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Red Bull to run TAG Heuer-branded engines next season

After a drawn-out and very public effort to switch to a different engine supplier, Red Bull Racing will once again be running under Renault power next season. Only it won't be labeled as a Renault. Instead, it will be branded by TAG Heuer. Now if you're thinking that TAG Heuer was in the McLaren camp, you were right up until today's announcement. One of McLaren's oldest partners, the watchmaker jumped ship to join up with Red Bull instead, ostensibly replacing Casio as the team's official timekeeper. Now here's where it gets a little tricky: Mansour Ojjeh and his Techniques d'Avant Garde holding company remain a major stakeholder in McLaren. The firm owned Tag Heuer from 1985 to 1999; now its former watch brand is leaving for Red Bull. This isn't the first time that the TAG name has transferred from one F1 team to another, nor is it the first time we'll see its name replace that of a major automaker on an F1 engine. Techniques d'Avant Garde previously partnered with Williams before Ron Dennis took over in Woking and convinced Ojjeh to come on board. That partnership saw TAG work with Porsche on a successful F1 engine program that won three drivers' championships (with Niki Lauda and Alain Prost), two constructors' titles, and 25 grands prix. While unusual, the deal is hardly unprecedented. Aside from the McLaren-TAG-Porsche arrangement, Sauber once ran Ferrari engines under the brand of its sponsor Petronas (which has long since switched to Mercedes). For another example, the 1998 world championship saw Benetton running Renault engines under the Playlife name, while Williams rebranded its version as Mecachrome, as the French automaker shifted its priorities in F1 much as it is right now. The announcement still leaves a few questions unanswered, however. For one, will Red Bull continue running TAG Heuer-branded engines made by Renault (or another supplier) after 2016? And what does this spell for Infiniti, Renault's sister-brand that has sponsored the team for the past several years? Infiniti declined to comment, but we're told there'll be some sort of announcement early next week. Red Bull Racing to drive forward with TAG Heuer power unit in 2016 From the milliseconds that separate victory from defeat to the finely balanced and perfectly measured rhythm of a racing engine, in motorsport timing is everything.

Race Recap: 2015 Canadian F1 Grand Prix is better behind the front

As of Saturday afternoon in Montreal, Canada, it was all about the number four. Lewis Hamilton put his Mercedes-AMG Petronas on pole position for the fourth time at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, and now his tally of pole positions matches his race number: 44. Nico Rosberg lines up beside him, which is the fourth time that particular one-two combo has occurred this season. Ferrari spent three engine development tokens to try and close the gap to Mercedes, Kimi Raikkonen making the most of it with third position on the gird. His teammate Sebastian Vettel got the worst of it, however, when the MGU-K unit failed during Q1, leaving him 160 horsepower down and out at the first hurdle. Valtteri Bottas put a revitalized Williams on the grid at fourth, ahead of a Lotus lockout of the third row with Romain Grosjean leading the way in fifth, Pastor Maldonado just beside. Nico Hulkenberg got the first Sahara Force India into seventh – the team is still waiting on the upgraded B car that should be available for Austria – ahead of Daniil Kvyat in the first Infiniti Red Bull Racing and a "pissed off" Daniel Ricciardo in the second Red Bull. Sergio Perez made it two Force Indias in the top ten, a welcome result from a team performing below expectations of late. When the lights went out, at the very front it was much ado about not that much at all. Hamilton got away clean and stabbed across the track to close the door for Rosberg, giving Raikkonen a chance to take the inside line into Turn 1 in an attempt to clear Rosberg for second place. That didn't happen, leaving the two Mercedes' to run in grid position for the entire race. It wasn't boring – Rosberg stayed close, rubber-banding the time gap to the leader from a little more than one second to just under four seconds, and Montreal is famous for race-rearranging safety cars and on-track incidents. But none of those occurred, so Hamilton crossed the line 2.285 seconds ahead of Rosberg after 70 laps to earn his fourth victory in Canada and the first-ever victory for the Brackley, UK-based Mercedes team. Valtteri Bottas drove his Williams to third position, the first podium place for the team this year and a welcome salve to heal the team's wounds from a poor showing in Monaco. That placing came courtesy of being in the right place at the right time, which was not far behind Raikkonen when the Ferrari driver spun at the hairpin on Lap 28 after his first pit stop.

Infiniti to launch first electric car, to be made in China

BEIJING — The first electric car for Nissan's premium brand Infiniti will be a sporty sedan produced in China, the Japanese carmaker said in a statement viewed by Reuters ahead of a public announcement expected as soon as Wednesday. The vehicle would hit the market in around three years, and consumers would get a taste when the company unveils a concept car, dubbed the Qs Inspiration electric sedan, at the Shanghai auto show later this week, Nissan officials said. "China has the most growth potential for electric vehicles globally, especially in the premium segment," Infiniti Chairman Christian Meunier said in the statement seen by Reuters. Automakers operating in China have to sell more so-called new-energy vehicles, either battery electric cars or plug-in electric hybrids, to comply with official production quotas designed to reduce smog. It was not immediately clear whether Infiniti planned to produce its first electric vehicle in other markets. An Infiniti spokesman said, however, the brand did not intend to export the e-sedan from China. The planned e-sedan is part of Infiniti's longer-term strategy to significantly electrify its product lineup. Brand officials have said that from 2021 every Infiniti model launched will be either an all-electric car or so-called "e-Power" hybrids, underlining Nissan's previously announced plan to make Infiniti primarily an electrified offering. The sedan likely would be built on a new flexible architecture developed specifically to accommodate electrified powertrains, Infiniti said in the statement. Its design, especially the interior, would be significantly different than current models, design chief Karim Habib said. EVs do not have bulky gasoline engines and transmissions, opening up space inside the car. "It will have a flat floor, and if you are a passenger you can cross your legs or stretch out your legs," Habib told Reuters. Competition in China's rapidly emerging electric car market is heating up amid an onslaught of models from startups such as Nio and WM Motor, as well as those from established automakers. In the luxury segment, Infiniti will be competing with Tesla Model S and Model X, as well as other models due to be launched in coming months by Audi, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Lexus.