Vettel tests Ferrari F2012

Sebastien Vettel, who will replace Fernando Alonso at Ferrari for the 2015 season got his first taste of driving for Ferrari when he tested the F2012 today on Fiorano test track. Vettel was also spotted at the Ferrari garage during the Abu Dhabi testing last week.

The F2012 is the most recent Ferrari Vettel is allowed to drive outside of an official session under F1’s stringent testing regulations.

According to FIA's F1 regulations Article 22.2 states that :

‘Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) shall be defined as any track running time, not part of an Event, in which a competitor entered in the Championship participates (or in which a third party participates on behalf of a competitor), using cars which were designed and built in order to comply with the 2010, 2011 or 2012 Formula One Technical Regulations.

‘TPC may only be carried out with cars built to the specification of the period and only tyres manufactured specifically for this purpose may be used.’

This is how the 2015 F1 Grid will look like...

Toro Rosso have confirmed on Thursday that Carlos Sainz Jr. will partner Max Verstappen in 2015 season. The decision came after Jean Eric Vergne announced that he would be leaving the team.

It means that Toro Rosso, who finished 7th in the constructors championship in 2014 with 30 points will field two debutants in 2015. Carlos Sainz Jr won this year's Formula Renault 3.5 Championship and drove a Red Bull at this week's Abu Dhabi test.

The future of Caterham and Marussia still looks uncertain, while McLaren are yet to confirm their line-up.

MERCEDES
Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg

RED BULL
Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat

WILLIAMS
Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa

FERRARI
Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen

FORCE INDIA
Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez

TORO ROSSO
Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz

LOTUS
Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado

SAUBER
Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr

McLAREN
Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso

MANOR (MARUSSIA)
TBC

CATERHAM
TBC

2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06

2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06

Specs:

Vehicle Type: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 3-door

Engine Type: supercharged and intercooled V-8, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injection

Displacement: 376 cu in, 6162 cc

Power: 650 hp @ 6400 rpm

Torque: 650 lb-ft @ 3600 rpm

Transmission: 8-speed automatic with manual shifting mode

Dimensions & Weight

Wheelbase: 106.7 in

Length: 176.9 in

Width: 77.1 in 

Height: 48.6 in

Curb weight: 3558 lb

Performance:

Zero to 60 mph: 3.0 sec

Zero to 100 mph: 6.8 sec

Zero to 160 mph: 22.9 sec

F1 : Double points & standing starts to be dumped

The plan to have standing starts after safety car periods in 2015 has been abandoned after this week's meetings of the Strategy Group and F1 Commission.

After more research, concerns emerged regarding issues such as tyre temperatures and pressures, and the complex procedures required in the cockpit prior to any start it was decided to axe standing restarts from F1.

As has been expected for some time, double points for the final race have also gone after F1 insiders accepted that the public didn't like the idea. Fortunately they did not affect the outcome of this year's title battle, but they also did not contribute to extending it until the final race.

Teams have also provisionally agreed that the likes of Caterham and Marussia can use the 2014 spec engines, if they want to. Current rules allow manufacturers to homologate only one engine spec. 

Day 2 of the Abu Dhabi F1 Testing - Updated timings

The latest times from the final day of testing at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi at the end of the 2014 F1 season.

Ferrari Academy protege Raffaele Marciello made his F1 testing debut for the team on Day 2 of the final testing of 2014.

McLaren’s problematic start to their new Honda era continued on the second and final day of the Abu Dhabi test as their interim car completed just two laps.


1. Pascal Wehrlein Germany Mercedes-Mercedes 42 laps 1:44.557 

2. Max Verstappen Netherlands Toro Rosso-Renault 63 laps 1:45.222 

3. Raffaele Marciello Italy Ferrari-Ferrari 48 laps 1:45.376 

4. Daniel Ricciardo Australia Red Bull-Renault 59 laps 1:45.666 

5. Felipe Nasr Brazil Williams-Mercedes 21 lap 1:45.937 

6. Esteban Ocon France Lotus-Renault 34 laps 1:47.013 

7. Marcus Ericsson Sweden Sauber-Ferrari 61 laps 1:47.173 

8. Will Stevens Britain Caterham-Renault 43 laps 1:48.348 

9. Spike Goddard Australia Force India-Mercedes 33 laps 1:48.738

Bottas sets the pace in Abu Dhabi Test

Williams' Valtteri Bottas set the pace on the opening day of the season's final Formula One test in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

Abu Dhabi Test - Day 1 final timesheet:

