Formula 1: Ferrari to Unveil its 2012 Car on February 7

The 2011 Formula 1 season is certainly one Ferrari would like to forget. Despite former champion Fernando Alonso giving it his best, in the end the Scuderia had only one win to show and a poor third place in the constructors’ championship.

Ferrari’s head of communication, Luca Colajanni, told Italian publication Autosprint that the 2012 car, upon which the Scuderia has focused its resources since August, will be revealed at the first official test of the new season on February 7 at Jerez racetrack in Spain.

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Formula 1: Sauber is Third Team to Leave FOTA, Toro Rosso to Follow?

A spokeswoman for the Sauber Formula 1 team has confirmed to ESPN that it has sent a letter to the Formula One Teams’ Association (FOTA), informing them that it will no longer be part of it.

The move makes Sauber the third team after Red Bull and Ferrari to leave FOTA which, ironically, was formed on July 2008 in a meeting in Maranello in order for the F1 teams to present a unified stance in talks with FIA and the Bernie Ecclestone-owned Formula One Group that owns F1’s commercial rights.

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Formula 1: U.S. Austin Race in Texas Makes the Cut, will be Included in 2012 Calendar

What Bernie Ecclestone wants, Bernie Ecclestone gets. This dictum has been proved repeatedly in Formula 1 as the British businessperson, despite beings 81 years of age, remains the man who pulls the string in F1.

Ecclestone wanted Formula 1 to return to the United States. His first attempt, a few years back, at the Indianapolis circuit was short-lived. The U.S. is very important to Ecclestone though, so he signed a deal with the Circuits of America for a race to be held in 2012 at a new track in Austin, Texas.

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Mercedes F1 Team Changes Name, Brings AMG into the Game

Mercedes-Benz announced that its Formula 1 team, which raced under the Mercedes GP Petronas moniker this year, is changing its name to “Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team” from the 2012 season.

Up until now, AMG has been the three-pointed star’s in-house performance division, developing the sportiest versions of its production models like the SLK and the C-Class and, of course, the SLS AMG supercar.

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Formula 1: Bernie Ecclestone Extends Austin Deadline, Says Europe “is Finished”

On November 18, Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone issued an ultimatum to the organizers of the Circuit of Americas in Austin, Texas, that was supposed to host F1’s return to the U.S. Ecclestone had said at the time that they had a week to get their act together and solve their problems.

Yet the deadline has expired and nothing has changed. Ecclestone, however, decided to give Austin another week to secure a deal for hosting the 2012 Formula 1 U.S. Grand Prix.

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VW Motorsport's Skillful New Signing, Sebastien Ogier, Wins the Race of Champions [Videos]

Almost all motorsport racing series are over, so it's time for the Race of Champions, an annual challenege between drivers competing in different kinds of racing such as Formula 1, WRC and DTM.

This year’s event was held last weekend at the Esprit arena in Dusseldorf, with the VW Group providing many of the cars like the VW Scirocco R, the Audi R8 LMS and the Skoda Fabia S2000. It also displayed its brand-new 300HP Polo R WRC, with which it will enter the world rally championship in 2013 in front of the crowd for the first time.

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Ferrari and Red Bull Quit F1 Teams Association over Rules Disagreement, FIA Announces 2012 Entry List

Now we know what Ferrari CEO, Luca di Montezemolo’s statements were all about when less than a month ago, he hinted at the Scuderia leaving Formula 1, something that the company had then denied claiming that its head honcho’s words were misinterpreted.

Well, leaving the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) is an action that is not really open to any sort of interpretations - especially when Ferrari itself issues a lengthy statement explaining why it is leaving the association that di Montezemolo himself was presiding over until 2009.

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Kimi Raikkonen Feels the Need for Speed, Returns to F1 With Lotus Renault GP

It seems that every recently retired Formula 1 world champion is just itching to get back in a racing seat again. Michael Schumacher’s comeback is the most well known example, but Mika Hakkinen also returned to the track, driving a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3.

Now, 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen, who made a switch from F1 to rallying, has returned to Formula 1, signing a two-year contract with the Lotus Renault GP team.

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Caterham Group Officially Named at Brazil F1 Grand Prix

Less than eight months after the purchase of Caterham Cars by Team Lotus, the company’s chairman, Tony Fernandes, confirmed the creation of a new group with four divisions that will all bear the Caterham name. Fittingly, the announcement was made at this past weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix

"We have been talking for some time now about our plans for Caterham in all its guises, from the road car company to Formula 1 and GP2, and in the technology, design and innovation fields”, said Fernandes.

