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McLaren tried a new approach in 2014, as it developed the MP4-29.

Instead of trusting only mathematical models to decide whether or not new parts work and should be raced, Woking takes "driveability" into consideration as well.

"The word ‘driveability' has definitely moved up the ranks of our decision-making process as the season's gone on," admits McLaren's engineer director Matt Morris.

But what does it mean?

"What I mean by that," Morris adds, "is that in the past, we've used some very mathematical models to tell us a new part is faster - and we've tended to believe that.

It's not just about the potential of the car. It's also about how the driver feels (Photo: WRI2)

"Now, however, what we've been increasingly doing is looking at some of those aerodynamic concepts, and thinking beyond what the computer predicts as the laptime improvement."

In short, McLaren discovered that the overall behaviour of the car on track is more important than its theoretical potential.

As an example, Morris mentions Suzuka, where this approach helped the team give the drivers the confidence they needed to attack and improve.

"At the start of this year, the drivers had complained about the driveability. We tried lots of things to resolve that, but we didn't really bolt something onto the car that made a difference until we got to Japan, where we ran a new front-end aero package.

"All of a sudden, the drivers were saying: ‘The car's changed - it's better.' Increasingly, we're finding that if the driver likes it, he can use his self-confidence in the balance and handling to make the car go faster."

From WRC.com

In only its second season, the German manufacturer broke many records competing in the World Rally Championship (WRC).

When title-winner Sébastien Ogier won Wales Rally GB, for example, he presented VW with its 12th victory from 13 rallies - a new record for the number of wins in one season that eclipsed the previous record of 11 held by Citroën. VW also equalled the record eight one-twos in a season, set by Peugeot back in 2002.

Volkswagen wrapped up the Manufacturers' title at the earliest point of the season for 25 years, as well as becoming only the second manufacturer in WRC history to provide all of the top three drivers in the Drivers' World Championship. Only Lancia had achieved this feat before them - in 1987 and 1988.

The season added more impressive statistics to the winning record of the Polo World Rally Car. Since its WRC debut in January 2013, the car has racked up 22 victories and 41 podiums in 26 rallies. This year it powered Ogier, Latvala and Mikkelsen to 197 stage wins from a possible 249.

Jari-Matti Latvala, VW Polo R WRC (Photo: WRI2)

Tesla Motors is offering a suite of upgrades to its sporty two-seat roadster, which it no longer sells, giving owners as much as a 400-mile range, enough to drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

Tesla Motors will help Chinese buyers trade in their old cars if they buy a Model S, part of the automaker's latest efforts to spur sales of its all-electric sedan in the world's biggest vehicle market.

Hyundai Motor and affiliate Kia Motors promoted younger executives Friday in moves analysts said would help smooth an eventual leadership succession at the family-owned conglomerate.

From a successful kart racer to a winning Formula 3 driver to three-time Formula 1 World Champion, sheer courage, unshakable determination, and fabulous raw talent highlighted the late Ayrton Senna's career.

This year, we commemorate the 20th anniversary of his tragic death.

Ayrton Senna (Photo: WRI2)

Auto123.com will publish this year a series of exclusive articles about the life and the career of Ayrton Senna. All these articles will be posted on this page.

Ayrton Senna was born March 21, 1960 in Sao Paolo, Brazil. He tried a father-made go-kart when he was just four years old. The sensation of speed and control over the elements really caught his attention.

The young Brazilian from Sao Paulo was not only highly gifted; he was also a very hard worker. He did not hesitate for a second to migrate to Great Britain in order to pursue his dream.

From 1984 to 1994, Senna raced Formula 1 for teams Toleman, Lotus, McLaren, and Williams.

He tragically lost his life during the 1994 Grand Prix of San Marino when his Williams-Renault suddenly left the road in a fast corner and hit the concrete wall at high speed. He died from massive head injuries, throwing his native Brazil into profound sadness.

Remembering Ayrton Senna, 20 years after his death

Karting
Ayrton Senna competitively raced kart from 1977 to 1982. Was runner-up in 1978 and 1980 World Karting Championships.

