We’re fairly certain is Lewis Hamilton is still over the moon at his first win for Mercedes-Benz, which he achieved at the 2013 Hungarian Grand Prix. But we’re not so sure he’ll check into AUSmotive to relive his victory. So, it’s just as well you’re here to fill Lewis’ shoes.
This amateur spy shot gives us a pretty good look at the back of what is most likely a Porsche Macan Turbo; those quad tail pipes tell a story. While at first glance the Macan looks just like a baby Cayenne we can see the rear window is angled more aggressively for the smaller SUV.
A V6 engine is expected to be used in the Macan Turbo, producing close to 400hp. The entry level Macan is due to be launched around mid-2014.
Photographed in LA, the source of the pic is quite an amusing story, make sure you follow the source link below for the skinny.
[Source: The Car Lounge | Thanks to Paul for the tip]
We’re hearing reports there’s a couple of Mercedes-Benz A45 AMGs on Australian shores. Seems like they’ve been assigned to promotional duties, but customer deliveries should start in September/October.
So we figured it’d be worth building the anticipation with this track test from South African mag Car. Okay, they are testing the Edition 1 version which won’t be coming to Australia, but who needs a daft wing and some dodgy racing stripes anyway.
If nothing else it’s interesting to compare the lap time of the A45 against the other times shown during the clip. Plus the driver and former racer Deon Joubert offers some decent feedback on the car as well.
A very well produced and somewhat cheeky commercial for the Renault Clio IV has been banned by UK authorities because it objectifies women.
In the ad, produced by Renault UK and released to YouTube, the scenario sees customers taking a Clio for a test drive. When stopped at an intersection the salesman suggests the customer presses the va va voom button at which point a mini Paris is built around them.
Included in the mock Paris setting are scantily clad dancers. There’s a version with female and male dancers. It’s true in the full version with the burlesque dancers that there’s some slow motions scenes that increase the revs a bit, but all in all it’s all pretty tame.
However, the YouTube clip, which had registered over 3 million views, got at least one viewer hot enough under the collar to complain and in response the British Advertising Standards Authority said, in part:
The ASA noted that Renault felt the female dancers were just one of the iconic Parisian scenes featured in the ad, which was intended to be a light-hearted parody… However, we were concerned that the ad featured a number of shots of the women’s breasts and bottoms, in which their heads were obscured, and which we considered invited viewers to view the women as sexual objects.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 4.1 (Harm and offence).
However, we’re not wowsers here at AUSmotive and you can see the original ad in full after the break.
Porsche’s ongoing celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the 911 saw a new world record set at Silverstone the weekend. Organisers were hoping to attract 911 911s to form a parade lap to honour the model. Instead a total of 1208 911s turned up for the event. The spectacular results can be seen in picture and video form after the break.
Mark Porsche, son of 911 designer, Ferdinand Alexander ‘Butzi’ Porsche, and great-grandson of the marque’s original founder, Ferdinand Porsche, was on hand to enjoy the celebrations. Also in attendance were Porsche racing legends Richard Attwood, Derek Bell and John Fitzpatrick.
Speaking at the event Mark Porsche said: “Of course, the 911 means a great deal to me as it’s my father’s big design and it will always have a special place in my heart. It’s been a family member over all the generations of the 911 series and I’m very proud to be here today to represent the Porsche family at this great event. I think that to have these 1,200 cars on track is the attention that the 911 deserves for its 50th birthday. I can’t thank the Porsche Club GB enough for making this event possible.â€
In promising news for Chris Atkinson’s on-again off-again WRC career he has been signed to Hyundai’s WRC program. At this stage it’s a test role only and he’ll be behind the wheel of an i20 WRC prototype later this week.
“It is great to be able to integrate Chris into Hyundai Motorsport testing line-up for this season and I am convinced he will bring a lot of valuable WRC experience,” Hyundai Motorsport Team Principal Michel Nandan said. “Chris will support the work of our main test drivers Juho and Bryan. With the combined expertise of all three test drivers, we will be able to benefit from thorough and comprehensive input at every test session.â€
Atkinson revealed he was at Hyundai’s WRC headquarter a few weeks ago and hopes his experience will be of value to the team. “It is such an exciting project,” he said. “After visiting the Hyundai Motorsport factory three weeks ago, I am simply impressed by the team’s commitment and achievements so far.