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Formula 1: Brazilian Grand Prix Race Results

Always the bridesmaid, never the bride: this perfectly describes Mark Webber’s participation at the 2011 Formula 1 season so far. Despite driving the best car on the grid and being in the top-performing team, the Australian not only watched his younger teammate clinch the title with considerable ease, but until the last race of the season didn’t have a single win to show for himself. Read more »

Formula 1: Brazilian GP Qualifying Results

In Abu Dhabi, Sebastian Vettel matched Nigel Mansell’s record of 14 pole positions in a single Formula 1 season, which stood for 19 years. In the final qualifying session of the season at the Brazilian track of Interlagos, he had his last chance to break it - at least for the current season. Read more »

McLaren Denies Rumors about a Honda Engine Deal in 2014

The image of a white and red McLaren, usually with a yellow-green helmet signaling that the man sitting in the cockpit was none other than Ayrton Senna, is one that remains etched in F1 fans’ minds many years after his demise in 1994. Powering the McLaren of the late three-time world champion was a Honda engine.

Last weekend, German magazine Auto Motor und Sport reported that McLaren was in talks with Honda to rekindle their 1988-1992 collaboration, which yielded four constructor championships, from 2014 onwards, when the rules mandate the change to 1.6-liter turbocharged engines.

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Video: NASCAR’s Tony Stewart and F1’s Lewis Hamilton Swap Seats

Formula 1 is considered the top form of motorsports thanks to its cutting-edge technology and worldwide appeal. Well, almost worldwide: despite Bernie Ecclestone's efforts, F1 hasn’t really caught up in the U.S.

NASCAR, on the other hand, despite being much more low-tech, is the series to watch in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Michelle Obama booing Brave. But it remains solely an American thing.

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Video: Was Michelle Obama Booed at NASCAR’s Homestead Season Finale?

Looks like politics may have entered motorsports as well. First Lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden's wife, Jill Biden appear to have been booed by at least some fans at Sunday’s NASCAR season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

The pair's participation at the race as honorary grand marshals was meant to promote the “Joining Forces” program on behalf of military families. Retired Army Sgt. Andrew Barry, who was wounded in action in Iraq and Afghanistan, and his family were standing beside them when the incident occurred.

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Formula 1: McLaren’s Boss Says Team “Must Win Races from the Start” in 2012

McLaren is second only to Ferrari in Formula 1 World Championships, having won 12 constructors’ titles, three less than the Scuderia. Yet the 2011 season has not lived up to the team’s expectations despite winning six races, because the combination of Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull was clearly superior.

Speaking at the opening of McLaren’s new Production Center, the F1 team's principal, Martin Whitmarsh, admitted that they underperformed this year.

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Austin, Texas F1 Track Given One Week Deadline to Solve its Problems

Despite all the publicity surrounding the return of Formula 1 in the U.S. next year, it looks increasingly unlikely that the event will take place in the brand-new Circuit of Americas track located in Austin, Texas.

Bernie Ecclestone, longstanding F1 chief executive, has issued an ultimatum to the race organizers, announcing that they must get their act together and solve their problems before the next meeting of the World Motor Sport Council on December 7, which will ratify the 2012 F1 calendar.

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F1: Sebastian Vettel takes his 6th Win in Valencia

Sebastian Vettel is on a roll and no one seems able to stop him and his Red Bull from adding a second Formula 1 championship to their trophy list. This was confirmed once again today in the European Grand Prix in Valencia, in the eighth race of the 2011, where Vettel took his sixth win of the season. The German world champion started from the pole position and was never challenged during the race as he cruised to another win.

The only driver to even come close was Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso who started from fourth place and, like his team-mate Felipe Massa, made a terrific start. Alonso had a fight with the Red Bull of Mark Webber who, despite starting from the front row, eventually lost out to the Spaniard who finished the race second, more than 10 seconds behind Vettel.

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F1 to Adopt Turbo 1.6-Litre V6s, not 4-Cylinders, from 2014

It seems that Formula 1’s rules that were supposed to take effect from the 2013 season are being scrapped before they are even imposed. Those regulations called for the replacement of today’s 2.4 V8 motors by 4-cylinder turbocharged 1.6 liter units, a proposal that had being strongly opposed by certain teams such as Ferrari.

Now the sports’ governing body, the FIA, has offered an alternative: 1.6-liter turbocharged V6s with hybrid Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS), with the implementation of the new rules being pushed back one year, to 2014.

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