McLaren Tag

By FIA Fernando Alonso posted the only timed lap of the day as snow and then heavy rain turned day three of Formula 1 testing in Barcelona into a wash-out. Overnight snow and freezing temperatures led to a long delay in the morning but the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was eventually declared fit for running at midday. However, persistent rain throughout the afternoon meant that few teams ventured out on track. Alonso completed the most laps, with 11, and the McLaren driver claimed the timesheet honours for the day with theRead More

By FIA Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel set the quickest time of day two of the first pre-season Formula 1 test in Barcelona, outpacing Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas by three tenths of a second. McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne finished third on the timesheet a further three tenths back. The day began in muted fashion as overnight snow and rain meant conditions were tricky early on and many teams avoided significant running before the halfway point of running. One of those was Red Bull Racing, with the Milton Keynes team being restricted to the garageRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The 2018 Formula One season is finally upon us. After the long winter break, all 10 teams hit the track this morning at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain. While the full picture of who is competitive, who has got it right, and who has got it wrong won’t fully form till the end of testing next week, there are meaningful things we can gleam just from breaking down the first day’s running. The biggest caveat in doing so are two variables that made today’s runningRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor McLaren debuted their new 2018 Formula One car today, the MCL33, which represents a fresh start for the brand with Renault power after three seasons of misery with Honda power unit failures. To symbolize this new beginning the car makes a bold return to McLaren’s classic papaya orange color, a nod to company founder Bruce McLaren, who proudly painted his cars in the standout color during the team’s early years of the 1960s. The car is a clear evolution of the MCL32 that came before it,Read More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The 56th edition of the Rolex 24 at Daytona kicks off the racing year with one of the most star studded grids of the season. Among the starters of tomorrow’s endurance classic are three 2018 Formula One drivers who have come stateside to compete against the best of IMSA, as well as some of better talents from NASCAR and IndyCar. Fernando Alonso is continuing his exploration outside of F1 as the next chapter of his triple crown attempt (Monaco GP, Indianapolis 500 and 24 Hours ofRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor McLaren has unveiled their most extreme road car yet and named it after the most extreme racing driver to ever pilot one of their F1 cars, the one and only Ayrton Senna. The new McLaren Senna is their most track focused offering to date with a 4.0 liter twin turbocharged V8 that develops 789 horsepower and 590 lb ft of torque. The car is also the lightest McLaren since the original F1 and comes in at a svelte 2,641 pounds, albeit without fluids onboard. It isRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor 2017 Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato was the star of Honda ‘Thanks Day’ at Twin Ring Motegi today. The annual event showcases Honda’s brightest racing stars who lap the circuit in both current and historic race cars to the delight of a massive crowd. Sato was joined by the Borg-Warner trophy which made its first overseas trip to mark the occasion. Other notable participants included MotoGP Champion Marc Marquez, as well as McLaren-Honda Formula One drivers Jenson Button and Stoffel Vandoorne. Toro Rosso driver Pierre Gasly,Read More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Kimi Raikkonen topped the time sheets for Ferrari on the first day of Pirelli’s Abu Dhabi tire test, where all 10 Formula One teams are evaluating the prospective 2018 tire compounds. The Finn clocked an impressive 1:37.768 on Pirelli’s new hypersoft compound, just three tenths ahead of Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull, and nearly a second ahead of World Champion Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton, who qualified and finished second behind team mate Valtteri Bottas on Sunday, hailed Pirelli’s hypersoft tires as the best tire Pirelli has made sinceRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief AUSTIN, Texas – McLaren have revealed that they considering returning to its former papaya orange livery for the 2018 Formula One season. The team ran the historic colors in their return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May in the 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil. The venture was a in a partnership with Andretti Autosport and support from Honda, which brought global attention as two-time Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso elected to miss the Monaco Grand Prix and crossRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief AUSTIN, Texas – Fernando Alonso is set to continue on with McLaren after the two announced a contract extension on Thursday ahead of the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas, which keeps the pair together for the 2018 Formula One season. The 36-year-old Spaniard returned to the Woking-based outfit for a second time in 2015 and has since struggled for results at the disappointment of a Honda relationship which comes to an halt at the end of this season. The two-time Formula OneRead More