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Russian Grand Prix: Hamilton on pole for Mercedes

Hamilton (r) has pole in Russia followed by Rosberg (l) and Bottas (c) Amid tight security thanks to Russia’s ongoing spat in Ukraine, and a muted appetite for exuberance after Jules Bianchi’s dreadful crash with a JCB on track last weekend, the rest of the F1 circus seems to be on normal duty, with Hamilton’s Mercedes taking the front row and Hamilton dominating proceedings in qualifying to secure another pole position. But it wasn’t necessarily going all Mercedes’ way, with Bottas stringing together a very quick lap in the dying moments of final qualifying that looked like it could propel him in front of the Mercedes duo, until he lost traction at the end of his flying lap and had to settle for third spot in tomorrow’s race. Joining Bottas on row two is Jenson Button and his McLaren after a strong qualifying, and Daniil Kvyat – at his first home Grand Prix – managed to secure a very impressive fifth spot for Toro Rosso. Kevin Magnussen in the second McLaren would have been on row three in sixth spot but gets a five place penalty for a gearbox change.

BMW set to go front-wheel drive

BMW chairman Norbert Reithofer has confirmed that the German carmaker will introduce a new front-wheel-drive entry-level model positioned and priced below the existing 1-series as part of plans to help increase part sharing and to bolster the potential for production savings between the BMW and Mini brands, thus bringing an end to the era of rear- and four-wheel-drive-only BMW models. Speaking to AutoWeek at the Geneva motor show, Reithofer said internal BMW studies revealed that despite the downturn in the world's economy, there was continued demand for what he described as "premium vehicles" in the small-car class, before officially acknowledging plans that will see BMW produce a rival to the recently unveiled Audi A1 and a new Smart Forfour presently under development at Mercedes-Benz. "We will be extending the BMW and Mini brands into the small-car segment with new models and variants," he said.

McLaren P1 GTR OFFICIALLY previewed – debuts at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance

The McLaren P1 GTR (pictured) will debut at Pebble Beach 2014 We learnt last month that McLaren had decided to produce a P1 for the track – a la the Ferrari FXX programme – and in the process revive the GTR moniker from the iconic McLaren F1 GTR to create the new McLaren P1 GTR. Now McLaren are previewing the debut of the P1 GTR at next month’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance with a  design sketch of the P1 GTR ahead of its real life reveal in California. Following in the giant steps of the F1 GTR – and those of the road-going P1 – will be no easy task, but what’s on offer certainly offers lots of promise.