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From GMM

Marco Mattiacci has hit back at suggestions Ferrari could or should plan its revival for the 2015 season without Kimi Raikkonen.

Lamenting the Maranello team's slip behind Williams for third in the constructors' chase, Fernando Alonso said at Hockenheim that Ferrari has "only been able to count on one car again and we have to improve on that".

It might be concluded that Spaniard Alonso wants a more competitive teammate for 2015, but new Ferrari boss Mattiacci has moved swiftly to end those sorts of rumours.

When told by the Spanish sports daily Marca that the mid-season scorecard between Alonso and Raikkonen reads "10:0", Mattiacci insisted: "This is not football.

"In F1 we don't speak in those terms. Yes, I want better results, but Kimi is the driver that Ferrari needs for next year."

Kimi Raikkonen and Marco Mattiacci, Ferrari. (Photo: WRi2)

And La Gazzetta dello Sport also quotes the Italian as saying: "We believe in him, he is a world champion, he is part of our present and our future."

But that doesn't mean Ferrari is not planning big changes for 2015, including significant improvements to the turbo V6 and the first car designed fully under the technical directorship of James Allison.

"He (Allison) is working very hard on the car for next year. It will be his first car for us and we have very high hopes," a team source told the Spanish sports daily AS.

From GMM

Fernando Alonso has hailed the "amazing" job being done this year by Daniel Ricciardo.

At Silverstone, Spaniard Alonso's wheel-to-wheel duel with world champion Sebastian Vettel was littered with radio complaints about one another's driving.

But after Hockenheim, where the Ferrari driver had a similarly thrilling battle with Vettel's new teammate Ricciardo, Fernando Alonso had nothing but praise for the Australian.

Alonso hailed Ricciardo's driving, always with "great respect to the rules and to others".

"He is a surprise and doing amazing," the double world champion is quoted by the Spanish sports daily Marca.

"I believe he is 7:3 in the first ten races against Sebastian, which is something none of us expected. He is doing a great job, driving fantastically and, yes, fighting with intelligence," added Fernando Alonso.

Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel. (Photo: WRi2)

Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone told Forbes magazine that the Mexican Grand Prix will be back on the schedule next year.

After months of negotiations, Ecclestone confirmed to Forbes that it has got the green light and said “we have got Mexico past the post.”

The race will be held at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, located downtown Mexico City. The last F1 race held there was in 1992.

Tavo Hellmund - the creator and mastermind of the F1 USGP and the Circuit of the Americas in Austin - is backing the race with Alejandro Soberon, chief executive of the world's third largest live entertainment company CIE.

Just days after an intense weekend's racing in Germany, the Formula 1 paddock makes the short hop to Hungary and the technical, tricky, 4.381-kilometre Hungaroring circuit in Budapest.

Here is the complete schedule of the weekend:

Thursday July 24
Formula 1 Press Conference - Press Room 15:00

Friday 25th July
Formula 1 Practice 1 10:00 - 11:30
GP2 Practice Session 12:00 - 12:45
Formula 1 Practice 2 14:00 - 15:30
GP2 Qualifying Session 15:55 - 16:25
Formula 1 Press Conference - Press Room 16:00 - 17:00
Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup Practice Session 16:45 - 17:30
GP3 Practice Session 17:50 - 18:35

Saturday July 26
Formula 1 Team Pit Stop Practice 08:30 - 09:15
GP3 Qualifying Session 09:45 - 10:15
Formula 1 Practice 3 11:00 - 12:00
Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup Qualifying Session 12:25 - 12:55
Formula 1 Qualifying 14:00
GP2 First Race (37 Laps or 60 Minutes) 15:40 - 16:45
GP3 First Race (17 Laps or 30 Minutes) 17:20 - 17:55

Sunday July 27
GP3 Second Race (17 Laps or 30 Minutes) 09:25 - 10:00
GP2 Second Race (28 Laps or 45 Minutes) 10:35 - 11:25
Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup Race (14 Laps or 30 Mins) 11:45 - 12:20
Formula 1 Paddock Club Pit Lane Walk 12:25 - 13:15
Formula 1 Drivers Track Parade 12:30
Formula 1 Starting Grid Presentation 12:45 - 13:15
Formula 1 National Anthem 13:46
Formula 1 Race 14:00

The all-new 2015 Volvo XC90, which is set to make its global debut in August, will feature a number of advanced safety technologies that will take the company a significant step closer to its vision that no one will be killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo car by 2020.

