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Volkswagen may use fewer temporary staff as part of efforts to reduce costs by 5 billion euros ($6.3 billion), CEO Martin Winterkorn told a German magazine.

Roger Dean Gillispie, a former General Motors security guard, spent 20 years in an Ohio prison for rape until a federal court ordered him released in 2011.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles makes its Wall Street debut to great fanfare on Monday, shifting the carmaker's center of gravity away from Italy and capping a decade of canny dealmaking and tough restructuring by CEO Sergio Marchionne.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles makes its Wall Street debut to great fanfare on Monday, shifting the carmaker's center of gravity away from Italy and capping a decade of canny dealmaking and tough restructuring by CEO Sergio Marchionne.

Call it a happy accident, but Lincoln marketing officials say they're cheering about the response to a pair of ads for the MKC crossover featuring Matthew McConaughey.

When the UK lost its last native car company 20 years ago the blow to UK pride was made worse by the success of France's PSA and Renault.

Adapted GMM

Williams is the latest team sensationally linked with Fernando Alonso's uncertain future.

Dominant Mercedes - his obvious target - is not interested in accommodating Alonso in 2015, team chairman Niki Lauda repeated at Sochi.

"We have a contract with Lewis (Hamilton) for 2015," the F1 legend told Auto Motor und Sport, "so there is no place for Alonso.

Alonso is in talks with McLaren-Honda, but supremo Ron Dennis is reportedly pushing back against the Spaniard's salary demands, and reluctant to agree a mere one-year deal.

Auto Motor und Sport claims Alonso is also lining up his alternatives should his talks with McLaren fail.

Williams is not a bad team (Photo: WRI2)

"He is also knocking at Lotus and Williams," said correspondent Michael Schmidt.

Schmidt said a move to Lotus is however unlikely for Alonso, even after the Enstone team announced its switch to field-leading Mercedes power for 2015.

When asked if Alonso is a possibility for Lotus, Romain Grosjean said in Russia: "Maybe, but I don't think so."

That could be because the Total and PDVSA sponsorships linked with existing drivers Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado respectively brings a whopping $80 million to the team.

And the impressive Mercedes-powered Williams team has already announced that it will field an unchanged driver lineup of Valtteri Bottas alongside Felipe Massa in 2015.

From press release

Nico Rosberg made things difficult for himself in Russia as his teammate Lewis Hamilton cruised to an easy win at the Russian Grand Prix.

The two Mercedes drivers started the race alongside eachother. But Rosberg snuck up the inside to take the lead - slightly - heading into turn 2.

Nico Rosberg, Paddy Lowe, Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas (Photo: WRI2)

Then it all went wrong for the German.

He locked up the brakes in a huge cloud of tire smoke. It was so bad, he had to come in at the end of the lap, the first of the race, for fresh rubber.

Nico Rosberg locks up (Photo: WRI2)

While Hamilton raced unchallenged to the finish, Rosberg recovered to second place with a 52-lap stint on the same set of medium tires.

"The biggest surprise (of the race) was that we were able to run 52 laps on a single set of prime tire with Nico's car," admitted Mercedes' Paddy Lowe.

Hamilton races unchallenged to the finish (Photo: WRI2)

"It did not seem feasible that Nico could make it to the end without stopping again. However, his pace kept on improving and in the end we decided to take the gamble in order to try and secure second place.

"It worked out and, in my view, it was one of Nico's best ever drives to recover from his mistake."

Together, Hamilton and Rosberg secured their ninth 1-2 finish of the season to give the constructors' championship to Mercedes.

Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull RB10 (Photo: WRI2)

Race results* - Russian Grand Prix (round 16 of 19)
1 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W05) - 53 laps 1.31'50"744
2 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W05) - 13"657
3 - Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW36-Mercedes) - 17"425
4 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/29-Mercedes) - 30"234
5 - Kevin Magnussen (McLaren MP4/29-Mercedes) - 53"616
6 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F14-T) - 1'00"016
7 - Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull RB10-Renault) - 1'01"812
8 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB10-Renault) - 1'06"185
9 - Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari F14-T) - 1'18"877
10 - Sergio Perez (Force India VJM07-Mercedes) - 1'20"067
11 - Felipe Massa (Williams FW36-Mercedes) - 1'20"877
12 - Nico Hulkenberg (Force India VJM07-Mercedes) - 1'21"309
13 - Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR9-Renault) - 1'37"295
14 - Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso STR9-Renault) - 1 lap
15 - Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber C33-Ferrari) - 1 lap
16 - Adrian Sutil (Sauber C33-Ferrari) - 1 lap
17 - Romain Grosjean (Lotus E22-Renault) - 1 lap
18 - Pastor Maldonado (Lotus E22-Renault) - 1 lap
19 - Marcus Ericsson (Caterham CT05-Renault) - 2 laps
*Unofficial results

Fastest lap of the race: 1'40"896 by Valtteri Bottas

Retirements
Kamui Kobayashi
Max Chilton

Vladimir Putin (Photo: WRI2)

Drivers' championship
1.Hamilton 291; 2.Rosberg 274; 3.Ricciardo 199; 4.Bottas 145; 5.Vettel 143; 6.Alonso 141; 7.Button 94; 8.Hulkenberg 76; 9.Massa 71; 10.Magnussen 49; 11.Perez, Raikkonen 47; 13.Vergne 21; 14.Grosjean, Kvyat 8; 16.Bianchi 2.

