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Alfa Romeo Giulia to get Ferrari-related engine

Alfa Romeo has a long, proud history of using V6 engines in its coupes, sedans, and sports cars over the years, but as the new Giulia sedan approaches, the Italian marque is allegedly turning to Ferrari for its next six-cylinder. This is obviously not the first time a Ferrari-sourced or derived engine has been found under an Alfa's long hood. While 8C Competizione famously used a version of Ferrari's F136 V8 during its short run, the Giulia's new V6 will be offered on a much larger scale, slotting in above an entry level, four-cylinder turbo (likely the next-gen version of the 4C sports car's 1.75-liter engine). According to Autocar, the new V6 will be "specially developed for Alfa Romeo," and will be built at the Termoli engine factory alongside the new turbo four-cylinder. As for the rest of the Giulia, Autocar has been able to shine a light on a number of other details about the new midsizer. It will, thankfully, be rear-wheel drive, and designed to counter the "mostly cold and clinical" and soulless cars of the German competition, Maserati chief Harald Wester told AC. Some of the new sedan's structural elements will even be shared with Maserati's entry level model, the Ghibli. Most notable of all, though, is what the Giulia means for American consumers. After the limited-run 8C and the niche 4C, the new sedan will lead Alfa Romeo's long-awaited, large-scale return, where it will combat the popular BMW 3 Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Audi A4, not to mention rivals like the Cadillac ATS and Lexus IS. Look for more on the Giulia next week when it's officially revealed in Milan.

2016 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix recap: another wild show on and off track

Normally we use this space to provide a lengthy recap of the weekend's Formula 1 race, but we're going to try something different since most folks reading this know what happened at the Shanghai International Circuit on Sunday. Instead, we'll alight on what we saw as the big issues in and around the race. Let us know what you think in Comments. Proper qualifying is back. Thank goodness. It only took a month of embarrassment to fix it. And so is passing! For the third race in a row, big performance improvements at the ten teams behind Mercedes-AMG Petronas and a wider tire selection at this race graced us with opening stints filled with dicing cars. Seeing the McLarens on screen doesn't make us cringe. Manor doesn't only make the global feed when it's being lapped. We've been complaining about parade races for so long that we forgot excitement was possible without rain or wholesale regulation changes. Yes, Mercedes is still the king of the jungle, but there are some other proper midfield beasts on the hunt, too. Malfunctions up and down the grid did help the show in Shanghai, like Lewis Hamilton suffering perpetual troubles, Nico Hulkenberg's runaway front wheel which red-flagged Q2, and Sebastian Vettel's and Kimi Raikkonen's flubbed hot laps in Q3 that let Daniel Ricciardo slip by into second on the grid. Come race day things went all Grand Theft Auto at Turn 1 on the opening lap, sending some of the best cars to the pits. Then came Ricciardo's puncture while leading, then came the Safety Car – all by Lap 5. Nico Rosberg got 38 seconds of airtime on the way to victory – at the start and the finish, and that happened to be his margin of victory, too – otherwise he was a ghost. Everyone else was struggling and juggling. Rosberg's win at the Bahrain Grand Prix put the German at five consecutive victories going back to last year's Mexican Grand Prix. The history books show that any driver who's won five straight contests has gone on to win the championship. With his triumph in China, the German has won the season's first three races, the history books again show that the other nine drivers who've pulled that off have gone on to win the championship. Rosberg, 36 points ahead of his teammate in the standings, is having none of it. He said of the other victors, "But they didn't have Lewis Hamilton as their team-mate." Perhaps Mercedes was right not to make an engine deal with Red Bull last season.

Ferrari embroiled in legal battle over 21-year-old's Facebook page

Ferrari is facing a court battle in Switzerland due to alleged copyright infringement over taking over a Facebook fan site. If the suit is successful, it could cost the company millions and harm its reputation on social media.
Sammy Wassem started the Facebook fan page for Ferrari when he was 15 and eventually grew it to over 500,000 followers. In 2009, the company congratulated the him on the site's success, but said that "legal issues" forced it to take over the administration, according to Automotive News Europe. Wassem could still use the site, but managers had oversight.
Wassem asked Ferrari for financial compensation to keep working on the page but continued creating content on it for the next four years. Eventually, the company terminated his administration rights, and In 2013, the he and his father Olivier filed the lawsuit against the business alleging it owes payment over 5,500 hours of work and copyright infringement for taking over the page. They are asking for 10 million Swiss francs ($11.3 million).