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From GMM

If Bernie Ecclestone had it his way, F1 cars would be hurriedly retrofitted with V8s, as the debate on the tamer tones of this year's turbo V6s rages on.

Indeed, the rumblings in the F1 paddock have often made more noise even than the screaming V8 and V10s that many are now professing to miss so much.

The V6 turbo engines sound like "shit" according to Sebastian Vettel (Photo: WRi2)

For instance, when Dietrich Mateschitz complained about the 'new' F1, some conspiracy theorists concluded that he might be driving down the sport's price ahead of an audacious takeover bid.

And perhaps he is only complaining because his team, reigning world champions Red Bull Racing, is struggling.

"That's nothing to do with it," F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, another fierce critic of the V6 sound, told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.

"He (Mateschitz) is just a racer. And don't forget that he is also the promoter of the Austrian grand prix. His concerns are legitimate," he added.

Whatever the real story behind the conspiracies, Ecclestone professes to be working hard to turn up F1's volume.

"I asked (Stefano) Domenicali if we can make the engines sound like they were," he said at Sepang on Friday, having heard the V6s for real for the very first time.

"He (Domenicali) doesn't know," Ecclestone is quoted by The Times. "I asked him to check with his engineers."

The 83-year-old said he is worried race promoters, sponsors and spectators may race away from F1.

But Lotus driver Romain Grosjean thinks the sport should give its all-new formula a bit more time.

"At the moment we are at 12, 13,000 rpm with the engines. I think later when we are using 14,000, the noise will be a little higher," he is quoted by France's RMC.

And Adrian Sutil, for one, quite likes the sound of 2014.

"The sound is more pleasant that the scream of the other (V8) engines." (Photo: WRi2)

"The sound is more pleasant that the scream of the other (V8) engines," the Sauber driver told German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung.

"I think it's also more interesting now because you can hear a difference between the Ferrari, the Mercedes, the Renault."

Mercedes team chairman Niki Lauda also gave his support to the V6.

"The promoters who are complaining now are only putting pressure on Bernie over their (race fee) prices. But if the racing is exciting, the discussion about the sound will be gone in three races," he predicted.

Red Bull's Marko, however, questions the politics of Lauda's appreciation of the milder engine note.

"Niki likes the new sound because his cars are winning," he said.

From GMM

The part that caused Lewis Hamilton's retirement in Australia was worth less than a single euro.

Germany's Auto Motor und Sport reports that the only issue with the British driver's Mercedes engine was a small hole in the rubbery insulation of a spark plug.

Hamilton's engine subsequently dropped from six to five functioning cylinders, and so the Brackley team asked him to retire in order to protect the unit from further damage.

"I was sent a photo of the part on the plane home on Sunday night," the team's engine boss Andy Cowell said. "It was pretty frustrating!"

Mercedes has subsequently changed the process with which the insulation is manufactured, after discovering that the original method often resulted in almost invisible cracks.

Lewis Hamilton gave his thumbs-up to the new part (Photo: WRi2)

"Now the parts are made by injection moulding, which produces no seams," said Cowell.

He added that when the newly-manufactured parts were retrofitted to all the 2014 engines in the days after Australia, half a dozen seals with tiny cracks were discovered and discarded.

The engine used by Hamilton in Australia, now featuring a new seal, was fitted to the 2008 world champion's W05 in Sepang.

"Before we tested it, I was 90 per cent sure it would be ok," said Cowell. "After the sessions, I added a few more per cent to that."

Hamilton went on to score his second consecutive pole position of the season.

From GMM

The new FIA-sanctioned electric single seater series Formula E could sweep in and snap up a New York street race.

Series organiser Alejandro Agag told Forbes that talks with city authorities are underway.

F1 has been planning a street race amid the Manhattan skyline, but the event has been repeatedly delayed, with the main problem reportedly being money.

"We are working with New York," Formula E's Agag told F1 business journalist Christian Sylt, "but we are kind of waiting to see what happens with formula one."

Formula E's advantage, according to Sylt, is that while F1 charges promoters a fee of up to $27 million per race, the new electric series is offering its events to cities for free.

"Mr Agag does not ask for a hosting fee," Sylt said, "but in return requires cities to provide prime positions for the race as well as assistance with the preparations and introductions to local sponsors."

Agag admitted he is trying to woo the New Jersey F1 race promoter Leo Hindery.

"In New York the hospitality revenues would be huge so Hindery should put the money forward and he would recover it," he said.

From GMM

F1 drivers are deliberately dehydrating in order to get their weight down at grand prix weekends.

That is the claim of the experienced McLaren driver Jenson Button, who said drivers are so desperate to be lighter that they are cutting out food and water even at sweltering Sepang.

