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Pros: The 2014 Audi S5 Coupe stands out with a lowered and tightened suspension (featuring an available sport rear differential that can actively distribute power laterally across the rear axle for even more balanced handling), sexy and discreetly aggressive looks, standard all-wheel drive, a powerful V6 that's commendably fuel-efficient, as well as a rich combination of luxury, refinement, and technology.

Cons: Once again, the MMI controls will not prove user-friendly to all drivers. The back seat, even for a coupe, is pretty tight.

Photo: Audi

2014 Audi S5 Coupe Price: As was the case last year, the lineup includes two trim levels -- Progressiv and Technik. The first one starts at $55,900, and the second retails from $60,700.

2014 Audi S5 Coupe Fuel Economy: Expect to burn 13.1L/100km in the city and 8.3L/100km on the highway with the manual transmission. These numbers drop to 11.7L/100km and 7.7L/100km, respectively, when opting for the dual-clutch autobox.

Improvements and Changes: The newly available Audi Drive Select helps you customize individual vehicle components at the push of a button and thus alter the dynamics of the car. Other changes are in the areas of enhancements to packages and standard-equipment lists.

Powertrain: The 2014 Audi S5 Coupe accelerates from 0-100 km/h in a mere 5.1 seconds thanks to a 3.0L supercharged TFSI V6 engine with direct injection that channels its 333 horsepower and 325 lb-ft of torque through a standard 6-speed manual gearbox or the available 7-speed S tronic dual-clutch transmission. As mentioned earlier, power is distributed to all four wheels by way of Audi's acclaimed quattro system.

Cargo Capacity: The S5 Coupe boasts a 346-litre trunk.

Safety: Six standard airbags keep 2014 Audi S5 Coupe occupants protected from the front and sides, while stability control helps secure the trajectory at all times. In the event of a collision, intelligent sensors automatically unlock the doors, switch on interior and hazard lights, and cut off fuel flow to the engine. Adaptive cruise control and a rear parking system are available.

Comparing the 2014 Audi S5 Coupe: The BMW 435i xDrive, Cadillac ATS Coupe V6 (2015) and CTS Coupe, Lexus RC (2015), Infiniti Q60 Coupe, and Mercedes-Benz C 350 4MATIC are all strong competitors of the S5.

From GMM

Euphoric at Silverstone two weeks ago when he pulled the gap back to just 4 points, Lewis Hamilton's mood dimmed once again on Sunday as he deficit blew back out to 14.

Hamilton started the race in 20th place and finished third behind race winner Nico Rosberg and Valtteri Bottas.

Hamilton thinks a result better than third might have been possible at Hockenheim, after seeing Adrian Sutil's stricken Sauber.

A safety car would have ended championship leader Nico Rosberg's huge race lead.

"I definitely got a bit worried," Rosberg admitted, "because I was sure there was going to be a safety car and that would have obviously made it a lot more difficult."

Safety car at Hockenheim. (Photo: WRi2)

Nico Rosberg wasn't the only one surprised, particularly in a sport that, in the name of safety, is prepared to delay a race for an hour to fix a damaged barrier.

"I was really concerned for the marshals -- really concerned," said Hamilton, referring to the incident.

"It felt like the closest thing I have seen for a long, long time."

He said whizzing past marshals who ran across the racing line to recover Sutil's Sauber reminded him of footage of the 1977 South African grand prix, when a marshal and Tom Pryce were killed in a gruesome collision.

"That was the first thing I thought about," said Hamilton. "I couldn't believe it. How on earth a car can be sitting in the middle of the road for a couple of laps and not come out? I think you know why."

The Briton would not expand on what he meant by his final remark, but there was probably no conspiracy to protect Rosberg's race lead for a sure home win.

Mercedes' Wolff said not putting the safety car out was surely the result of a new effort by F1's authorities to reduce interference in the racing.

"Under the old spirit of the FIA," he told Auto Motor und Sport, "the safety car would have come out. But I think Charlie's decision was deliberately taken not to turn a race on its head with 15 laps to go."

From GMM

Michael Schumacher might soon continue his rehabilitation at home, according to the Swiss newspaper Sonntagsblick.

After six months in a coma, the seven time world champion was recently transferred from intensive care in Grenoble to a rehabilitation ward in Lausanne.

That is not far from the Schumachers' home on the shores of Lake Geneva, but Sonntagsblick claims the 45-year-old German could return home "during the course of the summer".

The report cited sources close to the Lausanne hospital.