Constructors' championship
1.Mercedes 565; 2.Red Bull 342; 3.Williams 216; 4.Ferrari 188; 5.McLaren-Mercedes 143; 6.Force India 123; 7.Toro Rosso 29; 9.Marussia 2.

From GMM

Kamui Kobayashi threw fresh doubt on Caterham's future during the Russian grand prix.

The Japanese, whose own future with the struggling backmarker team is also unclear, retired from the inaugural Sochi race mid-distance.

"Nothing wrong with the car," he told BBC radio immediately after retiring.

"The team asked me to stop the car to save mileage.

"We have a lot of mileage limitation to avoid things going wrong with the parts. This is why I got the message from top management," Kobayashi added.

Kamui Kobayashi, Caterham CT05 (Photo: WRI2)

He also told British television Sky he is not sure if he will be in the car for the remaining three races of 2014.

Caterham's official explanation for the Kobayashi retirement, however, was that the brakes on his car overheated.

In the post-race team statement, the team quoted the 28-year-old driver as saying: "It was all a bit of a surprise to me and at first I didn't really know what the reason for having to stop was.

"The team has now analysed the telemetry and it was clear that my brakes were overheating too much," Kobayashi added.

From GMM

Sergey Sirotkin is suddenly sounding confident he will make his F1 debut in 2015.

The Russian teen had his maiden Friday practice outing on home soil at Sochi, declaring afterwards that his pace relative to Adrian Sutil had surprised him.

"I did not attack 100 per cent," Sirotkin told Russia's Championat. "I was not even close to the limit.

"It means the summit is not as high as I had thought. I feel like I am more than ready for next year."

Sergey Sirotkin, Sauber C33 (Photo: WRI2)

Sirotkin's comments follow boss Monisha Kaltenborn's claim earlier this weekend that she was set for revived talks at Sochi over Sauber's so-called 'Russian rescue deal'.

Speaking about his prospects for 2015, Sirotkin admitted: "It is very positive.

"I still cannot officially say what will happen next, but the chances are very good. I think that it will not be long until there will be an official announcement," he added.

From GMM

Mercedes is unlikely to back down amid pressure from F1 rivals to agree to relax the current engine 'freeze'.

Christian Horner, boss of the works Renault-powered team Red Bull, said earlier in Russia that Mercedes initially agreed to the proposed 'unfreeze' but then went back on its word.

After that, the majority of those in the F1 strategy group voted for the 'unfreeze' and so it will now be sent to the F1 Commission for ratification.

But without dominant Mercedes and the marque's customer-powered teams also on board, the changes will not be allowed in 2015.

Toto Wolff, Mercedes' motor sport boss, said in Russia on Saturday: "We have already stated our position at the meeting of the strategy group, and in the coming months our position will not change."

The Austrian said Mercedes' position is not because the team is so dominant at the start of the new turbo V6 era, but because "formula one needs stability".

"F1 needs stability," says Toto Wolff (Photo: WRI2)

"It would be very easy to just block everything from our position of strength, but we have a different approach," Wolff insisted.

"There are rules, there are procedures so that we do not make hasty decisions that may lead to destabilisation.

"I am deeply convinced that you cannot change the rules in October just because they do not suit you," he added.

Wolff argues that allowing in-season engine development will drive up costs, perhaps even most of all for Mercedes.

He hit back at Ferrari's claim that allowing the 'unfreeze' will not cost any more.

"If you make a new version of the engine by the end of June or the beginning of July, then the process of development happens twice per year, not once.

"I don't know how Ferrari has done their calculations, but perhaps we should give them a calculator. It is impossible that it does not cost more," said Wolff.

From NASCAR

It was a night of continuing disappointment for Brad Keselowski, Saturday in Charlotte, a night of battling that continued onto pit road and into the garage after the race.

Keselowski finished a lowly 16th, and so missed out on a chance to secure a spot for the Eliminator Round of the Chase.

To add injury to insult, he bumped into Matt Kenseth on pit road after the race.

"I had my HANS (head and neck restraint) off and my seat belts off and everything," Kenseth said of the hit from Keselowski on pit road.

"If you want to talk about it as a man, do that, but to try and wreck someone on the race track, come down pit road with other cars and people standing around with seat belts off and drive in the side of me—it's inexcusable.

"There is no excuse for that. He's a champion. He's supposed to know better than that."

After the race, he also traded insults with ninth-place finisher Denny Hamlin, in the wake of a late race incident between their two cars.

Afterwards Keselowski posted the following on his Twitter account:

"Rough night. Understand a lot of folks may not understand everything that happened and that's ok. I'm not perfect but also not the only one."

From press release

Toyota thrilled the crowd at Fuji with a 1-2 victory for round five of the World Endurance Championship (WEC).

