The Williams F1 team and Mercedes-Benz have announced a “long term” engine deal that is expected to run for three years.
The deal is to start in 2014, and will see Mercedes supply the 1.6 litre turbo charged power unit and its energy recovery systems to the team, although Williams will still make its own transmission.
 |
| Photo: WRi2 |
Team principal, Sir Frank Williams said: “I'm delighted to announce our new association with Mercedes-Benz for the 2014 Formula One season and beyond.
“Mercedes-Benz has been one of the sport's most successful engine suppliers and we believe that they will have an extremely competitive engine package.
“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Renault for their continued hard work since we renewed our engine partnership at the beginning of the 2012 season.
“We have enjoyed a strong relationship that has resulted in much success over the years, including powering us to winning ways once again last year at the Spanish Grand Prix.”
 |
| Photo: Mercedes-Benz |
Deputy team principal, Claire Williams, added that the decision to switch to Mercedes power was made in order for Williams to reach its long-term goals, and will allow the team to focus on its 2014 challenger given the early nature of the deal.
“The announcement of this partnership is exciting news for Williams.
“Securing the right engine supply partnership is a key milestone in the implementation of our strategy for long term success.
“We are also pleased to conclude this agreement early in the season and we very much look forward to working with Mercedes in developing our 2014 car.”
Since BMW parted ways with Williams, the tie-up with Mercedes will be the team's fourth engine supplier in nine seasons, as the Grove squad has used Cosworth, Toyota and Renault power since 2006.
Renault Sport F1's president said that losing the Williams team to Mercedes-Benz is not a bad thing after all.
In a press release published by Renault, Jean-Michel Jalinier said the company really enjoyed working with Frank Williams' for the past two years, highlighted by Pastor Maldonado's victory in Spain last year.
 |
| Photo: WRi2 |
However, Jalinier also added that losing Williams was not such a big deal, as supplying five teams next year with the new 1.6-litre, V6 turbo power unit would have been a real challenge.
“We have stated on numerous occasions that we would supply up to five teams if there was a requirement to do so, but this would not make sense economically or be ideal for our resources,” said Jalinier.
“Three, or up to four, teams is the ideal for us so the departure of Williams normalizes the situation and makes things much clearer from our side. We will announce the next team within a matter of days, and then confirm the final stage before the end of June. We remain incredibly motivated about the challenge of the 2014 engines”, he added.
BMW driver and DTM reigning champion, Bruno Spengler, currently second in the DTM point standings, spoke to Auto123.com before the third round of the season to be presented at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria.
Spengler finished 5th at the opening round of the season in Hockenheim, then second at Brands Hatch two weeks ago. The Canadian now stands just one point behind championship leader, Mike Rockenfeller (Audi), winner at Brands Hatch.
In Austria, Spengler give it all again and will aim for victory. He's never won in Austria. He was unlucky last year when e was forced to retire after a collision with Jamie Green's Mercedes.
Spielberg - a fun track
“For sure, it can be only be better than last year, where I left Spielberg with no points,” Spengler told Auto123.com.
“The circuit is quite fun, with ups and downs, and also long straights, which is good for overtaking ».
“The DRS will be more important here than it was at Brands Hatch, where it was difficult to use due to the short straights. Last year, there was already a lot of overtaking, and I think there will probably be even more show on the track Sunday.”
“Since we have very little data from the DRS and the Option tires on this track, it is very difficult to predict how those two elements will influence the issue of race. Maybe we can expect the Option tires to cover a few more laps than at Brands Hatch, where they degraded quite fast, but it is difficult to know. We will learn a lot over this week end,” Spengler told us.
With Thursday morning's announcement of Williams F1 Team joining the ranks of Mercedes-Benz, we are a better picture of the 2014 grid.
New 1.6-litre, V6 turbo hybrid engines will be produced by three manufacturers: Ferrari, Renault and Mercedes-Benz.
Renault
• Red Bull Racing
• Toro Rosso
• Caterham (tbc*)
Mercedes
• Mercedes AMG
• McLaren
• Sahara Force India
• Williams
Ferrari
• Ferrari
• Sauber (tbc)
• Marussia (tbc)
* To be confirmed
Caterham should remain with Renault as the two companies are joining forces to design and build new sports cars, reviving the famous Alpine badge.
Lotus F1 Team remains the big question mark. The British team probably wants to stay with Renault, but it is known that the French V6 engine will be the most expensive unit of the three. Next year's budget will dictate if Lotus will remain in Renault' camp or switch to Mercedes (unlikely) or Ferrari (more likely).
Let's not forget that McLaren will switch to Honda power in 2015, leaving Mercedes.
 |
| Photo: WRi2 |
World Touring Car champion, Briton Robert Huff was extremely lucky not to been injured in a major road car crash that happened in Great Britain.
Huff -- the reigning WTCC champion - completely wrecked his Chevrolet Camaro in a most frightening head-on collision.
The WTCC competitor was driving on London Road, in Cambridge when a BMW in the opposite lane suddenly slowed down behind a broken down Peugeot 206.
A driver in a VW Golf that was behind the BMW failed to see the stationary vehicles and went straight into both the BMW and Peugeot. The impact then launched the cars directly into the path of Huff's front-end.
