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2015 Mexican Grand Prix is a lot like old times

The last time Formula One visited Mexico, in 1992, 26 cars powered by eight engine manufacturers (counting Honda and Mugen-Honda separately) lined up on the grid; it would have been nine engine makers but the Brabham-Judd cars failed to qualify. In 1992 Lewis Hamilton was seven years old, Sebastian Vettel was five, Max Verstappen was still five years away from being born. Two of the current Sky Sports F1 commentary team, Martin Brundle and Johnny Herbert, were drivers. The starting three were Nigel Mansell on pole – 39 years old, this the year he'd win his only World Championship – and Riccardo Patrese both driving Williams-Renault cars, followed by Michael Schumacher in a Benetton-Ford. Only 13 of the 26 starters would finish. The circuit is has been reworked to today's safer standards, the track surface is brand new and slippery, but the atmosphere and packed grandstands haven't changed. Nico Rosberg was another point of consistency, scoring pole position for the fourth race in a row to beat his now-World-Champion teammate Hamilton by almost two-tenths of a second. The last time Rosberg turned pole position into a victory? The Spanish Grand Prix back in May. Vettel locked up third for Ferrari, followed by the Infiniti Red Bull Racing duo of Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo. Williams went two-up as well, Valtteri Bottas in sixth ahead of Felipe Massa in seventh. Max Verstappen turned in a great late lap to reserve eighth place, Sergio Perez did all he could in front of his home crowd to get ninth, teammate Nico Hulkenberg the caboose in the top ten. In that 1992 race the first three on the grid finished the race in the same order after Mansell dominated, and it was almost the same in 2015. If Rosberg had driven the whole season like he drove today the Driver's World Championship would still be up for grabs. He got a great start and held his line through the first corner, coming out ahead of Hamilton through the initial kinks, pulling away as soon as he got to the straight. Hamilton was never more than a few seconds behind, but every time the Brit inched closer the German found a few more tenths to keep his distance. The field got bunched up when the Safety Car came out on Lap 53 after Vettel spun and got stuck in the barriers, but Rosberg handled the restart perfectly. Both drivers made small mistakes in the last few laps while driving on the edge, but Rosberg earned a strong victory, crossing the line two seconds ahead of his teammate.

This 1987 Ferrari F40 LM is for the millionaire who dares to be different

Throughout the past decade, the Ferrari F40 has become one of the most highly regarded and highly coveted supercars ever built. When cars become so iconic, any red model no longer excites. It's the specialty models, such as this stunning light blue Le Mans example, that catch the real attention at an auction house. This 1987 Ferrari F40 LM is expected to go for up to perhaps $6,280,000 at the upcoming RM Sotheby's in Paris on February 6 during Retromobile week. According to RM Sotheby's, the Pilot exterior livery makes this one of the most recognizable F40 LMs ever built, although that pool is extremely small. Only 19 F40s were ever created by Michelotto to LM or Competizione spec. Chassis No. ZFFGJ34B000074045 is reported to be only the third F40, not just of LM F40s, of all F40s built. It was a pre-production prototype, and the car's insane history doesn't stop there. It also participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1995 and 1996, yet finished only 12th in 1995 (it did win the 1995 Anderstorp 4 Hours). That's shocking considering the engineering and power this car is known for. In Michelotto LM spec, the twin-turbocharged V8 was uprated to more than 700 horsepower using enlarged turbochargers, bigger intercoolers, and a better Weber-Marelli fuel injection system. Using tech learned from the Group B 288 GTO Evoluzione development, it also had a stiffer chassis, an upgraded transmission, better brakes, and altered exterior aero equipment. Rated at about 2,350 pounds, it was one of the fastest cars on the planet at the time. Wherever this car goes, we hope the owner takes advantage of its eligibility for numerous racing events. Several other Ferraris will also roll across the auction stage, including a 1996 F50, a 1966 275 GTB/6C Alloy Berlinetta, a 2011 SP30, a 599 SA Aperta, a 2003 Enzo, and a 2006 Superamerica. Outside the Ferraris, the 1994 Bugatti EB110 Super Sport is catching our eye. Featured Video:

Marchionne holds Maranello talks amid Ferrari's struggles

Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne has been in Maranello this week holding key meetings with staff to work out what needs to be done to rescue its season. With the Formula 1 campaign approaching its halfway point, Ferrari is still without the victory that it has been targeting since the first race in Australia. And worse than that, it appears to have fallen behind in the development stakes against Mercedes and Red Bull – leaving it now facing a challenge to finish second in the constructors' standings. On the back of a deeply disappointing British Grand Prix, where the team struggled for pace all weekend, Marchionne has elected to spend the last few days in Maranello to try to get to the bottom of what has gone wrong. For although its early season progress was impacted by the tragedy surrounding technical director James Allison, whose wife died just after the Australian Grand Prix, progress more recently has not been good enough. While Mercedes has been pushing on with upgrades at each race to keep improving its speed, Ferrari is still struggling to understand why its car has such a sensitive set-up that allows it to be competitive only in a very narrow performance window. Rather than sitting back and simply hoping for answers, Marchionne has taken it upon himself to push things forward. Motorsport.com has learned that he has held a series of key meetings at Maranello with the chassis and aerodynamic departments – with a particular focus on speaking to those who report to department heads as well as their juniors. Marchionne is determined to find out whether or not there is a belief from the shop floor that more potential can be extracted from the SF16-H, and if the true state of progress of the car is as he has been led to believe by senior management. It is possible that Marchionne could take action after these meetings to tidy up internal structures – moving around those staff who he believes have not been exploited to their best, and moving aside those whom he believes have been holding things back. It could be this action plan that team principal Maurizio Arrivabene was referring to after Silverstone, when he said that the situation at Maranello was now getting more serious – and that the potential for big change was coming if things did not improve. "After Hungary we cannot fool around any more," said Arrivabene.