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Lexus partners with Hollywood producers The Weinstein Company to create two short films from new directors.

From GMM

Adrian Sutil could keep his F1 dream alive by moving to the new Haas F1 Team for 2016.

The German, and his Mexican teammate Esteban Gutierrez, both look set to lose their race seats at the Swiss team Sauber after November's Abu Dhabi finale.

Marcus Ericsson, the suddenly out-of-work Caterham refugee, travelled to Austin at the weekend where his management sealed his Sauber switch for 2015.

It is believed the Swedish rookie is a key to the struggling team's very survival, with Speed Week claiming that Ericsson's sponsors made a $12 million pre-payment to lock in the deal.

Additional payments of $4 million apiece are due later.

The Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad reports that Ericsson's teammate is likely to be Giedo van der Garde, already Sauber's reserve driver.

Giedo Van der Garde. (Photo: Sauber F1 Team)

That deal will seal Sauber's survival for now, given his strong backing by the McGregor fashion brand.

Giedo Van der Garde is hopeful.

"I was informed by the team on Friday about the arrival of Ericsson," he is quoted by De Telegraaf newspaper.

"The reason is that Sauber needs money in the short term. I was also told that it looks good for me, but for the time being I need to wait."

Sutil has been saying all season that he will still be a Sauber driver in 2015, but it appears now that Ericsson and van der Garde's sponsors will fund the contractual pay-out.

When asked after Sunday's US grand prix about his suddenly dubious future, Sutil told the German broadcaster RTL: "Apparently this is in other people's hands now.

"Since the beginning I have had clarity, so we'll have to wait and see.

"There are a lot of rumours going around, but we need to focus on the races that still lie ahead."

Haas F1 team, the embryonic North Carolina-based F1 outfit, could be Sutil's lifeline, even though the Ferrari-linked outfit will not debut until 2016.
When asked about drivers, chief Gunther Steiner told Speed Week that having an American in the cockpit straight away is "not a must".

"We are a new team and we don't want to take any big risks," he said.

"If there is a fantastic US driver, then yes. But if he is a rookie with no experience ... we want an experienced driver," Steiner insisted.

"I have no names," he added, "but if Sauber changes its drivers then Adrian Sutil could be on the market, as well as the Caterham and Marussia drivers," he added.

The main challenges of the Interlagos circuit, home of this weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix, are the altitude and heat, both of which are potentially destructive characteristics for the new turbo hybrid power units.

In addition to the high altitude, the rise and fall of the local topography gives a total elevation change of 150ft over the course of a lap.

There have already been several off camber corners this season where the lubricants are ‘squashed' to one side.

However, the Renault Sport F1 engineers say there are no more obvious examples of this phenomenon than the first corner of Interlagos, the Senna “S” for the oil system and the last long left hand corner leading to the pit straight for the fuel system.

The off-camber Senna “S” drops sharply downhill, putting the cars an angle of approximately 30°.

Higher fuel and lubricant levels may be used to safeguard against any momentary stall as the fluids drop suddenly to one side of the tank, and fuel collectors are often designed with this corner in mind as it is the most severe of the season.

Interlagos track. (Image: Renault Sport F1)

Interlagos is the bumpiest permanent track of the year. Monaco and the other street circuits feature ‘natural' bumps over manhole covers and drains, but the high ambient humidity, geographic position and relative lack of use of Interlagos means the track develops large contusions.

Due to the low ride height of the cars and the hard suspension, running directly over the middle of a bump makes the car temporarily ‘take off'. Even if it's just for a nano second, with no load running through the wheels the engine suddenly hits the rev limiter, which puts the internal parts under stress.

This is however less severe this year now engines are running “lower” revs.

Several German publications claim that nine-time World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb is pondering on contesting the 2015 Monte-Carlo Rally.

According to these publications, Loeb and the Citroen Racing bosses are “in advanced discussions about the matter”.

The famed Monte-Carlo will be the opening round of the 2015 FIA World Rally Championship, and will be held January 22-25.

The WTCC (World Touring Car Championship) 2015 calendar has not been released yet, but it is fair to assume that there will not be a date conflict with the WRC.