1) Bottas, Williams, 80 laps, 1:43.396
2) Raikkonen, Ferrari, 80 laps, 1:43.888
3) Rosberg, Mercedes, 114 laps, 1:44.512
4) Palmer, Force India, 36 laps, 1:44.516
5) Sainz, Red Bull, 99 laps, 1:45.339
6) Stevens, Caterham, 101 laps, 1:45.436
7) Pic, Lotus, 88 laps, 1:46.167
8) Ericsson, Caterham, 1:46.253
9) Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 55 laps, 1:47.194
10) Vandoorne, McLaren-Honda, 3 laps, no time set

Hamilton wins 2014 F1 World Championship in Abu Dhabi

Englishman clinches his second drivers championship in style at the Yas Marina Circuit

Hamilton who started in the second place wasted no time in overtaking Nico Rosberg before the first turn and controlled the race. Due to some car trouble, Nico Rosberg had to finish way down in the 14th place.

"This is the greatest day of my life," the Brit said.

"2008 was a great year in my life. The feeling I have now is way, way past that. The greatest feeling ever."

Rosberg, who started on pole, was left struggling by the failure of his hybrid system. With two laps to go, he was told to retire by his engineers at Mercedes but said: "I would like to go to the end."

Hamilton becomes Mercedes' first champion since Juan Manuel Fangio's back-to-back titles for the manufacturer in 1954 and 1955.

Hamilton is Britain's first multiple world champion in 43 years. Jackie Stewart last achieved the feat in 1971 and would win the title for a third and final time in 1973.

Results:

1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
2	Felipe Massa	Williams/Mercedes
3	Valtteri Bottas	Williams/Mercedes
4	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull/Renault
5	Jenson Button	McLaren/Mercedes
6	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India/Mercedes
7	Sergio Perez	Force India/Mercedes
8	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull/Renault
9	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari
10	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari

FINAL DRIVERS' STANDINGS:

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Lewis Hamilton	384
2	Nico Rosberg	317
3	Daniel Ricciardo	238
4	Valtteri Bottas	186
5	Sebastian Vettel	167
6	Fernando Alonso	161
7	Felipe Massa	134
8	Jenson Button	126
9	Nico Hulkenberg	96
10	Sergio Perez	59

Rosberg takes pole at Abu Dhabi GP

It was a Mercedes top 4 in qualifying as Nico Rosberg took the pole in the season ender closely followed by his team mate Lewis Hamilton. 

The other two Mercedes powered Williams cars that of Valteri Bottas and Felipe Massa will occupy the second row of the grid in Abu Dhabi GP.

Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastien Vettel who were P5 and P6 in qualifying were penalized for an illegal front wing on their car and will start from the back of the grid on Sunday.

Here are the full qualifying results:

1. Nico Rosberg  Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 40.480s 
2. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 40.866s 
3. Valtteri Bottas  Williams-Mercedes 1m 41.025s 
4. Felipe Massa  Williams-Mercedes 1m 41.119s 
5. Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull-Renault 1m 41.267s 
6. Sebastian Vettel  Red Bull-Renault 1m 41.893s 
7. Daniil Kvyat  Toro Rosso-Renault 1m 41.908s 
8. Jenson Button  McLaren-Mercedes 1m 41.964s 
9. Kimi Raikkonen  Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 42.236s 
10. Fernando Alonso  Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 42.866s 

11. Kevin Magnussen  McLaren-Mercedes 1m 42.198s 
12. Jean-Eric Vergne  Toro Rosso-Renault 1m 42.207s 
13. Sergio Perez  Force India-Mercedes 1m 42.239s 
14. Nico Hulkenberg  Force India-Mercedes 1m 42.384s 
15. Adrian Sutil  Sauber-Ferrari 1m 43.074s 

16. Romain Grosjean  Lotus-Renault 1m 42.768s* 
17. Esteban Gutierrez  Sauber-Ferrari 1m 42.819s 
18. Pastor Maldonado  Lotus-Renault 1m 42.860s 
19. Kamui Kobayashi  Caterham-Renault 1m 44.540s 
20. Will Stevens Britain Caterham-Renault 1m 45.095s 

Bird wins Putrajaya ePrix

Sam Bird won the second round of the Formula E Championship in Malaysia.

The Formula E Championship has seen two winners in two races as Sam Bird took the chequered flag in Malaysia. 

Daniel Abt started the race from third, but didn't get going very well and dropped to the rear and finished 10th. It was Katherine Legge who lost control on braking and turned Michela Cerruti in the process. Matthew Brabham soon spun as he raced down into the chicane, slamming into the side pod of Nick Heidfeld, who seemed to escape the contact unscathed. All this took place on the opening lap, prompting a safety car.