Mark Mader, the chief doctor at a rehabilitation hospital in Basel, Switzerland, said that while home care is "difficult" for the family, "it is optimal" for patients like Schumacher.

Automakers see merit in an EPA proposal that would require them to road test vehicles to verify mileage claims, but they are unclear on how the tests would be handled.

Renault is splitting its Asia Pacific region in two to help boost sales growth in India and the Middle East. Renault expects China and India will become the world's two leading economies within the next 20 years.

The 707-hp SRT Hellcat will generate the most smoke at the drag strip, but it's the rest of the re-engineered Dodge Challenger lineup that likely will fire the interest of consumers.

Automakers are tinkering with a variety of in-car health apps that monitor biometric data such as heart rate, blood sugar, allergies or alertness and relay the information to a driver.

Renault is splitting its Asia Pacific region in two to help boost sales growth in India and the Middle East.

Even BMW has to obey the laws of physics: a rwd car that is compact yet roomy is a paradox. But for traditional fans of the brand, the fwd 2-series Active Tourer is nothing less than a heresy on wheels.

BMW expects that three out of every four buyers of its 2-series Active Tourer minivan will be new to the brand.

GM's product cadence has officially escaped the post-bankruptcy doldrums. Now the challenge is to keep it humming.

Even BMW has to obey the laws of physics: a rwd car that is compact yet roomy is a paradox. But for traditional fans of the brand, the fwd 2-series Active Tourer is nothing less than a heresy on wheels.

From GMM

Heidfeld is dating Frentzen.

It's a sensational headline, and nonetheless true -- Sven Heidfeld, the brother of former F1 driver Nick, and Heinz-Harald Frentzen's sister Nicole-Nadine Frentzen, are an item.

"We have known each other from our childhood," 25-year-old Frentzen, whose 47-year-old brother won races for Williams and Jordan, is quoted by the Kolner Express tabloid.

Nicole-Nadine Frentzen (Photo: BMW)

"Sven was more like a big brother to me," she added, "but it sparked suddenly at one of my brother's races."

Sven Heidfeld, 35 and the younger brother of former BMW driver Nick, runs a racing school called Heidfeld Racing.

Heidfeld and Frentzen, both Germans, were F1 teammates at Sauber in 2003.

From IndyCar.com

It had been a long and winding road between victories for Sebastien Bourdais.

Bourdais, driving the No. 11 Hydroxycut KVSH Racing car, claimed his 32nd Indy car career win in Race 1 of the Honda Indy Toronto by 3.3408 seconds over championship front-runner Helio Castroneves.

Bourdais broke a tie with Dario Franchitti and Paul Tracy for eighth on the all-time win list.

“It's really sweet. We had to fight and wait for it for a long time but today was just kind of one of these days when the stars align,” said Bourdais, who earned pole yesterday.

“I guess I was not expecting it because here I know how things can go. Last year we were second and third and it's great to get this win.”

Sebastian Bourdais, Toronto (Photo: Eric Anderson/IndyCar.com)

Bourdais closed the 2007 season with victories at Surfers Paradise, Australia, and Mexico City - the latter on Nov. 11 -- to secure his fourth consecutive Champ Car World Series title for Newman/Haas Racing.

He moved to Europe to compete in Formula One for two seasons, and then drove in the SuperLeague Formula in 2010.

Bourdais, 35, who resides in St. Petersburg, Fla., competed in nine IndyCar races in 2011 for Dale Coyne Racing, made 11 starts for Dragon Racing the next season and contested his first full season in 2013 with Dragon Racing.

His dominating victory was the first for KVSH Racing since Tony Kanaan won the 2013 Indianapolis 500.

“He dominated from start to finish and we're very proud of him,” team co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven said. “He's had some unlucky breaks but showed today what a strong driver he is.”

From GMM

Fernando Alonso sounds underwhelmed, having been told of Ferrari's bold plans to push him to the very front of the grid in 2015.

As arguably the best driver in F1, Spaniard Alonso is always a centrepiece of the 'silly season', but this year there are real signs his patience with the Maranello team is finally ending.

He has been linked with a move to his former team, McLaren, who are switching to works Honda power next year with the biggest budget in its history.

But it emerged at Hockenheim that, last week, Alonso was shown Ferrari's plans for a major improvement in 2015.

"I hope the presentation I put his way impressed him, but you should ask him that!" said technical director James Allison.

Predictably, Alonso was indeed asked -- and Ferrari might not like the answer.

"I've been in formula one for fourteen years," he said. "I've heard a lot of plans.

Fernando Alonso, Ferrari F14 T (Photo: Ferrari)

"In July and August each team is very strong, in November they're even better and by January they're dominating.