“I have a lot of experience of many different WRC cars and events, and I will utilise this knowledge to support the development of the 2014 i20 WRC car.â€
Lewis Hamilton rated his win in the 2013 Hungarian Grand Prix very highly. When interviewed on the podium by Martin Brundle he declared: “I think this is probably one of the most important grand prix wins of my career. To move to a new team and to win for Mercedes-Benz is just a real privilege.”
Clearly, Lewis was pretty happy with his day’s work, and so he should be. He drove a strong race and deserved the win.
Mark Webber was also pleased with his result, even though, he’d much prefer fighting for higher honours that P4.
“I think we had the right strategy,” Webber said. “We knew there was a lot of pressure on getting a good first lap and I got some clear air, which worked well. The start was okay and the first sector was very good, I was able to put a bit of pressure on Kimi and then we just settled in.
“I don’t think we could have got much more than that result today. The strategy was pretty solid and you have to pace the option tyres until the end.â€
Daniel Ricciardo wasn’t quite so pleased with his day and think the mid-30 degree temperatures may not suit the Toro Rosso STR8.
“Right from the start, it was clear we weren’t really quick,” admitted Ricciardo. “I tried to hold position as long as I could but we were way too slow. I tried my best in terms of trying to maintain a good pace and look after the tyres, but today it was not enough to go looking for points. We got a bit more out of the car in qualifying yesterday, but it’s hard to repeat that for seventy laps.
“We struggled at Nürburgring as well, so the heat has got something to do with it. We could not match our competitors today, just lacking speed when we have a heavy fuel load, which is the opposite of what we tended to see with last year’s car.â€
The full post-race press conference transcript featuring the first three drivers can be read after the break.
[Pic: Mercedes AMG]
Lewis Hamilton said he couldn’t win the Hungarian Grand Prix, despite starting from pole position. But he made a quick start off the line to hold P1 and managed to hang on for a well deserved win—his first for Mercedes AMG.
We were also told that the Hungaroring is notoriously difficult to pass on but we saw some great overtaking moves during this race right through the field.
The closing laps saw a great scrap between Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) and Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) for the minor podium positions. Kimi was able to hold Sebastian at bay to finish the race in P2.
Making his second great start in a row Mark Webber (Red Bull) started from P10 and improved to P7 by the end of the first lap. He bagn the race on new medium compound tyres, while all those in front were on used softs. Fresh tyres allowed Mark to stay out much longer on his opening stint and he led the race for several laps before making his first of three tyre stops.
With 10 laps to go, while in second place, Webber pitted for the final time taking on a brand new set of soft tyres. He rejoined the track in P4 some 12 seconds behind the Raikkonen–Vettel scrap but was unable to close enough ground to fight for a podium finish. Still, after his qualifying woes he should be happy with fourth.
Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) had a non-descript race and was never really in the hunt, in that context he may be happy with P5 today. However, we’re certain he won’t be happy with Ferrari’s current form.
In P6 was Romain Grosjean (Lotus) who, we think, was a little unlucky to be penalised for a great overtaking move on Jenson Button (McLaren). To complete the move Grosjean had all four wheels off the race track, ever so slightly, and was given a drive through penalty for his sins. He had shown good pace all race and had the package to fight for more.
Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso) was barely sighted on the television feed all race and dropped from his starting position of eighth down to thirteenth. Crucially, he finished one place behind teammate Jean-Eric Vergne.
Formula 1 now heads into its mid-season break and will return for the Belgian Grand Prix in the last weekend of August.
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes AMG) collected his third pole position in succession after setting the fastest time in qualifying for the 2013 Hungarian Grand Prix. Hamilton (1:19.388) was genuinely surprised to have edged out Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull, 1:19.426), who had been the benchmark all weekend.
