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Marco Mattiacci, director of the famed Scuderia Ferrari, says he has a solution to increase the revenues available to all the teams.

The Italian, who has worked for Ferrari in the United States for years, thinks that F1 should stage three races in America, a market F1 has failed to seriously break in recent years despite numerous attempts to do so.

"I want an extra race in the United States," Mattiacci told ESPN.

"I want three races in the United States. That's my proposal, because the American market is fundamental to generate revenues, to attract sponsors. When you have more revenues definitely you can talk about having more teams on board. Again I don't know what is the critical mass for those teams that are struggling, what is the amount of money they need in order to be successful or to be consistently in F1. Fifty million, one hundred million? I don't know. Depends on the business model they want to establish,” the Italian declared.

He continued: "We need competitive teams. I'm not here to say small, middle; we need competitive teams with a solid business background, a solid financial background. At the same time, as a strong believer of F1, I think the focus is how to increase revenues, how to make the cake bigger. We are here in the United States where we see that F1 is getting traction. My focus as a company where 30% of the sales are United States, I want to make sure we get more and more successful in the United States.”

Ferrari has entered into a new business partnership with American entrepreneur Gene Haas. Haas F1 Team is expected to begin in Formula 1 in 2016, with Ferrari supplying turbo hybrid power units to the American team.

From GMM

Evidence is building by the day that Fernando Alonso is definitely McLaren-bound.

Writing in the Swiss newspaper Blick, veteran correspondent Roger Benoit claims the deal was actually all but finalised a few weeks ago in Sochi, Russia.

It appears a two-year term with an option for 2017 has been agreed, but perhaps with the minute details still being discussed.

"Alonso has played it (the negotiations) very hard," a McLaren insider is quoted as saying by the Spanish daily Marca.

The newspaper's correspondent Marco Canseco claims all the evidence points in favour of the Spanish driver switching from Ferrari to McLaren-Honda for 2015.

Fernando Alonso. (Photo: WRi2)

Another piece of the puzzle, he said, were "several meetings" in Austin last Sunday morning when "Santander marketing representatives" sat down with their McLaren counterparts ahead of the US grand prix.

Although the Spanish banking group is signed up to stay with Ferrari as a major sponsor, Santander - closely and personally aligned with Alonso - has worked with McLaren since 2007, with branding still prominent on the drivers' chests.

Marca also published a photo of Alonso taking a close look at Jenson Button's 2014 McLaren in parc ferme immediately after the US grand prix.

Canadian race car driver Nicholas Latifi set the fastest time in the fifth days of the Formula Renault 3.5 collective test at Alcaniz, Spain.

After driving one day for Lotus, Latifi was back with Arden for a second outing. He set a time of 1m40.479 to take first place ahead of Oliver Rowland (Fortec). Rowland is expected to drive again in the series next year.

Andrea Pizzitola set the third fastest time for Lotus.

Dutch lady Beitske Visser set the 7th fastest time as she's getting prepared for her second season in Formula Renault 3.5.

McLaren team protégé Nick De Vries - the new Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup champion - emerged 10th fastest overall.

From GMM

The pressure on Kimi Raikkonen to up his game is of the "positive" variety, Ferrari team boss Marco Mattiacci insists.

It is a near-certainty that disgruntled Fernando Alonso is leaving the Maranello team, but also with a solid 2015 contract is his Finnish teammate.

Any speculation Raikkonen might also depart Ferrari, however, has been mild at best, even though Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport is questioning whether the 2007 world champion should be kept in red.

That is because he has had a horror return to Ferrari this year, scoring fewer than 1 point in every 4 towards the team's total tally as Alonso utterly dominated.

Raikkonen has openly admitted he has struggled with the F14 T car, and in Austin went as far as to say he "hates" the situation.

Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari F14 T. (Photo: WRi2)

Felipe Massa, who until last year was Alonso's Ferrari teammate, suggested recently that Raikkonen is obviously struggling mentally alongside the Spaniard.

"Maybe I am going mad," Raikkonen sarcastically hit back in Austin. "Losing my mind. He can say what he wants, but I know the true story."

