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From GMM

Pirelli will test a much lower-profile tire during next week's post-British grand prix test at Silverstone.

F1's official tire supplier, whose public profile has been much lower in 2014 as drivers label its new approach as "conservative", said the 18-inch tire will "showcase the way that formula one could look in the near future".

The Lotus team will be running the novel tire design.

"Larger wheel and tire sizes reflect modern market trends," Pirelli said in a statement.

The current F1 tires have a 13-inch profile, unlike rival categories like GT, Le Mans and Formula E.

From GMM

More technical trouble is not the only thing on Lewis Hamilton's mind at Silverstone.

The 2008 world champion went into his home grand prix weekend determined to start clawing back some of the 29-point deficit to his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg.

"Yes," he sniffed to reporters, "the tables turned in Monaco and broke my momentum and he has had it for a few races. Now it is time to do the same thing the other way round."

But that was before he broke down with an oil leak during Friday practice, even though he still topped the times.

"It happens," said Hamilton, "but I don't know why it happens to my car so much. I really needed that (session). I can't keep stopping."

Also being addressed by Mercedes team management at Silverstone was the ever-growing divide between the 'Hamilton camp' and the 'Rosberg camp' as their title fight intensifies.

Lewis Hamilton (Photo: WRi2)

"We had a bit of a situation in one of the last races when we asked (the drivers) for feedback on the car," boss Toto Wolff is quoted by the Mirror.

"They said 'Nope'. Anything you want to say? Nope. And when the meeting was over they plunged into detailed discussions with their engineers," he added.

Wolff said the matter has been resolved.

But Hamilton's troubles do not even end there. During his media briefing at Silverstone, a team aide handed him a hay fever pill, as he is suffering with the pollen in the air around rural Northamptonshire.

That alone, however, will not hold back his silver car. "If everything runs normally, Mercedes can do a one-two on every circuit," Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel said at Silverstone.

From GMM

Bernie Ecclestone has admitted he might buy back formula one.

The Silverstone weekend kicked off amid rumours major shareholder CVC could be considering selling its stake.

The reported front-runners are multiple consortiums, separately involving grandee teams Red Bull, Ferrari and even Lotus' Gerard Lopez.

But also in the running now is F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, who is reportedly at risk of being ousted by CVC over a corruption scandal for which he is currently on trial in Germany.

The Daily Express newspaper, however, claims 83-year-old billionaire Ecclestone could simply buy back the sport he so successfully developed.

"I have spoken to (CVC's) Donald Mackenzie and I am looking at it," the diminutive Briton confirmed.

"Our company has been a very good investment for CVC and it would be a very good investment for me or anyone who owned it."

From GMM

One of Adrian Newey's first non-F1 technical projects could be an Infiniti supercar.

The sport's highest paid and most highly rated engineer is stepping into a mere 'advisory' role for Red Bull, having admitted his frustration with ever-tightening technical regulations.

Newey said at Silverstone that the trend of the rules is in the direction of a single-make series, like a glorified GP2, and "We're already, in my opinion, in grave danger of getting close to that".

So the 55-year-old's main office next year will not be in Red Bull's F1 factory, but in the new 'Advanced Technologies Centre', where according to speculation he could begin work on an America's Cup yacht design.

And what about a supercar branded as Infiniti, Nissan's luxury division and the reigning world champion team's title sponsor?

"Adrian it itching to do something new," Andy Palmer, Nissan's British executive vice president, told topgear.com.

"Watch this space."

From press release

Caterham F1 Team has confirmed that Julián Leal will drive its CT05 F1 car in the forthcoming Silverstone test, taking place after the 2014 British Grand Prix on 8th / 9th July.

The Colombian driver is enjoying a successful fourth season in GP2, having made good progress through the ranks since he first joined the series in 2011.

After four race weekends so far in 2014 he is fourth in the championship with 50 points and with two visits to the podium already under his belt.

Julián Leal, GP2 (Photo: GP2)

"My main goal is to learn as much as I possibly can and help the team work through the program they set - I know I will be given all the help and advice I need, now I just want to get started!" said Leal.

"I am very pleased that we have been able to give Julián this opportunity and I am sure he will do a very good job for us in his test," added Christijan Albers, Caterham F1 Team CEO.

From press release

Nico Rosberg mastered tricky conditions to claim his fourth pole position of the season, Saturday ahead of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes W05 (Photo: WRi2)

"That was one of the trickiest qualifying sessions I can remember," said Mercedes' team principal Paddy Lowe. "We had to deal with very mixed conditions throughout, swapping between intermediate and option tyres, and these are the days when it's so easy to get things wrong as a team."

Rosberg's performance secured Mercedes' eighth pole in nine grands prix this season.

Jenson Button, Nico Rosberg, Sebastian Vettel (Photo: WRi2)

"Wow, what a qualifying. It was so tricky out there this afternoon with the rain and the conditions changing so quickly. It's very satisfying to get everything right in these conditions and be able to come out on top," said the German.

"I remembered that we were losing three or four seconds in the last corners when it was very wet so there was an opportunity to make a real improvement and that I should keep going.

Adrian Sutil, Sauber C33 (Photo: WRi2)

"It's a great opportunity to start the race from pole."

