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We have learned that J.R. Hilderbrand has been ousted from his driving role at Panther Racing and will be replace immediately by Ryan Briscoe for this week-end doubleheader in Detroit and for the rest of the season by Oriol Servia.

According to reports, Hilderbrand has been fired largely in part of his bad showing during the last Indianapolis 500 where he had an accident in Turn 1 on Lap 4.

JR Hildebrand crash early in Indy 500. (Photo: IndyCar)

Ryan Briscoe has been named driver of the National Guard entry this weekend at Detroit but veteran Oriol Servia is expected to be in the car for the remainder of the season.

Servia, who has been Hildebrand's teammate in the partnership of Dreyer & Reinbold and Panther for the last two seasons was expected to take over driving duties this week-end but a legal issue made it impossible to be behind the wheel of the No.4 in Detroit.

For Hildebrand, it was a bittersweet way to end a 3-year deal that could have launched his already successful open wheel career. 



From GMM

Jarno Trulli has announced plans to sue Caterham team owner Tony Fernandes.

At the end of 2011, with a firm contract for 2012, the Italian reportedly agreed to vacate his race seat to make room for the well-funded Russian Vitaly Petrov.

But Trulli, now 38, says Fernandes promised to pay him in full for 2012.

Last appearance of Jarno Trulli in F1 with Caterham, during winter testing, in February 2012. (Photo: WRi2)

Italy's Autosprint says Trulli is angry with Fernandes for not paying him, since the Malaysian entrepreneur has not only increased Caterham's budget, but also that of his English football club Queens Park Rangers.

"I'm going to sue Fernandes," he is quoted as saying, "because he owes me a lot of money. My career in formula one ended because I agreed to give up my place, because I was assured that the team would fulfil its contractual obligations."

"To date, this has not occurred," added Trulli, a veteran of over 250 grands prix.

From GMM

FIA president Jean Todt has backed Bernie Ecclestone, as German prosecutors prepare to charge the F1 chief executive for corruption.

It has been suggested Ecclestone will be stepped down by the sport's owners CVC if he is charged or convicted.

But FIA president Todt is quoted by DPA news agency: "He has every right to his job and he does it very well.

"He is also employed by CVC, so it is their decision," the Frenchman added.

Jean Todt and Bernie Ecclestone.

Jean Todt might be standing firm with Ecclestone due to the turmoil the 82-year-old's departure would create.

Paul Stoddart, the former Minardi owner, told Bloomberg it could take years for Ecclestone's successor to "get up to speed".

"CVC is between a rock and a hard place," he said. "If Bernie Ecclestone was forced to stand down, the Concorde Agreement would be throw into complete turmoil."

For the moment, Ecclestone's legal troubles in Germany are believed to be holding up CVC's plans to float F1 on the stock market.

"Although the IPO market is better than it was a year ago, the company still has a few issues to sort out," CVC's Donald Mackenzie admitted to PA Sport news agency. "So it may happen this year, it may be next year, but we're not in a big rush."

From GMM

The FIA has asked Pirelli to compile a thorough "dossier" ahead of an international tribunal hearing regarding the secret Mercedes test, according to Kleine Zeitung newspaper.

Team boss Ross Brawn is quoted as saying Mercedes could not have benefited from the three-day test in Barcelona just after the Spanish grand prix, because Pirelli only supplied engineers with "codes" of the tires being run.

"So we couldn't get any usable information," he said.

Kleine Zeitung said Ferrari, who along with Red Bull officially filed the FIA protest, used a similar argument when Ferrari recently conducted a Pirelli tire test "with an old car".

Photo: WRi2

Nonetheless, new information about the secret nature of Mercedes' test continue to emerge, such as La Stampa newspaper's claim that Lewis Hamilton tweeted a photo apparently from Florida, when actually he was testing in Spain.

Mercedes' Niki Lauda, however, said Red Bull is simply angry that it didn't snap up the opportunity of a three-day test before Mercedes.

Asked by Osterreich newspaper if he understands Dr Helmut Marko's anger, Lauda answered: "Of course. We took the opportunity to test, and I believe Red Bull was quite simply too slow to react. So I would also be annoyed."

"After the protest, the tribunal will decide whether the sporting regulations or the rules that Pirelli has negotiated with the FIA should stand over this. We have acted properly, and now an independent tribunal will decide," added Lauda.

From GMM

Niki Lauda says Mercedes accepts Pirelli's decision to delay changes to the 2013 tires until after they are tested in Canada next Friday.

Teams like Mercedes and Red Bull had pushed hard for the changes, but some teams - notably Lotus, Ferrari and Force India - insisted the tire supplier follow the rules about needing unanimous agreement.

