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The Caterham F1 Team is launching the #RefuelCaterhamF1 project today in order to power the team to go racing in Abu Dhabi and hopefully beyond. The team will reward both fans and sponsors in this unique opportunity to be the driving force behind the team by crowdfunding its return to the grid.

Companies and fans can get involved by heading to the Crowdcube website, www.crowdcube.com/caterham, and pledging the amount they wish to give, from just £10. Supporters will receive unique rewards, including a once in a lifetime opportunity to get your name on the Caterham F1 car competing in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The opportunity to support Caterham F1's return to the grid will close when it reaches its £2.350m funding target or Friday 14 November, whichever is sooner.

Finbarr O'Connell, Caterham Sports Limited administrator and interim Caterham F1 Team Principal: “We are working non-stop to get the Caterham F1 Team back racing, initially in Abu Dhabi, but hopefully that will be just a stepping stone to get it back racing on a permanent basis, under new ownership. In order to achieve that one of our most useful, innovative and effective options right now is crowdfunding. We want to get as many sponsors and fans as possible involved this week and make our comeback something we can all be part of. This team deserves a future and I'm sure that there are plenty of fans and companies out there that agree with us, so I can't think of a better way to get us all together and show our support to the team than this one, the Caterham F1 Team #RefuelCaterhamF1 project.

“In order to make this happen, we've teamed-up with Crowdcube, the world's leading crowdfunding platform, which has raised £45m for more than 150 organisations since 2011. If we don't hit the target by next Friday, obviously the pledged funds will be returned, but right now we are hopeful for the future of the team and we are confident that the team showing the world that it can race again will lead to a bright future under a new owner on a proper financial footing.”

Mike Stubbs of Mishcon, legal adviser to the Administrator: “At Mishcon, we do a lot of ground breaking work for our F1 clients and for all clients . This initiative represents yet another advancement in the ever growing list of rescue options if you are prepared to think laterally.”

Darren Westlake, CEO of Crowdcube: “It's fantastic for Crowdcube to be able to support an iconic team in this way; helping Caterham F1 to continue doing what it does best. This is a unique opportunity for motorsport fans to be directly involved in the sport they love, getting behind the team and playing a part in powering them onto the grid - even putting their name on the car.”

From GMM

Williams is not ready to welcome a driver of Fernando Alonso's stature.

That is the claim of Pat Symonds, a veteran engineer who has led the British team's technical progress in 2014 to an impressive third spot in the constructors' championship.

As Alonso considers his next move after his apparent relationship breakdown with Ferrari, Williams has often been named as a potential dark horse destination -- perhaps as a Mercedes-powered stepping stone to a full works seat in 2016.

But Williams has already announced that Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa are staying put.

Photo: Williams Martini Racing.

Symonds, who worked with Alonso when he won his world titles at Renault, argues that Williams should not yet be thinking about accommodating a driver like him.

"Our process of creating a winning team is not yet complete. We have a few areas that we still need to work on," he told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.

"For me, Fernando is the best driver in the sport," Symonds agreed, "but he also needs a team around him that can handle him.

"With Alonso's expectations, the pressure would rise at Williams to an unhealthy level that would disturb the progress the team is making," he added.

From GMM

No longer Ferrari's long-time president, Luca di Montezemolo's next move is now clear.

Authoritative reports including the ANSA news agency say the flamboyant 67-year-old, deposed recently by Sergio Marchionne as the Fiat Chrysler group hit the stock market, has been appointed to lead the Italian flag carrier Alitalia.

"The board of the old Alitalia designated Montezemolo ... who will eventually be nominated by the board of the new company," a source told the Reuters news agency, referring to the merger between Alitalia and Abu Dhabi's Etihad.

From GMM

Felipe Nasr, a low-profile F1 presence until now, has burst into a storm in the Interlagos paddock.

Earlier, Sauber shocked the entire paddock with the news that Brazilian Nasr, Williams' 22-year-old reserve, and his sponsor Banco do Brasil will be Marcus Ericsson's teammate at the Swiss team in 2015.

It was a genuine surprise because Sauber, reportedly now the most financially endangered team in F1 in Caterham and Marussia's wake, already appeared to have three other drivers under firm contract to race next season.

One of them is Adrian Sutil, who flagged an impending fight with the Hinwil outfit in the official FIA press conference on Thursday.

"They've confirmed two drivers but that doesn't mean the drivers can drive and it doesn't mean that the team's going to drive," said the furious German.

Also shocked and angry is Sauber's reserve Giedo van der Garde, who with his sponsor McGregor also appeared to have committed to the team for 2015.

Giedo Van der Garde, Sauber reserve driver. (Photo: WRi2)

"You could say that I am surprised -- in capital letters," van der Garde told the Swiss newspaper Blick.

"Next week my management and lawyers will be on the case."

Also surprised was van der Garde's good paddock friend Nico Hulkenberg, who admitted he had only talked to the Dutchman about his 2015 contract on Tuesday.

So while Nasr should be celebrating his impending step up to the F1 grid, the mood is in fact dark.

Countryman Felipe Massa, who also started his career at Sauber, said: "It's not a great time for Sauber.

"The team is in crisis and a crisis is not good for anyone," he is quoted by Brazil's Estadao.

So rather than be able to exalt her new driver, team boss and co-owner Monisha Kaltenborn was instead fending off questions about Sauber's survival, and the possible threat of legal action or the intervention of the contract recognition board.

"When private teams make decisions they have to take financial aspects into consideration, otherwise it gets very difficult to survive," she told reporters.

"This is a step in the right direction for us."

