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From GMM

Mercedes is unlikely to back down amid pressure from F1 rivals to agree to relax the current engine 'freeze'.

Christian Horner, boss of the works Renault-powered team Red Bull, said earlier in Russia that Mercedes initially agreed to the proposed 'unfreeze' but then went back on its word.

After that, the majority of those in the F1 strategy group voted for the 'unfreeze' and so it will now be sent to the F1 Commission for ratification.

But without dominant Mercedes and the marque's customer-powered teams also on board, the changes will not be allowed in 2015.

Toto Wolff, Mercedes' motor sport boss, said in Russia on Saturday: "We have already stated our position at the meeting of the strategy group, and in the coming months our position will not change."

The Austrian said Mercedes' position is not because the team is so dominant at the start of the new turbo V6 era, but because "formula one needs stability".

"F1 needs stability," says Toto Wolff (Photo: WRI2)

"It would be very easy to just block everything from our position of strength, but we have a different approach," Wolff insisted.

"There are rules, there are procedures so that we do not make hasty decisions that may lead to destabilisation.

"I am deeply convinced that you cannot change the rules in October just because they do not suit you," he added.

Wolff argues that allowing in-season engine development will drive up costs, perhaps even most of all for Mercedes.

He hit back at Ferrari's claim that allowing the 'unfreeze' will not cost any more.

"If you make a new version of the engine by the end of June or the beginning of July, then the process of development happens twice per year, not once.

"I don't know how Ferrari has done their calculations, but perhaps we should give them a calculator. It is impossible that it does not cost more," said Wolff.

From GMM

Sergey Sirotkin is suddenly sounding confident he will make his F1 debut in 2015.

The Russian teen had his maiden Friday practice outing on home soil at Sochi, declaring afterwards that his pace relative to Adrian Sutil had surprised him.

"I did not attack 100 per cent," Sirotkin told Russia's Championat. "I was not even close to the limit.

"It means the summit is not as high as I had thought. I feel like I am more than ready for next year."

Sergey Sirotkin, Sauber C33 (Photo: WRI2)

Sirotkin's comments follow boss Monisha Kaltenborn's claim earlier this weekend that she was set for revived talks at Sochi over Sauber's so-called 'Russian rescue deal'.

Speaking about his prospects for 2015, Sirotkin admitted: "It is very positive.

"I still cannot officially say what will happen next, but the chances are very good. I think that it will not be long until there will be an official announcement," he added.

From GMM

Kamui Kobayashi threw fresh doubt on Caterham's future during the Russian grand prix.

The Japanese, whose own future with the struggling backmarker team is also unclear, retired from the inaugural Sochi race mid-distance.

"Nothing wrong with the car," he told BBC radio immediately after retiring.

"The team asked me to stop the car to save mileage.

"We have a lot of mileage limitation to avoid things going wrong with the parts. This is why I got the message from top management," Kobayashi added.

Kamui Kobayashi, Caterham CT05 (Photo: WRI2)

He also told British television Sky he is not sure if he will be in the car for the remaining three races of 2014.

Caterham's official explanation for the Kobayashi retirement, however, was that the brakes on his car overheated.

In the post-race team statement, the team quoted the 28-year-old driver as saying: "It was all a bit of a surprise to me and at first I didn't really know what the reason for having to stop was.

"The team has now analysed the telemetry and it was clear that my brakes were overheating too much," Kobayashi added.

From press release

Nico Rosberg made things difficult for himself in Russia as his teammate Lewis Hamilton cruised to an easy win at the Russian Grand Prix.

The two Mercedes drivers started the race alongside eachother. But Rosberg snuck up the inside to take the lead - slightly - heading into turn 2.

Nico Rosberg, Paddy Lowe, Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas (Photo: WRI2)

Then it all went wrong for the German.

He locked up the brakes in a huge cloud of tire smoke. It was so bad, he had to come in at the end of the lap, the first of the race, for fresh rubber.

Nico Rosberg locks up (Photo: WRI2)

While Hamilton raced unchallenged to the finish, Rosberg recovered to second place with a 52-lap stint on the same set of medium tires.

"The biggest surprise (of the race) was that we were able to run 52 laps on a single set of prime tire with Nico's car," admitted Mercedes' Paddy Lowe.

