Carz Gate

McLaren heads into Formula One’s Malaysian Grand Prix on April 10 riding a wave of confidence gained by Lewis Hamilton’s second-place finish in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on March 27.

The team arrived in Melbourne with a completely reworked exhaust and floor system in an attempt to make up for its lack of performance. The result was everything the team hoped for, with Hamilton finishing in second and Jenson Button capturing sixth.

“After the pace we showed in Melbourne, I think we can have another good race in Malaysia,” said Hamilton. “Albert Park is a great track, but a circuit like Sepang is where the differences between the cars will start to become clearer.”

The 3.444-mile Sepang International Circuit consists of a variety of low- and high-speed corners.

“Sepang is a circuit I really love,” said Hamilton. “It’s big, fast and wide with some really demanding high-speed corners where you can find a lot of time if you’re really able to get the car working to its full extent.”

His teammate Button added, “This is a track where you need a very efficient car–the corners here are big and will punish any car that lacks downforce. After Melbourne, when I really felt like I had a very solid car beneath me. I’m looking forward to getting out in practice to see how our package can adapt to this circuit.”

The entire F1 grid will have to battle with Malaysia’s high heat and humidity throughout the race weekend. A driver’s physical conditioning is critical to having a solid performance.

“Obviously, one of the main considerations for the drivers is to ensure we’re properly hydrated throughout the race weekend,” said Button. “Until you’ve been to Malaysia, you really can’t appreciate what an oven it is–it’s the toughest race of the year physically, and a place where good base fitness carried over from the winter will stand you in good stead for the race.”

Rain is usually another factor in Malaysian–it is not a matter of if it will rain, but rather when it will rain. Button won the rain-drenched race in 2009.

“I won here in 2009 in some of the worst conditions I’ve ever experienced in a racing car–it was like driving through a river at some spots,” he said. “Whatever the weather throws at us this year, I think we can have another strong weekend.”

However, McLaren must still attempt to overcome the performance gap between itself and Red Bull Racing. Sebastian Vettel, the pole sitter in Australia, was nearly 0.8 second faster than Hamilton, who qualified second.

“The reality is that there was a gap to pole position, and we finished second and not first,” said Martin Whitmarsh, team principal. “Our target is to close that gap and get Lewis and Jenson into a position where they can win.”

The 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix will cover 56 laps for a total distance of 192.879 miles. The average speed around the Sepang International Circuit last year was 127 mph, but drivers will hit a top speed of approximately 192 mph.

Sam Schmidt Motorsports on Tuesday confirmed that Townsend Bell and Jay Howard will join Izod IndyCar Series regular Alex Tagliani in the team’s three-car assault on this year’s 100th-anniversary Indianapolis 500.

American driver Bell, the 2001 Indy Lights champion, will drive the No. 99 Herbalife Sam Schmidt Motorsports car. Howard, the 2006 Indy Lights champ from Basildon, England, will drive the No. 88 Service Central car, a partnership between Schmidt and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

Bell, who will attempt to qualify for his fifth Indy 500, returns to the Speedway with the same team for the first time in his career. Driving for SSM in 2010, Bell qualified in 10th place and finished 16th. His best finish at Indy came in 2009, when he finished fourth driving for KV Racing Technology.

Chris Griffis will be the team manager on the No. 99 while veteran Dave Higuera will be the crew chief.

RLL team manager Scott Roembke will lead the No. 88 Service Central team, with Ricardo Nault serving as crew chief.

Despite being one of the fastest cars in Indy practice during last year’s Bump Day qualifying, Howard’s bid to make his first 500 fell short. Driving a car owned by fellow driver Sarah Fisher, he found himself outside the 33-car field when qualifying ended.

Bell and Howard will join Schmidt’s full-season driver, Tagliani, as part of a three-car effort for the month of May.

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Izod IndyCar Series team Newman/Haas Racing on Tuesday announced that James Hinchcliffe will drive for it in the remaining North American events on the 2011 IndyCar schedule.

The 24-year-old Canadian driver finished second in the 2010 Firestone Indy Lights standings. He claimed eight podium finishes in 13 races with three wins, at Long Beach, Edmonton and Chicagoland. He also tested with Newman/Haas in December 2010 and January 2011. His previous open-wheel experience includes competing in the Star Mazda series, the Atlantic series and in A1 Grand Prix.

“We are pleased to add James to our team,” said Carl Haas, founder of Newman/Haas Racing. “He impressed us with how quickly he acclimated himself to the demands of driving an Indy car last December and showed he is more than talented enough to compete at this level since then.”

The driver will make his debut on April 10 at the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama in Birmingham, Ala.

