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Lewis Hamilton needs to step up in his 200th F1 race

LONDON — Lewis Hamilton will start the 200th grand prix of his Formula One career in Belgium this weekend, but the triple world champion has smaller but more significant numbers on his mind. Refreshed from an August break in the Caribbean, including a trip to Cuba in his role as UNICEF ambassador, the Mercedes driver is 14 points behind championship leader Sebastian Vettel as he revs up for the second half of the season. A fifth victory of 2017 for the Briton would put the pressure back on Ferrari's Vettel, and Hamilton can celebrate another milestone by bagging pole position on Saturday at the long and fast Spa-Francorchamps circuit. That would see Hamilton, who sportingly relinquished third place to team mate Valtteri Bottas in Hungary before the summer shutdown, match the record of 68 poles set by Michael Schumacher with Ferrari in 2006. Mercedes has won the last two Belgian Grands Prix, with now-retired 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg triumphant from pole last year after Hamilton won in 2015. Nobody will be taking anything for granted, however, after Ferrari's one-two win in Budapest at the end of July. "On paper, people will assume that Spa should suit our car because it is a circuit where aerodynamic efficiency is extremely important," Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said. "But assumptions are dangerous — we have seen too many times already this season that the form book can be rewritten from one weekend to the next. So we will be making no assumptions." Hamilton has won twice before at Spa, as has Vettel, but the track — a classic blast from the past — has not been particularly kind to him. In 2008, when he won his first title, the Briton was demoted from first to third after the race for cutting a chicane, with then Ferrari rival Felipe Massa savoring victory instead. Spa can often be a lottery, with its capricious weather, and rain could be a boon for Red Bull's Belgian-born Dutch teenager Max Verstappen, who can count on plenty of local support in what amounts to a home race. "I just love the track and it'll be nice seeing so many orange (Dutch) fans in the grandstands," he said. "Spa is my favorite track of the year. You have to get everything right but when you get a good lap it's very rewarding." Belgium could also be good for Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, who arrives with a new contract for 2018 in his pocket.

2015 Mercedes C-Class owners reporting bleeding seats [UPDATE]

UPDATE: Daimler AG became aware that, in a small number of individual cases, it is possible for temporary spots and/or shiny patches to form on the man-made leather surfaces of the 2015 C-Class in sub-freezing temperatures. No accidents or injuries have been reported, and we have no reason to believe that there are any hazards to customers. Replacement parts are expected to start shipping to dealers by next week. Owners of the 2015 Mercedes-Benz C-Class are learning the hard way that you don't necessarily want to buy a new vehicle in its first model year. Besides reports of poorly fitting taillights and faulty infotainment touchpads, a number of reports are popping up on the forums of MBWorld.org claiming that the compact luxury sedan's seats are, for lack of a better term, bleeding. Owners of US-built, 2015 C-Classes fitted with MB Tex vinyl interiors are reporting a white, oily, shiny residue discoloring their seats that shows up, often after cold cars are quickly heated. It's important to note that this residue is not necessarily staining the seats permanently – warm, soapy water is often all that's needed to restore the original finish. In other cases, the residue disappears of its own accord, only to reappear in an entirely different pattern. That doesn't make things any more acceptable to owners, many of whom have reached out to Mercedes with complaints. It's not clear how many vehicles are affected, but there are a sizable number of forum threads on the issue on MBWorld alone, and the problem is prevalent enough that Mercedes has issued a technical service bulletin to its dealers. According to the forum postings, the TSB instructs service technicians to replace the headrest and seat cover (except for the front, passenger-side seat bottom because of "factory calibration issues") in affected customer vehicles. New C-Class models in dealer inventories, meanwhile, are to get the soapy water treatment if they're showing signs of the residue. Neither one of those moves seems to represent a long-term fix, though. Black MB Tex seats – both the standard and sport variety – seem to be particularly susceptible to the residue, although we stumbled across at least one image of what looks like Silk Beige MB Tex with speckles of residue.

Daimler buying 12% stake in Beijing Auto

Daimler and Beijing Automotive are officially going steady, with the German company set to take a 12-percent stake in the Chinese brand tomorrow. The two are already tied up in a Mercedes engine plant in Beijing, of which BAIC will increase its stake in, from 50 to 51 percent. Daimler will also get two seats on the Chinese company's board. BAIC may also gain the ability to produce cars on Mercedes-Benz platforms, according to Automotive News Europe.
The investment in BAIC comes ahead of that company's initial public offering, according to a report form Bloomberg, which indicates the deal will be inked tomorrow in the Chinese capital. According to the report, if the circumstances are right, BAIC may turn around and invest in the Germany company "soon."
It's not entirely clear just how much the 12-percent cut is costing Daimler, although it seems reasonable to assume that, as it's ahead of the IPO, the parent company of Mercedes is getting a bit of a bargain.