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Renault-Nissan rejig how they manage Daimler partnership, sources say

PARIS — The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance is set to scrap a role overseeing ties with Daimler in favor of individual relations with the German group, three sources told Reuters, as they try to better manage a partnership that has not met initial hopes. The shift comes as alliance-level executive Jacques Verdonck, who was in charge of the cooperation with Daimler, retires at the end of the month, the sources familiar with the matter said. France's Renault will instead rely on its head of partnerships, Sandra Gomez, while Nissan will do the same with Catherine Perez. Mitsubishi will also have a person in charge of partnerships, the sources said, adding the bilateral approach was in line with the new "leader-follower" strategy of the alliance. That involves leaning on the strengths of each carmaker in certain areas. Renault and Daimler declined to comment, while Nissan could not immediately be reached for comment. The plan marks another shift following the end of the Carlos Ghosn era at the alliance. The architect of the Franco-Japanese partnership, who also extended the collaboration to Daimler, was arrested on financial misconduct charges in Japan in late 2018, before fleeing to Lebanon in 2019. He denies any wrongdoing. His exit strained already difficult relations between Nissan and Renault, which are now working to get back on track with cost-saving joint production projects among other steps. The partnership with Daimler - which owns high-end brand Mercedes-Benz, contrasting with the more accessible models produced by the others - has also looked in danger of losing steam. Nissan and Renault, both hit by losses, recently sold down their stakes in the German group. Collaborations on Renault's compact Twingo car and Daimler's Smart model are set to end, and some targets for industrial cooperation have been downgraded over the years. But Daimler still has a factory in Mexico with Nissan, and has been exploring the possibility of jointly developing at least one large van model with Renault. An industry shift towards electric vehicles could yet yield other opportunities, one of the sources said. "The collaboration with Daimler is at present made up of Renault-Daimler projects, Nissan-Daimler ones and some between the three," another of the sources said, with yet another saying that the changes reflected a more pragmatic approach.

2016 Canadian Grand Prix: A tale of 3 starts and 2 stops

The first curve in the Canadian Formula 1 Grand Prix happened before Turn 1. Lewis Hamilton sat on pole in the Mercedes-AMG Petronas, Sebastian Vettel in a Ferrari behind. That order changed as soon as the lights went out. Hamilton and teammate Nico Rosberg started well enough, but Vettel flew off the line, passing Hamilton in just a few meters. Vettel led through Turn 1 while Hamilton defended against Rosberg trying to pass on the outside by using the entire track. Hamilton bumped his teammate, sending Rosberg into the concrete runoff with an " infuriating but fair" maneuver Hamilton blamed on understeer. The Brit stayed second, his teammate fell to ninth by the time he rejoined the circuit and got back on the gas. The Ferrari finally looked an even match for the Mercedes, Vettel slowly building a gap out front. On Lap 11 the Honda in Jenson Button's McLaren self-ignited just after the hairpin, forcing Button to pull over on the Casino Straight. A Virtual Safety Car slowed the field, convincing Ferrari to pit its drivers. Vettel came in, handing the lead to Hamilton. The marshals cleared Button's car more quickly than expected, so the scuderia didn't get the full time advantage it expected, sending Vettel back on track seven seconds behind the Mercedes. Button's and Ferrari's unplanned stops decided the race. Ferrari had always planned to run a two-stopper, but the early pit didn't give the team a chance to gauge the ultra-soft Pirelli. The ultra-softs lasted longer than anyone expected. Hamilton only pitted once, Vettel had to pit again, and the Ferrari simply couldn't close the gap to the Mercedes even with newer tires. Post-race commentary accused Ferrari of two blunders: giving up track position, and not taking advantage of Mercedes' only known weakness of not being nearly as good in dirty air. If the ultra-softs had fallen off a performance cliff, however, Ferrari's play would have been considered daring and brilliant. Hamilton took his second win of the season, followed by a hard-driving Vettel five seconds later. Valtteri Bottas and Williams got everything right, the Finn taking advantage of a one-stop strategy, a perfectly-timed pit stop, and more unusual Red Bull issues to finish third. It's Williams' first podium of the year. Max Verstappen claimed fourth after two pit stops, holding off a frustrated Rosberg who had to make an unscheduled stop to remedy a slow puncture.

Ferrari hails Vettel as the 'moral winner' after 'stolen' F1 race

MONTREAL — Ferrari hailed Sebastian Vettel as the moral winner of the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday while the German raged at being robbed of victory by race stewards. "They are stealing the race from us," the angry German exclaimed over the team radio as he was told he was under investigation after running off the track and into the path of Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton. Vettel was given a five-second penalty, finishing first but having to hand victory to Hamilton. "No, no, no. Not like that. You have to be an absolute blind man, you go on the grass how are you supposed to control your car? This is the wrong world," the Ferrari driver yelled after being notified of the penalty. "It's not making our sport popular, is it? I mean, with these kind of decisions," he told Sky Sports television after the podium ceremony. He had earlier parked up in the wrong place and stormed straight to the Ferrari hospitality area before returning to the pitlane. There he rearranged the numbers in front of the cars, switching the 'one' board from Hamilton's car to the space where his Ferrari should have been. "If it had happened to me I would have kicked the damn board and thrown it against the car," said Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff, whose team has now won the first seven races of the season. "I am of course biased for Mercedes, and I say there is a rule that says you need to leave a car's width when you go off the track and I think his instinctive reaction was 'I need to protect that position' and maybe that was a tiny bit too far." Wolff said he was surprised by the stewards' decision but also defended them. The officials included experienced Italian racer Emanuele Pirro, a former F1 driver and five times winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours sportscar race. "I think the stewards up there need to be people that need to be supported," said Wolff. "There is Emanuele up there, it doesn't go any more professional and experienced than Emanuele. Said Vettel, "People want to see us race and that was, I think, racing. I hope the people come back, that's the main thing obviously... it's just a shame when we have all these little funny decisions." Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto indicated there could be no appeal by the Italian team but said there was no doubt about the real winner. "It's not down to us to decide, and that's the sport. But certainly if you look at the crowd, everybody I think today believes that there was nothing Sebastian could have done," he said.