“Finally making my IndyCar debut really is a dream come true and the end of a 15-year journey getting me to this point,” said Hinchcliffe.

His primary sponsor will be Eric Sprott and Sprott Inc., an independent asset-managing company based in Toronto.

“Having the support from a prominent Canadian company as I start this next step in my career is extra special,” said Hinchcliffe. “I can’t thank Eric Sprott and Sprott Inc. enough for their commitment, and I’m sure we can do Canadian sport proud.”

Hinchcliffe will not compete in the international races in São Paulo, Brazil, and Motegi, Japan.

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Former team owner-driver and current NASCAR executive Brett Bodine is not worried about Kimi Räikkönen making a seamless move into the Camping World Truck Series after years in Formula One and now World Rally cars.

NASCAR star Kyle Busch on Saturday announced that the 2007 world champion will run a handful of oval-track Truck Series races for Busch’s truck team this summer, but Bodine is more worried about Räikkönen’s off-track adjustments than anything he might face in competition.

“I’ll be curious to see how he handles this open atmosphere, where everything in the garage is pretty much out in the open for everybody to see,” Bodine said. “He’s going to see a lot of things he’s never seen, a lot of things he’s going to have to learn to handle. He’s not used to being so open, to having crewmen on other teams working on their truck right beside him, with everything out in the open, not in closed garages.

“And he’s never been in a situation where the media is everywhere all the time, asking questions and taking pictures and asking for interviews. I heard he can be pretty cold with people [his nickname is the “Iceman”], so that’s something he’ll have to face. And he’s never been anyplace where the fans are right down in the garage and on pit road and in the public areas. We’ll all be interested to see how he adjusts to everything going on around him. This will be a whole new atmosphere for him.”

Juan Pablo Montoya made the transition–and it didn’t seem especially difficult–when he came from F1 through CART into NASCAR in 2007.

“Juan isn’t like Kimi, and he had the [Indy-car experience] to buffer his move from Formula One to over here,” Bodine said. “[CART] wasn’t as open as we are over here, but it was a good transition to help him get ready for NASCAR after his time in Formula One.

“I think [Räikkönen will] be good [in his May 20 debut] at Charlotte because for trucks, that’s like being at Talladega. You just run it wide-open all the time. And being in a Rally car is good training for this, more than F1. Rally-car drivers don’t worry about aero; they’re all about car control and the feel of that car on whatever surface they happen to be on at the time. He’s got great car control, so he’ll be just fine out here.”

Four-time champion Jeff Gordon said he is looking forward to Räikkönen’s first experience with the traveling NASCAR media.

“I can’t wait for him to do an interview because the one-word answers you guys will get from those questions are going to be hilarious,” he said. “I can tell you, he’s not going to say much. You ask a question and you might get a one-word answer–and that’ll be it. He doesn’t give you much to go on. I might come in here for that first session.”

Gordon is probably NASCAR’s biggest F1 fan. As such, he recognizes that Räikkönen has the talent to eventually figure out oval-track racing and be successful if he pursues it.

“I admire Kimi [because] he has a lot of talent,” Gordon said. “I can’t believe [he's coming over] just like I couldn’t believe it when Juan Pablo made his announcement. It says a lot about NASCAR that somebody like him is considering coming here, and I admire him for wanting to start truck racing and not just jump into a Cup car.

“Obviously, the word is out to the best drivers in the world [that] if you think you’re just going to come in here and jump in a Cup car and be competitive, you’re kidding yourself. And I think that’s pretty cool about our sport, that we’re drawing this international group of talent. That’s awesome. I hope to one day see him in the Cup series.”

Someone asked what advice Gordon would offer if Räikkönen came to him for words of wisdom.

“There’s not a lot you can tell them because they know how to get into different cars and adapt,” he said. “But this is a series with vehicles that are far more challenging than people realize, especially when you’ve come out of high-downforce cars. I think the rally car he’s been driving gives him more experience or gets him better prepared for this than any of his F1 cars. The last thing you want is to get one of these cars feeling like an F1 car, or even hope that maybe one day you can, because you never will.

“So I’d tell him to be patient and stay in the best equipment he can and go out there and follow the guys that are going fast. Learn the best lines and the braking points at each of the tracks. That would be the quickest way I think to learn and adapt and be competitive.”

Formula One teams earned $658 million in prize-fund payments in 2010, according to the accounts of Formula One Administration Ltd., which were revealed this week along with those of various other companies in the Formula One group.

The documents make for fascinating reading as one attempts to untangle the roles of the various elements of the complex web of companies that control the sport.

The headline prize-money figure was up from $544 million in 2009. The increase reflects the first full year of the current Concorde Agreement, F1’s governing document, and the fact that there were 12 teams on the grid, up from nine in the previous year.

