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Watch Sebastian Vettel become first driver to lap Sochi GP circuit

In April of last year, Sebastian Vettel and David Coulthard drove the unpaved Sochi Formula One circuit in a pair of Infiniti M sedans, getting both muddy and airborne in the process. Now with tarmac laid down and fences put up, Vettel and Coulthard have gone back to the Black Sea vacation spot for another hot lap, this time in a Q50 Hybrid and without the need for mud flaps.
Sochi has earned the blessing of F1's race director, so now the next test will be the fans. With a healthy amount of wall-and-fencing along the straights, it has shades of Valencia for the viewer. We hope it will be much more exciting than its Spanish counterpart when racing happens on October 12. You'll find more videos below covering Infiniti's visits to the Sochi Autodrom, and a press release on the latest lap.

Sebastien Vettel testing Infiniti's production Etherea?

It sounds like Sebastian Vettel has had his hands full recently, juggling his Formula One racing career while moonlighting as the newly appointed director of performance at Infiniti. On that latter note, Autocar is reporting that Vettel has been testing a production version of the Etherea Concept at France's Circuit Paul Ricard.
There is still no word as to when we could see this car go into production or what it will be called (possibly the Q30), but it will likely share a platform with the Mercedes-Benz A-Class as a part of the Daimler/Renault-Nissan collaboration. The article also said that this future entry-level Infiniti would be produced at Nissan's Sunderland, UK plant.

J.D. Power: Mini, Lexus again offer most satisfying sales experience

JD Power has released its annual Sales Satisfaction Index Study, and once again Mini and Lexus have taken top honors. Overall, buyers are more satisfied with the auto-buying sales experience than they were last year, with those surveyed reporting an average score of 664 points on a 1,000-point scale. That's up from 648 in 2011. Dealer satisfaction also increased by five points over last year as well.
All told, Lexus brought home an index score of 737, which was high enough to put it atop the luxury brands for the second year in a row. JD Power says Infiniti came in second in that category with a score of 728 and Cadillac rounded out the podium with it's rating of 725. Speaking of Infiniti, that brand saw the single largest jump in sales satisfaction of any brand on the survey, popping up 52 index points over 2011.
Among mass-market brands, Mini ranked highest with a score of 712, followed closely by Buick with 706 and GMC farther down the line with 683. You can check out the full press release below for more information.