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F1 title fight gets closer | 2016 US Grand Prix recap

We ran into an old friend at the US Grand Prix: an on-form Lewis Hamilton. Reliability and proper clutch actuation helped the Mercedes-AMG Petronas driver resurrect the kind of performance we haven't seen since July at the German Grand Prix. After demolishing the previous qualifying record around the Circuit of the Americas, he put the field in his mirrors as soon as the lights went out, was never bothered by anyone behind, and crossed the finish line 4.5 seconds ahead of teammate Nico Rosberg. The drive was exactly what Hamilton needed to keep his molecule-thin Championship hopes alive. Rosberg, however, did exactly what he needed to do as well by finishing second. The German had a sketchier path to the checkered flag than Hamilton, getting pushed back to the third at the start by Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo. Worse, Ricciardo appeared to have the pace to keep Hamilton honest ahead and hold Rosberg behind. Red Bull and Mercedes matched one another's pit stops, and it was clear the German would need more help to pass the Aussie. Rosberg didn't have to make his own luck, Ricciardo's teammate Max Verstappen made the luck for him. Ricciardo pitted on Lap 26, ceding second position on track to Rosberg. On Lap 30, Verstappen's gearbox failed while headed down the back straight. The Dutch teenager said the team told him to try to get the car back to the pits, so he dawdled through a few corners before following more team orders to pull over and park. Verstappen's parking spot and bad gearbox meant marshals couldn't push the car off the track, they needed to use a crane. That brought out a Virtual Safety Car, slowing the whole race down and allowing Rosberg to run a longer stint while losing less time on old tires. When the German came in for new tires on Lap 31 he emerged ahead of Ricciardo, and they ran that way to the end of the race, much to Ricciardo's disappointment. Sebastian Vettel claimed fourth for Ferrari, a placing perhaps due only to Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen retiring from the race. An otherwise anonymous weekend for the scuderia called attention to itself on race day when Raikkonen had to call it a day after a botched pit stop, and Vettel couldn't make any impression on the teams ahead. Fernando Alonso rode home to a brilliant fifth for McLaren. During the first stint while rummaging around outside the top ten, the Spaniard complained about his lack of pace. By Lap 15 Alonso was tenth, on Lap 34 he was eighth.

2017 Mercedes-AMG C63 Coupe looks quick, mean

The latest Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe isn't even on the road yet. Still, the folks at AMG are already working at tweaking the two-door into a future high-performance variant as the natural challenger for the BMW M4. While this model is heavily camouflaged all the way around, an aggressive face akin to the C63 sedan is already pretty easy to spot. Both cars feature air dams with big openings to feed cool air to the 4.0-liter, twin-turbo V8 under the hood. Compared to the previously spied, standard version of the two-door C-Class, the AMG looks to feature wider front fenders, too. Despite the concealment, other visible high-performance touches include lower side sills and larger brakes peeking out behind the wheels. Of course, the four exhaust pipes sticking out the back are a big giveaway of the coupe's intended high-speed purpose, too. Like the C63 sedan, expect a choice of tunes of the V8 to be available with either 469 horsepower or the more powerful S with 503 hp. The wait to see the two-door without all of this camo shouldn't be too long, either. An earlier report suggests that both the standard coupe and AMG versions could debut at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show in September. Related Video:

Daimler ponders partnerships with Apple, Google

Daimler Chairman Dieter Zetsche is willing to consider joint ventures with tech giants like Apple and Google. Don't expect the automaker's vehicles to become just another platform for their software, though. In an interview with a German magazine, the chairman admits "different types" of partnerships could be possible, according to Reuters. As vehicles become increasingly connected, greater expertise is necessary in creating their software. The changing market is an opportunity for tech companies to enter the auto industry. "Google and Apple want to provide system software for cars and bring this entire ecosystem around Apple and Google into the vehicle," Zetsche said, according to Reuters. "That can be interesting for both sides." Although, he was clear no deals had happened, yet. For automakers, the danger of this cooperation is for a vehicle to be just a physical device that runs the software. "We don't want to become contractors who have no direct content with customers any more and supply hardware to third parties," he said in the interview. Zetsche has been working out how to create this balance for a while. Earlier this year, he said that some partnerships with Silicon Valley firms could be helpful. However, data privacy remains a major concern, especially in the wake of multiple vehicle hacks in recent months. In the chairman's opinion, a Mercedes-Benz shouldn't just protect its occupants physically but also their personal information. Related Video: