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From press release

Nico Rosberg claimed his first pole position of the 2014 F1 season by beating his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton, Saturday, during qualifying ahead of the first ever night Formula One race in Bahrain.

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes W05 (Photo: WRi2)

Mercedes has been dominant all weekend so far, with both Rosberg and Hamilton able to advance to Q2 without even using the faster soft tire. In the end, the German was more than two tenths faster than his teammate, with a time of 1min33.185s around the Sakhir Circuit.

A total of seven Mercedes-powered cars qualified in the top 10.

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull RB10 (Photo: WRi2)

"It's fantastic to be on pole again here in Bahrain," said the Rosberg, who was also set the pole last year.

"I really enjoy the track and I won my GP2 Series title here so it has some pretty special memories for me. We've had a good weekend so far (so) I'm looking forward to the race."

Fernando Alonso, Ferrari F14-T (Photo: WRi2)

"Second place is pretty good for us today," added Hamilton. "I made a mistake on my last lap which was a shame but it's great for the team to have both cars on the front row.

"Congratulations to Nico today, he's done a great job so far this weekend and nailed a really quick lap in qualifying. I'm happy that it's my team-mate there on pole and not someone else!"

Romain Grosjean, Lotus E22 (Photo: WRi2)

"Nico drove a superb lap on his first run in Q3 and Lewis clearly sensed he had to push to the limit to match his teammate," analyzed Mercedes' Paddy Lowe. "Unfortunately this lead to a mistake at the first corner but his initial lap was still good enough to maintain second."

As part of the track's 10th anniversary, the 22-car field will take the start of tomorrow's race after sundown, for the first ever night F1 race in Bahrain.

Bahrain by night (Photo: WRi2)

Qualifying results* - Bahrain Grand Prix (round 3 of 19)
1.Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W05) - 1'33"185 - Q3
2.Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W05) - 1'33”464 - Q3
3.Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW36-Mercedes) - 1'34"247 - Q3
4.Sergio Perez (Force India VJM07-Mercedes) - 1'34”346 - Q3
5.Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari F14-T) - 1'34"368 - Q3
6.Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/29-Mercedes) - 1'34"387 - Q3
7.Felipe Massa (Williams FW36-Mercedes) - 1'34"511 - Q3
8.Kevin Magnussen (McLaren MP4/29-Mercedes) - 1'34"712 - Q3
9.Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F14-T) - 1'34"992 - Q3
10.Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB10-Renault) - 1'34"985 - Q2
11.Nico Hulkenberg (Force India VJM07-Mercedes) - 1'35"116 - Q2
12.Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso STR9-Renault) - 1'35"145 - Q2
13.Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull RB10-Renault) - 1'34"051 - Q3 **
14.Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR9-Renault) - 1'35"286 - Q2
15.Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber C33-Ferrari) - 1'35"891 - Q2
16.Romain Grosjean (Lotus E22-Renault) - 1'35”908 - Q2
17.Pastor Maldonado (Lotus E22-Renault) - 1'36”663 - Q1
18.Adrian Sutil (Sauber C33-Ferrari) - 1'36"840 - Q1
19.Kamui Kobayashi (Caterham CT05-Renault) - 1'37”085 - Q1
20.Jules Bianchi (Marussia MR03-Ferrari) - 1'37"310 - Q1
21,Marcus Ericsson (Caterham CT05-Renault) - 1'37”875 - Q1
22.Max Chilton (Marussia MR03-Ferrari) - 1'37"913 - Q1
*Unofficial timing
**10-place grid penalty from Malaysia

Max Chilton, Marussia MR03 (Photo: WRi2)

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is one of the most difficult competitions in the world. It is a privilege just to be around when the race is on.

That's why close to 1,600 passionate fans take part in the French classic every year as volunteers. They want to get closer to the action because watching from the grandstands isn't enough for them.

But volunteering was still not close enough for one Frédéric Sausset, a Frenchman decided he was going to race an LMP2 prototype instead.

The thing is... he has no legs and only one arm.

Sébastien Loeb, Frédéric Sausset et Christophe Tinseau (Photo: Jean-René Roger, ACO)

Sausset was living a perfectly normal life up to 2012. But that year, he almost lost his life when a wound to his finger became infected. He fell into a coma and woke up two months later. Both his legs, his left arm and his right arm had been amputated.

"I've loved motor racing for as long as I can recall," endurance-info.com quotes him as saying.

"To me, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is as good as it gets when it comes to racing. That's what got me thinking when I was lying on my hospital bed."

With the help of his countryman Christophe Tinseau, Sausset started asking questions; is it even possible to race at Le Mans with no legs and only one arm?

The motorsport community answered: nine-time world rally champion Sébastien Loeb has already shown his support. The FIA and ACO are also in favour of the project.