Kaltenborn said Sauber's latest moves, including the split with Esteban Gutierrez, means his Mexican backers will depart, and that the cooperation with Russia and Sergey Sirotkin is likely also over.

It means Nasr is stepping into the sport not only with the very clear 'pay driver' label, but also the impression that his and Ericsson's money is saving the Sauber team.

"It has been a tough year," Nasr said on Thursday, "not only for Sauber but for several other teams.

"But I think formula one is concerned about these teams and will be taking a position to help them.

"I would not come into a team without knowing its condition," he is quoted by O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper.

Felipe Nasr, Williams reserve driver. (Photo: WRi2)

Even F1 legend Nelson Piquet on Thursday was not in the mood for celebrating Brazil's latest grand prix hero.

"It's very good for Brazil," he is quoted by Globo, "but if I am very honest, I have not seen him race very much."

Nasr is currently second in the GP2 standings, but still, there are many who think the trend of the last few years is worrying.

"Unless you have a big bucket of gold," said veteran Jenson Button, "you are not going to get into formula one and that has been proved by some of the signings we have seen for next season."

From GMM

Carlos Sainz Jr has admitted not moving up to formula one next year would be a "big blow".

As the days roll on, it appears increasingly likely that, instead of pairing Max Verstappen with another young rookie in 2015, owner Red Bull will instead keep the experienced Jean-Eric Vergne at Toro Rosso for one more year.

Indeed, recently frustrated that his F1 career seemed to be ending, the 24-year-old is now all smiles in the Interlagos paddock.

"Compared to one month ago, the situation is much more optimistic," Vergne told France's RMC at Interlagos.

"A lot of people at Red Bull and Toro Rosso would like to keep me next year so we will see how the situation will evolve," he added.

"I also discussed it with the boss Dietrich Mateschitz in Russia and I think everything is going in the right direction at the moment. I'm still part of the Red Bull family so I think all the signs are green now," said Jean-Eric Vergne.

It is not good news for 20-year-old Sainz, who despite being the top Red Bull-backed junior at present and the new Formula Renault 3.5 champion, was also overlooked for the Verstappen seat recently.

Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 2013. (Photo: WRi2)

Asked to imagine the scenario of Helmut Marko phoning him with bad news about the Toro Rosso seat, Sainz admitted: "It would be a blow. A big blow.

"I think after what I achieved this year, not confirming me - from my point of view - it would be an injustice," he told Spain's El Confidencial. "I think I could not have done more this year."

Carlos Sainz Jr continued: "I would see formula one with different eyes. It has always been a dream since I was 7 years old, getting up at 3 in the morning to watch Fernando (Alonso) race in Melbourne. It remains a dream for me, but I would see it with new eyes."

From GMM

Fernando Alonso admitted on Thursday that his plans to launch a professional cycling team in 2015 have been delayed.

"It was my intention to start in 2015," reports including the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf quote him as saying in Brazil, "but due to various circumstances it is not happening at the moment."

It is believed the main problem is with the company that was set to sponsor the F1 driver's team.

Talks may now be taking place between the Spaniard and Gerard Lopez, the owner of the Lotus F1 team.

As he fended off speculation about his impending departure from Ferrari in F1, Alonso admitted at Interlagos that Lopez "said we were talking, which is true but it's for a project outside formula one".

As for the cycling project, "I continue to believe that cycling can be combined very well with formula one, but it is something for the future," Fernando Alonso insisted.

Takata, the Japanese supplier at the center of a global vehicle recall, ordered its technicians to destroy results of tests on some of its airbags after finding cracks in inflators, The New York Times reported.

Honda, the automaker most affected by an auto-safety crisis involving Japanese supplier Takata, said it would upgrade a airbag repair campaign in the United States to a formal recall.

Mounting recalls this year are a 'black eye' for the auto industry, AutoNation CEO Mike Jackson said today.

Volvo isn't giving up ground in the all-wheel-drive wagon market to Subaru, as has just about every other automaker. The Swedish brand will introduce the Volvo V60 Cross Country at the Los Angeles Auto Show in just a few weeks.

Lincoln opened the doors to its first three stores in China today, launching what it is billing as a new customer service initiative -- 'The Lincoln Way.'

A federal judge in Manhattan has set Jan. 11, 2016, for the first trial in consolidated litigation against GM over a series of safety issues, including a faulty ignition switch, that have prompted millions of recalls this year.

Over 70 Takata employees temporarily evacuated the supplier's San Antonio seatbelt production plant after a small fire broke out early this morning, officials said. Employees were back at work shortly after the fire.

Honda's Canadian unit said today it plans to invest C$857 million ($750 million) over three years to upgrade manufacturing plants in Alliston, Ontario, which will be the global lead for production of the next-generation Honda Civic.

Car sales in Western Europe grew by 5.5% in October according to data released by LMC Automotive.

AvtoVAZ says it saw sales rise 4.7% in October to 40,207, with nearly 38,000 sold in Russia, up 3.5% compared to September.

Visteon Corporation announced a third quarter 2014 net loss of US$21m ($0.46 a share) on sales of $1.97bn. Adjusted EBITDA excluding discontinued operations was $142m, compared with $126m in Q3 2014.

Takata is taking more special losses related to airbag recalls as it forecast that it will record a loss of 25bn yen in the year to the end of March 2015.

General Motors has said in a court filing it should not have to face lawsuits based on safety issues in cars made before its 2009 bankruptcy, including a faulty ignition switch that led to the recall of 2.6m cars earlier this year.

Ford, seeking to hit year-end sales goals, rolled out a bonus program that offers dealers a cash bounty for meeting sales targets that some retailers criticize for cheapening the brand.