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2015 Brazilian Grand Prix is the same as it ever was

At this point, we hope Nico Rosberg is planning to carry his current qualifying form into the 2016 season and back it up with the same kind of race-day cojones he showed winning the race in Mexico City two weeks ago. The Mercedes-AMG Petronas driver got it right enough again on Saturday afternoon to take his fifth consecutive pole position ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton by almost a tenth of a second. It's the same one-two from Brazil last year. The bad news for the rest of the field is that the winner in Brazil the last seven years has been one of the two drivers on the front row. Last year it was the Williams duo that lined up behind Mercedes, this year it's Ferrari. Sebastian Vettel plays the stalking horse, securing third in his Ferrari ahead of teammate Kimi Raikkonen in fourth. Williams driver Valtteri Bottas actually qualified in fourth, but he had to serve a three-spot grid penalty for passing under red flags in Free Practice 2, so he started sixth. That promoted Sahara Force India driver Nico Hulkenberg up to fifth. Daniil Kvyat was the quickest representative from Infiniti Red Bull Racing, getting into seventh even with a Renault power unit that's weak on some of the key stretches at the Interlagos track. Felipe Massa had the second Williams in eighth, in front of the second Red Bull driven by Daniel Ricciardo in ninth. Toro Rosso hasn't confirmed its drivers for next year but Max Verstappen keeps making it hard to look elsewhere, taking 10th. Rosberg is working nearly the same trick he pulled last year: drive like a second driver for most of the year, drive like a world champion for the last quarter of a season. He pulled away at the start and covered Hamilton just enough on the run to the first corner to keep Hamilton on the outside. By the end of Turn 1 the German had the lead and didn't give it up for the rest of the race outside of pit stops. Without overwhelming pace to pass and unable to follow closely, Hamilton could do nothing except ask his team for a different strategy to go for the win. When Mercedes told him "No," trying to protect Rosberg's second place in the championship ahead of Vettel, that was the race. Just like last year, Rosberg and Hamilton finished one-two. Vettel, Raikkonen, Bottas, Hulkenberg, and Kvyat drove lonely races to finish in positions three through seven.

Infiniti will move back to Japan from Hong Kong in 2020

BEIJING – Nissan's premium brand Infiniti is relocating its headquarters back to Japan from Hong Kong, its home since 2012, to create "more operational efficiencies" with its parent company, according to a document seen by Reuters on Wednesday. The move planned for mid-2020, and expected to be publicly announced later on Wednesday, will help the Japanese automaker cut costs amid a slump in its global earnings in the year ended March 31. "The relocation will further integrate (Infiniti) with global design, research and development and manufacturing functions based in Japan," Nissan said in the statement, adding that Infiniti would continue to "operate independently". The move also was "crucial" for Nissan to follow through on its strategy to electrify the Infiniti lineup, the document said, with plans for every premium model launched from 2021 to be either all-electric or "e-Power" hybrid. A Nissan official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that while there was a "fair amount of platform and other base technology sharing" between Infiniti and the main volume brand Nissan, "there could be more". Nissan's global operating profit plunged 45% in the last fiscal year and would likely drop another 28% to "rock bottom" in the current one, according to company filings earlier this month. Infiniti's move back to Japan will reverse a decision made under ousted leader Carlos Ghosn to dilute the premium brand's Japanese origins in order to foster a more global image. Its Hong Kong headquarters has about 180 employees who were told about the move back to Yokohama earlier on Wednesday, according to the Nissan official. The Hong Kong headquarters and the global image it was intended to promote were seen as critical for Infiniti to make inroads in China, where being Japanese can sometimes be a handicap because of historical animosities. In 2012, Infiniti and other Japanese brands took a battering in the wake of diplomatic spats over disputed islets known as Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan. Since then, Japan's bilateral relationship with China has steadily improved and Japanese automakers including Nissan and Toyota are seeing their businesses expand, even as China's overall auto market has slumped over the past year. (Reporting by Norihiko Shirouzu; Editing by Stephen Coates)

2020 Infiniti Edition 30 models priced

The 2020 model year marks the 30th anniversary of Infiniti, and as announced back in August, the brand is rolling out specially tweaked Edition 30 models across the bulk of its lineup. We now have more details and pricing for the commemorative editions, which are available on the Q50 sedan, Q60 coupe, QX50 compact crossover, QX60 mid-size crossover, and QX80 full-size SUV. The Q50 Edition 30 sedan's starting price is $43,700 with rear-wheel drive and $45,700 is all-wheel drive. The Q50 Edition 30 is priced between the Luxe and Sport trim levels, but its equipment is closer to that of the Sport. Although it's $4,800 cheaper than the Sport, the Edition 30 adds full-speed adaptive cruise control, but it uses the smaller brake rotors of the Luxe trim and it skips the Sport's adaptive damping. Unique Edition 30 elements include dark-chrome 19-inch wheels and exterior trim, black mirror caps, and a black mesh grille. The Q60 Edition 30 coupe is offered as a $4,200 package for the Luxe trim level. Added to the $45,500 base price of the rear-wheel-drive Luxe coupe, and you get a starting price of $49,700 for the Edition 30. All-wheel drive is another $2,000. Exterior enhancements mirror those of the Q50 Edition 30. The Q60 Edition 30 package also adds navigation, an around-view monitor, power-adjustable steering column, memory settings, rear auto-braking, adaptive cruise control, heated seats and steering wheel, and a few lesser items. The QX50 Edition 30 compact crossover builds on the mid-level Essential trim level. It's sold as a package for $1,200 and includes adaptive cruise control, blind-spot intervention, lane-depature prevention, and adaptive front lighting, plus 20-inch dark-finish wheels, dark-chrome exterior accents, a body-color rear diffuser, and a black headliner. For the range-topping QX80, the Edition 30 is a package that adds $3,500 to the Luxe (base) trim level. Besides the dark-chrome exterior trim and dark-finish 22-inch wheels, it includes a rear camera mirror, lane-departure prevention, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot intervention, and a black headliner. On Infiniti's most popular vehicle, the QX60, full details of the Edition 30 are not yet available, but we're told the model will start at $50,850. That represents a $4,700 premium over the Luxe trim level, and includes the content of the ProAssist package as well as the Edition 30 design enhancements.