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A weird end to a weird F1 season | 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix recap

The 2016 Formula 1 season ended with a bang that came from a direction no one expected. Lewis Hamilton put his Mercedes-AMG Petronas on pole position and then got away clean to start the race. Teammate Nico Rosberg did the next best thing, lining up in second and following right behind Hamilton for most of the race. Other than Rosberg's wicked pass on Red Bull's Max Verstappen to retake second place on Lap 20, things stayed all quiet at the front. Come Lap 32 of the 55-lap race, however, observers began to wonder why Hamilton was driving so slow. The Brit, working every trick he could think of to win the Driver's World Championship instead of just the race, dogged it out front trying to push Rosberg back into the chasing mix of Red Bulls and Ferraris. Over the next 15 laps Hamilton's race engineer repeatedly radioed ideal lap times. Hamilton only occasionally hit the times until finally saying, "I suggest you let us race." When the one-stopping Sebastian Vettel blasted his Ferrari from sixth to third, nosing up to Rosberg's gearbox, Mercedes team honcho Paddy Lowe got on the radio to instruct Hamilton to go faster. Hamilton replied that if he wasn't going to win the championship he didn't care about winning the race. Hamilton repeatedly zoomed through the first sector to keep everyone behind, then clogged up the works through Sectors 2 and 3. The problem with his plan was that the Red Bulls in fourth and fifth couldn't get close enough to threaten the trio at the front; even if Vettel had got by Rosberg, Rosberg would still win the Championship with a third-place finish. As it happened, Rosberg finished second behind the disconsolate Hamilton. Vettel took third, followed by Red Bull drivers Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, then the second Ferrari piloted by Kimi Raikkonen in sixth. Nico Hulkenberg took seventh, beating Force India teammate Sergio Perez for the last time as an intra-team rivalry. Felipe Massa closed his F1 career with ninth place in a Williams chassis that he got to take home as a gift from the team. Fernando Alonso scored the final point for McLaren, a touch of sweet for the team after the bitterness of Jenson Button retiring on Lap 12 with suspension damage. Rosberg's second place earned him 385 points for the season, enough to take the World Driver's Championship from Hamilton by just five points. Some have put the title down to Rosberg's consistency, others to his car's reliability.

Valet gives Ferrari 458 keys to wrong Florida man

A Florida man is suing a resort and valet company after a valet attendant gave the keys to his yellow 2014 Ferrari 458 Spider to the wrong man, who then took it on a joyride in what police believe was an attempt to impress a woman. Because of course it was. The mishap dates back to July 2017 at the Vinoy Renaissance St. Petersburg Resort & Golf Club. According to the Tampa Bay Times, the valet attendant told police things got very busy, and that at some point, a man, identified as Levi Miles, then 28, asked for keys to the Ferrari. He was accompanied by a woman, identified as Chloe Rimmer, 24. In the police report, the man "seemed to be impatient" and was "demanding," the Times reports. He told the valet the ticket was inside the car and that he would bring it back. Instead, the valet told police the two sat in the Ferrari for "quite a while." Figuring he wasn't getting a tip, he stopped paying attention, and the couple eventually drove off. Police soon pulled them over as they prepared to get on a freeway ramp because the taillights weren't working. Police also said the driver appeared to be having "difficulty" driving the car. So basically, had he known how to turn on the lights and was capable of driving the thing (admittedly, Ferraris can be tricky), this plan totally would've worked. For a bit longer at least. Then again, the police also found about 2 grams of cocaine on the center console so that might've had something to do with the driveability issues. Police eventually arrested Miles and Rimmer. He had told the officer he was a Marine driving his father's car. He denied knowing about the drugs. He reportedly acknowledged trying to distract the valet attendant from demanding the valet ticket and said he knew the car wasn't his. "Miles stated the vehicle and keys were given to him by (the) valet," the report reads, "so technically he did not steal the vehicle." Miles faces charges of grand theft of more than $100,000, possession of cocaine and habitually driving with a suspended or revoked license. Rimmer was charged with possession of marijuana after police found a gram of it in her purse.

At St. Moritz, the Ferraris and Bugattis are small wonders

The Little Car Company is once again taking to glitzy St. Moritz in the Alps to show off an array of scaled-down automotive classics that will include a Bugatti Baby II, Ferrari Testa Rossa J (for junior) in both base and Pacco Gara models, and an Aston Martin DB5 Junior. The elegant, electrified miniatures, all available for test drives, will be assembled at the upcoming International Concours of Elegance at St. Moritz this Friday and Saturday to entertain the rich and famous, and others perhaps not so well positioned. The Little Car Company is a U.K.-based firm that has re-created everything from a pint-sized Bugatti Type 35 to a life-sized dune buggy based on a Tamiya R/C kit from the 1980s. Their cars run on electric power. Other models are put on static display, and one of those at St. Moritz is to be its newly launched Bentley Blower Jnr. "A step into new territory for the brand," the company says, the Blower Jnr is an 85 percent scale electric version of the British manufacturer's legendary original, and is The Little Car Company’s first road-legal automobile. Said CEO Ben Hedley, "This year will be the third time that we have participated in this wonderful event, so it is only right that we bring even more unique pieces for guests to get behind the wheel of, but also that we bring something new for guests to look at: the Bentley Blower Jnr." Operating for about five years, the Little Car Company hand-builds licensed products in entertaining partnerships with some elite manufacturers. Its cars are aimed mainly at collectors but can be driven. Among its recent offerings, the Testa Rossa was launched in 2021 as a 3/4-scale replica of the legendary "red head,” powered by a 12kW battery and able to reach a top speed of 47 mph, Little Car Company planned to build only 299 examples of the Testa Rossa. One of them was on display at Harrods in London just before Christmas, priced at just about $100,000. A terrific gift, but youÂ’ll need a bigger tree.   Featured Gallery The Little Car Company at St Moritz Design/Style Aston Martin Bentley Bugatti Ferrari Electric