Romain Grosjean (Lotus, 1:19.595) qualified third and in doing so reminded us that, when switched on, he has the talent to mix it with the best in the sport. If he can rid himself of his brain fades he could forge an enviable F1 career. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes AMG, 1:19.720) will start form P4 alongside Grosjean.
Fernando Alonso (Ferrari, 1:19.791) and Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus, 1:19.851) occupy the third row of the grid.
For Australian fans their hopes will be pinned on Daniel Riccardo (Toro Rosso, 1:20.641) who will start from P8, once again making it into Q3 while his teammate, Jean-Eric Vergne, was left behind in Q2 and will line up on P14.
“It was good to get into Q3 again. We seem to make a habit of finding a little bit extra for qualifying,” Ricciardo said after qualifying. “Athough ideally, I’d like to be on the pace right from Friday and chip away at the lap times within the top ten. We made some set-up changes overnight and they seem to have worked, although we had a bit of work to do to get to Q3 today.â€
Meanwhile, Mark Webber (Red Bull) did well to get himself into Q3 with a car that had ever present issues, namely a KERS failure and hampered performance from his gearbox. He elected not to go out at all in Q3 and will start from P10 and has the luxury to choose the tyres he wants to start with. Although, that’s not much of a compensation for Mark who was clearly frustrated after hopping out of his car while Q3 was still underway.
“Massively frustrating. We look stupid, it’s embarrassing and it’s a brutal circuit to be out of position on,” Webber said. “We should be challenging for the front row and we’re 10th.”
Expectations for the race are that Mercedes, again, won’t have the pace to challenge for the win, which leaves the likely result another win for Sebastian Vettel. The Hungaoring is notoriously difficult to overtake on and while Webber might have the car able to challenge for a podium it will be a mighty result if he can achieve that.
[Pic: Mercedes AMG]
Today marks two months until the world premiere of Ron Howard’s F1 movie Rush. Advance screenings have already taken place, and many in current F1 circles, including Niki Lauda, have seen the film.
It’s understood Lauda led the applause when Howard presented the film to an F1 audience prior to the German Grand Prix.
“I spoke to the drivers, and they were very complimentary, which made me feel great,” Howard told SPEED.com. “Some of the engineering guys are so excited by what we’ve achieved. I don’t know where that comes from—perhaps they’ve been disappointed by other films, or perhaps they assumed it was too complicated for us to ever get it.”
Importantly, Bernie Ecclestone is a fan. Howard recalled a conversation he had with the F1 supremo: “I said to Bernie, ‘Thanks for taking the time to see the movie,’ and he said, ‘Thanks for making it. It really took me back.’ He wasn’t joking, he was kind of emotional, and I think he was surprised.”
As you can probably tell we’re very much looking forward to seeing the film. We appreciate how open Howard has been throughout the making of the movie. He’s given fans an insight all the way though, mostly through his twitter account.
Howard’s media appearances have also been great, bringing us closer to the story and giving F1 fans a stake in its creation. His recent appearance on Top Gear is just one example of that.
To help you count down the days you can check out the official Rush website as well as a selection of previews we have for you after the break.
Is it too late to throw the F56 out and start again? Because these MINI Vision images, based on a virtual 3D hologram, look a lot better than what we’re expecting from the imminent arrival of the third-generation MINI.
In their official media release MINI says the Vision, “previews a sampling of visionary design and innovative ideas,” and that it, “showcases various elements of future MINI design.”
Indeed, the timing of this release is slightly odd given the debut of the F56 is only a few months away. Perhaps some of the elements you see here will translate to the forthcoming production model. Alas, we’ve probably seen too much in recent spy shots to expect that this could actually be a genuine preview of the next-gen MINI.
MINI is well known for its mastery of publicity, but it would seem beyond all reasonable scope to think the car seen in recent spy pics is a hoax and that this is indeed the real deal.
As far as tributes go this one is hard to beat. We can’t tell you a lot about it other than Honda has literally created a sound track to give an audio visual representation of Ayrton Senna driving a McLaren MP4/5 around the famous Suzuka grand prix circuit. Oh, and you’re going to like it, a lot!
[Thanks to Ryan for the tip]