Hamilton races unchallenged to the finish (Photo: WRI2)

"It did not seem feasible that Nico could make it to the end without stopping again. However, his pace kept on improving and in the end we decided to take the gamble in order to try and secure second place.

"It worked out and, in my view, it was one of Nico's best ever drives to recover from his mistake."

Together, Hamilton and Rosberg secured their ninth 1-2 finish of the season to give the constructors' championship to Mercedes.

Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull RB10 (Photo: WRI2)

Race results* - Russian Grand Prix (round 16 of 19)
1 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W05) - 53 laps 1.31'50"744
2 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W05) - 13"657
3 - Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW36-Mercedes) - 17"425
4 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/29-Mercedes) - 30"234
5 - Kevin Magnussen (McLaren MP4/29-Mercedes) - 53"616
6 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F14-T) - 1'00"016
7 - Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull RB10-Renault) - 1'01"812
8 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB10-Renault) - 1'06"185
9 - Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari F14-T) - 1'18"877
10 - Sergio Perez (Force India VJM07-Mercedes) - 1'20"067
11 - Felipe Massa (Williams FW36-Mercedes) - 1'20"877
12 - Nico Hulkenberg (Force India VJM07-Mercedes) - 1'21"309
13 - Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR9-Renault) - 1'37"295
14 - Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso STR9-Renault) - 1 lap
15 - Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber C33-Ferrari) - 1 lap
16 - Adrian Sutil (Sauber C33-Ferrari) - 1 lap
17 - Romain Grosjean (Lotus E22-Renault) - 1 lap
18 - Pastor Maldonado (Lotus E22-Renault) - 1 lap
19 - Marcus Ericsson (Caterham CT05-Renault) - 2 laps
*Unofficial results

Fastest lap of the race: 1'40"896 by Valtteri Bottas

Retirements
Kamui Kobayashi
Max Chilton

Vladimir Putin (Photo: WRI2)

Drivers' championship
1.Hamilton 291; 2.Rosberg 274; 3.Ricciardo 199; 4.Bottas 145; 5.Vettel 143; 6.Alonso 141; 7.Button 94; 8.Hulkenberg 76; 9.Massa 71; 10.Magnussen 49; 11.Perez, Raikkonen 47; 13.Vergne 21; 14.Grosjean, Kvyat 8; 16.Bianchi 2.

Constructors' championship
1.Mercedes 565; 2.Red Bull 342; 3.Williams 216; 4.Ferrari 188; 5.McLaren-Mercedes 143; 6.Force India 123; 7.Toro Rosso 29; 9.Marussia 2.

Adapted GMM

Williams is the latest team sensationally linked with Fernando Alonso's uncertain future.

Dominant Mercedes - his obvious target - is not interested in accommodating Alonso in 2015, team chairman Niki Lauda repeated at Sochi.

"We have a contract with Lewis (Hamilton) for 2015," the F1 legend told Auto Motor und Sport, "so there is no place for Alonso.

Alonso is in talks with McLaren-Honda, but supremo Ron Dennis is reportedly pushing back against the Spaniard's salary demands, and reluctant to agree a mere one-year deal.

Auto Motor und Sport claims Alonso is also lining up his alternatives should his talks with McLaren fail.

Williams is not a bad team (Photo: WRI2)

"He is also knocking at Lotus and Williams," said correspondent Michael Schmidt.

Schmidt said a move to Lotus is however unlikely for Alonso, even after the Enstone team announced its switch to field-leading Mercedes power for 2015.

When asked if Alonso is a possibility for Lotus, Romain Grosjean said in Russia: "Maybe, but I don't think so."

That could be because the Total and PDVSA sponsorships linked with existing drivers Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado respectively brings a whopping $80 million to the team.

And the impressive Mercedes-powered Williams team has already announced that it will field an unchanged driver lineup of Valtteri Bottas alongside Felipe Massa in 2015.

Thirty-six innovations in a diverse range from adhesives to vision systems are finalists for the 2015 Automotive News PACE Awards. The awards honor supplier innovation in product, manufacturing process and information technology.