"But only in February are the facts on the table," Alonso insisted, according to Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.

Spain's Diario AS also quoted Alonso as saying at Hockenheim: "Only two or three teams can win races. You would need a crystal ball to know what will happen next year.

"What Mercedes has shown is that it can be fast and dominant in this new era of F1, while we have not worked well enough with the new rules.

"But it's not like other years where everything was more or less on the limit. I think the step between the cars of 2014 and 2015 will be much bigger than what we saw in the past.

"That is the big hope we have, but everyone in July will have the same hopes as well," said Alonso.

From GMM

Mercedes has slammed as "unacceptable" the failure of Lewis Hamilton's Brembo brand brake disc during qualifying at Hockenheim.

The big crash in Q1, leaving the Briton winded and with bruised knees, further dents Hamilton's championship charge by leaving him well down the grid.

But he will almost certainly fall to the very back at Hockenheim, because Mercedes will need to revert to the maker of Nico Rosberg's brake discs -- Carbon Industries -- for safety reasons ahead of the German grand prix, and therefore fall foul of 'parc ferme' rules on Hamilton's Brembo-spec car.

"It is impossible to determine in such a short time why the disc has broken," said Toto Wolff.

Lewis Hamilton's crashed Mercedes W05 (Photo: WRi2)

In fact, Hockenheim was not Mercedes' first Brembo disc failure in 2014, as it emerges Rosberg had a similar problem in the Barcelona test.

Team chairman Niki Lauda is furious.

"Brembo promised to reinforce this material but that it now happens again, is unacceptable," he is quoted by Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.

"We will not use these brakes in the race," Lauda confirmed.

That is a further blow to Hamilton, with both the Briton and his teammate Rosberg confirming they choose the brand of disc at grands prix based entirely on "feel".

As is fairly standard practice at Mercedes, the Brembo discs on Hamilton's car were changed between the end of Saturday morning practice and qualifying.

"This product (Brembo) is a little more aggressive, but that is no explanation or excuse for something like this to happen," said Wolff.

Auto Motor und Sport reports that other Brembo users in F1 have also had problems in 2014, including Toro Rosso, Sauber, Marussia and Caterham.

It is understood the Italian company has recently had to change one of the suppliers of its materials.

Ferrari, however, has reportedly had no problems in 2014, having stockpiled a supply of 2013-spec Brembo discs.

No matter the reasons, Hamilton has vowed to attack on Sunday, whilst also describing his crash as "another gift" to his title-leading teammate Rosberg.

"With the pace we have, with Nico on pole and he has no one in front of him, by the third or fourth lap he will be several seconds up the road," he said.

From press release

Bouncing back from his first retirement of the season in Silverstone, German Nico Rosberg took a dominant home victory in Hockenheim.

Rosberg started from pole and led all the way to the checkered flag to score his fourth win of the season.

Nico Rosberg (Photo: Mercedes AMG F1 Team)

His Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton recovered from the qualifying accident that left him 20th on the starting grid to claim the last step of the podium behind Williams' Valtteri Bottas, making it an all Mercedes top 3.

Everybody expected the Bracley based team to struggle without the "Fric" suspensions, but Hockenheim proved the W05 is still the best car on the grid.

Celebrations after a double podium for Mercedes (Photo: Mercedes AMG F1 Team)

"Before the race I was worried that without the Fric system the gap in the race would be smaller," said Rosberg. "But we were again the quickest out there"

"I can't be too ecstatic about the race because it has been a tough weekend for me," added Hamilton.

"I've ultimately lost more points to Nico in the championship battle. But I'm grateful that I could limit the damage with a podium finish.

"When you are sitting on the grid basically in last place, with no other cars in your mirrors, it's very hard to imagine that you could be standing up there two hours later."

Race results* - German Grand Prix (round 10 of 19)
1 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W05) - 67 laps 1.33'42"914
2 - Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW36-Mercedes) - 20"789
3 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W05) - 22"530
4 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB10-Renault) - 44"014
5 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F14-T) - 52"467
6 - Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull RB10-Renault) - 52"549
7 - Nico Hulkenberg (Force India VJM07-Mercedes) - 1'04"178
8 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/29-Mercedes) - 1'24"711
9 - Kevin Magnussen (McLaren MP4/29-Mercedes) - 1 lap
10 - Sergio Perez (Force India VJM07-Mercedes) - 1 lap
11 - Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari F14-T) - 1 lap
12 - Pastor Maldonado (Lotus E22-Renault) - 1 lap
13 - Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR9-Renault) - 1 lap
14 - Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber C33-Ferrari) - 1 lap
15 - Jules Bianchi (Marussia MR03-Ferrari) - 1 lap
16 - Kamui Kobayashi (Caterham CT05-Renault) - 2 laps
17 - Max Chilton (Marussia MR03-Ferrari) - 2 laps
18 - Marcus Ericsson (Caterham CT05-Renault) - 2 laps

