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Audi and Mercedes both outsell BMW in January

There won't be any celebrations in Munich this month, as BMW was outsold by arch-nemeses Audi and Mercedes-Benz. The Bavarian company finished behind Audi in January, which took the top spot for the first time since June of last year, Bloomberg reports. Ingolstadt rode high on a 10-percent bump in sales, while Mercedes saw a larger 14 percent increase. BMW, meanwhile, only saw a modest 6.3-percent sales increase last month, thanks in large part to its struggles in China. The company's sales there increased at about half the rate of its chief competitors, with a 7.9-percent jump to Mercedes and Audi's roughly 15-percent increases. Perhaps more worrying for BMW, though, is that this could become something of a trend for the company. According to Bloomberg, issues with Chinese dealers who cancelled orders over sales targets and bonuses combined with what the publication calls aging models, could spell bad news for the German marque. "This looks like a pretty significant decline in growth compared to Mercedes and Audi," Bankhaus Metzler analyst Juergen Pieper told Bloomberg. "I think this will continue during the next few months." News Source: BloombergImage Credit: Matthias Schrader / AP Earnings/Financials Audi BMW Mercedes-Benz

Kimi Raikkonen fastest in first Belgian Grand Prix practice

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium — Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen lapped fastest in first practice for the Belgian Grand Prix on Friday but Mercedes, and title contender Lewis Hamilton, still looked every bit the team to beat. A four-time winner at Spa, and with a contract extension for 2018 announced earlier in the week, Raikkonen lapped the longest track on the calendar with a best time of 1 minute 45.502 seconds. The 37-year-old Finn's time was set on the quickest ultra-soft tires, however, while Hamilton — preparing for his 200th race start — was second-fastest and only 0.053 slower on the soft compound. Hamilton was 0.092 faster than Ferrari's world championship leader Sebastian Vettel, with the German third on the timesheets and also setting his time on the quickest but least durable tire. Vettel leads Hamilton by 14 points with nine races remaining. Red Bull's Dutch teenager Max Verstappen, Belgian-born and attracting a huge traveling support of orange-capped fans, was fourth fastest with Australian team mate Daniel Ricciardo fifth. Hamilton's teammate Valtteri Bottas, who bumped into the tire barrier after going off across the gravel and damaged his front wing, was sixth fastest. The session was halted after 15 minutes when Brazilian Felipe Massa, who missed the previous race in Hungary after feeling dizzy in practice, crashed heavily into the tire barrier at turn seven out of Les Combes. He was taken to the medical center for checks, before returning to the pitlane, with his team facing a long job rebuilding the car. The session resumed after a 10 minute stoppage. Williams said the chassis would have to be changed and the team still hoped to get the car back out on track for some of the day's second session, even if that looked like being optimistic. Fernando Alonso suffered a lack of power in his McLaren, but still ended up 13th fastest. Belgian team mate Stoffel Vandoorne, who will start his home race last on Sunday thanks to a 35 place penalty due to a power unit change, was 10th. Reporting by Alan BaldwinRelated Video: Image Credit: Reuters Motorsports Ferrari McLaren Mercedes-Benz F1 Lewis Hamilton Sebastian Vettel Kimi Raikkonen Max Verstappen Valtteri Bottas belgian grand prix

McLaren Racing will return to Mercedes F1 engines from 2021

SOCHI, Russia — McLaren will be reunited with Mercedes engines from the 2021 season as the former champions go back to using the German manufacturer's power units in their bid to return to the top. The Woking-based team are currently supplied by Renault, having joined forces with the French company last year. They will see out that deal, which runs until the end of 2020, before making the switch back to Mercedes as part of a long-term agreement until at least 2024. "We are delighted to welcome McLaren back to the Mercedes-Benz racing family with this new power unit supply agreement," said Mercedes' motorsports head Toto Wolff in a joint statement with McLaren issued at the Russian Grand Prix on Saturday. "We hope that this new long-term agreement marks another milestone for McLaren as they aim to take the fight to the sport's top teams, including our Mercedes works team." The McLaren-Mercedes partnership initially ran from 1995 to the end of 2014. It turned McLaren, enduring a slump after their heady days of dominance during the late 1980s and early 90s with Honda, into a force to be reckoned with once again. The combination won 78 races, a constructors' title and three drivers' titles with Mika Hakkinen (1998, 1999) and Lewis Hamilton who raced to his first Formula One title with the team in 2008. McLaren find themselves in a similar phase now, rebuilding after three dismal years with Honda, the Japanese manufacturer they rejoined forces with at the end of 2014 in a bid to recreate their dominance from 30 years ago. Fielding a fresh driver line up of British rookie Lando Norris and Spaniard Carlos Sainz, they have made big strides this year and are currently locked in a battle for fourth in the overall standings with Renault's works team. But they haven't won a race since the season-ending 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix, when they were still powered by Mercedes. "Renault has been instrumental to our Formula One recovery plan and a fantastic partner to McLaren Racing," said Zak Brown, chief executive of McLaren Racing. "This agreement is an important step in our long-term plan to return to success in Formula One." McLaren's new deal with the German manufacturer, whose power units have set the benchmark in Formula One's turbo-hybrid era, coincides with a planned rules overhaul aimed at leveling the playing field and creating better racing. The shake-up could be just what a team like McLaren need to make that final jump up to the top.