Pirelli says it hopes all teams agree to the new tires once they have tried them in Montreal next Friday.

"It's a decision we accept, of course," Mercedes chairman Lauda told Osterreich newspaper. "It's so everyone gets the opportunity to test the new tires in practice, and then it is decided if they are used at the next race at Silverstone or not."

Photo: Pirelli

While Red Bull and Mercedes wanted Pirelli to make fundamental changes to the new Canada tire, it is believed the final product is simply a tweaked rear tire that features a kevlar internal belt rather than a steel one.

"We are confident the problems of delamination will be completely solved," a Pirelli source is quoted by Spain's Marca newspaper.

Motor sport director Paul Hembery admitted the change has been a difficult balance.

"You can imagine that some teams are complaining for us to change, and some complaining about the change," he is quoted by Brazil's Totalrace. "We have to try to change as little as possible, because everyone had the same information before we started the season and so it would be unfair to penalise those teams who have understood how to use the tires."

Meanwhile, a source close to Pirelli has dismissed reports that the secret of using this year's tires is to swap the tires from the intended left side of the car to the right.

"Since 2010, everybody has known that the Pirellis are interchangeable. The construction allows it, contrary to the Bridgestones," the source told the Spanish sports daily Marca.

The source said that if there is a benefit, it is for "a couple of laps" at the most.

From GMM

Toto Wolff has admitted continuing to supply McLaren with Mercedes engines next year is "not a pleasant situation".

McLaren has already announced its intention to unite for a works collaboration with Honda in 2015, raising fears Mercedes' IP could leak into the Japanese carmaker's turbo V6 design.

"Supplying McLaren for one more year is indeed not a pleasant situation," Mercedes motor sport chief Wolff is quoted by Kleine Zeitung newspaper. "But I'm confident that McLaren will abide by the rules of the contract and not share any data (with Honda)."

Photo: McLaren F1 Team

Toto Wolff also played down reports the new V6 rules have dangerously ramped up the prices of formula one engines for the suppliers' customer teams.

"With the longer running life and low consumption, they will be cheaper over time," he insisted.

Indeed, the turbo V6 rules are already making sense for Toro Rosso, having switched from Ferrari to Renault power for 2014.

Renault's V6 engine is reportedly the most expensive of all, but the deal means Toro Rosso can now use the same gearbox as sister team Red Bull next year.

"This synergy with Red Bull is important," said team boss Franz Tost.

Toyota expects to post an increase in U.S. vehicle deliveries in May from a year earlier, aided by an improvement in sales of the Prius hybrid line.

2014 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel First Drive

The mileage champ.

"I heard someone got 47 mpg on the drive down," someone murmured at the dinner table after I arrived in Indianapolis for the 97th Indy 500 race. I had driven from Detroit in the 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel, the highest-mileage variant of Chevy's successful compact sedan.

Photo Gallery: 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel First Drive - Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel First Drive - Automobile Magazine

2014 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel First Drive | Digg It | Add to del.icio.us

Tesla Motors is pushing ahead with plans for a small crossover vehicle that will share its basic underpinnings with a new compact sedan that is expected to reach dealers "in the next three to four years," CEO Elon Musk said today.

Automakers and dealers have the best chance of selling new vehicles by marketing to consumers ages 55 to 64, according to a University of Michigan study released today.

The two-door BMW Gran Lusso took center stage at the 2013

Tesla 20-minute and#8220;superchargersand#8221; will blanket the U.S. and Canada within two years, CEO Elon Musk said Thursday.

Well-known Audi modifier and tuner Walter Treser, who worked for the German automaker as the project leader of Quattro development in the late 1970s, opted to move on to "bigger things" in June 1987.

Fiat will wait until a legal dispute is resolved between the automaker and the United Auto Workers' retiree healthcare trust before merging with Chrysler, Fiat Chairman John Elkann said.

As far as automotive advancements go, we talk a lot about power, efficiency and value. What we don't often stop to contemplate is the paint.

Tesla Motors said today it will expand its network of fast-charge stations beyond California and the Northeastern seaboard within several months to a year.

Responding to price-dropping offers from other automakers on their electric vehicles, Honda will slash the lease deal for its Fit EV starting in June.

The basic home motor-oil swap is about to get a lot more futuristic -- at least if the augmented reality application being developed by AR-media goes anywhere.

Self-driving cars could have huge benefits for drivers in the long run, but they should remain in the experimental phase for now, U.S. federal auto safety regulators say.

Self-driving cars could have huge benefits for drivers in the long run, but they should remain in the experimental phase for now, federal auto safety regulators say.