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MERCEDES

Rosberg wins German Grand Prix

Nico Rosberg completed a memorable week for himself and his nation on Sunday when he cruised to his first win in his home German Grand Prix.

Published: 20 July 2014 16:20 CEST
Rosberg wins German Grand Prix
It was the first German Grand Prix win of Rosberg's career. Photo: DPA

The championship leader, cheered on by Germany World Cup winner Lukas Podolski in the Mercedes pits, extended his lead to 14 points over teammate Lewis Hamilton, who charged up to finish third from 20th on the grid.

"It's an amazing feeling to win at home. It's a very special day," said Rosberg.
   
Splitting the Mercedes men in second was the Williams of Valtteri Bottas.
   
Rosberg came home a comfortable 20.7 seconds ahead of the Finn at the end of an enthralling 67-lap contest.
   
Hamilton was only 1.8 seconds behind Bottas and ahead of defending champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull, Fernando Alonso of Ferrari and Daniel Ricciardo, in the second Red Bull.
   
Rosberg's win came after a week in which he had married his long-term girlfriend Vivian Sibold, signed an extended contract with Mercedes and celebrated Germany's World Cup victory.
   
It was his fourth win of the season and the seventh of his career.
   
But even such joyful supremacy was overshadowed in an incident-filled race by the bold passing pace of Hamilton, who started at the rear of the grid following his high speed crash in qualifying.
   
The Englishman delivered a thrilling series of dramatic moves muscling his way through the field, but in the end was unable to grab second in the closing laps as Bottas hung on to register an historic podium for the resurgent Williams team.
   
I had great fun," said Hamilton. "I did as good as I could. It was hard to get through the pack safely… it was hard to overtake so I'm glad to get some points today."
   
On one passing move Hamilton's car clipped the McLaren belonging to Jenson Button.
   
"I had a little bit of a collision with Jenson," he reflected. "I thought he was going to open the door which he has done a couple of times lately but that was my bad judgement."
   
Another German, Nico Hulkenberg of Force India finished seventh ahead of Jenson Button and his McLaren team-mate, Danish rookie Kevin Magnussen, and Sergio Perez who finished 10th in the second Force India.
   
There was drama at the start when the Williams of Felipe Massa, starting from the second row, somersaulted spectacularly.
 

   
The Brazilian's car came to rest in the safety gravel and he walked away unscathed after the accident triggered when Kevin Magnussen's McLaren clipped the rear of his car.

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MERCEDES

Germany: Further Mercedes recalls likely as ‘Dieselgate’ scandal continues

German authorities will "likely" discover software rigging the level of diesel emissions in Mercedes-Benz cars other than those already sanctioned, the Daimler group warned on Friday.

Published: 22 February 2020 09:21 CET
Germany: Further Mercedes recalls likely as 'Dieselgate' scandal continues
Photo: DPA

Daimler stands accused of hiding the fact that it was using illegal software in diesel cars to cheat emissions tests.

“It is likely that in the course of the ongoing and/or further investigations KBA (Federal Motor Transport Authority) will issue additional administrative orders holding that other Mercedes-Benz diesel vehicles are also equipped with impermissible defeat devices,” the manufacturer wrote in its annual report.

KBA has already ordered the recall of nearly a million Mercedes cars.

The manufacturer disputes the illegality of the “engine management functions” under the spotlight but at the end of September agreed to pay a fine of 870 million euros ($944 million) for selling non-compliant vehicles.

Faced with the threat of new recalls, the manufacturer has suspended the sale of certain models “as a precaution”.

Total charges of 5.5 billion euros from dieselgate, which began with Volkswagen in 2015, and a mass recall of vehicles fitted with faulty airbags from supplier Takata contributed to net earnings slumping by 64 percent to 2.7 billion euros ($2.9 billion) last year.

According to its annual report, the group more than doubled its provisions for “governmental and legal proceedings and measures” with 4.9 billion euros ($5.32 billion) entered on the balance sheet for 2019 against 2.1 billion at the end of 2018.

It also increased its provision for possible related costs at 8.7 billion euros, as opposed to 7 billion at the end of 2018.

“The increase relates to ongoing governmental and legal proceedings and measures taken with regard to Mercedes-Benz diesel vehicles in several regions and markets, as well as an updated risk assessment for an extended recall of Takata airbags,” wrote Daimler.

Like the entire sector, Daimler is engaged in a race to reduce the level of CO2 emissions from its cars and comply with strict standards in force this year in the EU, under penalty of heavy sanctions.

“The ambitious statutory requirements will be difficult to fulfil in some countries,” it admitted.

Daimler chairman Ola Kallenius has, on several occasions, said that the new standards were a great challenge for the manufacturer. While he is hopeful of meeting standards “in the next few years”, that is “not guaranteed” for 2020 and 2021, he said last week.

Daimler also said that the coronavirus epidemic, centred on China, may have a negative effect on sales and lead to “major disruptions in production, purchasing markets and the supply chain”.

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