Sam Bird took over the lead on the ensuing restart. He pulled away until the eighth lap when Franck Montagny squeezed Nick Heidfeld into the tire barrier at turn five, igniting another full-course yellow.

The race resumed on lap 13 and the safety car was not needed for the remainder of the event. Daniel Abt switched cars very early in the going and therefore, was leading the race with less than ten laps remaining. He was running low on power though and was forced to crawl at a snail's pace in order to make it to the finish.

Abt lost the lead to Sam Bird with five laps remaining before the checkered flag. Bruno Senna lost the rear and slammed the wall on the final lap of the race while attacking Buemi for the final spot on the podium, dropping him to 14th.

Lucas Di Grassi still leads the Drivers Championship with his second place finish in Putrajaya. Buemi made sure that he took the final place on the podium.

Race Result

1. Sam Bird

2. Lucas di Grassi

3. Sebastien Buemi

4. Nico Prost

5. Jerome d'Ambrosio

6. Karun Chandhok

7. Oriol Servia

8. Antonio Felix da Costa

9. Jaime Alguersuari

10. Daniel Abt

2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata Cup Race Car

The MX-5 Miata Cup Race car, will compete in a new global single-make Miata racing series.

Mazda hasn't  yet revealed the car's final specifications, but  performance enhancing upgrades to the exhaust, suspension, intake, and brakes to today's Miata look likely.

The MX-5 Miata Cup car will use a 2.0-litre four cylinder engine which will be locked to prevent any internal tampering and a six speed manual transmission. It is expected to weigh about the same as the roadgoing Miata around 2300 pounds.

The MX-5 Cup Race Car will cost less than $50,000 with all the upgrades so that the owners won't have to spend more time and money to add the performance kits.

The car will be fitted with a full roll cage and fire-suppression system.

A passenger seat will be optional while air condtioning will not be available. A roof and windows arent included.

Final power figures and exact specs for the 2016 MX-5 Miata Cup car will be out soon.

Galpin-Fisker Rocket 2015 Ford Mustang

When renowned designer Henrik Fisker approached his longtime friend and colleague, Galpin Auto Sports manager Beau Boeckmann, with advanced design sketches for a super-tuner 2015 Ford Mustang, the two wasted no time. And in Less than four months, the 725 horsepower Galpin-Fisker 'Rocket' is turning heads at the 2014 Los Angeles auto show. These tw muscle car maniacs are now preparing to put this monster into production.

The Rocket was designed by Henrik Fisker, who has a pretty good track record of designing striking cars. He's worked on the BMW Z8, Aston Martin DB8 and 9, and, of course, the Fisker Karma, which, for all its troubles, was at the very least a remarkable design.

Rocket’s design also builds heavily on the modern lines and cues on the 2015 Ford Mustang GT on which it is based. The familiar Mustang logo gallops across a hexagonal carbon-fiber grille, split horizontally by an aluminum bar. The Galpin-Fisker Rocket’s new face sits on top of a carbon-fiber front splitter, which is matched with enlarged front intakes and two massive hood scoops that help cool the car’s 725-hp V-8 engine. Custom side skirts, flared fenders, brake-cooling side skirts (for the 15-inch Brembos), a rear diffuser, and a rear decklid spoiler are also included to improve aerodynamics and downforce.

“My favorite Mustang is the 1968 Shelby GT500 that had this long hood and huge air intakes,” said Fisker, in a statement. “It gave me butterflies the first time I saw it. We wanted to recreate that feeling with this car.”

As impressive as the car looks in person, what’s even more impressive is the time frame in which it went from idea to reality. Once the ball started rolling on the Rocket, the partners were dead-set on bringing the car to life. “When [Fisker] showed me that design, I literally got chills,” Boeckmann told AUTOMOBILE at the Los Angeles auto show. Galpin Auto Sports would then unveil a one-off tuner 2015 Ford Mustang at SEMA, with the same supercharged, 725-hp V-8 engine.

F1 set to return to India in 2016

The Indian Grand Prix is expected to return in 2016 after a "fruitful" meeting between Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone and race promoters held last month in Russia.

The Indian Grand Prix was dropped from the 2014 calendar after three successful seasons, owing to tax and bureaucratic hurdles, leaving fans and experts to wonder whether the elite global event will comeback at all. The Indian Grand Prix has already been ruled out for 2015.

It still remains a doubt whether the Indian Grand Prix will run in 2016, as Formula One Management (FOM) and race promoters Jaypee Sports International (JPSI), part of the Jaypee Group, first want to honour the five-year contract and then work on securing the long-term future of the event.