But that doesn't mean he knows the solution. So with the quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel coming on board for 2015, intense pressure might now be building on Raikkonen's shoulders to quickly improve.

"Positive pressure," insisted boss Mattiacci, according to the Spanish daily Marca.

"It is important when you have pressure to always approach it positively.

"We know we have a problem and we have to keep working on it," he added.

Brazil's love affair with Formula 1 enters its fifth decade in 2014, and it shows no sign of waning. The Brazilian GP, penultimate race of the 2014 F1 season, will take place this weekend.

Interlagos is one of the shortest on the F1 calendar. Physically, its anti-clockwise direction and long final corner takes its toll on the drivers' necks.

Races at Interlagos are rarely dull, due to the circuit offering a number of overtaking opportunities, including the famous Senna ‘S' at the end of the pit straight, and there's always the chance of rain to mix things up.

Here is the timetable* of this weekend's race:

Friday November 7
Formula 1 Practice 1 10h00 - 11h30
Porsche Cup Practice Session 12h00 - 12h35
Formula 1 Practice 2 14h00 - 15h30
Porsche Challenge Practice Session 15h55 - 16h30
Formula 1 Press Conference - Press Room 16h00 - 17h00

Saturday November 8
Formula 1 Team Pit Stop Practice 09h45 - 10h15
Formula 1 Practice 3 11h00 - 12h00
Formula 1 Qualifying 14h00
Porsche Cup Qualifying Session 15h30 - 16h05
Porsche Challenge Qualifying Session 16h35 - 17h10

Sunday November 9
Promoter Activity Track Vehicles Display 09h00 - 09h10
Porsche Challenge Race (16 Laps or 30 Minutes) 09h15 - 09h50
Porsche Cup Race (16 Laps or 30 Minutes) 10h15 - 10h50
Formula 1 Drivers Track Parade 12h30
Formula 1 Starting Grid Presentation 12h45 - 13h15
Formula 1 National Anthem 13h46
Formula 1 Start of race 14h00

*Subject to changes

A merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Volkswagen would create a well-balanced global automaker that would be highly profitable, John Krafcik, president of auto-buying website TrueCar, said today.

Automakers are showing off customized high-performance vehicles this week in Las Vegas at the Special Equipment Market Association's yearly show.

General Motors is preparing to introduce Android-based infotainment systems -- the same Google platform used on more than 1 billion mobile devices, from smartphones and tablet computers to computerized wristwatches -- starting in late 2016,...

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne made about 10.7 million euros ($13.4 million) from a surge in the automaker's share price after he announced a plan to spin off Ferrari.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne made about 10.7 million euros ($13.4 million) from a surge in the automaker's share price after he announced a plan to spin off Ferrari.

Audi has knocked down speculation that it plans to enter Formula One in 2016 after recruiting former Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali.

General Motors is dangling $25 gift cards to Starbucks, Bass Pro Shops and other retailers to persuade nearly 1 million owners of recalled cars with faulty ignition switches to get them fixed.

GM has discontinued the U.S. version of the Chevrolet Captiva Sport, ending a three-year run for the fleet-only small crossover.

Due to Dearborn Truck having been closed in the late summer in preparation to begin making the new F-150, the company's plants which build the F-Series range built just 63,002 trucks last month. This compares to 93,111 in October 2013.

GKN Land Systems says it is ramping up production of a new hybrid technology for buses that it claims will enable operators to save fuel, reduce fares and make some routes more viable.

Quality regulators in China have asked Volkswagen to provide technical documents following the company's recall of almost 600,000 vehicles - the first time the agency acted since a law mandating timely safety campaigns came into force.

AutoNation said its new-vehicle retail sales climbed 8 percent in October from the year-ago month, reaching 24,844 vehicles.

Ford said today it will call back 202,241 vehicles in five North American recalls covering several issues, including an incorrect repair in a previous recall.

Car sales in Germany rose 4 percent in October, extending the increase seen so far this year in Europe's largest auto market despite a weakening domestic economy.

Features 12 Nov, 2018

There’s a whole host of exciting new SUVs and 4x4s on the way over the next few years, and we’ve picked out some of the highlights