A fantastic debut as world-class kart racer

Ayrton Senna's helmet painter Sid Mosca dies (+video)

Formula Ford 1600
Won the RAC and Townsend-Thoresen Formula Ford 1600 in Great Britain in 1981, driving a Van Diemen.

Formula Ford 2000
Won the 1982 British and European Formula Ford 2000 championships.

Formula 3
Captured the British Formula 3 Championship with West Surrey Racing in 1983.

Formula 1 Toleman
Made his Formula 1 debut with Toleman in 1984.

Ayrton Senna: An outstanding data processor

Formula 1 Lotus
Raced for Lotus-Renault in 1985 and 1986, and Lotus-Honda in 1987.

A qualifying lap around Brands Hatch in Ayrton Senna's Lotus (+video)

Interview with Ayrton Senna's former engineer, Steve Hallam

Formula 1 McLaren
Raced for McLaren-Honda from 1988 to 1993. Won three World Championships.

Penske engineer recalls the day Ayrton Senna drove an Indy Car

Formula 1 Williams
Raced for Williams-Renault in the first three Grands Prix of 1994.

Remembering Ayrton Senna

Bernadette Collins is one the (very) rare female engineers to work in Formula 1. Surprisingly, she was not a fan of motorsport until she completed her Mechanical Engineering degree at Queen's University in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

“In fact, I discovered motorsport when I got involved in the Formula Student project where we had to design and build a race car,” Bernadette Collins said.

Bernadette Collins, 2014 Canadian Grand Prix (Photo: René Fagnan)

“The position within McLaren Racing was advertised through the Mechanical Engineering department within Queen's University. After a series of interviews and an assessment centre I was offered a position on the Graduate scheme,” she explained.

Additionally, Bernadette is also an ambassador for the government's “Make it in Great Britain” campaign.

Last year, she became the performance engineer for British driver Jenson Button.

Her work at McLaren has allowed her to work on some "amazingly cool" projects.

Bernadette Collins at work in the Mclaren garage. (Photo: McLaren)

"Our work involves being creative and overcoming design challenges -- not assembling greasy machinery in a workshop. We don't fit the old engineering stereotypes."

Bernadette Collins never considered the gender of the people behind the technology. It remains a non-issue for her.

"We've got some of the best engineers in the business," she told The Guardian. "Whether it's a male or a female doing the job really doesn't matter."

But we were curious to know if it was difficult to be in the minority?

"I've never really noticed it," she replied. "The number of women in engineering and motorsport is increasing all the time, and I wouldn't want any young female engineers to be put off by a so-called gender division."

Jenson Button, helmet on, with Bernadette Collins in the McLaren garage. (Photo: McLaren)

Jenson Button sees no problem with working with the female engineer.

“She's Irish, so some of the words are a little bit tricky to understand. I have to turn up the volume of my radio because she's softly spoken,” he recently said to Sky Sports F1.

Bernadette had the final word on this. “It's a job, and I am here to do a job,” she said.

Many people are very disappointed to see the look of the new, 2014 Formula 1 turbo cars. Most think they are one of the ugliest F1 cars ever born.

Well, this may not be the case... Some really ugly and even horrible F1 cars have been run during the past 64 years of the World Championship.

Let's take a look at them.

5

Lotus 76. (Photo: WRi2)

Lotus 76
Ronnie Peterson driving the Lotus 76-Ford Cosworth during the 1974 Spanish Grand Prix at Jarama. Not Colin Chapman's nicest race car.

4

Arrows A2. (Photo: WRi2)

Arrows A2
Riccardo Patrese at the wheel of the Arrows A2 Ford-Cosworth. The car was supposed to generate massive ground effect. It was not the case.

3

March 711. (Photo: WRi2)

March 711
Ronnie Peterson (again) power sliding the March 711-Ford Cosworth during the 1971 Monaco Grand Prix. The high-perched flat front wing did not work.

2

Tyrrell 025. (Photo: WRi2)

Tyrrell 025
Mika Salo at the wheel of the Tyrrell 025-Ford in 1997. The infamous, inelegant X-Wings were banned for safety reasons.

1

Ensign N179. (Photo: WRi2)

Ensign N179
Derek Daly in the 1979 Cosworth-powered Ensign N179. Removing the water and oil radiators from the sidepods allows Mo Nunn more freedom to play around with the wing profiles to generate more downforce. Ugly, and did not work.

Fuji Heavy Industries, the maker of Subaru brand cars and SUVs, has scrapped a plan to shift production of the new XV Crosstrek to its plant in the United States and will instead make the SUV in Japan, a source familiar with the company's production...

Here is our selection of world rally cars that stand out from the pack because of their outstanding results or their stunning technical features, even if some of them never have won an event or a title.

At the beginning of the World Championship, the rally cars are quite simple machines. Then, the rally world entered the mighty Group B era where scary, super powerful cars were the rule. Then, the FIA imposed the WRC regulations destined to bring the rally cars closer to their road going cousins.

The next photos should bring good memories to many!

Photo : WRI2

10. MG Metro 6R4
Group B car created in 1985 and fitted with a V-6 engine. Started to race in 1986 but abandoned following the ban put on Group B cars.

Continue reading Rally: Top 10 historical world rally cars

Videos 25 Dec, 2014

German touring car champ Mattias Ekström takes on a 13-year old with an RC car in his Audi S1 in this video

Takata, the auto supplier embroiled in a global safety crisis, said today its president, Stefan Stocker, would step down and CEO Shigehisa Takada, 48, would once again assume the role to unify the company's response to the recall of millions of...

Chrysler bills the Hellcat as the fastest production sedan on earth, and this isn't simply about bragging rights.

From GMM

Lewis Hamilton will not wear the coveted number 1 on his Mercedes in 2015, the FIA has announced.

Shortly before Christmas, F1's governing body released a revised entry list for next season confirming that Briton Hamilton, although the new champion, has opted to defend his title wearing his usual number '44'.

"44 is my number," Hamilton said after winning the 2014 drivers' title.

"I won my first championship with 44 in karting so I'll ask the team if I can keep it on my car now," added the 29-year-old, who even has '44' tattooed behind his right ear.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W05 (Photo: WRI2)

Meanwhile, three of F1's eleven teams are listed as "subject to confirmation" on the new entry list.

It is no surprise that two of them are Caterham and Manor, the latter of which is the revised name for the team that competed in 2014 as Marussia.

But also listed as conditional is Lotus, despite the fact the official entry includes the names of drivers Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado, and Mercedes power for the Enstone team.

From GMM

Renault's F1 chief Cyril Abiteboul has hailed the new collaboration with engine expert Mario Illien.

"It is great that Renault are now working with Ilmor," said Christian Horner, the boss of Renault's works team Red Bull, who in 2014 failed to win the title for the first time since 2009.

Renault faltered badly at the start of the all-new turbo V6 era in 2014, as Mercedes utterly dominated.

So it was significant that, as the 2014 season ended in Abu Dhabi recently, a notable VIP in the Red Bull garage was the multiple title-winning former Mercedes F1 designer Illien.

Mario Illien with Renault's Rob White (Photo: WRI2)

"Ilmor is a strong company with extensive experience with simular engines used in other series," Abiteboul told France's Auto Hebdo.

He confirmed that Illien's UK based company is now "performing some tasks" on behalf of the Renault F1 project.

"This is very useful in situations where it is necessary to analyse a set of solutions," Abiteboul added.

Another key reason for the Illien alliance, he admitted, is that it is "not so easy to create such a very complex hybrid system in the centre of France".

"We are not in the English 'Motorsport Valley', where in pubs every evening engineers from all over meet over a beer," he added.

From NASCAR.com

Newly crowned Sunoco NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year Kyle Larson has added yet another new title: dad.



Larson, 22, and his longtime girlfriend Katelyn Sweet welcomed their first child, son Owen Miyata at 11:09 p.m. ET on Monday in Charlotte. He weighed 7 pounds, 14 ounces and measured 19 1/2 inches.

The couple announced the news on Twitter, sharing that both mom and baby are doing well.



The baby's middle name "Miyata" is a nod to Larson's Japanese heritage. It is his mom Janet's maiden name, and Larson wanted the name to continue in the family.