Meanwhile, FOA’s overall turnover increased by $19 million from the previous year. The company said that the increase was a result of the addition of Korea and Canada to the calendar, which helped to offset other economic factors.

As of January 2011, FOA handed over the commercial rights to a different company, Formula One World Championship Ltd. This season represents the start of the 100-year rights agreement that commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone signed with the FIA on behalf of SLEC Holdings back in April 2001.

All commercial deals done with FOA have been transferred to FOWC, which ramped up gradually over the course of 2010 in readiness for its new role, while FOA is in turn now being wound down.

FOWC said, with some understatement, that “with the company now undertaking the commercial rights to the championship . . . the directors consider the company is well positioned to perform satisfactorily in the future.”

In June 2010, FOWC acquired FOM from fellow SLEC subsidiary Petara Ltd. for $23.5 million.

FOM provided “business-management services to FOA including the provision of technical support and broadcast services” at a cost of $70 million in 2010. It will continue to do the same job for FOWC.

One interesting detail shows that FOA wrote off $11.1 million in relation to the Istanbul Park organization–the company behind the Turkish Grand Prix–which was sold to FOWC for $1

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Hyundai Motor Co. has ruled out spinning off the Genesis or Equus nameplates to create an independent premium brand along the lines of Lexus or Infiniti, partly because of the enormous cost involved and possible image damage to sibling nameplates.

“There are no plans for Hyundai to make a separate brand,” Vice Chairman Shin Jong-Woon said in an interview Friday at the carmaker’s headquarters in Seoul, South Korea.

Shin didn’t elaborate on Hyundai’s decision to keep the top-tier Genesis and Equus nameplates in the Hyundai family. But his comments counter speculation in recent months that South Korea’s biggest automaker would follow Japanese rivals in creating an upscale line.

Hyundai considered such a move but ultimately decided against it, spokesman Frank Ahrens said. Executives worried it would cost too much and undermine the image of other models at a time when Hyundai is trying to position the entire lineup as “modern premium.”

“It’s expensive. Dealerships, marketing, all those things. You don’t just spin it off at no cost,” Ahrens said.

“Secondly, you’ve heard us talk a great deal about trying to raise the brand perception. And that’s perception for all the vehicles. So how would it help the brands if we were to cut off our top level? We are hoping they will help lift the whole brand.”

Hyundai has made rapid advances in quality in recent years. But executives say there is a big gap between their vehicles’ actual and perceived quality. Lifting the perception is a top priority.

A more realistic–and cost-effective–alternative to building a new brand would be simply fleshing out Hyundai’s upper range with additional models and variants, Ahrens said.

Shin declined to say whether Hyundai might resurrect the idea of a new brand in the future.

Carving out luxury lines from existing brands has met mixed success.

Toyota Motor Corp. scored big by rolling out the Lexus brand in 1989. It is now the best-selling premium brand in the United States, outpacing both Mercedes and BMW. But Honda’s Acura brand, the first of the Japanese spinoffs in the United States, has had trouble gaining traction.

Sales of the Korea-built Genesis were up 23 percent to 4,224 units in the year through February. The Equus, Hyundai’s highest priced entry, was launched last fall in the United States.

It sold 487 units in the first two months.

The 2012 Audi A7 hits U.S. showrooms later this month with a sticker price of $60,125, including the destination fee.

The four-door is largely unchanged from 2011. An eight-speed automatic transmission is paired with a supercharged 3.0-liter V6 engine, producing 310 hp. With standard all-wheel drive, the car is rated at 28 mpg on the highway and 18 mpg in the city.

The rear spoiler automatically deploys at higher speeds to add downforce and improve aerodynamics. The cabin holds four people, and rear seats can fold to increase cargo space.

Features include rain-sensing wipers, wireless Bluetooth connectivity for phone and music, heated leather seats and a power sunroof.

A head-up display is optional, as are full LED headlights, night-vision assist and an upgraded 15-speaker audio system.

Ford Motor Co. said it boosted prices an average of $117, or 0.4 percent, on 2011 models effective Friday, April 1.

The increase is because of “higher commodity costs,” George Pipas, Ford’s chief sales analyst, said Monday.

“This adjustment has been planned for some time,” Pipas said. “If you read the headlines, prices for food, energy, airline tickets are going up across the board.”

Ford, which posted a 16 percent gain in U.S. sales last month, informed dealers of the price adjustments on Friday. It declined to identify price adjustments on specific models.

Ford and other automakers have warned that rising commodity prices will eat into profits this year. Bloomberg reported the price increase on Monday.

Last week, Toyota Motor Corp., coping with a rising yen and an earthquake-shattered supply chain, said it would raise prices an average 1.7 percent on many 2011 Toyota, Scion and Lexus models.

