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McLaren Formula 1 team ended its 20-year relationship with Mercedes-Benz at the end of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Sunday night.

The British team is now fully focused on the new Honda era.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the team will be conducting systems and logistics checks with the Honda-engined interim car, MP4-29H/1X1 at the Yas Marina circuit of Abu Dhabi.

McLaren test and development driver Stoffel Vandoorne will be driving on both days.

“On Tuesday and Wednesday, here in Abu Dhabi, we'll be testing our hybrid McLaren-Honda MP4-29H/1X1 for the first time, following our filming day with the car at Silverstone last week,” said Eric Boullier, racing director, McLaren.

“It's an exciting time for both McLaren and Honda, and for all who sail and will sail in the good ship McLaren-Honda. Ahead of us are many weeks of hard graft, but you may be well sure we're up for the task”.

Formula 1 teams will participate Tuesday and Wednesday to the final test session of the 2014 season held at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi.

Confirmed drivers will take part in these tests, such as Kimi Raikkonen with Ferrari and Nico Rosberg with Mercedes AMG.

Several rookies will also get the chance to get some valuable mileage in an F1 car, such as GP2 drivers Raffaele Marciello (Ferrari), Jolyon Palmer (Force India), Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren) a Formula Renault 3.5 series, champion, Carlos Sainz junior and Mercedes DTM driver, Pascal Wehrlein (Mercedes AMG).

Test line-ups:

Tuesday November 25
• Red Bull Racing: Carlos Sainz Jr
• Mercedes AMG: Nico Rosberg
• Ferrari: Kimi Raikkonen
• Lotus: Esteban Ocon
• McLaren: Stoffel Vandoorne
• Sauber: Marcus Ericsson
• Sahara Force India: Jolyon Palmer
• Toro Rosso: Max Verstappen
• Williams: Valtteri Bottas
• Caterham: Will Stevens

Wednesday November 26
• Red Bull Racing: Daniel Ricciardo
• Mercedes AMG: Pascal Wehrlein
• Ferrari: Raffaele Marciello
• Lotus: To be announced
• McLaren: Stoffel Vandoorne
• Sauber: Marcus Ericsson
• Sahara Force India: Spike Goddard
• Toro Rosso: Max Verstappen
• Williams: Felipe Nasr
• Caterham: Will Stevens

From press release

Ohsweken Speedway officials are proud to announce a partnership with Sam Donnelly of Klotz Canada Synthetic Lubricants to become the title sponsor of Micro Sprint racing at Ohsweken.

Beginner, Junior, Senior, and Expert divisions compete on the Micro Sprint track at Ohsweken on Thursday nights during each summer, and provide an excellent training ground for the next generation of dirt track stars.

Donnelly has been a supporter of Ohsweken Speedway in the past through his Klotz Canada brand, and travels frequently from Ontario's Kawartha Lakes region to attend races at the track each season.

His support of Micro Sprint racing is a welcome addition, as track officials work to grow the grass roots divisions at Ohsweken.

From Citroen Racing

Nine-time World Rally Champions, Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena are to return to action in a DS 3 WRC at the Rallye Monte-Carlo, opening round of the 2015 World Rally Championship.

This one-off appearance, at the most prestigious rally on the World Rally Championship calendar, will support the launch of the DS Brand.

The two DS 3 WRCs are nominated to score points in the Manufacturers' championship will be driven by Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle - already confirmed as a works crew for the full season - and by Loeb and Elena.

They will take on the challenge once again as they return to road racing more than a year after the end of their shared career.

Often unpredictable due to the weather conditions, Rallye Monte-Carlo will provide the Franco-Monegasque pair with the perfect opportunity to use their immense experience.

Sebastien Loeb, Citroen DS3 WRC, Monte-Carlo 2013. (Photo: WRC)

From GMM

As their fierce rivalry this year came to its zenith on Sunday, Nico Rosberg was notably gracious in defeat.

The bullish German had spent the Abu Dhabi weekend firing psychological barbs at Lewis Hamilton, but on Sunday he was beaten off the line by the Briton before technical problems began to strike.

Rosberg and Hamilton, old friends and boyhood karting teammates, have clashed memorably in 2014 as their in-house title battle intensified.

But as the non-alcoholic rose water flowed on the podium amid fireworks in the sky, the defeated Rosberg was gracious in defeat.

