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Rosberg survives the Mexican mess | 2016 Mexican Grand Prix recap

Roughly ten messy laps defined the Mexican Grand Prix – five laps at the start and five at the end. Those laps included a couple of actual wrecks and a few more near wrecks that turned the entire day into chaos. To have any chance of winning the 2016 Driver's Championship, Lewis Hamilton needed to get his Mercedes-AMG Petronas across the finish line ahead of teammate Nico Rosberg. Once again we got a weekend full of vintage Hamilton, the Brit dominating the from Friday to Sunday, except for the first corner of the first lap. Pole-sitter Hamilton reached Turn 1 clearly in front of the field. But he couldn't make the corner and stay on track, so he zipped into the runoff area and over the grass, rejoining at Turn 3 still ahead of the field. The stewards didn't penalize Hamilton, one commentator's explanation being that Hamilton "was not battling another car." The non-action left car #44 to enjoy a lights-to-flag win. At that very same corner, Rosberg also availed himself of the runoff area. His infraction seemed destined to incur a penalty until replays showed that Max Verstappen in the Red Bull slid wide and bumped Rosberg, causing the German to go off track. No penalties were handed out there, either. Verstappen would return to hound Rosberg later in the race when angling for second place. Verstappen took a stab through Turn 4 on Lap 50 of the 71-lap race, but ran off the track and lost touch with the Mercedes by Lap 55. Ferrari got half of its strategy right in Mexico, putting Sebastian Vettel hard on the charge in the final stint. The German got within DRS range of Verstappen on Lap 67, with Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo a little more than a second behind Vettel. On Lap 68, Verstappen pulled the same move as Hamilton at the beginning of the race: the Dutchman ran wide through Turn 1, zoomed over the grass and rejoined the track at Turn 3, staying ahead of Vettel the whole time. With three laps remaining, the stewards chose to investigate after the race. In spite of Verstappen's own team telling he probably needed to cede position to Vettel, Verstappen stayed in front and slowed just enough to put Vettel under threat from Ricciardo. On Lap 70 Ricciardo had closed up to Vettel's gearbox. Headed for Turn 4, Vettel swung outside to take the corner. When Ricciardo moved inside to pass, Vettel moved inside to block the Aussie while both cars were in the braking zone. The Ferrari made light contact with the Red Bull, but Vettel held his position through Turn 5.

McLaren launches 650S Le Mans edition, Sports Series to offer 4 variants

Even before you take other model lines into consideration, Porsche has done quite a job broadening its 911 range with an ever-expanding array of variants – from different engines and transmissions to distinct body styles. Little wonder, then, that its rivals are working to emulate the same model. Just the other day, we brought you news that Mercedes is planning to follow a similar formula with its 911-baiting AMG GT, and now it seems McLaren is preparing to go the same route as well. As we reported back in March, the upcoming McLaren Sport Series – which will take on the upper end of the 911 family – will be offered in multiple body styles. Just how many, exactly, we still don't know for sure, but Holland's Autovisie reports that the baby Mac will spawn "at least four variants" – which could explain the "Series" part of the nameplate. The first version we're expecting to see in New York will likely be the standard coupe. That will be followed by a Spider version just like there's been of the 12C and 650S. But those won't be the end of the story. This past June, reports suggested that McLaren was planning a GT version with an "unconventional trunk." Autovisie now reports that it'll encompass a luggage compartment fitted over the engine and accessible from the side, making the prospect of driving Woking's smallest every day a more realistic one – relatively speaking, that is. This could take the form of the Shooting Brake rumored to be in the works years ago. But what about the fourth variant, you asked? That could come down to a GTR model. McLaren has already announced that it's bringing the track-bound P1 GTR to the Geneva Motor Show, and just the other day we reported on the possibility of a 650 GTR that would essentially fill in for the previous 12C Can-Am edition. A similar hard-core treatment could feasibly be applied to the Sports Series as well, whether bound to the track or open to use on public roads as well. The proliferation of variants wouldn't be without precedent for Working, after all. The original McLaren F1 bred GTR and LM versions, though they were almost too rare to count. The SLR it built for Mercedes spawned more derivatives than we would dare count. The MP4-12C gave us a few as well. And the 650S has already appeared in coupe, Spider, 625C and soon GTR versions. So the idea of the company's upcoming entry-level model following the same path would only make sense.

Red Bull F1 denied access to Honda engines

There are four engine manufacturers in Formula 1: Ferrari, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, and Renault. Infiniti Red Bull Racing ended its marriage to Renault, got to the altar with Mercedes and then Mercedes backed out, couldn't even agree on a pre-nup with Ferrari, and Honda flat-out said, "No." At the moment that has left the four-time World Champions without an engine for next year, owner Dieter Mateschitz threatening to take his two teams and four cars out of the sport, and F1 honcho Bernie Ecclestone threatening to sue Mateschitz if he does. The Japanese company had turned down the idea because after a first year with some poor performances and a few public sour notes, it wants to get McLaren's cars running properly before it expands its operation. Now it seems some behind-the-scenes action of late has opened up channels between Red Bull and Honda, and the two are at least talking. Honda, though, still says such a deal is highly unlikely at best, and Red Bull says it will have something to say when something is done. It appears that McLaren chief Ron Dennis, however, has vetoed the idea. Ecclestone says Honda made a deal with the FIA that would allow Honda to supply two teams in its second year, but Honda gave Dennis veto rights over who the second team would be. For the same reason that Mercedes backed out and Ferrari only wanted to sell Red Bull year-old engines, Ecclestone says Dennis might view Red Bull as a competitor and doesn't want to risk two more cars getting in front of his own. If that's the case and Red Bull is going to remain in the sport, it might need to hit the flower shop and book a trip to Renault headquarters. Soon. Related Video: