Hamilton says future Formula 1 contract demands to shock McLaren team

‎Even as he finishes 4th at the 2011 Britain - Formula 1 race result Lewis Hamilton has revealed he will demand a less arduous off track schedule when he negotiates a new Formula One contract with McLaren.

The 2008 World Champion's current deal includes 2012, but it emerged last week that a success related break clause could open the door for a switch to Red Bull.

However, Christian Horner on Saturday estimated the chance of a Sebastian Vettel/Hamilton line-up next year as "slim to nil", at the same time as a frustrated Hamilton was publicly laying out his demands for a new deal at McLaren.

"When I re-sign the contract with McLaren they are going to be shocked at how many days they are not going to be able to make me do," Hamilton told reporters after qualifying tenth near the end of a demanding pre-Silverstone media and sponsor schedule.

"I will be doing a lot less work. There is definitely a danger of burn-out," said the Briton.

Hamilton, who has had a poor run of results and been the subject of intense speculation as well as criticism recently, admitted he is looking forward to Formula 1's August break.

"It is nice to know I have got that coming up," said the 26 year old, admitting he feels "older" than 30. "Am I tired?  Um, maybe. Have I trained?  No, never trained for the past two weeks.

"But what's important is that the sponsors are happy," he quipped.

The comments mean McLaren's PR machine might need to roll out again in the wake of the Santander Formula 1 British Grand Prix, particularly as Hamilton has reverted to pessimism about his chances of success.

"I think we might have run out of miracles," said the Briton. "I think I drove the car as well as I could. It's going to be a long, long season."

Even his McLaren crew did not escape criticism.

"It was a poor performance," said Hamilton after qualifying tenth. "I can't see the weather forecast from inside my car but I kept asking my guy 'What's the weather doing?'

"Everyone else went out on new tyres, while I was out on old ones."

But even team boss Martin Whitmarsh admitted that the championship is no longer the main focus.

"To say we are concentrating on winning championships would be the wrong focus. We have to concentrate on winning races again," he said.

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Range Rover Sports.

THE Range Rover is one of the great British success stories.
As one of the great icons of modern times it’s a vehicle that is much feted - and much bought, writes Rob Auchterlonie..
And you don’t have to be an overpaid footballer or have blonde hair and a pair of Gucci sunglasses parked on the top of your head to own one.
You only have to glance at your average queue of traffic to see how popular the Range Rover Sport is. They’re everywhere, the discerning choice of motorists who want to buy British because in this instance British is tub-thumpingly best.
It’s been praised the world over and if you think you’re going to read anything other than that here then you’re mistaken.
Of course, it’s not faultless. You can look at any car and there will always be something that doesn’t quite ring true.
But the sum of the overall parts usually far outweighs any minus points. And that’s very definitely the case with Solihull’s finest.
For something capable of tackling terrain slightly more rugged than the A421 it’s a supremely comfortable vehicle. So much so that you could almost forgive George Michael dozing off behind the wheel. Actually, no you can’t. No one should be in charge of any form of motorised transport when they’re completely gazeboed on drugs or anything else. Not the sort of publicity Land Rover relish – they prefer the good stuff, like the announcement that the factories are safe, thousands of new jobs are to be created and that there’s widespread anticipation of the arrival of the baby Rangie, the new Evoque.
The Sport is the slightly stockier and snappier version of the full blown Range Rover, and while it might not quite appear to have the full blown ‘drive through the jungle’ credentials of its stablemates, there’s still a healthy 227mm of obstacle clearance and a 700mm wading depth when the river bank bursts. Or put another way, if you’re vertically challenged you’re going to need a hand up into the passenger seats.
From where you’ll be wafted to your destination amidst a classy mix of leather, wood, aluminium and a top notch sound system.
For the person in control (we won’t call him George in this instance) there are more buttons than on a big girl’s blouse when it comes to piloting the Sport, offering a setting for just about every conceivable road condition you might encounter.
Of course, a large number of owners will glance at them, panic and then reach forward to the touch screen to select their favourite music or the sat nav.
But it’s reassuring to know that there’s not a lot that can stop you reaching your destination in a Range Rover.
And when it comes to off road use, Land Rover sets the standard for others to follow, so on the latest models you get Hill Start Assist, which stops the car rolling backwards, and Gradient Acceleration Control.
There are two diesel engines to choose from, with either 211ps (520Nm) or 245ps (600Nm), both units being pretty refined and responsive when called upon. Throttle response is impressively quick and for a big vehicle the Sport still displays impressive on road poise.
This chunky car comes with an equally chunky key but you don’t need it – start up is via a push button on the dash. You just need to keep it in your pocket, or on the restaurant dining table for maximum impact.

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Jaguar E-Type Named UK’s Favourite Sports car

Marking it's 50th anniversary the Jaguar E-Type has been named as the UK’s favourite sportscar in an online vote of race fans and classic car enthusiasts.

“Britain is famous for its sportscars but until now no one has ever been able to say which one is the best. That’s a long-running debate we have now put to rest,” said Silverstone Classic Event Director, Nick Wigley.