"We (Sameer and I) had a good meeting in Russia. I was assured that the tax and other related problems will be sorted out in due course and then we are good to go back. It is too late for 2015 now, so we are working on 2016," Ecclestone said from his London office.

While Gaur, on his part, said, "Formula 1 remains very important for us. Unfortunately, because of the circumstances we could not do the race this year but I see the situation improving soon. The important thing is that we and FOM are on the same page. 2015 looks tough as the calendar is more or less final, so we should look at 2016 as the year for the race."

Without specifying what kind of support he is seeking from the authorities, Gaur said the government's involvement could result in a win-win situation for all.

"We have signed a contract with FOM for five years and we will honour it. Beyond that, we will have to wait and see how things change. We organised three races in full harmony, full collaboration with FOM, Government of India and the state government.

"We will go the central government again in due time, once we are closer to the race time (in 2016), we will go. It could be a win win situation. F1 is right up there with hosting Olympics or Football World Cup and its presence can only benefit India," Gaur concluded.

Jules Bianchi out of induced coma!

Jules Bianchi is no longer in an induced coma but remains unconscious, his family said in a statement.

The Frenchman has been in an artificial coma since he suffered severe head trauma when he crashed into a recovery vehicle that was removing Adrian Sutil's Sauber at the Japanese Grand Prix at the beginning of October.

His family, though, issued an encouraging press release on Wednesday, confirming he is breathing unaided and will be moved from the hospital in Yokkaichi to the Le Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice.

"Jules is no longer in the artificial coma in which he was placed shortly after the accident, however he is still unconscious," the statement said.

"He is breathing unaided and his vital signs are stable, but his condition is still classified as 'critical'. His treatment now enters a new phase concerned with the improvement of his brain function.

"Jules' neurological condition remains stable. Although the situation continues to be serious, and may remain so, it was decided that Jules was sufficiently stable to be repatriated to his native France.

"We are relieved, therefore, to confirm that Jules was transferred aeromedically last night from the Mie Prefectural General Medical Center in Yokkaichi, Japan, to Le Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice (CHU), where he arrived just a short time ago.

"Jules is now in the intensive care unit of Professors Raucoules and Ichai, where his care will also be monitored by Professor Paquis, Head of Neurosurgery Service."

The family also expressed their gratitude to the medical staff at the Mie Prefectural General Medical Center.

The statement added: "We are thankful that the next phase of Jules' treatment can continue close to home, where he can be surrounded and supported by his wider family and friends.

"We have nothing but praise for the outstanding care provided by the Mie Prefectural General Medical Center since the accident.

"We owe the medical staff there an enormous debt of gratitude for everything they have done for Jules, and also for our family, during what is a very difficult time for us.

"In particular, we would like to extend our thanks to Doctors Kamei and Yamamichi, and also to Mr Ogura, all part of the team of personnel caring for Jules in Japan."

2016 Toyota Mirai FCV

The race for the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle is really heating up.

Within the past few days, Honda has unveiled its FCV Concept in Japan, BMW is reportedly planning a hydrogen-powered i5, and now, Toyota has officially announced its hydrogen fuel cell vehicle for the 2016 model year.

Called as 'Mirai', which means 'Future' in Japanese, is a midsize sedan which will go on sale in Japan by the end of the year.

The Mirai will go on sale in the U.S as early as next year as Toyota has announced a joint venture with industrial gas supplier Air Liquide to build 12 hydrogen fueling stations in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. There are currently 10 stations in California, but the state has committed to 20 by 2015 and 40 by 2016.

Some features you would definitely like about the 'Mirai' :

• The hydrogen powertrain takes just five minutes to fill.

• Emits no exhaust besides water vapor. 

• Can even siphon energy into an owner’s home with the Optional Power Take-Off device.

• Maximum power output of 153 horsepower.
  
  
• Maximum torque of 247 lb-ft.

• It can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in around 9 seconds.

•  Maximum of 5.0 kilograms of compressed hydrogen in two 10,000-psi carbon-fiber-reinforced high-pressure tanks.
• Despite being an FCV, it will have a top speed of 111 mph.
• It will have a nickel-metal-hydride battery similar to that in the Prius and will be fed by a fuel-cell stack tucked under the front seats.
• The solid-polymer electrolyte fuel cell was completely developed in-house by Toyota and consists of 370 cells.
  
  

Power Take-off:

On a full charge, the car provides up to 60 kWh of power to one’s home (or perhaps even one’s depleted Tesla battery) in case of an emergency or a power outage. Toyota claims that’s enough to power an average household for about six days.