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Adapted from GMM

Pressure is mounting on F1 supplier Pirelli to change its tires.

It is being whispered ever louder in the Sepang paddock that Red Bull, Mercedes and perhaps other teams are pushing hard for the Italian supplier to amend the heavily-degrading tires supplied so far in 2013 in Australia and Malaysia.

"There are definitely signs about a change of the compound," Mercedes' Toto Wolff is quoted by SID news agency.

Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko says Pirelli "has promised" to change its tyre compounds in time for next month's Bahrain grand prix.

Pirelli's Paul Hembery, however, said the marque will only look to change tack if the teams "unanimously" demand it.

"That (unanimity) is definitely not the case," he insisted.

"If we do something, and suddenly two or three cars are no longer competitive but some others are suddenly faster, then we just have a new problem.

"We are analysing the situation," Pirelli is quoted by Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, "but there is still no decision."

Despite safety concerns, Red Bull finished 1-2 in Malaysia followed by... two Mercedes (Photo: WRi2)

Mercedes and Red Bull's argument revolves around a safety issue.

"(The) fact is that the tires are not only developing extreme degradation after only a few laps, but big chunks quarry out," Marko told F1's official website.

"So this looks like there is an issue with the basics of the tires.  Note, the tires have these problems -- not us."

So rather than rush back to Milton-Keynes to make improvements to the car that will perhaps make it slower, Marko said the priority for Red Bull is to "sit down with Pirelli".

As for the claim that Lotus is doing so well because its 2010 car - the Renault R30 - is now used by Pirelli as its test mule, Hembery dismissed it as a "conspiracy theory (that is) not based on fact".

And a Lotus source is quoted by Italy's La Stampa: "If our car was like 2010, we would be in bad shape."

Adapted from GMM

Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton completed a sour-faced podium on Sunday by finishing third, after his faster teammate Nico Rosberg was told by boss Ross Brawn to hold station.

Nico Rosberg "holding station" (Photo: WRi2)

First and second of the same race were Red Bull teammates Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, who had their fair share of team orders controversy.

"If I'm honest, Nico should be standing here, he had better pace," said Hamilton. "I can't say it is the best feeling being up here (on the podium)."

Hamilton was just as happy as Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel to stand on the podium in Sepang (Photo: WRi2)

Earlier, Rosberg pleaded to be able to pass the sister W04, but Brawn's answer was "negative".

"Remember this one," Rosberg said over the radio as he pulled into parc ferme in fourth position, but he soon reassured reporters that he understood and respected the team's decision.

Red Bull's Marko, who in the Vettel-Webber row took the side of the Australian, said of the Mercedes situation it is obvious the team wanted its "number 1" driver to finish in front.

Adapted from GMM

Martin Whitmarsh has failed yet again to "kill off" suggestions McLaren will ultimately scrap the 2013 car and revert to the winning model of last season.

"Everything is an option," he told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport when asked the old question about the possible return of the 2012 car.

"But we have made some initial progress and I believe up to China we will make some more."

Jenson Button apparently agrees, saying qualifying in Malaysia "just two tenths off the guy (Kimi Raikkonen)", who won in Australia, "can't be bad".

Still, the rumours about the 2012 car persist, even though Whitmarsh insists there is nothing "fundamentally" flawed - or unfixable - about the MP4-28.

The team boss was asked on Saturday if he can "kill off" the 2012 car speculation.

"I can kill it off for the time being," he told reporters.  "We have made a clear decision and we are working hard to understand this car in order to improve it and turn it into a race-winning one."

His message is clear -- if fixing the MP4-28 falters, the MP4-27 is always there.

"The fact is," continued Whitmarsh, "we took too long to realise (the mistakes with the MP4-28) and we are responding now."

From GMM

Romain Grosjean will soon be a father.

After his new wife Marion Jolles - who met Grosjean whilst a F1 television reporter - was spotted apparently pregnant, the French Lotus driver confirmed the news.

He said their baby is due in the summer.

"We are absolutely delighted," said the 26-year-old.

But according to Swiss journalist Roger Benoit, of the Blick newspaper, Lotus is apparently "not very happy about it, because (the team thinks) he should concentrate on the sport".

Meanwhile, former Marussia driver Timo Glock's newly born first child - a son born by his partner Isabell - has been named Mika.

From GMM

Bernie Ecclestone has admitted he is considering dropping Interlagos from the F1 calendar.

