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Malaysian Grand Prix Qualifying: Hamilton grabs pole for Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton takes pole in Malaysia in heavy rain Lewis Hamilton has secured his second pole position in two outings for Mercedes at the Malaysian Grand Prix – equaling Jim Clark’s record of 33 poles – as rain turned the Sepang track in to a lake. And with drivers quickly going on to full wets – and cars flying off the track as the rain took control of the qualifying sessions – the playing field was levelled, allowing Red Bull’s reigning World Champion, Sebastian Vettel, to almost pip Hamilton to pole, taking second place just 0.055s behind the Brit. Behind Vettel is the winner of the opening Australian Grand Prix, Nico Rosberg, in the second Mercedes, followed by the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso and the Red Bull of new boy Daniel Ricciardo – who was so impressive in Asutrali two weeks ago – taking fifth spot.

Meet the 214-mpg Volkswagen Twin-Up concept

Ahead of a Tokyo motor show debut, VW is showing off the Twin-Up concept. Essentially an advanced version of the company's entry-level Up supermini, the Twin-Up runs a modified version of the plug-in diesel-electric hybrid driveline used in the high-tech XL1 for spectacular claimed combined consumption of 214 mpg on the Euro combined cycle along with a zero-emissions electric range of 31 miles. The Twin-Up name alludes to the new car's twin drive sources.

Volvo XC90 (2015)

After three highly-regarded concept cars and a rather extended gestation period, the first of the new generation of Volvo cars, the XC90 SUV, has been unveiled. Designed – at least latterly – under the auspices of Thomas Ingenlath, who joined the sole remaining Swedish brand from VW as its design director in March 2012, the new Volvo XC90 is the first to sit on the company's new, modular SPA platform (Scalable Product Architecture, if you're interested). This allows more freedom in terms of proportions, with a particularly generous axle-to-dashboard distance.