Mercedes has confirmed the departure of new world champion Lewis Hamilton's performance engineer Jock Clear.
"We thank Jock for his work and wish him well and all the best for the future," international media quote a spokesperson as saying.
The confirmation follows reports in the German press this week that Briton Clear, who engineered Jacques Villeneuve's title in 1997 and worked alongside Michael Schumacher until 2012, is heading to Ferrari.
Team Mercedes congratulate Jock Clear after a 1-2 finish this season. (Photo: WRi2)
"After leaving Mercedes, Clear cannot now work in formula one for a year," the German newspaper Bild claims.
It is expected, however, that Ferrari will want Clear to begin work shortly as the fabled Maranello marque completes its sweeping personnel shakeup.
The Italian team will therefore have to reach an agreement with Mercedes so that Clear can move into a role that reportedly will be similar to the one vacated by the newly-ousted Pat Fry.
Mercedes man Clear would, then, work in 2015 alongside another new Ferrari recruit Sebastian Vettel, who hails from Red Bull.
Vettel's old team boss Christian Horner said this week: "We're going to see Sebastian in red which is going to be a bit different and weird for the first few races.
"I think we're set for a fantastic season. Fernando Alonso in McLaren ... again. I think it's going to be a season of change," he predicted.
Before the rally, Mikko Hirvonen announced that Rally GB would be his final appearance in the WRC, and he was retiring after a 13 year career that had netted him 15 wins and 68 podiums.
Hirvonen said he wanted to bow out from the top, and so it proved in Wales where he enjoyed an epic podium battle that entertained the crowds throughout all three days. He began Sunday's final leg in second place, just 3.4sec ahead of a hard-charging Kris Meeke. But his desire to end his career with a podium left him unsure whether to attack to retain the place, or throttle back to guarantee third.
"I didn't know what to do," he said. "I really wanted to fight for second place but I also wanted to finish on the podium as well. It was a bit tricky in the morning, especially after service when we said our goodbyes to all the guys in the team. I didn't feel too emotional but I couldn't concentrate and get my head around what I was supposed to do. I didn't have the best rhythm and feeling for the first stages but finally it all went okay."
"There couldn't really have been a better end than to have a fight like that in my last rally. That's the best thing about the sport, when you face all the difficult conditions and fight over seconds with other drivers. I'm so happy how my weekend went," he added.
Michael Schumacher's son is taking his next steps in the wake of his fabled father.
Racing under the protective pseudonym of 'Mick Junior', 15-year-old Schumacher has had a successful formative karting career to date.
But Osterreich newspaper reports that in the last days, he has made his single seater debut with a day of 'secret testing' in a Formula 4 car at Valencia.
"Mick is certainly talented," team boss Peter Mucke said, "but you cannot say absolutely that a good kart driver will be fast in a formula one car."
He added: "It is no good only having a great name as a driver, you have to be fast. After a day of testing, no assessment of Mick is possible yet."
Osterreich suggested that this week's F4 test was actually a prelude to a possible single seater debut for Mick jr in 2016, following another season of karting.
Manager Sabine Kehm said: "I don't want to say anything."
The Treasury disposed of its remaining $1.28 billion stake in auto lender Ally Financial, resolving the last big bailout from an emergency government program to halt the 2008 financial crisis. Ally said the government ultimately gained $2.
Ally Financial said the Treasury will sell its remaining $1.25 billion stake in the auto lender, resolving one the largest bailouts from the financial crisis six years ago.
Cadillac plans to introduce a rearview mirror embedded with high-resolution streaming video that gives the driver more expansive rearward vision, unobstructed by headrests, passengers and the car's roof or rear pillars.
GM customers won a key ally in their quest for $10 billion in compensation: the automaker's bankrupt predecessor, which said switch defects were illegally hidden from consumers during the company's 2009 bailout.
Honda opened a $35 million heritage and training center in Marysville, Ohio, the city where the company became the first Japanese automaker to build a car -- the Accord -- in the U.S., 32 years ago.
Dealer software giant Dealertrack Technologies is expanding beyond North America with the acquisition of incadea, a dealer software provider based in Germany.
British workers at Tata Motors' Jaguar Land Rover have voted by more than 77% in favour of a two-year pay deal that lifted the threat of industrial action and saw each receive a GBP825 Christmas bonus.
Volkswagen approved projects for adding several hundred million euros to earnings in coming years in its effort to almost triple profit margins at the namesake car brand, according to sources.
The District Court of Midden-Nederland, at the request of the administrator, has converted the moratorium of payment, granted to Spyker NV and its wholly owned subsidiaries Spyker Automobielen and Spyker Events & Branding on 2 December.
Toyota said today that it will invest $126 million to expand its powertrain operations in Ann Arbor, Mich., and consolidate vehicle development operations at a new facility in nearby York Township, Mich.
Car makers are pulling down the shutters at dealerships across Russia because of the currency crisis which has seen a 40% drop in the value of the ruble.
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