Indeed, Britain's Daily Mail reveals that F1 chief executive Ecclestone, who has not travelled to the opening two races of the 2013 calendar, has in fact just returned from Rio de Janeiro.

The city's mayor is reportedly "pitching hard" to become the new Brazil GP host.

"The mayor has told me they can get it done," said Ecclestone.

"I have been unhappy with Sao Paulo for a long time.  It's a super race track, but the facilities need a big facelift.

"We could be there (Rio) for Olympic year (2016), but I know how hard it was for London to run just the Olympics," he added.

Meanwhile, Ecclestone has expressed interest in extending Malaysia's F1 contract, but told The Star newspaper that organisers need to give Sepang a "paint job".

"It is obviously not the same as Singapore," he said.  "Maybe because they don't spend the money."

From GMM

Sebastian Vettel has played down multiple reports that he has signed a Red Bull contract extension through 2016.

Asked if he has added two more years to his current deal, the reigning world champion answered: "I do not talk about contracts."

But Bild am Sonntag reporter Frank Schneider pointed out that Vettel pointedly "shook his head" as he made his standard answer, indicating that he is yet to agree a new deal.

"But I said nothing!" the German driver laughed, admitting his "body language" may have been different.

Having previously said he wanted to join Ferrari one day, Vettel was nonetheless asked by Schneider if he is now open to staying at Red Bull for the rest of his career.

"Could be.  Depends on how long my career is," Vettel answered mysteriously.

Asked when he will decide what to do beyond his 2014 contract, he continued: "In this case, probably no later than early 2015.  Not today, anyway."

Also leaving the door open is Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali.

Asked by Germany's Welt if Vettel is a potential candidate, the Italian answered: "This is far in the future.

"I have no idea and it depends on both sides.  It's not a relevant issue at the moment."

Adapted from GMM

F1 erupted in controversy on Sunday, after Sebastian Vettel ignored a team order to win the Malaysian grand prix.

The German and his teammate Mark Webber were issued a codeword over the radio that meant something along the lines of 'hold position', while the leading Red Bull driven by Webber was nursing his car and tyres to the victory.

"Multi-21, Seb," Webber angrily shrugged at Vettel just before going onto the podium to accept his trophy for second place.

"You've got some explaining to do," his engineer said after the chequered flag.

Paddock rumours began to emerge that Vettel, realizing the gravity of his actions once the adrenaline of racing had calmed, had apologized to Webber, but the Australian was refusing to accept it.

In his podium interview with Martin Brundle, Webber predicted that Vettel would be "protected as usual" by Red Bull rather than punished.

But bosses Christian Horner, and even Dr Helmut Marko, agreed that the triple world champion and new championship leader had done the wrong thing.

"We let the drivers race until the final pitstop," said Horner, arguing that after that, the team's interest is "bigger" than the drivers'.

Vettel was apologetic.

"I did a big mistake and I'm not proud of it," he told reporters.  "I can't change it now.  It's not a victory I'm proud of.  It should have been Mark's."

Was Malaysia 2010 the final blow to Webber and Vettel's relationship? (Photo: WRi2)

The fallout could be significant. Some interpreted Webber's following comments as a threat to leave the team. He said he would go home to Australia in the break between now and China to "take my medicine.

"It is still very raw," he said on British television Sky.  "We'll see if the medicine cures it.

"To be honest, a lot of things were going on in my mind in the last 15 laps of the race.

"It's very hard for people to understand the situation, they think they know what went on but they don't," Webber continued.

"It puts a lot of heat on certain people."

Icona, an Italian car company based in Turin, will unveil the Volcano hybrid supercar on April 19th at the Shangai Auto Show.

Developed by specialists who have worked for various automakers around the world, the Volcano combines a V12 engine with two electric motors to generate a total of 900 horsepower. It sprints from 0-200 km/h in less than 10 seconds, and reaches a top speed of 350 km/h.

Stay around for more information.

Source: Turbo.fr

Photo: Icona

Fiat's Serbian factory, which will export the 500L minivan to the US, expects to deliver 110,000 to 150,000 vehicles this year after six-month orders exceeded targets.

EDITOR WES RAYNAL: Much as I generally like the E-class, the 2013

Opel workers in Bochum, Germany, appear to have lost a high-stakes gamble to save their factory after an attempt to put pressure on Opel parent General Motors backfired and GM opted to close the plant ahead of schedule.

A jury has ordered a Toyota dealership in Philadelphia to pay six crash victims $15.7 million for its negligent maintenance and repair of the 2006 Toyota Sienna rental in which they were riding.

