Welcome to The Grid, R&T’s quick roundup of the auto industry and motorsports news you should know this morning.
Ferrari Says Third in 2021 Constructor’s Championship ‘Not Fully Impossible’
Scuderia Ferrari had an awful 2020 season. The winningest team in F1 history was frequently toward the back of the back, scrapping with teams like Alpha Tauri and Renault, far from the pace or consistency of Mercedes and Red Bull. The team landed in fifth place for the constructor’s championship.
That’s untenable for a team that’s usually near the front of the pack. And with so much of the car frozen for next year following a pushback of the rule change, it’s not going to be easy to find the speed the team needs. Still, as Motorsport.com reports, team principal Mattia Binotto says improvement is possible.
“The team has been capable of finishing second in the past five years, except for one third,” Binotto said. “So I think that third is not fully impossible. I think that should be at least our minimum objective for next season.”
But the team is fighting uphill. F1 has implemented a “token” system through which development is limited. Teams must use these tokens to upgrade parts, unless they are switching engine manufacturers or they’re customer teams upgrading their gearboxes and suspensions to the newest available. So Racing Point, Alpha Tauri, and McLaren essentially get some free upgrades in addition to their token upgrades. Considering Ferrari already lost to both McLaren and Racing Point this year, that’s gonna be tough to overcome.
The Toyota Mirai’s Hydrogen Stack Will Be Used in Commerical Products
Toyota is pushing hard to make wide-scale hydrogen a reality. Part of that is making its consumer hydrogen flagship, the Mirai, more attractive and desirable. But the company also made a substantial change to the “stack” that compromises its hydrogen-electric generating architecture. That system will be used in commercial applications, Automotive News notes, including Class 8 semi-trucks set for trials in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. A light-duty truck in Japan is also in the works.
Mercedes Will Build EVs in the U.S.
Mercedes’ long-delayed EQC electric crossover still hasn’t made it to our shores. The company has struggled with battery constraints and production issues, delaying its first long-range SUV’s entrance into the U.S. market. But that doesn’t mean the company isn’t serious about bringing EVs to the states. In fact, Automotive News reports that the firm will assemble EVs at its Vance, Alabama manufacturing center.
The assembly plant, which currently produces the GLE and GLS SUVs, will start building electric SUVs in 2022. The plan is to make electric versions of both the GLE and GLS, dubbed EQE SUV and EQS SUV respectively. The EQS Sedan, an all-electric S-Class-sized vehicle, will be the first Mercedes EQ product to arrive in the U.S.
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