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News 3 Dec, 2014

Track-only Ferrari LaFerrari gets 1,036bhp, extreme aero package and will be used as test-bed for future technology. Yours for around £2m.

Russia will earmark 10 billion rubles (150 million euros) in 2015 to extend a scrappage program for new vehicle purchases. Russia car sales have been hit by a frail economy struggling under Western sanctions and a weakening ruble.

Mark Fields became Ford CEO in July after turning around the automaker's North American business. Fields told Automotive News what his priorities are now in the top job and why he changed the leadership at Ford of Europe.

American Honda Finance said the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and U.S.

The members of the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) met Wednesday in Doha and approved the 2015 Formula 1 World Championship calendar.

The calendar is made of 21 Grands Prix, and includes a return to South Korea. The venue has yet to be confirmed however. The Grand Prix of Mexico, to be held at the Hermanos Rodriguez circuit in Mexico City, also appears on the schedule.

2015 Formula 1 calendar:

15 March AUS Grand Prix of Australia
29 March MYS Grand Prix of Malaysia
12 April CHN Grand Prix of China
19 April BHR Grand Prix of Bahrain
3 May KOR Grand Prix of Korea (TBC)
10 May ESP Grand Prix of Spain
24 May MCO Grand Prix of Monaco
7 June CAN Grand Prix of Canada
21 June AUT Grand Prix of Austria
5 July GBR Grand Prix of Great Britain
19 July DEU Grand Prix of Germany
26 July HUN Grand Prix of Hungary
23 August BEL Grand Prix of Belgium
6 September ITA Grand Prix of Italy
20 September SGP Grand Prix of Singapore
27 September JPN Grand Prix of Japan
11 October RUS Grand Prix of Russia (Sochi)
25 October USA Grand Prix of USA (Austin)
1 November MEX Grand Prix of Mexico
15 November BRA Grand Prix of Brazil
29 November ARE Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi

The members of the FIA World Motor Sport Council approved today, Wednesday in Doha a new set of criteria for the issuing of super licences to new Formula 1 drivers.

A proposal on the conditions of attribution of the Super Licence was approved for 2016, on the basis of the following criteria:

1- Safety criteria

The following changes have been made compared to the current regulations:

- There is a valid driving licence requirement.
- There is a minimum age requirement (18yo).
- There is a verification of knowledge of the F1 Sporting Regulations/International Sporting Code rules.

2- Experience criteria

With the following changes compared to the current regulations:

- There is the 300km in F1 TCC (Testing Current Cars) or TPC (Testing of Previous Cars) as a minimum requirement.
- There is a 2 years minimum running in minor Formulas.

3- Performance criteria

With the following changes compared to the current regulations:

- There is a point system requirement, based on the driver results in previous Formulas.

Peter Wright and the members of the Accident Panel published their findings Wednesday in Doha about Jules Bianchi's crash during the Japanese Grand Prix.

The accident was investigated by a 10-man FIA Accident Panel, which included former Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn, former Ferrari director Stefano Domenicali as well as former drivers Emerson Fittipaldi and Alex Wurz.

In pouring rain, Bianchi crashed his Ferrari-powered Marussia into a heavy mobile crane that was recovering the damaged Sauber of Adrian Sutil.

The report states that Bianchi did not slow sufficiently to avoid losing control at the same point on the track as Sutil.

“Bianchi over-controlled the oversteering car. (...) During the two seconds Bianchi's car was leaving the track and traversing the run-off area, he applied both throttle and brake together, using both feet. The FailSafe algorithm is designed to over-ride the throttle and cut the engine, but was inhibited by the Torque Coordinator, which controls the rear Brake-by-Wire system. Bianchi's Marussia has a unique design of BBW, which proved to be incompatible with the FailSafe settings”.

Jules Bianchi's helmet struck the sloping underside of the crane. The magnitude of the blow and the glancing nature of it caused massive head deceleration and angular acceleration, leading to his severe injuries.

The reported finally concluded: “If drivers adhere to the requirements of double yellow flags, as set out in Appendix H, Art. 2.4.5.1.b, then neither competitors nor officials should be put in immediate or physical danger.”

The panel has also come up with a number of recommendations in the wake of Bianchi's accident, which include clerks of the course imposing speed limits for sections of track affected by double yellow flags, a review of safety critical software and new guidelines on track drainage.

The era of Suzuki's body-on-frame SUVs may be coming to an end, as Japanese production of the long-lived Escudo/Grand Vitara has now ceased. The Kizashi sedan is also

Timely automaker Black Friday promotions and a strong economy drove U.S. auto sales higher in November. Look for more of the same this month.

We're merrily motoring down the monthly sales expressway, scarcely a pothole in the past 60 reports.

Chrysler Canada gained on Ford's Canadian unit for the second month in a row in November, pulling within 920 vehicles of the sales leader.

Hyundai Motor America's November sales fell 4 percent on weak demand for small cars such as the Elantra and Accent.

Spyker, with its Spyker Automobilien subsidiary, says it has filed a voluntary petition for financial restructuring in an effort to address unnamed "certain short-term operational and liquidity challenges."

Nissan Division sales dropped slightly in November as phase-outs began for several older models and the brand reduced incentives and fleet sales.

A sustained appetite for big and small crossovers lifted American Honda Motor's sales 5 percent to 121,814 units in November.

Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A.'s sales rose 3 percent to 183,346 units in November, fueled by demand for SUVs and crossovers.

Toyota today called for an industrywide initiative to test Takata's airbag inflators to determine whether automakers should expand their regional recalls into nationwide efforts.

General Motors rode red-hot truck sales and a big month from its Buick-GMC channel to a 6 percent sales increase in November.

Ford lost U.S. market share for a fourth consecutive month in November and warned that its sales would likely continue to decline for at least several months as it ramps up production of the redesigned F-150 pickup.

Chrysler Group set monthly or all-time records for 11 of its 21 vehicles, pushing its U.S. sales up 20 percent in November, with strong increases from Ram, Chrysler and Jeep.