The Toyota increases range from $65 for the small imported Scion xD, to $900 for two of its larger vehicles, the Toyota Land Cruiser and Sequoia SUVs, as well as several Lexus models.

In a statement, Toyota estimated that the price changes on Toyota models amount to increases of between 1.2 and 2.2 percent.

At Lexus, price increases will range from $600 for the GX 460 SUV to $900 for the IS F, LS and GS 450h sedans, and the LX 570 SUV. Those price adjustments represent a change of between 0.8 percent and 2.1 percent for Lexus models.

The changes will be effective with “May 2011 production” for North American-sourced models, and with May arrivals on models imported from Japan, Toyota said.

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BMW’s M division has gone back to the drawing board with the M5, giving the fifth generation of the iconic four-door a twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter V8 engine—the first time Munich’s class-defining performance sedan has gone without a naturally aspirated powerplant since its introduction in 1984.

Further changes see it adopt a dual-clutch gearbox as part of a complete driveline rethink that resigns the old model’s sequential manual transmission to the history books.

Revealed here officially for the first time, the new M5 is planned to make its world debut in concept-car guise at the Shanghai motor show later this month.

A virtually unchanged production version, undergoing the final phase of a 24-month test and development program in the hands of BMW M division engineers, is planned for the Frankfurt motor show in September prior to the start of North American sales in 2012.

With 560 hp and a thumping 510 lb-ft of torque, the engine serves up a noticeable 60 hp and 127 lb-ft more than the outgoing model’s more high-strung 5.0-liter V10. It’s also up by 160 hp and 60 lb-ft on the 550i, which uses BMW’s standard turbocharged 4.4-liter V8.

No official performance claims have been made yet, but M division engineers involved in the new car’s development have revealed to AutoWeek that acceleration has been improved by up to two-tenths of a second. This points to a 0-to-62-mph time of about 4.5 seconds–equaling the straight-line performance of its main sedan rival, the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG.

Top speed, like all M cars, will be limited to 155 mph, although the taller individual gearing and longer final drive ratio made possible by the significant increase in torque should see the new car’s theoretical top speed rise to more than 180 mph.

BMW also claims the mill provides a 25 percent improvement in fuel economy over the outgoing V10 thanks to the inclusion of features such as brake-energy recuperation, an alternator that disengages under acceleration and an automatic stop/start function–all part of the German car maker’s EfficientDynamics initiative.

As well as seeing service in the M5, the new engine is also set to appear in the second-generation M6 coupe and convertible, both set to reach the U.S. market by the end of 2012. BMW officials also hint that the potent V8 is earmarked for a range-topping version of the four-door GranCoupe, which is being groomed as Munich’s answer to the recently introduced Mercedes CLS63 AMG.

The engine channels drive to the rear wheels through a Getrag-engineered seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox with steering-wheel-mounted shift paddles, offered as an option on the M3. Supporting both full manual and automatic modes, it promises to provide much smoother operation and improved usability over the rapid but sometimes clunky sequential seven-speed gearbox it replaces.

The fresh M5′s underpinnings are loosely based on those of the latest 5-series, but as with all of its predecessors through the years, the individual components are mostly unique. The model adopts a double-wishbone suspension at the front in place of the MacPherson-strut setup that has been a mainstay of the M5 for the past 25 years. The rear retains an independent multilink arrangement but now carries a greater number of aluminum parts. Variable damping control provides the choice of three different levels of suspension stiffness. Yet to be confirmed is a switch to an electronic steering system–another first for the BMW’s performance sedan.

The styling changes are relatively slight. But the discreet visual modifications, developed in the German carmaker’s new state-of-the-art wind tunnel in the heart of Munich, help give the M5 a traditionally more purposeful appearance than its standard sibling. Included on the concept bound for Shanghai is a deeper front bumper housing a trio of air ducts and modified front fender panels.

At the rear, there is a subtle lip spoiler attached to the trailing edge of the trunk to provide increased levels of high-speed downforce and a reprofiled bumper with a fully functioning central-diffuser element and fluted sections to the sides, each housing a pair of round chromed tailpipes. It’s all rounded off with a set of 20-inch alloy wheels.

Mercedes-Benz is recalling the M-class SUV from the 2000 to 2004 model years to fix a problem with the cruise-control system.

In a filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Mercedes said the cruise control may not disengage when the driver steps on the brake pedal, which could lead to a crash. Mercedes says the system can still be shut off by using the cruise-control stalk or by pumping the brake pedal.

The recall covers 136,750 SUVs. It includes the M-class from the 2000 to 2002 model years, and the M-class AMG from the 2000 to 2004 model years.