"I am sure they are dehydrating themselves because that is what I was going to do -- go in a sauna, steam room, not drink or eat until after qualifying," he is quoted in Malaysia by the Mirror newspaper.

"I was going to do it and did all year until now, but it is a shame for the guys who have to do it."

Button admitted he has "luckily" managed to get his weight down to a point at which he is no longer worried about the sport's 692kg car-plus-driver minimum.

Jenson Button, McLaren MP4-29 (Photo: WRi2)

The problem of driver weight has been amplified for 2014 given the much heavier turbo V6 'power units'.

"It's hardcore what people are doing," agreed Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.

"You can go into qualifying a little bit dehydrated. I heard someone was doing that, exhausting themselves," he added.

Button revealed that, until he got his weight down, he was not eating any carbohydrates, including bread.

Hamilton said: "You don't want drivers being anorexic."

From Subaru Canada

Pat Richard has inked a new deal with Subaru Canada which makes his Rocket Rally Racing team the Japanese car maker's official team in the Canadian Rally Championship (CRC) for a least three more years.

As part of the partnership's extension, Richard will debut a brand new WRX STI later this season.

"We're honoured that a four-time national champion like Pat Richard heads our official team in the CRC," commented Ted Lalka of Subaru Canada.

"Pat brings with him a wealth of experience in rally car preparation and driving. This puts us in a strong position at the start of every event."

Photo: Rocket Rally Racing

"I'm thrilled to announce the extension of my partnership with Subaru Canada, which has now been running for 13 great years," added Richard.

"Everyone at Rocket Rally Racing will be working extra hard these coming months to get the new WRX STI ready for its debut at the Rallye Baie des Chaleurs."

The Rallye Baie des Chaleurs, hosted in New Richmond, Qc, is round two of the 2014 CRC season.

Having finished second at the season-opener in February, Richard is currently sitting second in the championship standings.

From GMM

F1's governing body has ruled out scrapping the new rule limiting fuel flow.

With Red Bull already appealing its Daniel Ricciardo disqualification and then encountering more problems with the new mandatory Gill sensor in Malaysia, team boss Christian Horner has called on the FIA to simply scrap the rule.

"F1 is a sport and when technology becomes too prevalent and confuses fans and teams it is not good," he said at Sepang.

Horner added that, with all the millions at stake in F1, it is "not good enough" for a misbehaving sensor to be causing so much trouble.

He proposes F1 should simply "get rid of" the 100 kilogram per hour rule, and with it the troublesome and expensive sensors.

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull RB10 (Photo: WRi2)

The FIA, however, insists it will not be going down that path. In a complex media briefing at Sepang, the federation's engine expert Fabrice Lom said getting rid of the sensors would be "dangerous".

Auto Motor und Sport quotes him as saying that, without the fuel flow limit, the new turbo V6 engines would be capable of up to 2000 horse power.

"Some cars would start the race at full power and then slow down and save fuel," said Lom, "while others would do it the other way around.

"It would result in huge speed differences at any one time, which is far too dangerous."

For now, the bottom line is that if Red Bull behaves just as it did in Melbourne two weeks ago, a RB10 driven by Ricciardo or world champion Sebastian Vettel could once again be disqualified hours after the race.

"Hopefully it (the Gill sensor) will behave for the rest of the weekend," Horner said at Sepang.

"If it doesn't then we will find ourselves in an awkward situation."

Tesla Motors and New York auto dealer lobbying groups reached an agreement that allows the electric-car maker to keep its five company-owned stores in the state, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said today.

GM is expanding its ignition switch recall to include another 824,000 U.S. models to ensure that owners of cars that may have been repaired over the years using faulty switches can get them replaced.

General Motors is telling Chevrolet dealers to stop selling some 2013 and 2014 model year

GM is facing a legal battle with a group of French Chevrolet dealers who are preparing to go to court over the terms of the brand's withdrawal from Europe.

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Jaguar eyeing up a lighter, faster and more extreme version of the F-Type Coupe

BMW has officially confirmed it will add a new range-topping SUV called the X7 to its lineup.

BMW is investing $1 billion in its U.S. factory to expand capacity by 100,000 units and add production of a fifth crossover, the X7 -- making the plant its biggest worldwide.

On the day that BMW announced it will make the BMW X7 crossover at its US plant in South Carolina, it also said that it will invest a billion dollars in the facility to raise production capacity to 450,000 vehicles a year.

When Ram converted the Fiat Ducato last fall into the 2014 Ram ProMaster for the United States, it also converted the van's cargo capacity from Europe: 15 cubic meters to 530 cubic feet.

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