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2015 Mexican Grand Prix is a lot like old times

The last time Formula One visited Mexico, in 1992, 26 cars powered by eight engine manufacturers (counting Honda and Mugen-Honda separately) lined up on the grid; it would have been nine engine makers but the Brabham-Judd cars failed to qualify. In 1992 Lewis Hamilton was seven years old, Sebastian Vettel was five, Max Verstappen was still five years away from being born. Two of the current Sky Sports F1 commentary team, Martin Brundle and Johnny Herbert, were drivers. The starting three were Nigel Mansell on pole – 39 years old, this the year he'd win his only World Championship – and Riccardo Patrese both driving Williams-Renault cars, followed by Michael Schumacher in a Benetton-Ford. Only 13 of the 26 starters would finish. The circuit is has been reworked to today's safer standards, the track surface is brand new and slippery, but the atmosphere and packed grandstands haven't changed. Nico Rosberg was another point of consistency, scoring pole position for the fourth race in a row to beat his now-World-Champion teammate Hamilton by almost two-tenths of a second. The last time Rosberg turned pole position into a victory? The Spanish Grand Prix back in May. Vettel locked up third for Ferrari, followed by the Infiniti Red Bull Racing duo of Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo. Williams went two-up as well, Valtteri Bottas in sixth ahead of Felipe Massa in seventh. Max Verstappen turned in a great late lap to reserve eighth place, Sergio Perez did all he could in front of his home crowd to get ninth, teammate Nico Hulkenberg the caboose in the top ten. In that 1992 race the first three on the grid finished the race in the same order after Mansell dominated, and it was almost the same in 2015. If Rosberg had driven the whole season like he drove today the Driver's World Championship would still be up for grabs. He got a great start and held his line through the first corner, coming out ahead of Hamilton through the initial kinks, pulling away as soon as he got to the straight. Hamilton was never more than a few seconds behind, but every time the Brit inched closer the German found a few more tenths to keep his distance. The field got bunched up when the Safety Car came out on Lap 53 after Vettel spun and got stuck in the barriers, but Rosberg handled the restart perfectly. Both drivers made small mistakes in the last few laps while driving on the edge, but Rosberg earned a strong victory, crossing the line two seconds ahead of his teammate.

Our love of SUVs is killing people in the streets

Americans are fond of supersized fast-food meals and colossal convenience-store fountain drinks, even though they're clearly bad for our health and U.S. adults keep getting fatter. We also like large vehicles, and our love affair with SUVs is killing people in the streets. According to a recent investigation by the Detroit Free Press/USA Today, the increase in SUV sales over the past several years coincides with a sharp rise in pedestrian deaths in the U.S. — up 46 percent since 2009, with nearly 6,000 people killed in 2016 alone. With SUV sales surpassing sedans in 2014 and pickups and SUVs currently accounting for 60 percent of new vehicle sales, it's no wonder Ford announced in April plans to cease U.S. sales of almost all passenger cars. And this followed Fiat Chrysler's move to virtually an all-truck, -SUV and -crossover lineup. While the Freep/USA Today investigation found that the simultaneous surge in SUV sales and pedestrian deaths comes down to vehicle size, it also points to a lack of action on the part of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), even though it knew of the dangers SUVs pose to pedestrians. Also blamed are automakers dragging their feet on implementing active safety features. Using federal accident data, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) determined that there was an 81 percent increase in single-vehicle pedestrian fatalities involving SUVs between 2009 and 2016. Freep/USA Today's analysis of the same data by counting vehicles that struck and killed pedestrians instead of the number of people killed showed a 69 percent increase in SUV involvement. As far back as 2001, researchers at Rowan University forecasted a rise in pedestrian deaths as Americans began switching to SUVs. "In the United States, passenger vehicles are shifting from a fleet populated primarily by cars to a fleet dominated by light trucks and vans," the researchers wrote, with light trucks comprising SUVs.

Maybach could become Mercedes-Benz sub-brand

When you're arriving in a twin-turbocharged, twelve-cylinder Maybach limo, there's no reason you should ever have to be late. Except, maybe, to make a fashionable entrance. But up at the corporate level, the entire Maybach brand is being slowed down as critical decisions about its future are being undertaken.
Last week, we reported that a decision on what path Maybach would take going forward would be due at the start of next month, but the latest reports indicate that the timeframe has been extended as further options are being considered.
The previous options under consideration were twofold: either relaunch the brand with production outsourced to Aston Martin - which suddenly finds itself with excess production capacity - or shut it down completely. And those are still two very real options. Word has it that Aston has put together four concept cars for the Daimler brass to consider, all based on the next-generation S-Class platform (and thankfully not the old one).