The list includes two world firsts.

Run-of road protection
In a run-off road scenario, the new Volvo XC90 detects what is happening and tightens the front seat belts to keep the occupants in position. The belts are firmly tightened as long as the vehicle is in motion.

Also, in order to help prevent spine injuries, energy-absorbing functionality between the seat and seat frame cushions the vertical forces that can arise when the car encounters a hard landing in the terrain. The system is capable of reducing the vertical occupant forces by up to one third.

Auto brake at intersections
The XC90 becomes the first vehicle in the world that can automatically brake if the driver turns in front of an oncoming car at an intersection. This helps avoid a collision or mitigate the consequences of a crash.

By the way, City Safety will become the umbrella name for all of Volvo's auto brake functions.

“City Safety is one of the most advanced standard crash prevention offers you can find in a modern car. It now covers vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians in front of the car, day and night,” explains Lotta Jakobsson, Senior Technical Specialist Safety at Volvo Cars Safety Centre. “We are now able to cover the whole span from dusk to dawn by a high-sensitive camera combined with advanced exposure control.”

Photo: Volvo

New Renault Sport F1 director Cyril Abiteboul says that the French auto manufacturer is well advanced with the 2015 version of its V6 turbo engine.

Like those of Mercedes and Ferrari, the Renault Power Unit has had to be developed in line with the FIA's homologation rules.

“We are quite well advanced on the 2015 version of the V6 actually, there was already the first fire-up of next year's engine on the dyno last week,” Cyril Abiteboul said in Germany.

“It's going well; we need to improve performance however,” he added.

Cyril Abiteboul, Renault Sport F1. (Photo: WRi2)

The French engineer confirmed that Renault will evaluate the split turbo idea pioneered by Mercedes this season.

Mercedes modified its turbos in other to have the air compressor and the turbine on separate ends of the engine.

It is said to help reduce turbo lag for improved efficiency, as well as assist with the car's aerodynamic packaging.

Remi Taffin, head of track operations at Renault Sport F1, explained it would be wrong of his engineers to not investigate it if the concept can bring a benefit.

"For sure we are looking at a different solution," he said when asked about going down the split turbo concept. "We will explore all the solutions.

"If I knew [the answer now] it would be wrong, because I should not know now what we are doing. It's being developed."

Enter now our Facebook contest [http://woobox.com/zfkfmr]with a chance to win this Toro Rosso F1 Team cap signed by drivers Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniil Kvyat. The contest ends July 25 at noon, Montreal time.

• The contest ends Friday, July 25, 2014 at noon (Montreal time).
• The contest is open to people 13 and over.
• One (1) entry per Facebook user per day.
• The contest is available in English and French. It is the same contest, for which the same prize is up for grabs.
• To participate in the draw, individuals must visit the Concours / Contest tab on Auto123.com Racing / Course Facebook page.
• The winner will be drawn on July 25th at 1pm (Montreal time) among all participants. The winner will be contacted via Facebook private message, will have 48 hours to claim the prize and his name will be posted on the Auto123.com Racing / Course Facebook page as soon as he claims his prize.
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Williams F1 Team's dazzling run of form continued in Germany with Valtteri Bottas notching his third successive podium finish. Unfortunately, the race was short lived for his teammate, Felipe Massa who crashed at the first corner.

Felipe Massa, Williams, at the first corner of the German Grand Prix. (Photo: WRi2)

Deputy team principal Claire Williams told Formula1.com that her team is delighted with the performance of the Mercedes-powered car and their two drivers.

