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From GMM

A source has reinforced reports Bernie Ecclestone could be 'reined in' by the incoming new F1 chairman.

Last week, the Financial Times (FT) reported that F1 supremo Ecclestone's long reign is under threat by former Diageo chief Paul Walsh, who is being lined up to take over from current chairman Peter Brabeck.

"Paul has been courted for nine months now," a source close to Walsh told Management Today.

The FT had claimed CVC chief Donald Mackenzie is behind the impending change because he wants "a more professional approach to the running of" the sport.

The source close to Walsh confirmed: "Paul would want to rein (Ecclestone) in to some extent from a good governance point of view" and would get "short tempered" if the 84-year-old didn't change his ways within a "few months".

But F1 business journalist Christian Sylt, who is known to be close to Ecclestone, insists that while Walsh is a candidate, "he does not represent a threat to" the F1 supremo.

"There is no sign that Ecclestone is slowing down but he turned 84 this year so will eventually have to let go of the wheel and the new chairman will have a say in who replaces him," he wrote in The Independent newspaper.

The BBC reports Tuesday that Caterham administrator is still in talks with three potential buyers who are interested in purchasing the team.

Henry Shinners, joint administrator, told BBC Sport: "We want to give the team every chance of surviving so we are not setting a deadline."

However, with testing for the new season beginning on February 1st and the opening race on March 15 in Australia time is running out quickly.

Shinners, of London firm Smith & Williamson, acknowledged that as some staff who were made redundant have gone on to find new jobs, the chance of buying the team is "increasing".

Caterham was given special dispensation to use their current CT05-Renaults next season to make it easier to find a buyer.

BBC adds that if Caterham finds a buyer and makes it onto the grid next season it will need to re-employ staff and sign two new drivers.

Sauber Formula 1 team caused a surprise in November with the announcement that Brazilian driver Felipe Nasr will race for them in 2015, stepping up from his role as test and reserve driver at Williams.

Nasr was born August 21, 1992 in Brasilia and started to race karts when he was just seven years old.

He was the 2009 Formula BMW European champion and the 2011 British Formula 3 champion.

This year he was the official test driver for Williams F1 Team and he took 3rd place in the GP2 series with Carlin.

Nasr comes from a family with a strong racing background. Was he destined to become a race car driver?

“No, absolutely not! I liked watching - but I did not get hooked until I was driving a go-kart myself when I was seven years old,” Nasr told Formula1.com.

“That was the moment that I thought: ‘racing - that's also for me'. Before I was dreaming about football, about being a policeman or a fireman - in that range. Driving a go-kart opened my eyes! (laughs) And then the fact that my family was involved in racing was the big plus.”

Felipe Nasr aboard the Williams FW36-Mercedes at Interlagos, Brazil. (Photo: WRi2)

Nasr said his experience with Williams this year was just fantastic.

“I have to say I've learned a lot inside Williams. I am very thankful for this opportunity. I drove a F1 car for the first time with them; I have been able to work with the engineers and mechanics - and of course with the other drivers. I have also done a lot of work in the simulator,” Nasr explained.

“Of course I wanted to stay here [Williams] - but they have their commitment with Felipe (Massa) and Valtteri (Bottas) so I had to move on. I could not lose the momentum - I had to make the next step,” Nasr explained.

GP2 series' champion, Jolyon Palmer, recently said he was very disappointed to see that money was more important than talent to graduate to F1.

“It's gutting really, because people who I've beaten are on the grid and there's nothing I can do about it,” Palmer explained last week

Nasr enjoys a fantastic support from Banco do Brazil. How crucial was that backing to get the regular driver with Sauber?

“I have to say they've been supporting me for quite some time and it seemed logical to get into F1 together. It is a great opportunity for them to showcase the bank and get international recognition. Yes, it is important to have backers. Nowadays it is not only about talent - sure you need to have talent, but you also have to have support. And only if the two come together does it has the potential to bloom,” Nasr concluded, diplomatically.

From Ferrari.com

The Finali Mondiali weekend at the Yas Marina circuit turned into a huge celebration for all Ferrari enthusiasts and tifosi.

