Formula 1 and governing body the FIA have laid out proposals for the next generation of F1 power units (PU), with improved noise, reduced cost, and a more level playing field among the key objectives.

More hybrid power using standard components and electronics, more revs, no MGUH, stricter turbo and fuel regs, tighter design paramaters.

A few new manufacturers have been waiting for these, I wonder if the strategy will work or has everyone already jumped across to Formula E?

Factory Porsche driver, 2015 WEC series champion, and 2017 Le Mans 24 Hours winner Brendon Hartley is set to make his Formula 1 race debut at the upcoming Austin GP, driving for the Toro Rosso squad.

John Surtees, the only man to win world championships on two wheels and four, has passed away aged 83, his family has confirmed.

Truly one of a kind.

Vale John Surtees.

(Wikipedia)

To coincide with the recent F1's 2015 United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas, Ars Technica got an inside view of the technical nerve centre that supports the data and networking requirements for hosting an F1 Grand Prix.

From the outside it was a relatively anonymous temporary building, one of many that travel with the teams and organizers to the so-called flyaway races—events that take place outside of F1's traditional but endangered heartland of Europe, where the cars and equipment are trucked from track to base and back again. Instead, for the races in the Americas, Asia, and beyond, everything gets loaded into freight 747s. In luggage terms, the tech center alone is responsible for a single jumbo—130 tonnes of servers, networking hardware, cabling, and so on.

Nuts.

Footage of Brembo bench testing their Formula 1-spec carbon-carbon front brake assembly.

via @scarbsf1

Mark Hughes for Motor Sport:

The turbo’s compressor is too small – part of that ‘size zero’ concept – and cannot be made to run fast enough to compensate in terms of creating enough heat to give the ersH something to work with. But whether the breakthrough even comes next season could depend upon what happens with the engine homologation regulations. As things currently stand, the engine token system reverts in 2016 to how it was in 2014. i.e. tokens cannot be spent during the season

Fascinating analysis of the underlying design issues holding McLaren-Honda back in F1 this season.

In streaming rain on Bathurst's 190mph Conrod Straight, the yellow BMW M3 appeared to aquaplane gently onto the grass verge. It glanced the wall and crossed the track, still clearly under control, to be braked safely to a halt.

It was October 4, 1992, on the 33rd lap of the Bathurst 1000. At the wheel was the 1967 F1 World Champion, Denny Hulme. The 56-year-old had suffered a fatal heart attack.

Twelve months earlier, Hulme had driven a similar BMW M3 to fourth at the mountain classic. The following day, he and I travelled to Tasmania to tour the route of the inaugural Targa Tasmania road rally.

Michael Stahl reflects on time spent with 1967 F1 World Champion, Denny Hulme, in this 2013 profile for Motor Sport Magazine.

11 April 1993, McLaren driver Ayrton Senna started the European Grand Prix at a wet Donington Park from 4th place on the grid. By the end of the first lap, he was in the lead.

Was this the greatest lap in F1 history?

Motor Sport Magazine's Andrew Frankel opines on the state of play between F1 and WEC:

What did you think of the race on Sunday? If you found it anything other than utterly spellbinding from flag to flag, it is possible you and I were tuned into different channels.

Actually I watched both the Chinese Grand Prix and the opening round of the World Endurance Championship at Silverstone and whether you tune in because you like to see close racing or variety in the sound, shape and technology of the competitors, the sports cars beat the open wheelers hollow.

Agreed. Multiple class endurance racing is where it's at.

The town of Romorantin south of Paris is home of Matra, Formula 1 World Champions back in 1969 and three time Le Mans winners with their iconic blue machines.

Jonathan Moore for Speedhunters takes us to the Musée Automobiles Matra for an inside look at the cars the forged Matra's motorsport legacy.

The man behind the wheel of the F1 Safety Car since 2000 introduces his new steed, the 2015 Mercedes-AMG GT S.

Bonus: Four and a half minutes of natural sound footage of the GT S and C63 S Estate Medical Car counterpart.

Underneath one of the two wind tunnels inside Toyota Motorsport's Cologne facility rests a priceless collection of motorsport history.

See also:

• Speedhunters does Toyota Motorsport GmbH
• The infamous Toyota MR2 Group S

After spate of new car announcments and a glut of boring livery designs for 2015, Stuart Taylor for Sidepodcast ponders what could have been.

Go behind the scenes as the Williams Team prepare a pair of FW15 chassis for pre-season testing ahead of their dominant 1993 season.

via @karunchandhok

Jonathan Moore for Speedhunters takes us inside Toyota's Cologne-based motorsport HQ. A hard-to-access facility positively brimming with ex-WRC, Le Mans, and Formula 1 machinery, not to mention the odd one-of-a-kind prototype or homologation special.

A must follow for all Formula 1 fans on Twitter, run by the Associazione Vittorio Brambilla.

AUSmotive reports on swirling rumours of an engine deal with RedBull Racing from 2016.

Considering the synergies between the FIA's new LMP1 sportscar and F1 technical regulations, rumours of this deal might have some legs.

Porsche's somewhat odd choice of a V4 configuration engine for the 919 now doesn't seem that odd at all, considering the possibility they may be able to use the same basic architecture to produce a V6 version of the same platform for F1.

Peter Windsor:

"...here, in Mark’s own words, are some pen-portraits of some of the key figures from his career."

We'll miss cheering on MW when F1 rolls around next year, though the prospect of him returning to the grid at Le Mans in a factory Porsche is epic.

BMW Classic promo video of an iconic Gordon Murray-designed BT52 being restored, shaken down on the track then taken up the hill at Goodwood by none other than Nelson Piquet.

Crash.net:

Germany's Auto Motor und Sport publication reported on Sunday that tyre manufacturer Michelin is close to making a formal announcement that it will enter the next tendering process for the supply contract.

A week's been and gone and still no announcement. Has the silly season started early?

Edd Straw reporting for Autosport:

He is known to be highly-rated by the crew that ran him for Red Bull in the young driver tests in 2009 and 2010 and a strong performance at Silverstone could be decisive in whether he lands a race seat for next year.

Sounds good to us.

Mark Webber:

It’s an honour for me to join Porsche at its return to the top category in Le Mans and in the sports car World Endurance Championship and be part of the team. Porsche has written racing history as a manufacturer and stands for outstanding technology and performance at the highest level.

I’m very much looking forward to this new challenge after my time in Formula 1. Porsche will undoubtedly set itself very high goals. I can hardly wait to pilot one of the fastest sports cars in the world.”

After so many rumours for such a long time it’s so great to finally get this out in the open.

With Porsche’s factory tilt at the WEC and Le Mans, Mark's vacated seat at Red Bull Racing stirring up more than a few line-ups in F1 and the wholesale technical changes in F1, 2014 is shaping up to be a vintage year for motorsport.

But only by one additional year, to which Joe Saward speculates:

"It is fairly clear that by agreeing to a one year deal Vettel is positioning himself to be available for Ferrari if Fernando Alonso does not extend his deal; or to go to Mercedes when Lewis Hamilton's contract is up."