“We brought in a new group of senior engineering personal to add to the existing strength that we had, led by Pat Symonds.

Then we brought Felipe Massa in. We have a very strong driver line-up! They bring so much to the team - not just from the car development perspective but also from a motivational aspect,” Claire Williams.

However, the experienced Massa failed to finish in the top 10 three times and also retired three times so far this season. Is Claire Williams happy with his overall performance?

“Felipe is delivering what we hoped that he would deliver and bring to the team: the experience that he has in F1,” she replied.

“He has done a huge amount of work with the engineering department to develop the car. It is a real inspiration to everybody in the team bringing in somebody of his calibre. It was a very strong message that we wanted to deliver to the team and the world that we are very serious about our goals,” she added.

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

Claire Williams explained that Massa is not frustrated to see his young teammate collecting points and finishing on the podium.

“Not at all! Felipe is doing a great job - he's just suffered from some really bad luck. He is mature enough - and has enough experience in the sport - to realise that sometimes things don't go your way. It isn't getting him down...” Williams said.

From GMM

As quickly as the 'Fric' storm swept into the paddock, it left with barely a whimper.

"It changed nothing," said Niki Lauda, chairman of the Mercedes team that supposedly would suffer most from the effective banning of the suspension technology.

"It just cost a lot of money," he told German television RTL.

Indeed, Nico Rosberg dominated the German grand prix without the sophisticated 'Fric' system that was present for the silver W05's eight other wins in 2014.

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes W05, Hockenheim. (Photo: WRi2)

"It was said that Mercedes has the most complex system - the best system - but the hierarchy has apparently not shifted at all," said commentator Marc Surer on German television Sky.

Even Mercedes' rivals agree.

"To be honest, it seemed to have changed nothing with us," said Red Bull team boss Christian Horner. "It had no effect. So now we have two kilos less ballast!"

Group 1 Automotive, the third-largest auto dealer group based in the United States, has acquired Houston dealerships Munday Chevrolet and Munday Mazda, the company said today.

Tesla Motors today halted production at its sole assembly plant for the first time for a revamp the company said is necessary to speed Model S output and prepare it to make electric crossovers.

July has been a busy month for news updates on many future EV, hybrid, PHEV and fuel cell vehicle programmes, with some especially interesting facts on the next Prius.

High-tech TDI engines that provide economy and performance sit at the heart of the Audi brand's values and technological DNA. As Audi marks a quarter century since it debuted TDI, Calum MacRae takes a look at Audi's strategy to develop TDI powertrain technology further to meet tighter future CO2 emission targets and the need for still higher efficiency from internal combustion engines.

Toyota plans to remain the top-selling auto brand among Hispanic customers in the United States as competing automakers boost efforts to win a bigger share of business from the nation's largest ethnic minority group.

Russia's Severstal said it agreed to sell its two steel plants in the United States for $2.3 billion, withdrawing from the market at a time of rising tension between Russia and the West and turning its focus to its domestic business.

Russia's Severstal said it agreed to sell its two steel plants in the United States for $2.3 billion, withdrawing from the market at a time of rising tension between Russia and the West and turning its focus to its domestic business.

General Motors made changes to redesigned ignition switch parts on four models in 2003 and 2004 but did not ensure that older, potentially faulty parts were taken out of circulation, the automaker said in a filing with US safety regulators made public on Friday.

Ignition switch problems are continuing to plague General Motors. Over the weekend, it was reported the automaker had earlier this month ordered Cadillac dealers to stop selling some versions of the CTS model range because it does not have a fix yet for cars recalled in late June over an issue where engines can be shut off if the driver's knee bumps the ignition key.

Swiss engineering group ABB and Volvo said they were setting up a global partnership to co-develop and commercialize electric and hybrid buses with fast-charging systems.

Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) and Fiat India have extended their diesel powertrain sourcing deal for an additional three years, reported local media.