McLaren Tag

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

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Honda has confirmed that Fernando Alonso’s power unit, which was under threat of being damaged from the opening lap crash in Singapore, has been cleared for use in the upcoming Malaysian Grand Prix. The incident came after Alonso made a blazing start, but was a victim of circumstances following the collision between Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen. Alonso continued on for a handful of laps later before being forced to retire. Amid concerns of a damaged power unit, Yusuke Hasegawa, executive chief engineer andRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Carlos Sainz’s widely reported move from Toro Rosso to Renault is apparently in the form of a “loan” which at least in theory, Red Bull can take back if they need or desire to. With the top Red Bull team filled and Pierre Gasly coming to take his place at Toro Rosso it is likely that Sainz will stay at Renault after 2018, but it is not guarunteed. Should Honda continue to be a disaster in 2018 and Red Bull be forced to take their enginesRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The biggest open secret in racing is now official; McLaren announced today that it is ending its troubled partnership with Honda, and signed a three year engine deal with Renault that will secure the Woking team with power units through the 2020 season. Takahiro Hachigo was regretful that the duo could not emulate the success of their illustrious past. “It is unfortunate that we must part ways with McLaren before fulfilling our ambitions, however, we made the decision with a belief that this is the bestRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Renault may yet come out the big winner through McLaren’s separation from Honda. Doing their best to exploit an enemy’s weakness, they have already poached Carlos Sainz from Toro Rosso and dropped them from their engine supply, but if a report by the usually accurate Auto Motor und Sport proves to be true it’s about to get a lot worse for Red Bull. According to the report, the French manufacturer has informed Red Bull that they are cancelling their order of power units for the 2019 andRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The final hurdle for McLaren to finalize its messy divorce from Honda has been cleared. The parties involved have convinced Scuderia Toro Rosso to a supply of Honda powerplants through the 2020 season. Renault will now supply one less team and Honda will have a partner so the Japanese giant can remain in F1. As widely speculated, Carlos Sainz is set to leave the team and join Renault to sweeten the deal, though it is unclear if he will do so before the end of theRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Cyril Abiteboul, the managing director of Renault Formula One Team, confirmed at Friday’s FIA press conference that the French manufacturer has talked with McLaren about a potential engine supply deal for the 2018 season. Renault, which currently supplies for its factory team and both Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso, appears to be McLaren’s last hope for a different power unit should it elect to terminate their relationship with Honda. For McLaren, the frustrations have grown as their three-year relationship with the Japanese manufacturer has failedRead More