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Paul di Resta returns to DTM with Mercedes

Some drivers manage to make the transition from one form of motor racing into another, and some run into trouble. Take Paul di Resta, for example. The promising young Scottish driver dominated Formula 3 racing in Europe in 2006, then moved over to Germany's hugely competitive DTM touring car series where he finished second in 2008, third in 2009 and first in 2010. But things didn't go as smoothly for Paul - cousin to retired Indy champion Dario Franchitti - when he moved in to Formula One with the Force India team.
In three years on the grid, he failed to score a single podium finish. Little surprise, then, that Force India opted not to renew his contract for this season. Left without a ride, di Resta is now going back to DTM with longtime supporter Mercedes-Benz, testing the new C-Class touring car today in Portugal. It's good news for Mercedes, which is celebrating 120 years in motor racing this season and, with 2005 champion Gary Paffett also on board, can now count two former champions on its DTM roster.
We wouldn't count Paul out of F1 for good, though. When he won the DTM title four years ago, he was also moonlighting as Force India's test driver, and we wouldn't be surprised to see him pull similar double-duty with the Mercedes F1 team (or another Benz-powered outfit) this year before spring-boarding back into grand prix racing in the future. At 27 years old, he may not have been the youngest driver on the grid this year, but he's still got a good few years ahead of him.

New Mercedes-Benz pickup to be called GLT?

The Mercedes-Benz pickup will allegedly be called the GLT, and it won't be "a fat cowboy truck." That's according to the head of MB's truck project, former AMG boss Volker Mornhinweg, quoted by Car. We already knew that Mercedes would be teaming up with Renault-Nissan for its double-cab pickup, but until Car sat down with Mornhinweg, we were unsure of how the vehicle would be targeted. Aside from being neither fat nor cowboy like, the exec shed some light on the German brand's mindset behind the new truck. "We are not going to develop a fat cowboy truck for North America. After all, the big three – Ford, GM/GMC and Ram – already own about 90 percent of that market which typically absorbs in excess of two million units per year," Mornhinweg told Car. "In this cutthroat environment, newcomers like us would invariably fight an arduous uphill battle. That's why our focus is on a smaller and lighter pick-up truck which is already perceived as premium product in South America, Africa and the Middle East." While Mornhinweg wasn't the one to let slip on the new Mercedes truck's name, Car reports that it will wear the GLT badge. There's no mention of where the publication came up with that title, though, aside from "rumors." We've reached out to Mercedes-Benz for comment on the truck's name, and should they get back to us, we'll be sure to update this post. Related Video: News Source: CarImage Credit: Mercedes-Benz Vans Mercedes-Benz Truck

Lewis Hamilton beats Sebastian Vettel in Chinese Grand Prix

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Lewis Hamilton mastered Shanghai's changing conditions and stayed clear of squabbling rivals to win the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday. The Briton eased his Mercedes across the line 6.2 seconds ahead of Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel. Max Verstappen, who started 16th, finished a surprise third to hand his Red Bull team their 100th podium. It was Hamilton's 54th career win and a record fifth in Shanghai. But it was the triple champion's first this season and returned Mercedes to the top of the podium after Vettel won last month's season-opening race for a resurgent Ferrari. "I'm so happy with my first win of the year and I can't believe it if I'm honest," said Hamilton after the race, which also handed him his 106th podium, putting him joint second with Alain Prost on the list of drivers with most rostrum results. "What I said to Sebastian as I left the last race ... I said I'm coming back in the next one. When I got on the podium it was like 'I told you'." MOTOR-F1-CHINA/ View 12 Photos Hamilton, who finished second to Vettel in Melbourne, heads into the next race in Bahrain in a week's time tied on points with the German. Mercedes, meanwhile, lead the constructors' standings by one point over Ferrari. Hamilton started from pole position, but the conditions were a bit of a lottery for all the drivers with the track damp in patches but drying quickly. He kept the lead off the line ahead of Vettel, who came under investigation for lining up out of position on his grid slot. The German, though, stayed second, fending off Valtteri Bottas in the other Mercedes, who had started third. Lance Stroll, the 18-year-old rookie, spun off the track on the first lap after making contact with Force India's Sergio Perez. The Canadian beached his Williams in the gravel, bringing out the virtual safety car. Vettel took the opportunity to dive into the pits to change to dry weather tires. His gamble backfired when Antonio Giovinazzi — standing in for Pascal Wehrlein at Sauber — crashed, bringing out the actual safety car two laps later. The four-times world champion found himself bottled up behind Ricciardo and his slower team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, costing him valuable time. As the trio squabbled for position, Hamilton pulled clear at the front. By the time Vettel managed to get past, with a series of spectacular overtaking moves that included banging wheels with his former team-mate, Hamilton was too far ahead.