Aside from the opportunity to admire a stunning array of Prancing Horse cars designed specifically for the track, attendees also witnessed an impressive gathering of Ferraris from all over the Middle East.

2015 Finali Mondiali (Photo: Ferrari)

With a LaFerrari leading the way, the parade saw the Abu Dhabi track thronged by over 200 models of every age and representing most of the States in the area.

Also flying at the event were many of the United Arab Emirates' flags in celebration of the 43rd anniversary of the establishment of the UAE, adding an extra layer of significance to this meeting of Italian passion, technology and design, and one of the world's most economically important regions.

2015 Finali Mondiali (Photo: Ferrari)

From Audi

The calendar for the one-make, 2015 Audi Sport TT Cup has been finalized.

The new Audi spec cup will be held together with the DTM a total of six times in its inaugural year of 2015. Two races per event are planned.

Auto Sport TT Cup. (Photo: Audi)

The season will start on the first weekend in May at the DTM opener at Hockenheim. At the end of June, the Audi Sport TT Cup will join one of the most popular DTM events, the Norisring race in Nuremberg.

In August, the new one-make cup will visit the Red Bull Ring in Austria. In September, the calendar features two events, at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben and at the Nürburgring. The finale will be held at Hockenheim in the middle of October.

One hundred sixty-five drivers from 30 nations have applied for Audi's new one-make cup. Eighteen slots will be permanently awarded by quattro GmbH in spring of 2015. Six other TTs will be filled with changing guest drivers.

Auto Sport TT Cup. (Photo: Audi)

Audi Sport TT Cup 2015 calendar:
• May 01-03  Hockenheim (D)
• Jun 26-28  Norisring (D)
• Jul 31-Aug 02  Red Bull Ring (A)
• Sep 11-13  Oschersleben (D)
• Sep 25-27  Nürburgring (D)
• Oct 16-18  Hockenheim (D)

From nascar.com

Ty Dillon announced Tuesday morning that he'd make his Daytona 500 debut in 2015, driving the No. 33 Chevrolet for Circle Sport Racing.

Dillon, who competes full-time in the NASCAR XFINITY Series for Richard Childress Racing, will carry sponsorship from Cheerios and Kroger. General Mills, which continued a six-year partnership with RCR, also backs brother Austin Dillon's Sprint Cup entries through its cereal brands.

Dillon, grandson of Richard Childress, ran the first two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races of his career last season in the No. 33. He registered a best finish of 25th in his Labor Day weekend debut at Atlanta Motor Speedway for Circle Sport, a Childress-affiliated team owned by Joe Falk.

He is a three-time winner in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and a one-time winner in the Nationwide Series, which will gain entitlement sponsorship from XFINITY starting in 2015.

He wound up fifth in the season-long Nationwide standings last year with his breakthrough victory coming at historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July.

From GMM

Red Bull is playing down the likely effect of Adrian Newey's diminished involvement.

Although the sport's best paid and most highly rated engineer is staying with Red Bull at Milton Keynes, he will be heading a new division that will focus on projects like Ben Ainslie's America's Cup bid.

So after Red Bull's defeat to Mercedes in 2014, and the loss of world champion Sebastian Vettel to Ferrari, team boss Christian Horner insists the team still has a "great lineup" for 2015.

"We've got strength in depth and some real talent," he told Sky.

"A lot of teams have been chasing after that talent but we've managed to hang onto it."

Adrian Newey to stay in the loop at Red Bull Racing. (Photo: WRi2)

And Christian Horner hit back even at suggestions Newey is 'taking a step back' from F1.

"Adrian being Adrian," he said at the Autosport awards, "a step back never seems to be that far!

"He's still very much involved. He's still very much involved in the design of next year's car and he's going to be around for sure," Christian Horner added.

In light of the America's Cup news, however, Newey said that while he remains "part of the team", he will be "less hands on" in 2015.

But he told PA Sport news agency: "I'll be attending half a dozen races or so. I want to keep in the loop, so in the mentoring, advisory role I'm fresh enough that I'm able to keep on top of that.