Fastest lap of the race: 1'19"908 by Lewis Hamilton

Retirements
Adrian Sutil
Daniil Kvyat
Romain Grosjean
Felipe Massa

Drivers' championship
1.Rosberg 190; 2.Hamilton 176; 3.Ricciardo 106; 4.Alonso 97; 5.Bottas 91; 6.Vettel 82; 7.Hulkenberg 69; 8.Button 59; 9.Magnussen 37; 10.Massa 30; 11.Perez 29; 12.Raikkonen 19; 13.Vergne 9; 14.Grosjean 8; 15.Kvyat 6; 16.Bianchi 2.

Constructors' championship
1.Mercedes 366; 2.Red Bull-Renault 188; 3.Williams-Mercedes 121; 4.Ferrari 116; 5.Force India-Mercedes 98; 6.McLaren-Mercedes 96; 7.Toro Rosso-Renault 15; 8.Lotus-Renault 8; 9.Marussia-Ferrari 2.

*Unofficial results

From GMM

With Nico Rosberg all signed up for the future, Mercedes' attention is now turning to the occupant of its other silver seat.

"Yes," the Brackley team's boss Toto Wolff told Kronen Zeitung, Austria's biggest newspaper.

"We are already sitting together and negotiating with Lewis Hamilton. About a multi-year contract, even," he revealed.

Wolff said Mercedes is more than happy with its current driver lineup of German Rosberg alongside Briton Hamilton.

"Lewis is a fixed part of the team," he said, "and I would hope for a long time to come."

Will Mercedes be able to keep both Hamilton and Rosberg (Photo: Mercedes AMG F1 Team)

For the moment, however, Hamilton is keeping a low profile on the subject. There are paddock rumours he might be tempted to return to McLaren, particularly if Rosberg goes on to win the number '1' for his 2015 car.

"My contract ends in a year," said Hamilton, "so I have time. I'm not thinking a great deal about it."

But even Rosberg seems happy for Hamilton to stay, even though they have clashed off the track this year as they fight for the drivers' title.

"I see no reason why it can't work as it has in the long term," he told Germany's Bild am Sonntag newspaper ahead of the German grand prix.

"We have difficult moments but then we discuss them together and move on."

From GMM

Bernie Ecclestone has played down suggestions he is set to buy back formula one.

F1 business journalist Christian Sylt claims the sport's biggest shareholder, CVC, is already committed to selling its stake by next July.

"The last thing Donald (Mackenzie) wants to do is to get out," Ecclestone told the Sunday Telegraph, "but I think the way their company is structured eventually they have to move on."

Sylt reports that CVC's memorandum dictates a ten-year term, with three one-year extensions but only if the majority of its investors agree.

Indeed, rumours of CVC's talks with potential buyers abound in the paddock.

One of them could be Ecclestone, even though he plays down suggestions he is looking to up his 5.3 per cent stake.

"I'm not saying it won't ever happen," said the billionaire F1 supremo, "but there's no point in me doing it at the moment."

From GMM

Max Verstappen has the F1 world at his feet.

That is the view of Daniel Ricciardo, who after rising through the energy drink company's junior ranks is now consistently beating reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull.

"Max won the Zandvoort Masters?" Australian Ricciardo told the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.

Ricciardo is referring to Max Verstappen, the increasingly highly-rated 16-year-old racing junior, and the very same F3 event that Max's father Jos won two decades earlier.

Max Verstappen (Photo: fiaf3europe.com)

Ricciardo said he is impressed at the smooth and highly competitive transition Verstappen jr has made from karting to single seaters.

According to De Telegraaf, the young Dutchman has caught the attention of a number of F1 teams, including Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari.

Ricciardo said the world is at Verstappen's feet.

"For me, I didn't have that choice -- I was approached by Red Bull in 2008, presented with a contract and I was very happy to sign it," he said.

"But if you have more options, like Max does, that's always good," the Red Bull driver added.

"Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull are top teams with big budgets. It's a difficult decision that Max and his father have to make, but in the end I don't think you can go far wrong in his situation.

"Although, from my experience, I would recommend Red Bull," Ricciardo grinned.