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F1 title fight gets closer | 2016 US Grand Prix recap

We ran into an old friend at the US Grand Prix: an on-form Lewis Hamilton. Reliability and proper clutch actuation helped the Mercedes-AMG Petronas driver resurrect the kind of performance we haven't seen since July at the German Grand Prix. After demolishing the previous qualifying record around the Circuit of the Americas, he put the field in his mirrors as soon as the lights went out, was never bothered by anyone behind, and crossed the finish line 4.5 seconds ahead of teammate Nico Rosberg. The drive was exactly what Hamilton needed to keep his molecule-thin Championship hopes alive. Rosberg, however, did exactly what he needed to do as well by finishing second. The German had a sketchier path to the checkered flag than Hamilton, getting pushed back to the third at the start by Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo. Worse, Ricciardo appeared to have the pace to keep Hamilton honest ahead and hold Rosberg behind. Red Bull and Mercedes matched one another's pit stops, and it was clear the German would need more help to pass the Aussie. Rosberg didn't have to make his own luck, Ricciardo's teammate Max Verstappen made the luck for him. Ricciardo pitted on Lap 26, ceding second position on track to Rosberg. On Lap 30, Verstappen's gearbox failed while headed down the back straight. The Dutch teenager said the team told him to try to get the car back to the pits, so he dawdled through a few corners before following more team orders to pull over and park. Verstappen's parking spot and bad gearbox meant marshals couldn't push the car off the track, they needed to use a crane. That brought out a Virtual Safety Car, slowing the whole race down and allowing Rosberg to run a longer stint while losing less time on old tires. When the German came in for new tires on Lap 31 he emerged ahead of Ricciardo, and they ran that way to the end of the race, much to Ricciardo's disappointment. Sebastian Vettel claimed fourth for Ferrari, a placing perhaps due only to Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen retiring from the race. An otherwise anonymous weekend for the scuderia called attention to itself on race day when Raikkonen had to call it a day after a botched pit stop, and Vettel couldn't make any impression on the teams ahead. Fernando Alonso rode home to a brilliant fifth for McLaren. During the first stint while rummaging around outside the top ten, the Spaniard complained about his lack of pace. By Lap 15 Alonso was tenth, on Lap 34 he was eighth.

Ferrari supercar hybrid prototype chased down by fan

As discovered by Ferrari Chat and reported by Motor1, an Instagram user by the name Lambolife (@9000lambo) and a friend were out cruising in Europe when they ran across what looks like a Ferrari prototype, possibly a hybrid based on the F8 Tributo. The pair got the car on video as they were chasing it down the road and into a parking lot where the prototype driver tried to hide. Besides being amusing to watch the test driver trying desperately to keep the fans from seeing the car, we actually get a good glimpse at the vehicle. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Looking closely, the size and shape is very similar to the F8 Tributo, which is the latest evolution of the 488 GTB, and the 458 GTB before that. The shape of the rear spoiler and the edge of the front nose are particularly similar to the F8. But there are a couple differences, starting with the exhaust. On the regular car, the pipes are mounted low and set far apart. On this prototype, the pipes come out much higher up, and they're very close together. On top of that, you can just make out the triangular electrocution hazard sticker on one side of the car. This suggests it's a hybrid. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. A hybrid Ferrari similar to the F8 makes sense with other news we've heard recently. The company has confirmed it's working on hybrid drivetrains. Past reports say that one of them is a V6 hybrid with as much as 728 horsepower and 800 pound-feet of torque, and the other is a V8 hybrid with unknown performance, but most certainly greater than the V6. The first of the engines will be released in May, and since Ferrari's CEO said it will exceed the 812 Superfast, which makes 789 horsepower, that first engine will probably be the V8. This could be a prototype of Ferrari's soon-to-be-released V8 hybrid. It's also possible that this is simply a powertrain test mule, or a prototype for the V6 model coming later. At least we're half way through May, so we should have the answers to our questions very soon.

Race Recap: 2013 Indian Grand Prix mostly calm with chances of Championships

The smog around the Buddh International Circuit got so bad over the weekend that the FIA had to change the practice sessions. Then the soft tires that Pirelli brought to be the options were found to degrade so quickly that teams had to change their qualifying and race strategies. The only man it didn't seem to affect was - guess who? - Sebastian Vettel, who put his Infiniti Red Bull Racing on pole position.
Behind him came Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes-AMG Petronas, Mark Webber in the second Infiniti Red Bull and on medium tires, Felipe Massa in the first Ferrari, Kimi Räikkönen in the first Lotus, Nico Hülkenberg in the first Sauber, Fernando Alonso in the second Ferrari, and the McLaren duo of Sergio Perez and Jenson Button. The tire strategizing didn't work out for Romain Grosjean in the second Lotus, who didn't get out of Q1 after only running the medium compound tire and lined up 17th.
The Indian Grand Prix has been held twice and Vettel has led every single lap of both races. If nothing else, we knew there would be at least one new thing about this Indian Grand Prix: there'd be a lap not led by Vettel since he qualified on softs and would have to pit before Webber and Alonso who were both on mediums.