Sebastian Vettel Takes Dominant Australian Grand Prix Win

Sebastian Vettel won the inagural race of the 2011 F1 season after a dominating performance in Melbourne. The German driver made full use of his pole-position and lead the race from start to finish, taking his 11th Formula 1 win. Vettel adopted a two-stop pit strategy and finished with a 22.2-second advantage over second ranked Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), who had to race with a detached floor after running wide on lap 33.

Third place went to Russian Vitaly Petrov, the big surprise of the Australian GP, who got off to an excellent start. The Renault driver went from sixth to fourth immediately after the green light, taking advantage of Button and Alonso both running wide in the first corner. Petrov gained another position after the first round of pitstops and kept it until the end of the race, scoring his first ever Formula 1 podium finish.

Fourth-placed Fernando Alonso had a tougher time on the track, with the Spaniard having to deal with a three-stop strategy and a poor start that sent him from fifth to ninth before the first corner of the race. The Ferrari driver then quickly started recovering lost positions, managing to finish fourth. Mark Webber and Jenson Button finished the race fifth and sixth respectively, while Ferrari's Massa had to settle for ninth, behind the Ferrari-powered Saubers of Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi.

However, the two Sauber drivers were disqualified after the race for rear-wing infringements, so Massa got seventh place eventually.

Mercedes GP had a poor race, as both Schumacher and Rosberg failing to finish the Australian GP. The former quit on lap 19 for technical reasons, after suffering a puncture on lap 1, while the latter had to stop after being hit by Barrichello on lap 22. Overall, it was an enjoyable race to watch, although significant rule changes like the Drag Reduction System (DRS) and the reintroduction of the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) didn't seem to have a decisive effect on overtaking.

By Dan Miahalascu

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Über Luxurious Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Puts Limos to Shame

It may look like an ordinary van that transports a boatload of people, but this Mercedes-Benz Sprinter is much more than that. Called the Brilliant Van, the specially equipped fleet of Sprinter limo vans belongs to a company called Brilliant Transportation.

As you can see in the photo gallery, the Brilliant vans are fitted with four independent chairs and a rear seat bench covered in premium leather. The vans come complete with a premium eight-speaker audio system, two 32-inch flat-screen TVs with satellite-based Direct TV and wireless headphones, as well as 3G Wi-Fi capability, color printers and a hands-free conference call system.

"We're introducing a new mode of travel we call Private Motoring¨ that often replaces air and rail transport,” said Richard Fertig, Brilliant's Founder and President. "Our versatile Sprinter vans appeal to corporate management, entertainers and well-to-do families who want to reclaim that dead in-transit time and who appreciate the size, height and overall comfort of a large van,” he added.

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Mercedes to Debut New Concept Alongside C63 AMG Coupe and One More Unnamed AMG Model at NY Show

The latest news coming out from the upcoming 2011 New York International Auto Show in late April is that Mercedes-Benz is planning three worldwide and three North American production debuts. The three world premieres include a never before seen concept model and two AMG cars, the 2012 C63 AMG Coupe that we’ve already showed you, and another one which has not yet been revealed.

While we can only speculate on the unnamed concept model, it is very likely that the AMG production car is the SLS AMG Roadster as it was recently teased in the German firm’s SuperBowl commercial.

As for the North American motorshow debuts, these are new 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK350, C-Class Coupe, and C-Class (the latter was shown at a special media event on the sidelines of the Detroit Show in January).

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