Having pulled out of his last lap as the track conditions were improving, Lewis Hamilton was only sixth fastest during Q3.

Sebastian Vettel, RB10 (Photo: WRi2)

Qualifying results* - British Grand Prix (round 9 of 19)
1.Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W05) - 1'35"766 - Q3
2.Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB10-Renault) - 1'37"386 - Q3
3.Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/29-Mercedes) - 1'38"200 - Q3
4.Nico Hulkenberg (Force India VJM07-Mercedes) - 1'38"329 - Q3
5.Kevin Magnussen (McLaren MP4/29-Mercedes) - 1'38"417 - Q3
6.Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W05) - 1'39"232 - Q3
7.Sergio Perez (Force India VJM07-Mercedes) - 1'40"457 - Q3
8.Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull RB10-Renault) - 1'40"606 - Q3
9.Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso STR9-Renault) - 1'40"707 - Q3
10.Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR9-Renault) - 1'40"855 - Q3
11.Romain Grosjean (Lotus E22-Renault) - 1'38"496 - Q2
12.Jules Bianchi (Marussia MR03-Ferrari) - 1'38"709 - Q2
13.Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber C33-Ferrari) - 1'40"912 - Q2
14.Pastor Maldonado (Lotus E22-Renault) - 1'44"018 - Q2
15.Adrian Sutil (Sauber C33-Ferrari) - no time - Q2
16.Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW36-Mercedes) - 1'45"318 - Q1
17.Felipe Massa (Williams FW36-Mercedes) - 1'45"695 - Q1
18.Max Chilton (Marussia MR03-Ferrari) - 1'39"800 - Q2**
19.Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F14-T) - 1'45"935 - Q1
20.Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari F14-T) - 1'46"684 - Q1
21.Marcus Ericsson (Caterham CT05-Renault) - 1'49"421 - Q1
22.Kamui Kobayashi (Caterham CT05-Renault) - 1'49"625 - Q1

*Unofficial results
**Five-position grid penalty

Sergio Pérez, Force India VJM07 (Photo: WRi2)

From GMM



Caterham would not be at Silverstone if not for the team's mysterious new owners.

That is the claim of Colin Kolles, well-known in the F1 paddock for leading backmarker teams including Midland, Spyker and HRT.

Now he has been brought in as an 'advisor' by Caterham's new Swiss-Middle Eastern owners, and he promptly installed the former Minardi driver Christijan Albers as team boss.

Apart from that, almost nothing is known about who Malaysian aviation entrepreneur Tony Fernandes sold the Leafield-based team to.

"I suppose you probably know as much about the overall management structure and the investor as I do," Gerry Hughes, Caterham's track boss, admitted to reporters at Silverstone.

Mystery and scepticism therefore abounds, but German-based Romanian Kolles - earlier linked with the potential new F1 entrant Forza Rossa - insists Caterham's owners should be applauded.

"I did not expect to return to formula one in this way," he is quoted by Speed Week.

"We have been working for quite a while on various projects, and then the Caterham plans suddenly took shape.

"But if we had not come, Caterham would not be at Silverstone. We have saved this team and done Tony Fernandes a big favour.

Caterham garages (Photo: Caterham F1 Team)

"We have made sure he can leave formula one with his head high, as without us, the racing team would have collapsed before Silverstone," Kolles revealed.

As for the investors, Kolles said there are no plans for enlightenment.

"They will remain invisible," he said.

"In recent years I have had so many problems with investors who meddled too much -- at Midland, Spyker, Force India and most recently the Carabante family at HRT.

"This time we have people who leave those at the front to do the work, while the investors stay in the background.

"The names would not tell you anything," Kolles insisted. "They are Dubai and Kuwait nationals from Switzerland."

New boss Albers, meanwhile, told the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf that he cannot rule out making changes at Caterham.

But "Let us first see how this weekend goes," he said, amid speculation Kamui Kobayashi or Marcus Ericsson's place might be taken by Albers' talented Dutch countryman Robin Frijns.

GM expects Cadillac sales in China to rise by at least 40 percent this year, as the company steps up local output.

'Made in Germany,' a hallmark of three of Europe's leading luxury automakers for years, is losing a little more of its exclusivity with BMW's decision to join rivals Audi and Mercedes and establish a manufacturing footprint in Mexico.

Daimler's Mercedes-Benz Cars sold 783,520 vehicles in the first half of 2014, up 12.8% year on year, and a company record tally for the period.

News 7 Jul, 2014

Jaguar's Paul Newson says a new, lighter F-Type could use technology from C-X75 concept

We first saw the second generation C1 alongside the Peugeot 108 and Toyota Aygo at the Geneva motor show in March. Production is now ramping up, and UK deliveries are about to commence.

The first car equipped with Volvo On Call in China has been delivered. The automaker uses WirelessCar for telematics systems based on architecture proven over 14 years in all major and developing markets.

Articles 4 Jul, 2014

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Mercedes' global brand sales rose 8 percent in June thanks to strong demand for its growing compact range. The carmaker said six-month deliveries rose 13 percent, its highest ever first-half sales.

Honda expanded a U.S. regional recall of vehicles over potentially explosive airbags to include California after a complaint that said a driver was injured in an accident in the state.

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