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FIA president now hopes to revive plans for cost cap in Formula 1.

The attempt to ease the sport's financial crisis earlier this year was rejected by F1's Strategy Group.

This group is composed by Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren, Williams, Lotus, the FOM and the FIA.

Now, after the collapse of both Caterham and Marussia, the three private teams Sauber, Lotus and Sahara Force India are asking for a farer revenues' distribution.

"We know Formula 1 has cost too much money for decades now," said Jean Todt at Press Association Sport.

"There are four main problems in Formula 1 right now: reducing the costs overall, optimizing the show, reducing the power unit costs for the private teams and trying to keep everybody on board," added the FIA president.

"We tried in the past with our governance by asking all the teams to reduce costs, not by limiting developments, but limiting the number of parts produced. Of the FIA, the commercial rights holder and six (Strategy Group) teams I was the only one who encouraged the list of parts to be reduced and action to be undertaken to reduce costs, but all the others were not in favour.

"Then we spoke about a cost cap, but even Lotus, who say today it (the sport) is too much money and we should have a cost cap, voted against. What can we do? So we are going to present again to the different stakeholders of the Strategy Group the same proposals which were refused.

"Do they want a cost cap? Do they want to follow the proposals we have to reduce the costs? We will seem," comment Jean Todt.

Day 1 of final test of 2014 Formula 1 season in Abu Dhabi saw Valtteri Bottas set the fastest time of the day in the Mercedes-powered Williams.

The big news came from McLaren, which put its interim MP4-29 Honda to the test, but completed minimal running due to a lack of reliability.

An electronics issue meant the car spent the morning in the garage, but it broke cover soon after lunch, with test and development driver Stoffel Vandoorne conducting a number of exploratory installation runs throughout the afternoon.

Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren-Honda. (Photo: WRi2)

The Belgian was halted on a couple of occasions by a fuel/data exchange issue - the second of which left him stranded on the circuit, causing a red flag.

Nonetheless, the first day of running was positive, as it's enabled the team to begin its trouble-shooting programme well ahead of the first test of 2015, which takes place at Jerez in early February.

Kimi Raikkonen set the second fastest time at the wheel of the F14 T, but all eyes were on the back of the garage after Sebastian Vettel made an appearance at his new team.

Sebastian Vettel with Ferrari. (Photo: WRi2)

The German made the most of the opportunity to familiarise himself with his new colleagues, whilst also listening in on the radio as he prepares for his new life in 2015.

Nico Rosberg was third in the Mercedes W05 ahead of GP2 champion Jolyon Palmer who got his first experience of an F1 car, driving the Force India. Like Vandoorne, reliability issues also limited his running.

Carlos Sainz Junor was fifth in the Red Bull RB10, ahead of the surprising Will Stevens in the Caterham and Charles Pic in the Lotus.

Max Verstappen gained more valuable mileage in the Toro Rosso, but the 17-year-old planted his STR9 in the barriers.

Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson, teammates at Sauber in 2015. (Photo: WRi2)

Day 1 times:
1 Valtteri Bottas  Williams   1m43.396  80 laps
2 Kimi Raikkonen  Ferrari  1m43.888   81 laps
3 Nico Rosberg  Mercedes  1m44.512  114 laps
4 Jolyon Palmer   Sahara Force India  1m44.516  37 laps
5 Carlos Sainz Jr  Red Bull  1m45.339  100 laps
6 Will Stevens  Caterham  1m45.436  102 laps
7 Charles Pic   Lotus  1m46.167  89 laps
8 Marcus Ericsson   Sauber  1m46.253  95 laps
9 Max Verstappen  Toro Rosso   1m47.194  55 laps
10 Stoffel Vandoorne   McLaren  No time  3 laps

Valtteri Bottas, Williams FW36-Mercedes. (Photo: WRi2)

From GMM

Daniel Ricciardo, the new de-facto number 1 at Red Bull, says he can understand why Sebastian Vettel is heading to Ferrari.

It has been suggested that, after winning 4 titles on the trot, German Vettel could not cope with being comprehensively beaten by team newcomer Ricciardo in 2014.

But Australian Ricciardo is not sure it is quite as simple as that, even though "the team duel probably didn't make Sebastian's decision any harder".

"He didn't have the year he wanted," Ricciardo also told Germany's Sport Bild.

"But we mustn't lose sight of reality either. He has won 4 world championships with Red Bull. Would a fifth with Red Bull be as satisfying as one with a new team?

"I know how great his passion is for Ferrari," Ricciardo explained. "Not just with F1 but also the road cars. He is a fan of the brand and its products. So I think it would have happened sooner or later."

Sebastian Vettel meeting Ferrari's staff at Abu Dhabi. (Photo: WRi2)

The fact that it has come sooner for Vettel, however, means he is arriving at Maranello amid great turmoil.

Stefano Domenicali, Luca di Montezemolo and now even Fernando Alonso and Marco Mattiacci have all fled during the course of a disappointing 2014 in red.

The turmoil moved Ferrari's new president Sergio Marchionne to seek to reassure the team's staff in a letter this week that was leaked to Italy's Autosprint.