Carlos Ghosn laid a $5 billion bet in 2009 that the world's next Ford Model T would be electric, and that Nissan would lead a revolution embraced by nations such as Denmark. Three years later, sales of Leaf plug-in vehicles in the Nordic country: 73.

Current IndyCar champion Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti) and runner-up Will Power (Penske) dominated each Friday practice sessions for this weekend St Petersburg season opener but the Australian was the one who set the fastest time at the end of the day.

Still, Hunter-Reay was a mere 0.1785s behind while Simona de Silvestro showed that she was at ease in her new KV Racing car by finishing third. The Swiss driver finished up 0.06s off Hunter-Reay's time.

Oriol Servia (Panther/DRR) was fourth-fastest, just ahead of Takuma Sato (AJ Foyt Racing), who was the best of the Honda-powered entries.

The Ganassi squad had somewhat of a quiet start with Charlie Kimball leading the team with the 13th-best lap, leaving Dario Franchitti 17th and Scott Dixon 19th.


Morning session
1.  Ryan Hunter-Reay - 1m02.4534s
2.  James Hinchcliffe - 1m02.4544s  + 0.0010s
3.  Will Power - 1m02.5464s  + 0.0930s
4.  EJ Viso - 1m02.5759s  + 0.1225s
5.  Tony Kanaan - 1m02.6114s  + 0.1580s
6.  Dario Franchitti - 1m02.6823s  + 0.2289s
7.  Simona de Silvestro - 1m02.6950s  + 0.2416s
8.  Josef Newgarden - 1m02.7308s  + 0.2774s
9.  Sebastien Bourdais - 1m02.8867s  + 0.4333s
10.  Marco Andretti - 1m02.9252s  + 0.4718s
(...)


Afternoon session
1.  Will Power - 1m01.4467s
2.  Ryan Hunter-Reay - 1m01.6252s  + 0.1785s
3.  Simona de Silvestro - 1m01.6895s  + 0.2428s
4.  Oriol Servia - 1m01.7650s  + 0.3183s
5.  Takuma Sato - 1m01.7703s  + 0.3236s
6.  Helio Castroneves - 1m01.7853s  + 0.3386s
7.  Tony Kanaan - 1m01.8087s  + 0.3620s
8.  James Hinchcliffe - 1m02.0039s  + 0.5572s
9.  Tristan Vautier - 1m02.0459s  + 0.5992s
10.  Marco Andretti - 1m02.0877s  + 0.6410s
(...)

For once this year Denny Hamlin was in the news with good news.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver who was fined in February for statements about the Gen 6 NASCAR Sprint Cup car and in a Twitter verbal war with Joey Logano had won his second-straight pole at Auto Club Speedway.

Driving a Toyota Hamlin turned a lap of 38.410 seconds around the two-mile oval.

Hamlin was surprised he took the pole because he was third in Friday's qualifying order. “I thought my chances of grabbing the pole were slim,” he said.

“I think our car was really fast. It's cocky to say, but I was saying I could almost guarantee a pole if we had a late draw. I think, except for one exceptional car, the pole would have been later. I knew my lap was really good. I knew it felt good. It's a good way to start the weekend. Hopefully I won't see any passing.”

This is Hamlin's third pole is his last six races at Auto Club Speedway and his second consecutive. He finished 11th last year. In October of 2009, he also captured the pole and finished 37th.

Denny Hamlin (Photo: Denny Hamlin Facebook)

It was Hamlin's 13th pole in 264 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races and his first pole and four Top 10 start in 2013. Hamlin has just one Top 5 finish in 12 previous Sprint Cup races at Auto Club Speedway, finishing third in August of 2008.

Greg Biffle and Brad Keselowski had the second and third fastest laps in qualifying, respectively, but both will start at the back because of engine changes. Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth, Hamlin's teammates, rounded out the top 5.

Biffle explained, due to the engine change “unfortunately we had about eight minutes of practice today before qualifying. The guys worked really hard to get the engine changed. I got out with three minutes to go to make a lap and we made adjustments from that lap and we were able to put down a pretty fast lap.”

Keselowski, the series points leader, was likewise concerned that both he and Biffle had to change engines.

“I am a little nervous about the engine issues the 16 and 2 cars both had in practice and hopefully those will subside for the race and we are both going to start in the back. It is unfortunate but we will have a good time hopefully racing to the front.”

From GMM

Caterham has belatedly confirmed reports that talks about a possible merger with rival backmarker Marussia took place over the winter.

