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2015 Chinese Grand Prix shines bright sun on the dark days of racing

Yes, we tuned into the Formula One Grand Prix in Shanghai China to see a race. But we all know we really tuned in to see if Ferrari, or any other team, could make it a competitive race with Mercedes-AMG Petronas. Based on qualifying, things didn't get off the best of starts: Lewis Hamilton made it four-out-of-four at the front, leading all three Free Practice sessions and then taking pole position in his Mercedes. Nico Rosberg is making the most of his time in the simulator, getting closer to Hamilton as the months go by. This time he lined up in second, just 0.042 in arrears. Ferrari did its best to temper expectations after Malaysia. Even though Sebastian Vettel qualified in third, almost a second behind Hamilton, the Scuderia's race pace is still considered a danger. Kimi Raikkonen's final hot lap went sour in Turn 3 and dropped the Finn to sixth place on the grid. In between the Ferraris, Williams is another team desperately working to maintain its advantage, and both of its drivers capitalized on Raikkonen's misfortune. Felipe Massa took fourth, Valtteri Bottas was in fifth. Daniel Ricciardo led the Infiniti Red Bull Racing charge in seventh, ahead of Romain Grosjean in the Lotus earning a spirits-lifting eighth. The two Saubers continue to show how good the Ferrari engine is, with Felipe Nasr taking ninth position and teammate Marcus Ericsson in tenth. Yet when the lights went out, so did the racing, for the most part. At the end of the first lap, because of some excellent moves by Raikkonen on both Williams' and a terrible start by Ricciardo that dropped him to seventeenth, the order was Hamilton, Rosberg, Vettel, Raikkonen, Massa, Bottas, Grosjean, Nasr, Ericsson, and Pastor Maldonado in the Lotus rounding out the top ten. At the end of the race, the only positions that had changed were the final two: Ricciardo had a laps-long battle with Ericsson, passing, getting repassed, then passing again to take ninth for good, with Ericsson finishing tenth. Maldonado suffered the worst in a battle with Jenson Button in the McLaren, when Button misjudged the entry into Turn 1 for a pass and clouted the back of the Lotus. Button was able to finish but Maldonado had to retire. Yes, there were some decent moments in between, like Bottas getting by Massa at the start, then Raikkonen getting past Massa in the first few corners and the Finn's move on Bottas also letting Massa through.

2015 Mercedes-Benz GLA250 4Matic Quick Spin [w/video]

Certain expectations come with the name "Mercedes-Benz." We picture cars with luxuriously appointed interiors, fashionable exteriors, Autobahn-worthy performance, and a ride that delivers an optimal balance between agility and outright comfort. Expectations, though, are no friend to the GLA250. This is a car that is deeply confused as to its purpose in life – can it be a proper Mercedes-Benz while still being a reasonably priced, subcompact crossover? After a week behind the wheel, we believe the two are mutually exclusive. Driving Notes The exterior styling is similar to the not-for-America A-Class hatchback, with the only major differences found on the rear end. That means that even with its flashy 19-inch AMG wheels and sport body styling – more aggressive front and rear fascias – the GLA is a stylish piece. We might even call it cute. Considering our 4Matic model's reasonable $34,225 starting price, the interior treatment is both attractive and uses mostly quality finishes. The matte Satin Light Brown Poplar wood ($325) covers a large portion of the dash, while the real metal found on the air conditioning vents is elegant and handsome. There is a lot of plastic in the cabin: It's soft on the dash, and switches to a piano-black finish in spots, but the center console and door finishers don't feel like they came from the Mercedes parts bin. In general, the GLA's cabin feels roughly equal to that of the Audi Q3 and BMW X1 – nice, but a step lower than what we've come to expect from Mercedes. The two-piece, leather-lined seats look great, but even with standard 14-way adjustability, they lack support. The bottom cushion is very flat, and doesn't support the legs. For this author, that's a recipe for near-constant back pain. That said, the chairs do look good, especially in the brown of this test car. The GLA250, like a few other models in the Mercedes range, uses a 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder, delivering a weak 208 horsepower. It makes up for that shortcoming with 258 pound-feet of torque from 1,250 rpm to 4,000 rpm. On paper, this sounds good, but in the real world, the 2.0T's power is tough to access. That's due more to the shortcomings of the seven-speed dual-clutch automatic than the engine itself. With three modes – Eco, Sport, and Manual – we thought we'd find at least one that could serve up precise downshifts.

McLaren F1 boss says team will dethrone Mercedes

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