Britain last year produced more cars than France for the first time in decades. And in a dramatic turnabout, the value of British car exports has doubled in the past 10 year.

The global head of Maserati wants the Italian luxury brand to add 20 dealerships in the United States by year end. Speaking to Automotive News at the Paris auto show, Harald Wester said the U.S.

GMC is planning a broad advertising campaign next year, an effort by General Motors to raise the profile of its successful, under-the-radar truck brand.

BMW CEO Nortbert Reithofer has transformed BMW's U.S. factory in Spartanburg into one of the world's largest SUV production hubs.

Renault is targeting prosperous car buyers in urban areas with its Clio Initiale Paris, the first Renault to use the upscale Initiale Paris trimline, which will cost 3,350 euros more than standard versions of the subcompact hatchback.

BMW CEO Nortbert Reithofer has transformed the automaker's U.S. factory into one of the world's largest SUV production hubs.

From GMM

Unprecedented security at a grand prix will accompany Russian president Vladimir Putin's visit to the inaugural race on Sunday.

F1's regular television broadcasters have been told that when Putin's security personnel scramble radio frequencies to prevent potential bombs being triggered, live video images and microphones will possibly go dead temporarily.

And the Daily Mail also claims that "radar guarding" against airborne threats could cause television interference, while TV crews have been told not to film Putin or the visiting king of Bahrain too closely.

Amid the controversial Ukraine conflict, security is also noticeably high in other areas at the new Sochi Autodrom, including the presence of armed guards and airport-style checks.

Sochi Autodrom (Photo: WRI2)

The German newspaper Bild has more details.

It claims then when Putin is scheduled to visit the building opposite the grandstand, windows will be obscured to thwart any potential assassins.

The report also said the F1 teams' and FIA's radio systems will be affected by the anti-bomb frequency scramble, which could last up to 15 minutes.

And Bild said that security will be so tight when Putin is on the grid that regular 'grid walking' broadcasters may be unable to complete their normal duties.

Land Rover Canada is recalling 2,942 LR4, Range Rover and Range Rover Sport from 2014 because a fault in the tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) could impair the vehicle's ability to determine the location of the individual tire pressure monitoring sensors. This would render the system inactive, displaying a "TPMS system fault" message on the instrument cluster.

An inoperative TPMS could allow underinflated tires to go unnoticed by the driver, which could affect vehicle stability and increase the risk of a crash.

Land Rover dealers will therefore update vehicle software.

Source: Transport Canada

From GMM

The next Russian grand prix could be a night race.

According to the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, new F1 venue Sochi Autodrom's contract with Bernie Ecclestone is for at least seven years.

On Sunday for the inaugural race, the start-time is at 3pm local.

But next year it could be much later.

"We want to start at dusk and finish in the dark," the newspaper quoted boss Richard Cregan as saying.

"The infrastructure for the lighting is already present, we are now waiting for the green light," he added.

Bernie Ecclestone is said to have already basically agreed to the proposal.

From GMM

At least four major publications believe there are "growing concerns" about the health condition of seriously injured F1 driver Jules Bianchi.

At present, the only official news is that the Frenchman suffered a 'diffuse axonal injury' in his Suzuka crash last Sunday, and now lies in a Japanese hospital in a 'critical but stable' condition.

But the British newspapers the Guardian, the Telegraph and the Times have all now expressed 'growing' fears about Bianchi's condition, particularly after the Marussia driver's siblings and best friend jetted into Japan to be with his parents at his bedside.

"The FIA does not want to give information about Bianchi's health," said the major German daily Bild.

"Bild's information is that his condition is said to have deteriorated."

Jean-Eric Vergne, Bianchi's closest friend on the F1 grid, said at Sochi that the 25-year-old is currently "between life and death" in Japan.

From GMM

Jean-Eric Vergne is back in the running to keep his seat at Toro Rosso in 2015.

In August, the Faenza based team said the Frenchman would leave at the end of this season as it replaces him with teenage sensation Max Verstappen.

But Verstappen's scheduled 2015 teammate, Daniil Kvyat, has since been called up by Red Bull's main team in the wake of Sebastian Vettel's shock news at Suzuka a week ago.