The team scored a third consecutive win in the event thanks to the No. 8 TS040 of Anthony Davidson and Sébastien Buemi, who extended their lead in the drivers' championship.

Toyota regained the lead in the championship over Audi (Photo: WRi2)

With the No. 7 car of Alex Wurz, Stéphane Sarrazin and Kazuki Nakajima in second place, Toyota also regained the lead in the manufacturers' championship, eighth points clear of Audi.

"That was a great job by all the team; we had the strongest car, the right strategy and great pit stops," said Davidson.

"First and second in our home race; it doesn't get better than that."

Adapted from GMM

Fernando Alonso dropped a big hint about his future after Sunday's Russian grand prix.

A few hours ago, Alonso was rumoured to be headed towards a 'stopgap' year -- perhaps with Williams or Lotus, both of which will have the field-leading Mercedes V6 next year.

But the 33-year-old has now been quoted by the US broadcaster NBC after the Russian grand prix that his next team will not be powered by Mercedes.

"My future is already set," he told British television Sky a few minutes earlier. "Or already set in my mind for some months.

Fernando Alonso, Ferrari F14-T (Photo: WRI2)

"Now we are finalazing everything," Alonso revealed. "You need to be patient, you need to wait a little bit.

"I cannot say anything until everything is completely done but it's good and I will do the best for my future and the best for the future of Ferrari because it is the team that I love.

"When you know it you will say 'it was so obvious you will do that'," he added.

From NASCAR

The Closer finally closed the deal, and the door swung almost shut on Dale Earnhardt Jr., six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson and 2012 champion Brad Keselowski.

With the dominant car in Saturday night's Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Kevin Harvick led 162 laps and survived a wild two-lap dash to the finish after the final caution en route to his third NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win of the season and a free pass into the Eliminator Round of the Chase.

In a race that ended with battered cars, bruised egos, boiling tempers and physical confrontations in the garage, Harvick pulled away after a restart on Lap 333 of 334 and beat Jeff Gordon to the finish line by .572 seconds. Jamie McMurray ran third, followed by Joey Logano and polesitter Kyle Busch.

Kevin Harvick celebrates his win in Charlotte (Photo: Chris Trotman/NASCAR via Getty Images)

"I won't be anorexic and throwing up all week," Harvick quipped, knowing he won't need to avoid the inevitable major wrecks in the Oct. 19 race at Talladega Superspeedway to advance to the next round of the Chase. "This was the night that we needed to win. I don't want to go to Talladega next week."

Nicknamed "The Closer," Harvick had failed to win the last five races in which he had led the most laps, but his victory on Saturday night—his third at Charlotte and the 26th of his career—was an emphatic rebuke to the ill fortune that had kept him out of Victory Lane since April.

From GMM

F1 looks set to test new software and procedures next time out in Austin that will automatically limit the speed of the cars through double waved yellow flag zones.

It is the governing FIA's reaction to Jules Bianchi's life-threatening collision with a recovery vehicle at Suzuka a week ago, when the Frenchman lost control of his Marussia despite the waving of yellow flags.

But it seems the drivers themselves have also been at the centre of the proposed solution, with Fernando Alonso telling Italy's Autosprint that "I was the one who raised the issue" with Charlie Whiting earlier in Russia.

"It seems to be a feasible idea," said the Spaniard.

"In indoor karting, the management can limit the speed of all the competitors by pressing a button."

Fellow Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen agreed: "As long as it's the same for everyone, I don't see any problem with it."

FIA's Charlie Whiting (Photo: WRI2)

Germany's Auto Motor und Sport claims that Whiting met with team bosses on Saturday and said a proposed solution is to mandate a minimum 'delta time' through yellow flag zones that drivers will have the responsibility to obey.

But F1's swift reaction to the Bianchi crash does not mean the FIA has escaped criticism.

Bernie Ecclestone had earlier called for an independent investigation, but La Stampa correspondent Stefano Mancini said: "It was hard to imagine that, in investigating himself, Charlie Whiting would have recognised (the FIA) had taken dangerous decisions (in Japan)."

And F1 legend Alain Prost told France's RMC: "I don't want to argue with the FIA, because I have too much respect for everything that has been done for safety.

"But if there was one area where we knew there was something still to be done, this was it.

"So I am not convinced (by the investigation), but (I say that) without controversy," Prost added.

"In extreme circumstances, you should have zero risk. That is why I cannot be totally convinced."

Thirty-six innovations in a diverse range from adhesives to vision systems are finalists for the 2015 Automotive News PACE Awards. The awards honor supplier innovation in product, manufacturing process and information technology.

Britain last year produced more cars than France for the first time in decades. And in a dramatic turnabout, the value of British car exports has doubled in the past 10 year.

BMW CEO Nortbert Reithofer has transformed the automaker's U.S. factory into one of the world's largest SUV production hubs.

Renault is targeting prosperous car buyers in urban areas with its Clio Initiale Paris, the first Renault to use the upscale Initiale Paris trimline, which will cost 3,350 euros more than standard versions of the subcompact hatchback.