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From GMM

Pirelli has denied it decided to 'go conservative' for 2014 after the tire-exploding criticism of last season.

After 2013, when the quality and degradation of the tires were regular paddock buzzwords, the Italian marque has had a low-profile start to F1's new era with reportedly a better and more durable product.

Even the compound choice for Melbourne, where usually the very softest tires can be used, has raised some eyebrows, but boss Paul Hembery denied Pirelli has gone conservative simply to quieten the damaging criticism of 2013.

"No," he insisted. "We did not take our decisions out of fear of criticism," the Briton told German-language Spox.

"It was just logical, because even now no one really knows how the cars with the new engines, the higher weight and less fuel will react with the tires."

As for the obviously more conservative tire choice in Melbourne, Hembery explained: "It is true that the choice appears cautious.

"But it is so the teams can focus on their programmes rather than having to work so hard on understanding the tires."

Photo: WRi2

Hembery said the criticisms of 2013, particularly those made by world champions Red Bull, have not affected Pirelli's paddock relationships.

"Last year is over," he insisted. "We learned a lot, made changes.

"What was expressed in the media is not always what is said behind closed doors," added Hembery. "So we should let it go and instead look forward to the new season."

Volkswagen Canada is recalling 6,047 Jettas, Golfs, and Passats from the 2013-2014 model years that are equipped with a diesel engine and factory installed block heater.

Apparently, the block heater could overheat while in use, possibly resulting in a fire. Volkswagen dealers will replace the block heater at no cost, but affected owners are advised to stop using it in the meantime.

Photo: Volkwagen

Another recall for Volkswagen Jetta and GTI
The Jetta (2009-2010) has been hit with another recall that also targets the GTI (2009). Overall, 19,349 units are affected in Canada.

In some cases, a fuse can overheat and damage the fuse box, causing a partial loss of exterior vehicle lighting and therefore increasing the risk of a crash. Here, dealers will update the fuse.

Source: Transport Canada

Photo: Volkwagen

Captain America: The Winter Soldier will hit the big screen on April 4th, and the list of superheroes in that movie also includes a few GM products.

Steve Rogers aka Captain America (Chris Evans) will drive a Blue Metallic Chevrolet Silverado 1500, and spend time in The Black Widow's (Scarlett Johansson) custom Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Black Widow Bows. The latter recently wowed fans at the 2014 Chicago Auto Show.

A new character named Sam Wilson aka The Falcon (Anthony Mackie) will be seen in the film driving a 2014 Chevrolet Impala 2LT.

Captain America will also ride a 2015 Harley-Davidson Street 750.

Source : ridefree.harley-davidson.com

Photo: Harley-Davidson

From GMM

Valtteri Bottas says he is enjoying working with his new teammate Felipe Massa.

Last year, the Finn made his debut with Williams alongside the often bad-tempered Pastor Maldonado, who has now switched to Lotus.

Venezuelan Maldonado left Williams with his PDVSA millions in a highly-critical mood, but Williams is now regarded as a 2014 title dark horse while Lotus is struggling merely to run its E22.

"From an aerodynamic point of view," Maldonado said in Melbourne, "the (Williams) car is very similar to what we had last year. It's the (Mercedes) engine making the difference at the moment."

Maldonado insists he has no regrets about joining Lotus just as the respective teams' fortunes switched so dramatically, and continuing Williams driver Bottas indicated he too is happy with the move.

"I believe this season is an opportunity for me to learn from a team guy a little bit more than last year," Bottas, 24, is quoted by the Finnish broadcaster MTV3.

"This year the team has a more experienced guy (Massa) and he is quite different (to Maldonado) -- a little more open and more willing to be more of a team player and to provide more information," added Bottas.

Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa, Williams Martini Racing. (Photo: WRi2)

He said the sort of openness being shown by Massa is what a team needs.

"I think if you are sharing information in the team meetings and both trying to contribute to the team's performance and providing the best possible feedback -- it always helps, of course," said Bottas.

After a particularly bad 2013, Williams is emerging as a surprise force in 2014, with Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton even nominating the Grove team as his pick for the title.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, however, said he doesn't believe Red Bull can be written off, despite the perception the reigning world champions are struggling with the new Renault 'power unit'.

