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Toro Rosso switches back to Ferrari F1 power for 2016

Scuderia Toro Rosso will run once again under Ferrari power next season. The "other" Italian squad (and second Red Bull team) announced the switch back to Maranello power for 2016, ending its two-year sojourn with Renault, and returning to the engine supplier it used for seven years prior. And with it, the team has also confirmed its driver lineup for next season as well. The 2016 Formula One World Championship will see both Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz return to drive the new Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR11, maintaining the same driver lineup as this past season but under new motivation. Both drivers debuted with the team last season in a complete shakeup of its roster after Jean-Eric Vergne was shown the door and Daniil Kvyat (like Daniel Ricciardo before him) was promoted to the Red Bull Racing team. In ten seasons on the grid, the team has only landed on the podium once, and that was with Sebastian Vettel's dramatic rain-soaked race victory at Monza in 2008. The fourth-place finishes that Verstappen impressively took in Hungary and Austin this year match the team's next-best results to date. Sainz managed to finish in the points in seven out of 19 grands prix this season, including a seventh-place finish in Austin. The team finished the season in seventh place – tying its second best results to date – ahead of Sauber and McLaren, but behind Lotus and Force India. The Austrian parent company bought the team formerly known as Minardi back in 2005, hitting the grid the next season under its current name and Cosworth power. The following season it switched to Ferrari engines before joining its big brother under Renault motivation for the past season. Because of the last-minute engine swap, the team will start the season using Ferrari's 2015 power units. Faenza's switch to Ferrari supply will leave Renault powering only two teams next season: the Lotus outfit that it is now bringing back in house, and Red Bull, which will run the French automaker's engines for at least one more season – albeit branded under the TAG Heuer name. Meanwhile the Prancing Horse marque will power a total of four teams next season, including its own, Toro Rosso, Sauber, and newcomer Haas. Mercedes will power three and Honda just the one. Scuderia Toro Rosso to feature a Ferrari power unit Scuderia Toro Rosso's 2016 challenger, the STR11, will feature a Ferrari power unit. It marks a return to the company that supplied engines to the team from 2007 to 2013.

F1 teams to test titanium skid plates to reignite spark in series

The 2014 Formula One season opened with one overwhelming complaint - the cars didn't sound right. It sapped the excitement, despite the fact that this season has seen a number of truly thrilling races (Bahrain, Spain and Montreal all come to mind). Attempts have been made to restore some of the audible thrill of the cars, although efforts have remained unsuccessful.
If F1 can't fix the sound of the cars, then other methods need to be considered to restore its self-perceived lack of excitement. One of those involves fitting titanium skid plates to the cars in a bid to reintroduce the sparks that were so prevalent in the sport's past.
Mercedes-AMG and Ferrari conducted initial experiments with the new skid plates during early practice sessions for the 2014 Austrian Grand Prix. Kimi Raikkonen and Nico Rosberg had the plates fitted to different locations of their cars, in a bid to see which created the most dramatic sparks. Considering the photos the tests, though, neither Mercedes' nor Ferrari's setup really seemed successful, which is why you're seeing Johnny Herbert and his 1989 Benneton B188 up top.

FCA's European boss quits after losing out as Marchionne's replacement

MILAN — Fiat Chrysler's European boss has quit, adding to the problems facing new CEO Mike Manley, who must deliver on promises to boost production of SUVs and catch up with rivals in electric cars. Jeep division head Manley was named on Saturday to succeed Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne, one of the auto industry's most tenacious and respected leaders, who fell seriously ill after suffering complications following surgery. It emerged on Monday that Alfredo Altavilla, head of Fiat Chrysler's business in the Europe, Middle East Africa had resigned, according to a source with knowledge of the matter. He had been a rival for the top job along with Manley and Chief Financial Officer Richard Palmer. It's another complication to new CEO Manley's task of executing his predecessor's plan to keep the world's seventh-largest carmaker competitive in the absence of a merger. Marchionne had been due to step down next April, so the market reaction was limited on Monday. The shares initially fell more than 5 percent, but then pared some losses and were down 2.4 percent by 0930 GMT. "The downside may be modest, at least in the next 12 months. But long-term concerns will build — Marchionne ran FCA in a command and control style, with constant firefighting measures," said Bernstein analyst Max Warburton. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) said British-born Manley would pursue the strategy that Marchionne outlined last month. FCA has pledged to increase production of sport utility vehicles and invest in electric and hybrid cars to double operating profit by 2022. It also unveiled bold targets for Jeep, which has become FCA's ticket to creating a high-margin brand with global appeal. Reviving struggling brands Analysts said that choosing Manley, 54, under whose watch Jeep's sales surged fourfold, sent a clear message that FCA was staying on course and would keep the Jeep brand at the heart of its growth plan. "Manley knows that his primary focus is on execution and that, already, he has a strategy into which his team has bought," said George Galliers, an analyst at Evercore ISI. "There is no reason the 2022 plan cannot be executed." Under Manley, the company is expected to sharpen its focus on revamping individual brands, including ailing Fiat in Europe, Chrysler in the United States and Alfa Romeo, which has yet to turn a profit despite multibillion-euro investments.