a revamp, and Ferrari's looming exclusive work in Toyota's state-of-the-art Cologne tunnel.
From GMM
Ron Dennis has hit back at suggestions Lewis Hamilton simply chose Mercedes over McLaren for his future.
Dennis, the Woking based company's 'supremo' who groomed Briton Hamilton from child prodigy to world champion, is understood to have fallen out badly with the 27-year-old as the two sides negotiated a new deal.
Ultimately, Hamilton signed with Mercedes, but "I think it's wrong to portray that Lewis left this team," Dennis told
CBI magazine.
"At the end of the day, you end up with a situation where you're going to separate if the circumstances aren't right. Life isn't about one person deciding anything. It's never that way. It's about circumstances," he added.
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| The latest victory of Lewis Hamilton with McLaren, in Austin, Texas. (Photo: WRi2) |
Indeed, Hamilton's departure has been portrayed as a bitter loss for McLaren, but the stoical and admittedly emotional Dennis insisted: "Everybody says 'Am I bitterly this or bitterly that?' What? I'm a realist. Did we have the ability to create a situation where we could have stayed together? Categorically, yes. Would that have been the right thing to do? We didn't think so."
Lewis Hamilton's successor is Mexican Sergio Perez, who moves from Sauber.
From GMM
Reigning champion Red Bull's 2013 car might not be ready for the first pre-season test in early February.
We have already reported designer Adrian Newey's admission that late development work to ensure the 2012 title somewhat delayed progress of the RB8's successor.
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| The latest version of the RB8. (Photo: WRi2) |
He said in an official Red Bull film that 2012 was "one of the toughest seasons I've been through".
Adrian Newey is now quoted by the
Sun newspaper: "We had to keep pushing which made it difficult to introduce developments and simultaneously develop next year's (2013) car. This has compromised the timescales of the new car more than we would have liked."
The
BBC reports that Red Bull will confirm next week if the 2013 car, the RB9, will be ready for the first Jerez test on 5 February.
From GMM
Caterham is not yet ready to announce its full 2013 driver lineup.
The team has already filled one of this year's race seats with 2012 Marussia rookie and Frenchman Charles Pic.
Rumours on Thursday suggested an announcement about his teammate was imminent, with Bruno Senna and Vitaly Petrov thought to be the front-runners.
Russian Petrov's teammate last year was Finn Heikki Kovalainen.
As for Thursday's rumblings about an imminent announcement, Finnish
MTV3 commentator Oskari Saari said: "It was just a rumour then. Caterham says nothing is being announced in the foreseeable future as all options are still being explored."
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| Photo: Caterham F1 Team |
Mazda announced that production capacity at its new assembly plant in Salamanca, Mexico, which is currently under construction, will be increased in the fiscal year ending March 2016.
Scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year ending March 2014, the facility will start with an annual production of 140,000 units. Capacity will then jump to 230,000 units two years later.
This increase will not only accommodate the growing worldwide demand for Mazda's
SKYACTIV vehicles, but also the additional annual production of about 50,000 Toyota-branded vehicles (beginning in the summer of 2015).
The Salamanca plant will build Mazda2 and Mazda3 models to be sold throughout North, Central and South America.
Audi will host the premiere of the 2014
R8 and RS 5 Cabriolet at Detroit's North American International Auto Show, which kicks off on January 14th.
The 2014 Audi R8 will offer three different engine variants: V8, V10, and V10 Plus. They produce 430, 525 and 550 horsepower, respectively, with 0-60 mph (0-96 km/h) acceleration in as little as 3.3 seconds.
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| Photo: Audi |
Meanwhile, the all-new 2014 Audi RS 5 Cabriolet boasts a time of 4.9 seconds thanks to a naturally aspirated 4.2L V8 rated at 450 horsepower. At the press of a button, the soft top opens automatically in 15 seconds and closes in 17 seconds.
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| Photo: Audi |
Both models will go on sale this spring. Come back for more details including pricing.
The 2013 Chevrolet Cruze will feature the industry's first supplemental restraint system that adjusts airbag deployment to the force of a collision.
Other automakers have already come up with something similar; however, the Cruze's ''intelligent'' airbag stands out by relying on a single compressor (instead of two) that regulates air pressure into the airbag.
In a minor collision, the airbag offers less resistance, thereby reducing the risk of injuries related to airbag deployment.
Operation Red Nose wrapped up its 29th annual campaign with 87,761 rides across the country, including 65,391 in Quebec alone.
For 2012, a total of 58,319 good Samaritans in seven provinces volunteered to give tens of thousands of Canadians a safe ride home during the holidays.
Since launching in 1984, Operation Red Nose has now completed 1,834,323 rides.
Next year will mark the 30th edition and involve the one millionth volunteer.
Source: Opération nez rouge
Dealers trying to block Tesla's retail stores in Massachusetts lost another round this week when a judge dismissed their lawsuit against the electric vehicle maker.
A federal bankruptcy judge could soon rule on whether the 2009 government-led restructuring of General Motors improperly favored hedge funds, and an adverse ruling could cost the automaker nearly $1 billion.
Ford of Canada was the top-selling automaker in Canada for the third year in a row in 2012 but Chrysler, boosted by demand for its fuel-efficient passenger cars, knocked General Motors from the second spot.
Also in this episode: NASCAR benefits from a bit of fiscal cliff dealing, and the
BMW sales surged 39 percent in December, powered by the 5-series car line, helping it top Mercedes-Benz in luxury-brand sales in the United States for the second consecutive year.
Hooniverse contributor Kamil Kaluski says he hasn't spent much time in his home country of Poland since the 1980s, but he seems to have a good eye for the Eastern European nation's automotive culture.
General Motors is sticking with its decision to introduce a new, more environmentally safe air conditioning refrigerant in its vehicles despite claims by Daimler AG that it may cause fires in an accident.
Hyundai Motor has selected Toyota-affiliated Denso to supply air-control components for the Sonata sedan that is made in the United States, Bloomberg reported. Hyundai used to rely on South Korean supplier Halla Climate Control for those parts.
Subaru of America said it posted its fourth consecutive record year of sales and predicted that sales in 2013 will reach another high. Subaru sold 336,441 vehicles last year, up 26 percent over 2011.
American Honda's U.S. sales rose 26 percent in December from last year, when inventories were crimped by the Thai floods that ravaged Honda's supply network.
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