Immediately, it was said that the latest cream of the energy drink company's junior programme, Carlos Sainz jr, was the favourite to complete Toro Rosso's revised 2015 lineup.

Jean-Eric Vergne, Toro Rosso STR9 (Photo: WRI2)

But that would mean Toro Rosso enters the new season with a driver lineup whose combined age of an unprecedented 37, with a dubious tally of zero combined career grands prix.

Asked at Sochi if Sainz is still the frontrunner, team boss Franz Tost said: "There are also other drivers.

"We have Jean-Eric Vergne, who is an experienced driver.

"We have Carlos Sainz jr who is currently leading the 3.5 Renault championship, then we have Pierre Gasly (and) we have (Alex) Lynn.

"Fortunately Red Bull has a lot of very fast, highly skilled drivers in the driver pool and within the next weeks, Red Bull will decide who will get this seat," Tost added.

From GMM

Romain Grosjean has denied that Lotus' new Mercedes engine deal makes it less likely he will stay with the Enstone team beyond 2014.

On the face of it, the struggling team's switch from an underpowered Renault 'power unit' is good news for Lotus' frustrated drivers.

"It will help Lotus," Grosjean agreed at Sochi.

"I am sure that next year the team will be more competitive. The option of (staying with) Lotus has become quite attractive."

But tucked away in Lotus' press release about the Mercedes deal was the detail that the team will be using Petronas oils and fuels next year.

Romain Grosjean, Lotus E22 (Photo: WRI2)

Currently, Grosjean is closely aligned with the Renault-linked French oil company Total.

"They (Total) understand the situation," the Frenchman insisted. "There are negotiations.

"Our relationship with Total is much closer than just a sponsor. We have been together and we want to continue.

"If the car is not running on Total fuel, that does not mean the company will stop supporting me," Grosjean explained.

From GMM

Rivals are piling pressure on Mercedes to agree to "unfreeze" engine development in formula one.

The German marque has utterly dominated the sport this year as the all-new turbo V6 era dawned.

So rivals, powered by struggling Ferrari and Renault, have argued that the strict limits on in-season development of the 'power units' should be relaxed.

For a rule change as soon as 2015, however, all teams would have to agree.

Christian Horner, boss of the works Renault team Red Bull, claimed in Russia on Friday that, in Singapore last month, Mercedes agreed to some 'unfreeze' measures.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W05 (Photo: WRI2)

"One minute we agree something," he said, "then suddenly people can't remember what they've agreed and they change their mind, so we've got a bit going on at the moment."

Indeed, since Mercedes allegedly 'changed its mind', F1's influential 'strategy group' got together and the majority voted for the engine unfreeze to be sent to the F1 Commission for ratification.

"We'll see what the outcome of the commission vote is," said Horner.

"FIA are in support, FOM are in support, obviously the non-Mercedes teams are in support, so we'll see what that holds in approximately a month's time."

Horner admitted, however, that for the change to be voted through for 2015, every team will need to agree.

"I agree with Christian," said Marco Mattiacci, boss of F1's other engine supplier, Ferrari.

"Now today we have the majority of the votes to move ahead on the idea to unfreeze the engine. Let's see what's going to happen during the F1 Commission," he added.

From GMM

Red Bull mogul Dietrich Mateschitz insists he is "not disappointed" to be losing world champion Sebastian Vettel.

A week ago at Suzuka, the German - who was nurtured from boyhood to F1 stardom by the energy drink company - announced to Red Bull and the world that he is leaving the team.

It is expected he will switch to Ferrari for 2015.

But billionaire Mateschitz insisted to the German news agency DPA that, at the moment, Vettel and Red Bull Racing are not compatible.

Dietrich Mateschitz (Photo: WRI2)

"Given Red Bull's handicap with the current (Renault) power unit and Mercedes' dominance," he said, "you don't need a four-time world champion who at best can be 'best of the rest'."

And according to Mateschitz, the promise shown by Vettel's successor, 20-year-old Daniil Kvyat, is another reason Red Bull is happily letting its champion go.

"We considered it neither just nor necessary to intervene," he said, "particularly since this switch brings huge financial savings.

"I also believe that the forthcoming switches will contribute a lot to the excitement of the next formula one season," Mateschitz added.