"I'll certainly be in Melbourne and a few after that, the key ones, the ones that tend to pose the biggest engineering challenges," Newey added.

He also expressed confidence in his successors at Milton Keynes, saying Red Bull is being left in good hands.

"They're a very good bunch," said the 55-year-old.

"What is happening is well timed as they've been developing as a team very well and now it's time for them to really step up to the plate," added Adrian Newey.

From press release

MINI will continue to play an important role in the prestigious Dakar Rally.

Just 26 days ahead of the start of the 2015 Dakar Rally (4-17 January), Jochen Goller, Senior Vice President MINI, has announced the two-year extension of the brand's Dakar Rally programme until the year 2017.

“The Dakar Rally is the ultimate challenge for all drivers and teams, making it one of the most enthralling events in the world of motorsport,” said Goller.

“MINI has taken on this unique challenge with great success in recent years. The Dakar gives the MINI brand a unique opportunity to connect with its fans worldwide, with Dakar enthusiasts and people who look beyond statistics and results to enjoy sports in such fascinating, exotic places. These strategic reasons and our constant desire to improve were behind the key decision to extend our Dakar engagement far beyond the 2015 Dakar Rally into 2016 and 2017, together with our strategic partner in motorsport, X-raid.”

In 2015, a total of ten MINI ALL4 Racing, with driver crews from twelve countries will take on the ultimate motorsport adventure of the Dakar Rally led by defending champion Joan “Nani” Roma.

MINI ALL4 Racing 2015 Dakar Rally line-up:

Monster Energy Rally Raid Team
No. 300 Joan “Nani” Roma/Michel Périn (ES/FR)
No. 305 Orlando Terranova/Bernardo “Ronnie” Graue (AR/AR)
No. 306 Krzysztof Holowczyc/Xavier Panseri (PL/FR)

X-raid Team
No. 310 Vladimir Vasilyev/Konstantin Zhiltsov (RU/RU)
No. 314 Erik van Loon/Wouter Rosegaar (NL/NL)
No. 319 Boris Garafulic/Filipe Palmeiro (CL/PT)
No. 329 Aidyn Rakhimbayev/Anton Nikolaev (KZ/RU)
No. 332 Zhou Yong (CN)
No. 334 Stephan Schott/Holm Schmidt (DE/DE)

Qatar Rally Team
No. 301 Nasser Al-Attiyah/Mathieu Baumel (QT/FR)

From GMM

Jean Todt has revealed his ambition to welcome "or or more" new teams to formula one.

Although Caterham returned in Abu Dhabi, the collapse of the least competitive backmarkers this year reduced the grid from 22 to just 18 cars.

It triggered speculation the top teams might be asked to boost numbers in 2015 by adding third cars to their garages.

That prospect has now dwindled, with FIA president Todt saying 18 cars is sufficient for now.

"We'll get a new team (Haas) in 2016," he is quoted by Speed Week.

"So in the worst case we will have 18 cars in 2015 and 20 in 2016. We could also make a new bid to attract one or more additional teams," said Todt.

"But for this to be successful, the costs must be cut," he insisted.

Nonetheless, Jean Todt does not want to overstate the significance of the two backmarkers' survival struggles, insisting it is just "part of the sport".

"Of course I'm not happy about what happened to Caterham and Marussia," said the Frenchman. "But such things have always happened."

Toto Wolff, the boss of the new reigning champion team Mercedes, agrees that so long as F1 retains its 'core group' of teams, it will prosper.

"They (teams) come and go," he told Maxim. "I think there is a core group that is really important, and that group has been there forever.

"That's important to remember," added Toto Wolff.

The 2015 GP2 Series calendar was confirmed today and will once again consist of eleven rounds in total, all support events of the Formula 1 world championship.

Just as in 2014, eight rounds will be held in Europe with three overseas events to complete the calendar.

The eleventh season of the GP2 Series will open in Sakhir on April 17-19. The action will then move to Europe with its first stop in Barcelona on May 08-10 before going to Monte Carlo on May 21-23. Four weeks later, the season will resume on June 19-21 in Spielberg, followed by Silverstone on July 03-05 and Germany (venue TBA) two weeks later, with Budapest back-to-back before the summer break.

