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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.

Mercedes testing C-Class plug-in hybrid modes in Germany

Testing appears to be underway for what would be the first Mercedes-Benz C-Class with a hybrid powertrain. We can see a pair of the prototypes undergoing testing in Germany, with one, a C-Class Wagon, still heavily clad in camouflage and featuring a more noticeable outlet on the passenger side of its rear bumper.
There's also a more production-looking sedan, which features a not-so-discreet flap over its rear-bumper outlet. It's difficult to speculate on power outputs for this fuel-sipping C-Class, although our spies seem to think that this car will feature some combination of a four-cylinder gas engine with an electric motor, although just which four is unclear (note, we wouldn't mind if MB fit its 2.0-liter turbo with some batteries and motors). Regardless, the four-pot/electric motor seems like a pretty reasonable combo, although it probably means that Mercedes won't be challenging the six-cylinder-powered system of the BMW ActiveHybrid3 any time soon.
When the plug-in C-Class arrives later this year as a 2015 model, it will likely offer a full range of driving modes, including both gas or electric, only, as well as a more traditional hybrid mode.

Mercedes GLE Coupe to feature in Jurassic World

It was back in 1997 that Mercedes first got into the crossover game with the launch of the M-Class, and most of us got our first look at the luxury high-rider when it debuted on the big screen in the Jurassic Park sequel The Lost World. It's been 18 years since that event, but now its successor is set to appear in the revival of the once-popular movie franchise. Come June 12, moviegoers will be able to catch the new Jurassic World film at their local theaters, but the dinosaurs will have to share the spotlight with the new GLE Coupe. The slant-roofed crossover that'll share its underpinnings with the M-Class' successor and challenge the BMW X6, will appear in the film in GLE 450 AMG Sport guise, and Universal Studios apparently did a good enough job keeping the Mercedes under wraps during filming until its release just a month ago. Mercedes Continues Its Decades Long Relationship with Universal: Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe launches in Universal Pictures' Jurassic World Stuttgart, Jan 08, 2015 Stuttgart. On-screen, multiple Mercedes-Benz vehicles are once again in on the Jurassic action. Twenty-two years since the events of the original film, Steven Spielberg returns to executive produce the long-awaited next installment of his groundbreaking Jurassic Park series, Jurassic World. During their adventures in the jungles of Jurassic World, the characters played by Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard put their trust in the off-road capabilities of various Mercedes-Benz vehicles – especially in the all-new GLE Coupe, which appears in its series-look for the first time. Colin Trevorrow directs the epic action-adventure from a screenplay he wrote with Derek Connolly. Frank Marshall and Patrick Crowley join the team as producers. Jurassic World will be released in 3D by Universal Pictures on June 12, 2015. The partnership continues the relationship between Universal and Mercedes-Benz, first forged in 1997's The Lost World: Jurassic Park, when Mercedes introduced the M-Class vehicle. "We are delighted to have been able to support this epic action-adventure with our vehicles," said Dr. Jens Thiemer, Head of Marketing Communications for Mercedes-Benz Cars. "Our wide range of SUVs in particular fit perfectly with Jurassic World's various requirements, with the focus on our new trendsetter, the GLE Coupe." Above all, it is the new GLE Coupe that shows off its best side.