Arias Pistons 12.5:1 Compression 82mm Bore Honda B-series on 2040-parts.com

One-off Ferrari 458 pays tribute to Niki Lauda

One-off Ferrari 458 pays tribute to Niki Lauda Younger readers might not see the connection between Ferrari and Niki Lauda; after all, Niki Lauda is Chairman of the Mercedes F1 team, not Ferrari. But back in the 1970s, Niki Lauda was the Prince of the Ferrari F1 team, notching up driver titles in 1975 and 1977 in a Ferrari (and suffering horrific burns at the Nurburgring in 1975). Although Lauda left Ferrari  in 1977 on less than good terms, the Ron Howard tribute film to the ’70s battle between Lauda and James Hunt – Rush – has obviously had an impact on one of Ferrari’s wealthier clients, who has commissioned Ferrari’s Tailor Made Programme to create a Ferrari 458 dedicated to Niki Lauda.

Renault to unveil Alpine-branded concept car at Monaco GP

Renault is set to unveil an Alpine-branded concept car at this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix. The A110-50 – so named to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the oh-so-pretty A110 rally car – is clearly a development of the 2010 DeZir concept car although with only one leaked image to analyze, it's difficult to know by what amount it has changed. Clearly it has been subjected to the addition of a myriad of additional details, surfaces, inlets, outlets and various pieces of racing addenda however that, on the little evidence we have, appear to have added drama to the detriment of the refreshingly non-aggressive nature of the DeZir.

Bahrain Grand Prix: Rosberg takes pole for Mercedes

So much for the 2013 Mercedes being uncompetitive. Nico Rosberg put in a strong performance in Bahrain in qualifying for tomorrow’s F1 race, beating Sebastian Vettel in to second place and Fernando Alonso in to third. But whether this was a qualifying ‘special’ from Mercedes we won’t really know until tomorrow.