The iconic Jaguar collected nearly a quarter of the votes cast, easily beating the similarly iconic Morgan and the TVR Griffith into second and third.

The vote was set-up by organisers of Silverstone Classic (July 22-24), the world’s largest classic motorsport festival that this year features a celebration of the iconic E-Type.

The highlight of the celebration will be two headline races during the weekend, both with 58 cars expected to take to the Silverstone Grand Prix track from the new brand new Silverstone Wing paddock. Organisers also hope to set a world record with over 1,000 road going examples making up a cavalcade around the 3.66 mile circuit.

The 2011 Silverstone Classic is set to be the biggest event yet with over 100 historic F1 cars expected for the weekend, as well as a grid of Group C sportscars that will race into the dusk on Saturday night. The program also includes a celebrity race, using identical Morgan cars, with drivers including TV chef Heston Blumenthal and Strictly Come Dancing professional dancer Brendan Cole raising money for the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research UK.

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Honda Accord gets Midlife Makeover

You may disagree, but somehow the latest generation Honda Accord never seemed as crisp in its overall appearance as its sporty predecessor.


Honda seems to have addressed that to an extent with the Accord sedan and estate's midlife makeover, the new model set to be revealed at the Geneva show in March and in addition to subtle styling enhancements, the Accord benefits from numerous improvements beneath the skin.
On the styling front, the headlights now boast a cleaner appearance with clear indicators and there's a bolder grille in place. What's more, flagship models now have bi-xenon headlights with an active cornering function. These 'Active Cornering Lights' provide enhanced illumination when the vehicle is turning.
Another new lighting technology for Honda is the High Beam Support system (on bi-xenon models). This system is controlled by a CMOS camera fitted to the windscreen in the area of the driver rear view mirror. The camera detects oncoming headlights or the taillights of a vehicle in front and automatically dips the headlights onto their normal setting if they are on high-beam.
At the rear, subtle colour changes to the lights join a light chrome number plate garnish on the sedan (dark chrome on the Type S).
Inside, most models get new seat materials and door linings, while the Type S version gets additional sporty touches.
Headlights now boast a cleaner appearance and a bolder grille is not in place.
Beneath the bonnet, the 110kW 2.2-litre i-DTEC diesel engine has had internal frictional losses reduced to improve efficiency and emissions, the result being a 9 g/km drop in CO2 emissions for the manual sedan and an 11 g/km reduction for the automatic.
These internal changes have been combined with a host of underbody aerodynamic aids, including a larger front air dam and covers for the underfloor and rear subframe. Honda's engineers have also put effort into reducing the frictional losses in the wheels and tyres with low friction wheel bearings and reduced rolling resistance tyres.
Accords equipped with automatic transmission have also benefitted from minimised frictional losses in the gearbox and optimised ratios to improve economy and emissions.
As a result of all these changes all engines in the range now boast better efficiency and lower emissions but, of course, it's the diesel model that rules the roost in this respect with its 138 g/km CO2 emissions rating.
Noise, harshness and vibration levels have been further reduced with the adoption of higher density foam in the under bonnet and dashboard areas and improved underfloor insulation.
Engineers have also fine-tuned the dampers to better suit vast range of road conditions found in Europe. Says Honda, detailed refinement of the dual mode dampers has given improvement in both high speed stability for highway driving and a significant improvement in ride quality, even over poor road surfaces.
Are they trying to be smarter? Rear end now gets chrome strip.
The revised Accord range is set to go on sale across Europe from April this year and while we are still awaiting confirmation of its South African launch, early in the second half of the year should be a good bet.

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The Hyundai Curb concept.

The Hyundai Curb Crossover Concept made its world debut at the 2011 Detroit International Auto Show. The company expects the Curb Crossover to be a compact Urban Activity Vehicle for the next generation of Hyundai buyers. The Korean automaker noted that the inspiration for Curb came from the need to evolve its fluidic sculpture design language for the younger buyers.

“We wanted the Curb to be urban tough without looking like a Brink’s truck. City driving was going to be its forte, not crossing the Rubicon trail, but we wanted it to have urban armor for daily driving on city streets. It needed to empower its passengers in this setting,” said, Hyundai designer, Jason Brown.
When it comes to the exteriors of the Curb, the design starts with the glass that spills into the hood and wraps around the cowl, covering the A pillars. Beneath the glass you can find structural trusses with the glass panels applied like a shield. The whole profile of the vehicle is dominated by a boomerang trajectory bodyside line.
Inside the vehicle, you can find saffron accents that match the ones on the tires. The saffron accents appear as a gradient pattern on the seats, which are made of super-stretch, fast-drying board short material. The interiors of Curb also features rear head rests mounted to its robust frame.
Under the hood, the Hyundai Curb Crossover Concept is powered by a turbocharged 1.6-liter Gasoline Direct Injection four-cylinder engine that is mated to Direct Shift Gearbox. This engine can generate a power of 175 hp and a torque of 169 lb. ft. It is expected that the vehicle will deliver around 30 mpg in cities and around 40 mpg in the highways

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