2011 Honda Pilot on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Max Verstappen beats Charles Leclerc to win Austrian Grand Prix

SPIELBERG, Austria — Red Bull's Max Verstappen won the Austrian Grand Prix after beating Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in a wheel-banging battle of the 21-year-olds on Sunday, subject to a Formula One stewards' enquiry. The Dutchman's victory for the second year in a row at Spielberg also dealt champions Mercedes their first defeat of the season. Verstappen seized the lead from Leclerc, who had led from pole position, two laps from the end with the dueling pair making contact into the tight uphill turn three as the crowd roared. Race stewards investigated the contact after the race, and ultimately cleared Verstappen. He crossed the line, acclaimed by thousands of orange-shirted Dutch fans at a circuit owned by Red Bull, 2.7 seconds ahead of the Monegasque. The pair were the sport's youngest ever top two. Valtteri Bottas was third for Mercedes, who saw their streak of 10 successive wins — eight this season — come to an end. Championship-leading teammate Lewis Hamilton, winner of the previous four races, finished fifth and behind Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel. Five-times world champion Hamilton remains well in front in the standings, 31 clear of Finland's Bottas after nine of 21 races. HONDA FIRST The victory was the first for a Honda-powered car since Britain's Jenson Button won in Hungary in 2006 for the Japanese manufacturer's own team, and a welcome antidote to last weekend's dull French Grand Prix. Verstappen, now with six career wins, was also the last driver to beat Mercedes — in the Mexican Grand Prix last October. "For Honda to win again here is incredible," said the youngster, who had to fight back from eighth at the end of the first lap after getting bogged down on the front row at the start. The Red Bull came into a league of its own after the pitstops with Verstappen scything through the field one car at a time and then chasing down Leclerc. "After that start, I thought the race was over," said Verstappen. "It's hard racing, otherwise we have to stay at home. If those things are not allowed in racing, then what's the point of being in Formula One," he added when asked about the summons. The Monegasque, forced wide as Verstappen went through, said he would let the stewards decide. "On the incident for me it was pretty clear in the car," he said. "I don't know what it looked like from the outside but we'll see what the decision is.

Race recap: 2016 Belgian Grand Prix is a dozen angry laps

The calm of the Formula One summer break ended with the tumult of the Belgian Grand Prix. The first two days included unusual tire pressures and grid penalties; Mercedes-AMG Petronas' Lewis Hamilton started 21st because of a 55-place grid penalty for engine and gearbox changes, McLaren's Fernando Alonso started 22nd due to a 60-place penalty for the same offenses. The bedlam rolled right into what was effectively an 11-or 12-lap race. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg took off from pole and the cameras barely bothered with him until he took the checkered flag 44 laps later. Red Bull's Max Verstappen bogged from second on the grid, got swallowed by Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen on the way to Turn 1, then attempted to recover by sticking his Red Bull's nose between Raikkonen's sidepod and the apex at the first corner. Vettel, who didn't see Verstappen, turned into La Source leaving only enough room for Raikkonen. Three cars don't fit in a space for two cars. Vettel spun, Raikkonen and Verstappen clobbered one another and all three drivers had to pit for repairs. Force India's Nico Hulkenberg zig-zagged his way into second ahead of Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, Williams' Valtteri Bottas, and Sergio Perez in the second Force India. On Lap 6 Kevin Magnussen lost his Renault at Raidillon at the top of Eau Rouge and flew backward into an enormous crash. Magnussen escaped with just a cut ankle. The Safety Car paraded the field for four laps before officials red flagged the race to repair the barriers. When racing resumed on Lap 10, Rosberg led Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Alonso, and Hamilton. Ricciardo stayed ahead of Hamilton to keep second place at the end of the race, Hamilton easily got around Alonso and Hulkenberg to lock up third. Hulkenberg – who'd given up second to Ricciardo by pitting during the Safety Car period – earned another career-best fourth position ahead of teammate Perez in fifth, followed by Vettel and Alonso on recovery drives, Bottas, Raikkonen, and Felipe Massa taking 10th in the second Williams. Rosberg reignited his Driver's Championship charge with the victory, closing to nine points of leader Hamilton. We could argue that Hamilton had an equally good day by driving from 21st to third, limiting his loss to only 10 points. About that Verstappen, though... We've seen far more experienced drivers attempt the same move Verstappen made into Turn 1 – Raikkonen on Bottas in Russia in 2015, for instance.

Honda's Uni-Cub hacked to be a boombox and a personal guide

Honda has a history of developing technology that strays from its famous car and motorcycle lines. A few years ago, the company added to that legacy of gadgets that aren't cars by introducing the Uni-Cub personal mobility device. It was more or less a Segway that did away with the whole standing thing, meaning that riders simply had to sit down and lean in whatever direction they wanted to go. That's all well and good, but Honda wanted to see what else the device could be used for, so the company updated the mobility chair to allow other people to code applications for it. Then Honda hosted a hack-a-thon for people to come out and see what they could do with it. Based on the video above, it seems plenty of people have ideas for the little wheeled wonder. One team developed the perfect party companion by attaching a speaker to the Uni-Cub and creating an app that would let people upload tracks to a playlist from their phone. And since the Uni-Cub is mobile, it can bring the tunes to wherever the people are. All it needs now are some cup holders. Another team developed a way to get people around new, confusing office buildings by turning the Uni-Cub into a guide. Upon entering a building, a person can request a Uni-Cub to come pick them up and then hop on to take a ride to their destination. The Uni-Cub can then return to its home base, and, if the person programs it ahead of time, can return on its own to take the user back to the entrance. Of course this would mean no more excuses to showing up late to a meeting. None of these ideas are planned for any sort of production, but they certainly are interesting. That said, our favorite Uni-Cub application remains the video for OK Go's "I Won't Let You Down". You should probably just go watch that one again. Related Video: Image Credit: Honda Auto News Green Honda Technology Videos personal mobility honda uni-cub