Earlier this month saw the beautiful city of Montreal become a battleground for top-tier racing: Formula One came to town.
After some interesting hijinks during qualifying, the race turned out to be an easy win for whiz-kid Sebastian Vettel in his Red Bull/Infiniti car, running out ahead early on and maintaining a lead through to the finish. Infiniti must be very happy that their sponsorship is working out so well, victory-wise.
The real battles were farther back in the pack, particularly between Ferraris Fernando Alonso, who squeaked by Lewis Hamiltons Mercedes-Benz to steal second. Not necessarily a clean victory for the Spaniard: rumours has it there was a pass under a yellow flag, which is a definite no-no.
Sadly, while there would be much champagne sprayed post-race, there was also terrible news. A volunteer track worker was crushed by a crane while attempting to remove a crashed F1 racer from one of the corners. Details are slim, but apparently the veteran track worker slipped and fell out of sight of the moving crane, and was caught under its wheels.
Its worth remembering that in the fraternity of speed, its not just the drivers who risk everything, but the support workers who do a far less glamorous, and similarly dangerous job.
Electric Mercedes-Benz sets Nürburgring record
When it comes to performance-oriented electric vehicles, Tesla has been soaking up the spotlight for too long. Lets turn that light on a growing battle between two traditional manufacturers locked in combat on the legendary Nürburgring.
Audi threw down the gauntlet with its Etron R8 an electric-only version of Ingolstadts supercar. With a lap time hovering around the low eight-minute range, the R8 made its bones as a fairly impressive machine, though slower than its gasoline-powered compatriots.
However, Mercedes has firmly established itself as current electric King of the Ring, shattering Audis times with a seven minute, fifty-six second lap thats faster even than the V-8-powered R8. They did so with their SLS Electric Drive, which is ... well, you can figure it out.
With all-wheel drive and the equivalent of 751 horespower., the electric SLS is quite the machine, though it should be noted that its handily trumped by the normally powered version (which is also half the price). Still, with carmakers focusing on electric performance as well as efficiency, its good news for our inevitably battery-powered future.
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