"He (Hamilton) did a little bit of a better job than me in the races this year. Tiny bits that I need to find," he said.

Earlier, although he finished the race just 14th, Rosberg even made his way into the pre-podium room to congratulate his rival, and the pair embraced and shared some of the first words they have uttered to one another for weeks.

"He just came into the room, very, very professional," said Hamilton, "and he just said 'fantastic'. He said 'you drove really well'. And the same to him -- all year long he drove incredibly well, especially in qualifying, so hats off to him."

Nico Rosberg partying with Mercedes team. (Photo: WRi2)

Nico Rosberg also graciously attended Mercedes' post-race team party, even though he said watching the champagne flow for Hamilton was "a bit hard".

But the pair once again came face to face, with Rosberg explaining: "I said 'you deserve it'. He was the best driver on the grid this year, and it was a great battle between us. And I race for battles such as this."

Rosberg's disappointment will be compounded on Tuesday when he must return to the cockpit of his recently-malfunctioned car for the post-race Abu Dhabi test.

"Right now I have to say that I am not really in the mood for it," he admitted late on Sunday.

Lewis Hamilton admitted that their embraces and handshakes may "ease" some of the tension that has characterised their rivalry in 2014.

He said: "He was graceful enough to come up to me and see me after, which I really appreciated. It was really big of him to be able to do that. It's very, very tough, I know what it's like losing a championship so, for sure, we'll keep working at it."

Lewis Hamilton, world champion 2014, and Nico Rosberg. (Photo: Mercedes AMG F1 Team)

Team boss Toto Wolff said he was also happy to see how gracious Rosberg was in defeat.

"The most emotional I felt today was when I saw Nico going up to congratulate him," he told German television.

"That's outstanding by Nico because I know the discussions we had after Spa, where the relationship was exactly the opposite. So I'm very happy for both of them because it needed Lewis to accept Nico's congratulations," he added.

"It probably would have been exactly the same the other way around," Toto Wolff told the RTL broadcaster. "For us it is great that we have two such great sportsmen in the team."

Chrysler on Sunday night launched an ad blitz during the American Music Awards that linked five of its brands to A-list recording artists in spots that co-promoted both the vehicles and Interscope singles.

How did Chrysler decide which star fit best with which auto brand? Marissa Hunter, director of global brand advertising and head of Ram Truck brand advertising, laid it out like this.

Chrysler on Sunday night launched an ad blitz during the American Music Awards that linked five of its brands to A-list recording artists in spots that co-promoted both the vehicles and Interscope singles.

Continental is reviewing whether to close its factory in Gifhorn, Germany, which makes electric motors and hydraulic braking systems, because of a lack of customer orders. About 1,600 people work at the plant.

VW Group, which is cutting costs and overhauling its development and production, is on track to reach its goal of a pretax profit of 8 percent of sales by 2018, a German magazine reported.

SGL Group, the materials supplier for carbon fiber reinforced parts in BMW's electric cars, is in talks with Audi, Porsche, GM and other carmakers to supply carbon fiber for a wider range of automotive components, its CEO said.

Tesla Motors is in talks with BMW over a possible alliance in battery technology and light-weight components, Tesla CEO Elon Musk told a German weekly magazine.

Tesla Motors is in talks with BMW over a possible alliance in battery technology and lightweight components, Tesla CEO Elon Musk told a German magazine.

Tesla Motors is in talks with BMW over a possible alliance in battery technology and lightweight components, Tesla CEO Elon Musk told a German magazine.

Tesla Motors is in talks with BMW over a possible alliance in battery technology and lightweight components, Tesla CEO Elon Musk told a German magazine.

Opinion 23 Nov, 2014

Formula One rule makers had a lucky escape when Lewis Hamilton took the 2014 F1 World Championship

Senators' frustration with what they see as an inconsistent and disorganized response to the Takata airbag recall crisis boiled over last week, signaling a push for more auto safety regulations.

The statistical method the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau uses to identify which consumers belong to minority groups correctly identified African-American borrowers only 24 percent of the time.

ZF Friedrichshafen AG will not follow rivals in pushing for 10-speed transmissions. the German supplier will stop at 9-speed transmissions, says CEO Stefan Sommer.

South Korea's car imports have leapt from 3 percent of sales a decade ago to 14 percent today as foreign brands led by Germany's BMW and Mercedes take advantage of a free trade deal to grow sales in a once impregnable market.