Hamilton tops the time sheets as F1 season kicks off

LEWIS HAMILTON recovered from the misery of completing just half a lap on his opening run to move to the top of the timesheets on the first official day of the new Formula One season. Less than five minutes into the year's first practice session at Melbourne's Albert Park, and on his maiden installation lap, Hamilton's Mercedes ground to a halt due to a sensor calibration problem that cut out the power unit. That was it for Hamilton until the start of second free practice, when he more than made up for lost time and underlined his status as championship favourite in the wake of Mercedes' impressive form in pre-season testing.

Nissan’s black cab: what will London’s new taxi be like to ride in?

Nissan Around 300,000 people use black cabs in London every day, and by the end of 2014, they’ll be faced with a new alternative in the form of Nissan’s NV200 London Taxi, unveiled today. See Nissan's new London taxi The Japanese manufacturer has done its best to make the NV200 echo the carbon-dateable TX4 (which owes much of its styling to the 1958 Austin FX4), but let’s be honest – the new Nissan looks like a van. No coincidence there – it is based on the NV200 commercial vehicle.

Is this a Toyota GT 86 four-door saloon?

Is this a Toyota GT 86 four-door saloon? There has been talk for some time that Toyota are going to stretch the GT 86 by 4″, add a couple of back doors and turn it in to a four-door coupe. And that’s exactly what the organisers of the Dubai International Motor Show – which starts tomorrow – are claiming on their Facebook page, together with a photo (above) which seems to show a four-door GT 86.