Loeb and his wife Severine will participate in the Rallye du Var held in southern France, November 27-30.

With two races to go, Force India Formula 1 team team principal Vijay Mallya remains optimistic that the Silverstone-based squad can catch their more-fancied rivals.

After Austin, Force India is just 24 points down to McLaren and both are fighting over 5th place in the constructors' championship.

“We have double points at the last race [in Abu Dhabi] and that can turn everything around again, so we will continue fighting until the very end!” said Vijay Mallya on Formula1.com.

Vijay Mallya, Austin, 2014 (Photo: Rene Fagnan)

After a lot of initial scepticism about double points, many are now viewing it as a welcome chance to improve their positions...

“In Russia, McLaren really bagged big points and then the Austin race was very unfortunate for us, with Checo being a bit too over-optimistic and Nico retiring. Our cars were competitive in the race so my hope was that we would head to Brazil having closed the point's gap to McLaren rather than it widening by four more points. But as I just said, there is still the potential to turn things around,” he continued.

“I am sure that McLaren will try their best - and so will we. Our cars are competitive and the drivers are equally good - and it all has to come together. It has come together for us in previous races and it came together for McLaren in Sochi, so there is no reason why it shouldn't swing our way again in the next race - and then we head to Abu Dhabi,” the Indian billionaire declared.

Fifth place in the constructors' championship is worth several millions of dollars. What would you give to end up in P5?

“ It is not a question of sacrificing. Monetarily P5 or P6 doesn't make all that difference,” he replied.

“If I go crazy and spend extraordinary sums of money to get P5 then the net benefit would actually be less - then I would be stupid. So it is more of a feelgood factor: to finish in P5 to see that we are moving the team forward - that in 2014 the team has scored more points than in its entire history - given the fact that seven years ago we started with zero points and now we are fighting McLaren!”

One again this year, the United States Formula 1 Grand Prix and the AAA Texas 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race took place on the same weekend.

Attendance figures for year three of the US Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) are still to be released but it had the feel of a big event with massive general admission.

So it was a success despite a bizarre piece of scheduling, which saw the race take place at the same time as a NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway near Forth Worth, located some 300km away (200 miles).

NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway. (Photo: NASCAR)

According to Black Book F1, Eddie Gossage, the entrepreneur of the Texas Motor Speedway, wasn't impressed with F1's diary-work.

"Race fans shouldn't have to choose," he said over the weekend.

"Some chose here, some chose there. This was a shot at NASCAR by Bernie [Ecclestone]. The folks in Austin should have been stronger and pushed back, but I think that's their relative inexperience."

Thankfully for Gossage, who seemed a touch sore about the whole thing, there will be no such clash next year, with the F1 race taking place a week earlier as part of a new back-to-back with the returning Mexican Grand Prix.

Bobby Epstein, the driving force behind COTA, is already billing it as the 'Tex-Mex two-step', a tagline we can only hope does not catch on.

Start of the US Grand Prix at Austin, Texas. (Photo: WRi2)

From press release

Hyundai Motorsport GmbH has Tuesday announced that Spanish driver Dani Sordo has signed a two-year agreement to remain as one of the team's drivers in 2015 and 2016 alongside Thierry Neuville.

The 2014 season has been a learning year for the nascent Hyundai Motorsport team and Sordo has played a key role in the squad's continued development.

He took a memorable podium in Germany, helping the team to secure an impressive 1-2 in just its ninth WRC event.

Confirmation of his appointment alongside Neuville for 2015 will give the team a strong pair of drivers, who will push each other to help the team progress yet further next season - and beyond.

Details of exactly which events Sordo will contest next year will be confirmed in due course, although it is expected that the Spaniard will take part in at least ten rounds of the Championship.

Dani Sordo, Hyundai. (Photo: WRC)

Nico Rosberg has not been able to capitalise on his qualifying advantage and finished runner-up to Lewis Hamilton at the United States Formula 1 Grand Prix last Sunday.

Numerous battles that raged throughout an engrossing 56 laps. Daniel Ricciardo starred for Red Bull Racing as he captured the final podium spot.

His teammate Sebastian Vettel staged a late charge to convert a pit lane start into seventh.

After several fierce exchanges, Pastor Maldonado scored his first points for Lotus in ninth, just ahead of an equally determined drive by Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne.

Here are our best photos from the weekend's action. (Click on the photo to access the gallery).

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG (Photos: René Fagnan)

From GMM

F1 authorities are scrambling this week to put down a lingering boycott threat ahead of the Brazilian grand prix.

As the sport's air freight touches down in Sao Paulo, the Brazilian news agency Estado reports that organisers of the Interlagos race are dismissing claims of a boycott threat, insisting that 18 cars - every team with the exception of insolvent Caterham and Marussia - will line up on the grid.

In truth, the organisers are probably not in a position to issue such a guarantee.

Angry Sahara Force India, Lotus and Sauber threatened to sit out last Sunday's Austin race, and the threats have resurfaced ahead of the remaining two grands prix in 2014.

Indeed, it appears that Bernie Ecclestone and F1 owners CVC are taking the threats seriously.

It is believed CVC chairman Donald McKenzie has telephoned Lotus owner Gerard Lopez with the aim of diffusing the situation.

Gerard Lopez is making clear his demands.

"I know CVC and Bernie have been looking at this, but it's going to be a base payment given to the smaller teams, the racers, which is essentially going to make it possible for a normal budget to be pretty much closed," he said.

Initially, the big teams instinctively baulked at Ecclestone's proposal that they give up a percentage of their huge contracted bonus payments.

But, perhaps also realising the angry minnows are serious in their boycott threat, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has now said he is willing to give up "a few per cent" if that is also matched by Red Bull and Ferrari.

Starting grid in 2014. (Photo: WRi2)

Until very recently, Mercedes' grandee rivals appeared unmoved.

"The teams are there to compete," Red Bull team boss Christian Horner is quoted by France's L'Equipe, "not to sponsor each other."

And Ferrari's Marco Mattiacci agreed: "Ferrari is focused on making the pie bigger, not changing the way the pie is cut."

The latest reports and rumours, however, suggest a solution may now have been found.

"To be honest, it's really not a complicated thing to do," said Lopez. "It just requires a bit of goodwill. The overall amount we're discussing, once you start dividing it by the number of teams, is not that massive.

"I really think there is a way to solve this in the coming days, probably even to get to a proposal before Brazil. In which case I don't see the point in doing anything drastic that would damage the sport," he added.

Federal auto safety regulators have ordered American Honda to answer questions under oath about how it reports defect-related death and injury claims to the government after the automaker last month was accused of failing to report at least two...

The BMW brand had its strongest October sales performance ever to top Mercedes-Benz, which recorded its best month so far this year. While BMW and Mercedes-Benz duke it out for the top two spots, Lexus had its 13th consecutive month of sales gains.

Tom Magliozzi, the retired co-host of National Public Radio's 'Car Talk' show known for his contagious laugh and car-infused banter, died today, NPR said. Magliozzi died of complications from Alzheimer's disease. He was 77.

Booming SUV and crossover deliveries drove Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. to a 7 percent sales gain in October.

Automakers in Canada enjoyed another strong sales month in October as the market moved into the home stretch of what is shaping up to be a record-breaking year.

Ford is asking a federal court in California to dismiss a lawsuit accusing the automaker of marketing defective electric power-assisted steering systems on some Fusions and Focuses.

New-car sales in Italy rose 9 percent in October. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' share of the market dropped slightly.

New-car sales in Italy rose 9 percent in October. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' share of the market dropped slightly.

Jeep sales continue to defy gravity, with older models even posting strong gains, and helping drive Chrysler Group to another monthly volume increase.

Rising Sentra, Versa and Rogue volumes gave Nissan Division its 13th consecutive record sales month in October. The brand sold 94,072 vehicles for the month, an increase of 15 percent over October 2013.

Falling gasoline prices and the new Lincoln MKC crossover helped Ford sell more utility vehicles than cars last month for the first time since January and by the largest margin in years.