"I understand your disappointment at the end of a season that we would all like to forget," he wrote.

"But, as often happens in life, it is the dark moments that push us into phases of renewal and rebirth, so today we have the opportunity to start a new chapter in the sports history of Ferrari."

Sergio Marchionne said Vettel is the right choice to replace Alonso, and not just because "Sebastian and Kimi (Raikkonen) are united by a great friendship in life".

"We all know how important it is at this time to have a healthy team spirit," he added, "coming from people who believe strongly in the project and want to share their commitment, sacrifices and achievements."

Marchionne warned that the road faced by Ferrari beginning in 2015 "will not be short nor easy", but that change "should not be feared".

"Progress is made by those who decide to break habits and choose not to be the result of the past, but one of the causes of the future", he concluded.

From GMM

The German broadcaster RTL has blamed formula one for declining television ratings in 2014.

RTL, the free-to-air broadcaster of grands prix in Germany, released figures showing that an average audience of 4.36 million sat down for the 19 races this year, compared to 5.28 million per race in 2013.

"Of course we are concerned about the downward trend," said the network's sports chief Manfred Loppe.

"Despite the great racing, the fascination has obviously not developed this year. It appears that the almost incomprehensible rules and the often unfortunate and counterproductive external representation of formula one has certainly upset a few fans," he concluded.

Adapted from GMM

British media sources are reporting that Hamilton is close to securing a new $30 million per season deal with Mercedes that could keep him at the team until 2020.

Already with a contract for 2015, the dotted line may go unsigned until he has appointed a new management team in the coming months, but he told reporters on Monday that the 2016 contract is "a formality".

"I haven't made any decisions of how you go about it, but I currently have a great contract. Ultimately I think not a huge amount will change," said Lewis Hamilton.

On Monday, it also seemed as though team boss Toto Wolff was not ready to negotiate the new deal anyway, having partied deep into Sunday night.

"Definitely for me it (negotiate a contract) would not be the best thing for me to do," the Austrian joked, while Hamilton revealed that he drank mainly watermelon juice to celebrate his title.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG, World Champion 2014. (Photo: WRi2)

From GMM

Qatar, the small Arab country, looks set to break F1's record for the highest-paying grand prix host.

F1 business journalist Christian Sylt, who is close to the sport's chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, cited 'sources' in reporting that Qatar looks set to pay about $78 million a year beginning with its first race no later than 2017.

With either an event at the floodlit MotoGP circuit at Losail or possibly a street race, Qatar would join F1's other two Middle Eastern races on the calendar, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi.

"We are looking at all possibilities there. Qatar is not signed but they are ready to go," said Bernie Ecclestone.

Writing in the Independent newspaper, Christian Sylt said the current highest-paying race host in formula one is Abu Dhabi with its reportedly $72.5 million price-tag.

And the British journalist told us: "(Qatar's deal) would give F1 more races in the Middle East than in North America!"

Qatar Losail track. (Photo: MotoGP)

GM executives and other staff members have taken to social media to find customer complaints and identify quality issues long before they become a crisis.

Takata and Honda executives will return to Capitol Hill next week to testify about the growing safety crisis surrounding Takata airbag inflators that may explode in a crash.

South Korean suppliers Continental Automotive Electronics and Continental Automotive Korea will plead guilty to rigging the prices of instrument panel clusters and pay a criminal fine of $4 million, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

American Honda failed to tell federal safety regulators about more than 1,700 claims of deaths or injuries linked to possible safety defects in its vehicles since 2003, when the law requiring the reports took effect, the automaker said today.

Ford has held the line on prices for the refreshed 2016 Explorer crossover, but a new top-of-the-line Platinum trim raises the ceiling on what a customer can spend for the hot-selling full-size crossover to well above $50,000.

Auto dealers in the Buffalo are reopening this week after digging out from the massive snowstorm that dumped up to 7 feet of snow in some areas.

Lexus is raising its U.S. sales target to 300,000 vehicles this year, General Manager Jeff Bracken said. 'We started the year with a sales goal of 290,000 units,' Bracken told Automotive News. 'Now 300,000 is within our grasp.

A Texas judge today overturned a 7-year-old negligent homicide conviction against a woman whose boyfriend died when her Saturn Ion -- now known to have had a defective ignition switch -- crashed, her lawyer said.

Fiat global brand head Olivier Francois calls Tony 'the elephant in the room.' And for more than five years, Fiat has tried to run away from him, even though Tony does not exist, but no more.

News 24 Nov, 2014

Survey reveals Britain has angriest motorists, with distracted driving also an issue on UK roads

Tesla, the US electric carmaker, and BMW are discussing a possible battery and lightweight materials alliance, according to German media reports.

News 24 Nov, 2014

Tuning firm Brabus is now offering a range of upgrades for the Mercedes C-Class in AMG-Line trim

The sixth of an eventual nine plants building the Nissan X-Trail (Rogue) has just come on line in Thailand ahead of the car's local debut. This will be at the local Motor Expo later this month.

Hyundai and Kia have raised their 2014 global sales target to at least 8m vehicles, up from 7.86m, as they expect high volumes in China sales to offset slowing growth elsewhere, particularly in the US and Europe.