2004 Mercedes Benz C240 on 2040-cars

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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.

Cadillac ATS-V and Mercedes-AMG C63 S pitted Head to Head

Our favorite (and only) Autoblog-alum-turned-Motor Trend staffer is back with another Head to Head video, this time pitting the Cadillac ATS-V with the Mercedes-AMG C63 S. This performance machine shootout is ostensibly a way to figure out which of these new super sedans will earn the right to go toe-to-toe with the undisputed champion of its segment, the BMW M3. In reality, it's just a really good excuse to put three of the hottest sedans on the market on video at the same time... and there's certainly nothing wrong with that. Jonny Lieberman spends time in each of the two new challengers on the road, picking apart their powertrains, chassis and driving dynamics on the kinds of twisty roads drivers of these cars will relish. Then, he hands the keys off to Randy Pobst, who sort of acts as an unmasked version of a certain tame racing driver, except that he talks and has a personality. 0-60 and quarter-mile times are equated, braking performance is measured and scores are tallied before the two sport sedans end up at Willow Springs raceway. Interestingly enough, the car that proves (just slightly) faster at the race track isn't the car that wins the comparison. Curious? We're not going to spoil it for you. Check out the video, above. Then, for more action of these two machines, check out the videos just below. Related Video: News Source: Motor Trend Channel via YouTube BMW Cadillac Mercedes-Benz Luxury Performance Videos Sedan motor trend cadillac ats-v mercedes-amg c63

Autoblog drives to the Arctic Circle

In Which Mercedes' Sprinter Becomes A Long-Distance Sherpa
In the wintery wilds of northern Alaska, even the cute little critters want to kill you.
As I am about to nod off on my long leg flight from Minneapolis to Anchorage ahead of driving to the Arctic Circle, the friendly twenty-something Alaskan knitting furiously in the seat next to me pauses and says, "When you're driving up there, don't open your windows." In the dead of winter? I hadn't planned on cruising alfresco, but her warning to keep the glazing snugged against the weatherstripping is one I would take to heart. She continues: "If you leave 'em open, a fox is liable to jump right in. There are lots of rabid foxes up there, and they leap into your car and just Go. To. Town." And here I was, thinking that a curious bear or maybe an ill-placed moose in the road was going to be my biggest potential four-legged threat. In the wintery wilds of northern Alaska, even the cute little critters want to kill you.