Sausset was able to test a sportscar adapted for him and showed impressive pace.

In preparation for the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, Sausset is expected to race in the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) starting next year.

From GMM

Organisers of the British grand prix have counted themselves out of the controversy surrounding the milder sound of F1's new V6 engines.

While Melbourne's Ron Walker and F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone have been making a lot of noise about the sport's new quieter sound, the president of Silverstone's circuit-owning club BRDC thinks the old V8s were in fact "too noisy".

"I think they were ear-bleeding," former F1 driver Derek Warwick, also serving as a steward this weekend in Bahrain, told Reuters.

"We've just got to re-adjust our volume."

It's still not clear whether the move to turbo V6 engines by F1 was good or bad (Photo: WRi2)

Also in Bahrain this weekend is Richard Phillips, Silverstone's managing director, who thinks fans are actually "intrigued" by the controversial 'new' F1.

"From what we have discovered, the fans are really intrigued as to the sights and sounds of this new formula one," he is quoted by the Times newspaper.

"Yes, the engines are quieter but we do not feel it will have any impact on our event," Phillips added.

Elsewhere, the public attitudes being expressed by the likes of Walker, Ecclestone, Red Bull's Dietrich Mateschitz and Ferrari's Luca di Montezemolo would make it appear that the new rules have thrown F1 into crisis.

Pat Symonds, Williams' technical boss, warns against all the negativity.

"I think many people from the UK will remember a guy called Ratner who basically killed his business by negative comments on it," he said on Friday.

Symonds is referring to Gerald Ratner, who in 1991 destroyed his jewellery business when in a speech he referred to his company's products as "crap".

Now, it is not surprising FIA president Jean Todt is in Bahrain, where one of his tasks will be to meet personally with world champion Sebastian Vettel, who said the sound his sport is making in 2014 is "shit".

Warwick said: "I've been in this sport now for 50 years, I love my sport and I will never talk it down."

There's a new look coming to NASCAR only you probably won't be able to see it. That's because the changes coming are likely to be under the hood of NASCAR Sprint Cup cars as early in 2015.

"We're going to make that happen," said Brian Z France, NASCAR's CEO said on SiriusXM radio earlier this week. "That's part of the overall rules packages that we design that hopefully control costs, hopefully make racing better. The engines are an integral part of that."

NASCAR is looking to reduce horsepower between 75 and 100hp.

Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR

For decades the typical motor was a 5.8 litre V8 which currently produces 850-900hp with its' version of fuel injection.

Two-time Daytona 500 winner, Dale Earnhardt Jr., is onboard with the reduction. “I think the reduction in power is coming whether you like it or not,” said Dale Jr. at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday.

“I chose as an individual to get on the side of being productive in that discussion instead of saying we don't need to do it and trying to fight it, let's try to make sure when it does happen we do it the right way and give ourselves something to grow into and something to engineers and something that is productive for many years to come.

“It's coming either way whether we like it or not. You can have both sides arguing against and for, for however long you want, but it's going to happen so we might as well start thinking about how we want it to happen and trying to have those discussions on making sure we make the best choice we can make for the sport.”

The issue is choosing the right way to slow down the cars. There's at least two ways to do so.

NASCAR has slowed cars down at the Daytona and Talladega superspeedways by use of a restrictor plate, which robs the engines of about 400hp. An unintended effect has been massive pack racing, which sometimes goes wrong, resulting in the Big One, an accident involving many cars. One driver called those events “a lottery,” meaning it was a matter of luck been involved in a multi-car crash.

Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR

On the other hand if NASCAR goes to smaller engines that's something Dale Jr. can get behind.
“When you can go to a smaller engine you preserve some throttle response,” said Earnhardt.

“You preserve some reaction in the gas pedal and give the driver a few more tools to be able to use out on the race track when he is driving his race car.  When you take and put a plate on those cars you take tons of throttle response out of the car and setting up a pass, particularly on a track that is worn out like this is a little more challenging with a plate rather than an open engine that is smaller.”

This writer thinks Dale Jr. has the better approach, and manufacturers will like a reduction of engine displacement, as their motors will be more modern in concept and closer to look of the engines found in passenger vehicles.

From GMM

Pain may be holding championship leader Nico Rosberg back this weekend in Bahrain.

Although clearly ahead of the rest of the field, Mercedes' German driver seemed a few tenths off teammate Lewis Hamilton's pace in Friday practice.

The German publications Bild and Sport Bild might have discovered the reason.

Nico Rosberg (Photo: Mercedes)

In the Bahrain paddock, correspondents Bianca Garloff, Ralf Bach and Nicola Pohl noticed that when wearing casual clothes, Rosberg is sliding his left foot only partially into his shoe.

"I hurt my toe while jogging on the beach," he told Bild. Sport Bild reports that the injury was sustained last week, when the 28-year-old was holidaying in Dubai.