The birth of the baby punctuates an already "big" year as Larson has called it -- his success and driving style in his first year in NASCAR's big league making him one of the sport's most popular young drivers.



The Chip Ganassi Racing driver had eight top-five finishes highlighted by three runner-up efforts. He scored his first Sprint Cup Series pole position at Pocono Raceway this summer and his 17 top-10 finishes in the No. 42 Target Chevrolet was more than eight of the 16 Chase drivers.

From GMM

Luca di Montezemolo has reacted with disappointment to suggestions his reign was responsible for Ferrari's decline.

New chiefs Sergio Marchionne and Maurizio Arrivabene addressed the media earlier this week and admitted that Maranello's 2015 project will not be a title winner.

"We are now coming from behind because of choices made by other people," said Marchionne, who ousted long-time president Montezemolo earlier this year.

Marchionne also admitted that he was opposed in principle to Montezemolo's candidature as the new chairman of the Formula One Group.

Sergio Marchionne (Photo: WRI2)

Montezemolo reacted by telling the Italian news agency Ansa that, regarding Marchionne's comments, "I promised myself not to make polemics for the deep love that I have for Ferrari".

"For the respect it deserves to those who work there today and who have worked on projects that won on the race track," the 67-year-old Italian added.

"In recent weeks I have witnessed repeated utterances that in some cases do not correspond to reality," Montezemolo added.

"I do not intend to respond to these provocations," he said.

"The sporting success, greater than that achieved by any other team, the strength and prestige of the brand in the world and the financial results critical to the FCA (Fiat Chrysler) group that this year will be the best in the history of the company, all speak for themselves."

Tyler Walker, a veteran of 28 NASCAR races, said he was sorry for the damages he caused during a high-speed car chase with the police in January of last year.

Walker, who was clocked at 150 mph during the chase, spoke during his hearing in St. George, Utah. According to reports, he also said he was addressing the drugs problems in which he became entangled before the events.

"I just want to thank everybody who helped me out ... and also apologize to ... everybody who was on the road," said Walker. "And just let everybody know I'm doing everything I can to ... be healthy so this never happens again."

The Associated Press quoted Walker's attorney, Trevor Terry, as saying the drug addiction might by a consequence of brain damages sustained in a racing crash.

"(Walker) is not saying that meth use is an acceptable way to cope with that, but that's what happened," said Terry.

In court, Walker pleaded guilty to felony counts of failure to stop for an officer and possession of a controlled substance, as well as misdemeanour counts of impaired driving, possession of drug paraphernalia, and having an open container of alcohol in the car.

He last raced in the Camping World Truck series in 2007.

From GMM

Nico Rosberg's attitude as he raced to defeat in Abu Dhabi perfectly encapsulated the Mercedes spirit.

That was the view of Daimler supremo Dieter Zetsche as he wrote an internal Christmas letter to employees, which has been revealed by Germany's Sport Bild.

The letter comes at the end of a stunningly successful season for the German marque, having utterly dominated the 2014 world championship.

Lewis Hamilton won the drivers' crown, but it was German Rosberg's attitude as he battled with his failing Mercedes that truly impressed Zetsche.

Nico Rosberg never gave up in his fight with Lewis Hamilton (Photo: WRI2)

He recalls how Rosberg was called into the pits to retire his dying car, but the 29-year-old asked to be allowed to push on to the chequered flag.

"It was not just about the chequered flag," wrote Zetsche, "it was a matter of principle. Don't give up.

"This attitude is the same as our colleagues who worked for these achievements step by step in recent years," he added.

From GMM

Ferrari will launch its 2015 car on the internet in late January.

The fabled Italian team's new boss Maurizio Arrivabene confirmed to reporters earlier this week that the new project, codenamed 666, has passed all of its mandatory FIA crash tests.

It looks set to be debuted on schedule at the first official winter test at Jerez on February 1.

Before that, Arrivabene told Italy's Omnicorse, "It will be shown on the web at the end of January. The date is not yet specified.

"The reason is very simple," he explained. "The engineers have told me that, to prepare for a presentation as in the past years, it takes three days.

"That is too much in a phase that I prefer work is dedicated to the development of the car," Arrivabene added.