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VW gets help from Daimler to deal with VW scandal

Volkswagen has hired Christine Hohmann-Dennhardt, a compliance officer, away from Daimler. Normally, this wouldn't be particularly big news. The reason you might care is summed up rather succinctly by Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, director of the Center for Automotive Research at the University of Duisburg-Essen, who said that Hohmann-Dennhardt is being tasked with helping the entire German automobile industry "clean up the collateral damage from the diesel deceit." Hohmann-Dennhardt had to be released early from her contract with Daimler in order to take on this difficult role with an inter-country rival. VW Chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch thanked "Daimler AG for agreeing to our request to the early termination of Dr. Hohmann-Dennhardt's contract." What makes this move even more interesting is that Daimler and Volkswagen have had a terse relationship in recent years due to the poaching of important employees from one side to the other. According to Bloomberg, Hohmann-Dennhardt's contract with Daimler had been secured through February of 2017, but with her early release, she will start her new role on VW's board of management in January of 2016. Daimler, for its part, released a statement suggesting the decision was made "in the interests of the good corporate governance of the German automotive industry." Prior to her employment at Daimler, Hohmann-Dennhardt served for 11 years as a judge. Reading between the lines, it seems VW's massive corporate scandal has rocked the German auto industry to its core. Enough so, in fact, that Daimler would be willing to let go of a highly talented and well-respected executive – the first woman ever appointed to the German automaker's board – who had served since there since 2011. Feel free to read through VW's entire statement, below. Related Video: Dr. Christine Hohmann-Dennhardt to move to Volkswagen AG in 2016 as Board Member for Integrity and Legal Affairs Daimler AG agrees to move of Board Member for Integrity and Legal Affairs to Volkswagen AG The Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen AG, Hans Dieter Potsch, has requested the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Daimler AG, Dr. Manfred Bischoff, to agree to the early termination of the contract with Dr. Christine Hohmann-Dennhardt, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG for Integrity and Legal Affairs, which runs until February 28, 2017. She is to join the Volkswagen Group as of January 1, 2016 as the Board Member for Integrity and Legal Affairs.

Ecclestone wonders if F1's upcoming turbo V6s should get augmented sound [w/videos]

While every team on the Formula One grid is worried about making a good showing in this year's championship at the same time as they develop a brand-new car for next year's championship, Bernie Ecclestone and F1 circuit promoters have a different concern: how next year's cars will sound. The current cars use 2.4-liter, naturally-aspirated V8s that can reach 18,000 revolutions per minute and employ dual exhaust, next year's engine formula calls for 1.4-liter turbocharged V6s that are capped at 15,000 rpm and are constrained to a single exhaust outlet. Ecclestone and promoters like Ron Walker believe the new engines sound like lawnmowers and that the less thrilling audio will keep people from coming to races. If Walker's Australian Grand Prix really is shelling out almost $57 million to hold the race, every ticket counts. As a fix, according to a report in Autoweek, Ecclestone "suggests that the only way to guarantee [a good sound] may be to artificially adjust the tone of the V6s."
However, neither the manufacturers nor the governing body of F1, the FIA, think there will be a problem. Ecclestone fears that if the manufacturers "don't get it right" they'll simply leave the sport, but the only three carmakers and engine builders left next year, Renault (its 2014 "power unit" is pictured), Mercedes-Benz and Ferrari are so embedded that it would stretch belief to think they'd leave the table over an audio hiccup - if said hiccup even occurs. And frankly, these issues always precede changes to engine formulas, as they did when the formula switched from V10 to V8; fans, though, are probably less focused on the engines and more on the mandated standardization of the sport and the spec-series overtones that have come with it.
No one knows yet what next year's engines will sound like, but we've assembled a few videos below to help us all start guessing. The first is an engine check on an Eighties-era John Player Special Renault with a 1.5-liter V6 turbo, after that is Ayrton Senna qualifying in 1986 in the Lotus 98T that also had a 1.5-liter V6 turbo, then you'll find a short with a manufactured range of potential V6 engine notes, and then the sound of turbocharged V6 Indycars testing last year at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Any, or none of them, could be Formula One's future.

Ferrari's Vettel sets lap record and take pole position for Chinese Grand Prix

SHANGHAI – Ferrari made Formula One rivals sit up and take notice after an ominous show of speed in qualifying for Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix. World championship leader Sebastian Vettel took pole position with a lap more than half a second faster than that of Valtteri Bottas, the fastest of the two Mercedes drivers in third place. The German's best time of one minute, 31.095 seconds – a Shanghai circuit record – turned up the heat on a chilly afternoon with Finnish team mate Kimi Raikkonen joining him on the front row. "We thought coming into today that we would be fighting for the pole position," said Bottas, whose reigning champion team mate Lewis Hamilton qualified fourth after aborting his final flying lap. "But it was definitely out of reach today, there was nothing in the lap that we could have gained that much." "I don't know if we can challenge, we're half a second behind today," added Hamilton. "We were quicker in the race in the last race (Bahrain) but they (Ferrari) were able to hold on. They will probably do the same tomorrow." Dominant isn't a word that has been used to describe Ferrari since they chalked up five straight drivers' titles and six consecutive constructors' crowns with Michael Schumacher, but they were imperious on Saturday. The front row lockout was their second in a row after Vettel beat Raikkonen to pole last weekend in Bahrain. "Ferrari were just way too quick," said Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who was fifth fastest but a hefty 0.701 seconds off Vettel's pace. "Somehow they've found a turbo button on the straight because they are really quick and still in the corners they are reasonably quick." Verstappen's Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo added, "Ferrari has had really good pace all weekend and I can't say honestly now that we're going to have their pace tomorrow, but Mercedes definitely look within reach." Ferrari's speed had already stunned rivals after Friday's opening day of practice pointed to a close battle, even if Hamilton was top of the timesheets. With temperatures plunging on Saturday, the scarlet cars seemed to come into their own. Vettel, who holds a 17-point lead over Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton after winning in Australia and Bahrain, is looking good for a hat-trick. No driver has ever won the season's first three races without being crowned champion that year, and the last Ferrari driver to do it was Schumacher in 2004 when he was at the peak of his powers and won the opening five.