In explaining the delay in Marussia being offered a 2013 commercial deal, Bernie Ecclestone dropped the bombshell about the mooted merger.

"As I understand it, the conclusion (of the merger talks) was unacceptable to our shareholders," Marussia chief executive Graeme Lowdon said on Thursday.

Marussia MR02, Sepang (Photo: WRi2)

"So nothing happened."

Initially, Caterham pointedly denied the existence of the merger talks, team founder Tony Fernandes insisting "no such thing" ever took place.

New team boss Cyril Abiteboul told the New Straits Times: "I'm still young and new here, but since I've been here I must have heard stories about mergers at least ten times.

"These talks with Marussia happened over the Christmas period and as with everything, we looked at whether it made any sense and it didn't make sense," he added.

Caterham CT03, Sepang (Photo: WRi2)

"End of story."

Meanwhile, Abiteboul and Fernandes were spotted chatting in the Sepang pitlane on Saturday morning with former team driver Heikki Kovalainen.

"Who knows what will happen in the future?" the Finn, who arrived at the Malaysian GP venue on Saturday morning in a green Ferrari road car, told British broadcaster Sky.

Sébastien Loeb will take part in the famous American hill climb of Pikes Peak.

The Frenchman will be at the wheel of a Peugeot 208 prototype especially developed by Citroën for the event.

The nine-time world rally champion has never raced before at the Pikes Peak, a 20-kilometre race against the clock that finishes at 4,300 meters of altitude.

Can 'won-it-all' Loeb find something new to win in 2013? (Photo: ppihc.com)

This year's Pike Peak is held on June 30th.

From GMM

Sebastian Vettel insists he is not worried his friendship with Kimi Raikkonen will suffer as they go wheel-to-wheel for the title in 2013.

The pair are arguably the closest friends among all the drivers in the pitlane, living close to one another in Switzerland and often meeting up to play badminton.

But they have never fought against each other for F1's biggest prize -- Raikkonen departed F1 at the end of 2009, just as Vettel began his series of titles in 2010.

So will the heat of a championship battle in 2013, with Raikkonen already leading Vettel in the world championship, spoil their friendship?

"I think you have to separate the two things," German Vettel told Bild newspaper.

"Anyway, we get along very well, but it's not like we spend every spare minute in the paddock together," he added.

Bild correspondent Frank Schneider wrote: "Raikkonen and Vettel are completely different.

"Raikkonen is tattooed, smokes, drinks, while Vettel lives a disciplined life free of scandal."

From GMM

Sauber could have kept Nico Hulkenberg in the race last Sunday in Australia, it has emerged.

Ultimately, the German sat out Melbourne with a terminal fuel tank problem, so serious that he is at the wheel of an all-new chassis this weekend in Malaysia.

The all-new chassis of Hulkenberg (Photo: WRi2)

But he had qualified eleventh in Melbourne, seven places ahead of rookie teammate Esteban Gutierrez.

It now emerges that Sauber could actually have sidelined Mexican Gutierrez, giving the working C32 to Hulkenberg and maintaining a very real chance of a good result.

In the end, Gutierrez finished outside of the points in Australia.

"Did Sauber give away championship points?" wondered veteran Blick newspaper correspondent Roger Benoit.

"The team confirmed on Friday (in Malaysia) that the FIA would have permitted a driver change."

However, Hulkenberg would have had to start the race in Gutierrez's car from the pitlane.

And team boss Monisha Kaltenborn insisted: "It was not an option for us."

But Germany's Auto Motor und Sport said the situation raises a fascinating question.

"What would Red Bull or Ferrari do in the same situation, if the world title was at stake?  Would Mark Webber or Felipe Massa give up their cars to the team captains?" wondered correspondent Michael Schmidt.

FIA race director Charlie Whiting has brought up the idea of enforcing a points-based penalty system in the future, while bringing reporters up to speed on technical issues in a FIA Q&A.

Romain Grosjean made the headlines several times, most infamously at the Belgian GP, where he flew over the head of Fernando Alonso at the start of the race.

Romain Grosjean, Spa (Photo: WRi2)

As a consequence, the Frenchman had to sit out the following round of the championship, in Monza.

Some say the hot-headed Grosjean never learnt from his mistakes on track, and that a better system should therefore be elaborated to stop drivers from ramming into each other.

According to Whiting, the idea of a points-based system is generally like, although "not unanimously (supported)".

The FIA will run a hypothetical system this season to gauge the idea.