"In the past we saw it many times before," he told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. "Red Bull were behind but in the end their car was usually the fastest of all.

"I think in two races they can be back at the top," Spaniard Alonso added.

From Pirelli

Formula 1 entered a fresh era with the debut of new tire regulations for 2014 Friday at Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia.

The first new rule affects free practice, with the teams now allowed an extra set of tires to be used in the first 30 minutes of FP1 only: always of the harder compound from the two nominated.

Thanks to these new rules there was increased running, a total of 937 laps throughout both sessions Friday.

The P Zero White medium and P Zero Yellow tires that have been nominated for the Australian Grand Prix displayed no blistering or graining, with the performance gap between the two compounds currently in the region of two seconds.

The new tire rules also include an extra set of softer compound tires for all cars in qualifying.

These can only be used in Q3, after which they have to be returned to Pirelli. But the teams that do not get through to Q3 can keep them to use for the race. So in total, all teams are now allocated 13 rather than 11 sets of slick tires for every race this year.

“From what we can see so far, we were satisfied with both the performance and degradation of the medium and soft compounds, both of which are completely new this year,” said Pirelli's motorsport director, Paul Hembery.

“The degradation on the medium tire is very low, with degradation on the soft slightly higher. We've seen no blistering or graining at all today and also fewer marbles, so up to now we have met our objectives. The new tire regulations seem to have worked well so far, with the fans able to see more of the cars out on track, which was exactly the intention.”

Here are some photos of the complex steering wheel of the 2014 Ferrari-powered Sauber C33 Formula 1 car.

The main buttons, switches and knobs remain from the normally aspirated V8 car of last year.

Steering wheel of the Sauber C33 (Photo: WRI2)

As we can see, the drivers to alter the braking force and brake balance. This is major this season because of the new brake-by-wire rear brake system that is connected to the kinetic energy recovery system.

Steering wheel of the Sauber C33 (Photo: WRI2)

The driver can also change the settings of the engine (IGN), the fuel mixture (FUEL), throttle settings (PEDAL), differential behavior (Entry), and more.

Steering wheel of the Sauber C33 (Photo: WRI2)

Drivers Adrian Sutil and Esteban Gutierrez can also modify the settings of the recovery system, most probably with the SOC knob located on the top right hand side.

Steering wheel of the Sauber C33 (Photo: WRI2)

General Motors now expects to lose three of its outside board members this year. Cynthia Telles, who joined the GM board in April 2010, plans to step down after the company's annual shareholder meeting this summer, GM said today.

Ally Financial has appointed Jeffrey Brown as CEO of Ally Dealer Financial Services, succeeding the veteran Bill Muir, who will retire later this year.

Three workers opposing unionization have sued Volkswagen and the UAW in a federal court, alleging that VW and the union improperly colluded in the run-up to a union election in Tennessee that the UAW lost.

A handful of manufacturers have offered four-wheel steering in the past including Honda,

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has appointed attorney Jeffrey Langer to the role of liaison between the CFPB and the auto finance industry, succeeding Rick Hackett. Langer's appointment, announced Wednesday, was effective immediately.

It's been an unfortunate week for Fiat-Chrysler recalls. We reported yesterday that the company issued return-to-dealer orders for the

The auto industry's international patent filings jumped 18 percent in 2013, the World Intellectual Property Organization said today, in part reflecting a push for new technologies to lower exhaust emissions.

As GM confronts the prospect of years of litigation following its delayed recall, CEO Mary Barra's more urgent challenge is to show the public that her company's culture has changed and GM is taking responsibility for the problem, crisis-control...

The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety said rear cameras are more effective than parking sensors at preventing collisions while a driver is in reverse.

Ferrari and PortAventura Entertainment have inked a deal to build a new Ferrari Land amusement park inside the PortAventura resort near Barcelona, Spain.

New cars registered last year in the UK collectively met a European target for CO2 emissions, according to a new report published by the SMMT.

Chrysler Group said today it is recalling about 49,400 full-size Dodge Chargers for possible overheating of headlight parts.

BMW Group is about to launch its new Mini, a car that it describes as "The New Orginal", distinctly familiar but "completely new from the ground up".

Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne predicted first-quarter earnings will rise amid 'strong' industrywide demand this month for Chrysler in the United States.