Emergency services had to cut two people free from the wreckage with one passenger suffering a punctured lung and broken ribs. Huff escaped miraculously unscathed.
Talking to
Autosport, Huff said that the driver of the Golf was later found to be over the limit.
He added that he was shaken but lucky to be alive.
 |
| Photo: RobHuff.com |
Open Road Auto Group, the 36th-largest dealership group in the United States last year, opened two side-by-side dealerships in 2012 on Manhattan's fashionable 11th Avenue strip.
The group established both a Volkswagen and Audi dealer with a considerable investment of $135 million. In order to survive and make money, the group has added a feature that is proving irresistible to new and old customers: free valet parking.
As we all know, finding parking in Manhattan is like finding four-leaf clover. This service has proven key in the dealerships' success. In fact, some customers have “abused” of the service but employees carry on with a smile.
This is but one example of dealerships and makes striving to make the ownership experience as good as possible. Concierge services are becoming common and not only for luxury brands.
Source: Automotive News
Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo allegedly called Lotus' Romain Grosjean “an idiot” after the Frenchman ran into the back of the Australian in last weekend's Monaco Grand Prix.
Grosjean hit Ricciardo on the 61st lap of the race, which saw the Toro Rosso retire from 13th place, and Grosjean awarded a 10-place grid penalty for the next race in Canada.
 |
| Caption: FOM |
On his official Toro Rosso blog, Ricciardo praised the strength of the team's STR8 chassis and said it will be fit to race for the next round.
However, he also revealed he called Grosjean “an idiot” in the stewards' room after the incident.
"Sometimes when things like this happen, you want to blow off steam but by that point I really couldn't be bothered shouting and screaming at Grosjean.
It was a disappointing end to a deeply unsatisfying weekend and I didn't want to waste the energy yelling 'screw you, what the hell were you thinking?' I just said 'you're an idiot', and that was it.”
The accident was Grosjean's third of the weekend, after he managed to shunt heavily in qualifying and Saturday morning's free practice session.
Conversely, Ricciardo's teammate, Jean-Eric Vergne, had an encouraging weekend in Monaco by finishing eighth.
From GMM
Lewis Hamilton's main problem as he grapples to get up to speed with Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg is the W04 car's brakes, it has emerged.
Beaten to pole position by Rosberg on the last three outings, Hamilton departed Monaco last Sunday - having watched the sister car stroll to victory - vowing to get his "s--- together".
 |
| Lewis Hamilton in Monaco. (Photo: Mercedes AMG F1 Team) |
He is quoted by France's
L'Equipe as admitting that the biggest difference between his new Mercedes and his McLarens of past seasons are the brakes.
"At McLaren, I had 100 per cent confidence in the car, and I'm working to regain that confidence," said the 2008 world champion.
"The setup and the brakes are very different to what I was used to. It's an overall feeling that's hard to explain. It's not a problem of concentration, it's just confidence in the car," added Lewis Hamilton.
Mike Conway will get another shot at an IndyCar race this year, having been confirmed as the driver of Dale Coyne Racing's second entry at this weekend's Detroit double-header.
Conway will be back to team-up once again with fellow countryman Justin Wilson, who was his team-mate at Dreyer & Reinbold in 2010.
 |
| Justin Wilson, Dale Coyne Racing. (Photo: Dale Coyne Racing) |
The Briton replaces Ana Beatriz, who was on a five-race deal. Team owner Dale Coyne has not ruled out retaining Conway for future road and street events that do not clash with his WEC commitments, and also said that it is considering other drivers to fill the seat in the remaining races.
Candidates include Stefan Wilson, who tested with Coyne earlier in the year, and Oriol Servia, who is now available following Panther DRR's withdrawal from the championship after last weekend's Indy 500.
Ford, which helped spur the SUV boom of the 1990s, is rolling out smaller SUVs to more markets worldwide, betting that growth of recent years will continue.
Fiat is in talks for as much as $10 billion in financing from a pool of banks to buy the Chrysler stake it doesn't own and refinance the two automakers' debt, sources said.
Fiat is in talks for as much as $10 billion in financing from a pool of banks to buy the Chrysler Group stake it doesn't own and refinance the two automakers' debt, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg on Wednesday.
IndyCar driver Simona De Silvestro christened the first
Bill Bruce, the first general manager of Nissan's Infiniti division when it was launched in 1989, died May 28 after a lengthy battle with Lou Gehrig's Disease. He was 70.
In 1987, Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro predicted the next great automotive trend would be minivans with luxury trim, and high-performance engines.
Federal-Mogul, the auto supplier controlled by longtime Wall Street deal maker Carl Icahn, has named a new co-CEO who also will head the company's aftermarket product operations.
General Motors' Cadillac boasts stylish new cars such as the 2014 CTS sedan, double-digit sales growth and the heritage of being the quintessential American luxury brand.
Michael Bay's sure-to-be blockbuster "Transformers 4" comes out next summer and the director has snapped a few photos of new robots in disguise shooting on set near the Arizona/Utah border.
The latest auto news, reviews, prices, product and vehicle releases. 