Rosberg confirmed that he brakes with his left foot but played down the impact of the injury on his driving.

From GMM

McLaren is at the centre of a body of rumours in the Bahrain paddock.

In title sponsor Vodafone's wake, the British team ran prominent Mobil 1 branding in Australia, before Esso took over the space on the sidepods of the MP4-29 in Malaysia.

Now in Bahrain, the logo of Bahrain flag carrier Gulf Air is on the car, triggering the obvious conclusion McLaren might continue its new policy of livery changes throughout the 2014 season.

Gulf Air livery on Kevin Magnussen's MP4-29 (Photo: WRi2)

A spokesman would not comment "on future liveries".

But Sky News reports that McLaren is in title sponsor talks with a Japanese giant called Rakuten, owner of the well-known UK retailer play.com.

The report said the deal could be worth more than $60 million per year to the Woking based team, but a spokesman said: "McLaren never comments on unsubstantiated rumours of this kind."

Meanwhile, the Spanish sports daily Marca has made a link between McLaren and the former F1 sponsor Movistar, a Spanish mobile phone operator.

The rumour seems to have been triggered in part by an official McLaren 'tweet' on Friday featuring a photo of Ron Dennis sitting in the Bahrain paddock with Fernando Alonso in 2007.

The caption said it was "Another pic of Ron smiling".

A McLaren source strenuously played down the significance of the tweet.

Ron Dennis (Photo: WRi2)

But it does follow hot on the heels not only of Dennis' return to the team, but also rumours last year that Alonso could be wooed back to McLaren for the impending Honda era.

The Alonso camp immediately played down the connection.

"Fernando is happy where he is" at Ferrari, his manager Luis Garcia Abad insisted.

But Alonso was not totally unequivocal when asked by Spain's Diario AS if there is "any chance" he will leave Ferrari at the end of the year.

"No, I think not," said the double world champion, who admitted he arrived at the great Maranello team in 2010 expecting to win a title.

"When I came to Ferrari I won my first race here and I thought I would win the championship in that year or another year. Definitely," he said.

"That was the recent history of Ferrari, in 2010 Ferrari was very strong, I came, I won the first race, everything seemed to be in the right direction."

Despite yet another season having begun in which a third title for Alonso appears unlikely, the driver insists he does not regret joining Ferrari.

"No, there are many decisions in your career and your life that you make and that's it.

"You never know what would have happened if I had accepted offers from Red Bull or Toyota or whoever," he added.

From GMM

A wave of relief spread through the Bahrain paddock on Friday, as news broke that F1 legend Michael Schumacher has shown "moments of consciousness" this week after months in a coma.

The brief statement made by the great German's manager Sabine Kehm, however, refused to divulge the "details" of the development out of respect for the family and to protect the medical team's "calmness".

Respected doctors, however, were quick to add some of their insights to the news.

Dr Alain Simon, the medical consultant for the French sports daily L'Equipe, says the latest Schumacher statement is "difficult to interpret".

"It could mean he opens and closes his eyes when he is asked," he said.

"People who are in this phase are not speaking and it could be months like this," Simon explained, "but perhaps these moments are a sign of hope."

Simon said the development in Schumacher's condition could actually be very timely.

"In a head trauma with loss of consciousness," he said, "beyond three months is a long-term coma with consequences. With less than three months there may be no consequences."

Alain Ducardonnet, the medical consultant for France's BFMTV, agrees that the statement issued by the Schumacher camp on Friday is "good news".

"Previously there had been nothing in particular," he said. "It was attempted to wake him but obviously he did not.

"But 'moments of consciousness and awakening' can mean everything and it can mean nothing. These are generic words.

"Perhaps he is responding to simple commands: open your eyes, move your hand, perhaps the skin was clamped to see if he feels pain.

"These are the first things we do when we assess consciousness," Dr Ducardonnet added.

Yet another doctor, the French neurosurgeon Philippe Decq, warned: "We must be extremely cautious.

"Signs of awakening is probably the observation of eye movements, followed by eye-contact. This is encouraging and I am happy to hear that but we must be extremely careful.

"The lesions are obviously extremely serious. Anything can happen," Dr Decq warned. "You are never unscathed after a trauma of this severity."

Schumacher's former manager Willi Weber, however, spoke for the world of F1 when he said on Friday: "Thank god. For me, that's the best news of the year."

Bild newspaper reported that Schumacher has been moved within the Grenoble hospital to an intensive care area for patients requiring less constant supervision.

John Krafcik's role at TrueCar will be to help advise and consult the vehicle pricing and purchasing service, but it is not a full-time position.

With its controversial $600 million sponsorship of English soccer giant Manchester United in hand, Chevrolet is bringing the soccer team home to Michigan this summer to host a match.

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