Felipe Massa won the Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul today in his Ferrari, beating out Lewis Hamilton by 3.7 seconds, who finished second in his Vodafone McLaren Mercedes F1 car. The race was 58 laps and 309.36 kms with the pole position for the start won by Massa in the Ferrari during qualifying. Lewis started the race in a third place grid position with his team mate Heikki Kovalainen out qualifying him with second place on the grid.

At the start of the race, Lewis launched his car into second place behind Massa, but there was a collision at the first corner and the safety car was deployed. On lap 2, the race was re-started and Lewis held is second place and on lap 10 was just 1.5 seconds behind the race leader, Felipe Massa. On lap 24 Lewis out braked Massa and took the lead, and he built the gap to 8.3 seconds in front of Massa by lap 32. On Lap 45 Lewis pitted for his third stop and when he returned to the track, he was 5.2 seconds behind Massa and in second place. By the race end, Lewis was able to narrow Massa's lead to 3.7 seconds to finish just behind the Ferrari.

Lewis Hamilton said "I am so thrilled with today's result, and I think this is the best race ever for me. It's not about winning, it's about feeling that you extract 100% from yourself and the car, and I did that today... we knew that we would have to use a three stop strategy, as a precaution, as we had some issues with our tires."

When Daimler started their development work on the Mercedes-Benz F700 Hybrid Research Car their mission was to do more with less. What they wanted was outstanding luxury with exceptional fuel economy and low emissions. Looking at the finished F700, which is just slightly shorter than the current Mercedes-Benz S-Class, you might think that it had a V-8 or V-12 engine, but instead, Daimler's engineers have designed a very sophisticated gasoline-electric hybrid 1.8 L two-stage turbo charged 4 cylinder engine to power the F700 sedan. This powertrain achieves a remarkable 5.3 litres per 100 kilometres or 44.3 mpg and the F700 Research Car emits just 127 grams per kilometre of CO2, which is just 15 grams more than a standard Smart Car.

Although the F700 is a very large car, Mercedes-Benz can also scale this hybrid technology down to their future mid-size and compact luxury vehicles and power them using it as well. Mercedes-Benz have called this drive system DIESOTTO technology for the efficiency of diesel with the performance characteristics of gasoline. Mercedes-Benz has achieved the F700's efficiency using both the turbo charging and also a hybrid module that incorporates a lithium ion energy storage battery, a 15kW (20 hp) electric motor, and regenerative braking for charging the battery. The F700 has impressive performance for its economy with a 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) acceleration time of 7.5 seconds and a top speed of 200 km/h (124 mph).

Daimler AG may also follow the industry trend towards zero emissions plug in hybrids that can travel short commutes on electric power alone and return home to be charged. Prospective buyers will be looking for luxury performance with low petroleum energy utilisation, so increasing both the storage capacity of the onboard battery and the power output of the hybrid electric motor may need to be incorporated into the new Mercedes-Benz hybrid production models.

It is probable that within three years the leading hybrid manufacturers like Toyota/Lexus will be offering plug-in capability for their hybrids as either standard equipment or an option, and even solar charging on the roof and rear storage areas of some models. For the premium car buyer of the future, absolute luxury combined with industry leading technology efficiency will be what the customer wants to demonstrate to their peers and Mercedes-Benz appears to be on track to deliver this with their work on the F700.

Renault-Nissan signed a joint venture agreement with the State Of Israel on January 21, 2008 to launch the development and production of a new concept electric car for the Middle East. The electric car project is called 'Project Better Place' and it is expected to have economic benefits both for Israel and the rest of the Middle East and spread to other countries as the Renault-Nissan's electric car infrastructure investment takes hold. Already Denmark and Denmark's DONG Energy have initiated a partnering process with Project Better Place that should culminate in an agreement shortly and intiate a battery charging network in Denmark by 2011.

Israel has committed to build an electric car supporting infrastructure by creating charging spots and battery exchange stations for electric vehicles within the country. It is believed that through this leadership, and through the provision of incentives to this electric car industry, Israel will be able to help launch other green industries and JV relationships with other Middle East partners to create the 'Better Place' that all hope for. Renault-Nissan are the first major automotive company to come behind the project, but the infrastructure itself will promote the involvement of other car companies as well.

Project Better Place is an initiative that has a global business plan and Idan Ofer is its Chairman. The CEO, Shai Agassi has raised more than $200 million for the Project, with support coming from VantagePoint Venture Partners, Israel Corporation, Morgan Stanley and other private investors who share a concern about global climate change and a universal desire to help all.

The involvement of Renault-Nissan in Project Better Place is significant. Carlos Ghosn, President and CEO of both Renault and Nissan, has indicated that Nissan plans to launch their first battery car by 2010 and that Renault-Nissan together will have a complete line of electric vehicles by 2012. Batteries for Project Better Place will be supplied by NEC Lamilion, a Nissan-NEC JV and the Renault Electric car will be launched in Israel in 2011. Project Better Place will construct and maintain 500,000 battery charging spots as part of the project. Renault itself has taken a bold step to say that the future for the car company is to be 100% electric.