The action will pick-up first in Spa-Francorchamps on August 21-23 then Monza two weeks later. The paddock will next go to Sochi on October 09-11 before the season finale in Yas Marina on November 27-29.

The GP2 organisers have also announced the pre-season testing dates: the first one will take place at Yas Marina on March 09-10-11, whilst the second session will be held at Sakhir on April 01-02-03.

GP2 Series 2015 calendar:

Pre-season testing:
09-10-11 March: Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi
01-02-03 April: Sakhir, Bahrain

Championship:
17-19 April: Sakhir, Bahrain
08-10 May: Barcelona, Spain
21-23 May: Monte Carlo, Monaco
19-21 June: Red Bull Ring, Austria
03-05 July: Silverstone, Great-Britain
17-19 July: TBA, Germany
24-26 July: Budapest, Hungary
21-23 August: Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
04-06 September: Monza, Italy
09-11 October: Sochi, Russia
27-29 November: Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi

From GMM

As the McLaren wait rolls on, the British team is continuing to take criticism for leaving Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen in the lurch.

"What is happening at McLaren is unworthy of such a team," Mika Hakkinen, who won both his titles with the Woking outfit, is quoted by Blick newspaper.

At the same time, it is obvious that there is more to the situation than simply the dithering of McLaren supremo Ron Dennis.

The McLaren-Honda laboratory in Abu Dhabi. (Photo: WR2i)

Spain's AS newspaper claims McLaren wants its driver decision to coincide with announcements about two new sponsors, and the "negotiations with one of them is complicated".

The report cited sources in saying one of the sponsors could be Movistar, to complement the Fernando Alonso deal, while another is "a major company from the United Arab Emirates".

But there are other authoritative reports that suggest the hold-up could even be related to Alonso's contract.

Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport claimed on Tuesday that the Spaniard's contract, although not yet announced, contains a unilateral exit clause.

The news will re-fire speculation Alonso still sees his future at Mercedes in 2016, particularly after the less-than-smooth track debut of Honda's new V6 engine recently.

And the latest rumours do not stop there.

Germany's Auto Motor und Sport said Alonso could be so alarmed by the recent Honda test in Abu Dhabi that he might simply choose to sit 2015 out altogether and focus instead on a Le Mans campaign with Porsche.

Another theory is that Alonso is waiting on the outcome of Ron Dennis' wrangling with McLaren's other shareholders, which could mean a new boss is installed for 2015.

Mercedes-Benz hopes to carve out a niche in the crowded luxury crossover market with the launch of the all-new GLE Coupe aimed at buyers looking for a nimbler, sportier crossover.

The Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council has hired Michelle Sourie Robinson as its new CEO. She will succeed Louis Green in the nonprofit's top post, starting January 5.

In a decade's time, will Great Wall have become a rising force across European markets in the way that Hyundai and Kia are now? The newly revised Steed pick-up certainly shows there is potential.

The Ford Mustang, Hyundai Genesis and the Volkswagen Golf were named finalists today for North American Car of the Year, while the Lincoln MKC, Ford F-150 and the Chevy Colorado were named truck/utility finalists.

VW plans to start assembling cars in Nigeria, joining PSA/Peugeot-Citroen and Nissan, which build cars in the country. Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation and is emerging as a key growth driver for the continent.

Nissan North America has agreed to reimburse customers between $20 and $800 each to resolve a lawsuit alleging that defects in certain vehicles caused brakes to fail suddenly, according to court papers.

America's UAW labour body says it will look to engage with politicians hostile to union membership in Tennessee and move to bi-weekly meetings with Volkswagen in its Chattanooga site, following the establishment of majority labour body membership at the Tennessee plant.

The UAW said it will propose a German-style works council for Volkswagen's plant in Chattanooga and continue its push for collective bargaining for members there following the company's recognition that the union represents at least 45...

Chrysler Group plans to invest $266 million into its massive Kokomo Transmission complex in Indiana to expand production of its eight-speed rear-wheel-drive transmission.