McLaren Tag

The final day of testing in Budapest was a tale of a remarkable return and an impressive arrival, as Robert Kubica returned to F1 testing for the first time in six years to set the day’s fourth fastest time, while 17-year-old Lando Norris finished in second place, just two tenths of a second behind pacesetter Sebastian Vettel. Driving for Renault, Kubica, who had not driven a contemporary F1 car since suffering serious arm injuries in a 2011 rallying accident, set a best time of 1m18.572s to finish fourth on theRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief There is a lot of debate on Fernando Alonso’s future in Formula One, but he remains content on not making any decision until later this year. The 35-year-old Spaniard enjoyed a solid outing in the Verizon IndyCar Series for the 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500 under a McLaren-Honda Andretti entry, leading 27 laps before falling victim to an engine failure and finishing 24th. However, he did manage to win Rookie of the Year honors for the event and hasn’t ruled out a potential return. SpeakingRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor After an incredible rookie performance at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this May, two time F1 Champion Fernando Alonso’s Indy 500 and Triple Crown dream ground to a halt with a late race engine failure this afternoon. Alonso led the race multiple times, for 27 laps, and had the highest average speed before his Honda engine let go as he was running in seventh place with 21 laps to go. He immediately pulled off and was greeted by a standing ovation from the 300,000 strong crowd when heRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer The Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama for the Verizon IndyCar Series has concluded, and Josef Newgarden has now notched his first win as a Penske driver. He was able to pull off a daring pass on four-time Series Champion, Scott Dixon, to take second, and then inherited the lead when leader Will Power experienced a tire issue. Let’s take a look back on some of the stories coming out of the weekend at Barber Motorsports Park. 1 )  Great Day for the South WheneverRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer With rumors of a third potential engine supplier possibly in the works for the Verizon IndyCar Series, let’s take a look at a few companies that could provide a nice boost to rival the current regime of Chevrolet and Honda. 1. Mercedes Mercedes has a long motorsports heritage dating back to the early 20th century. Granted, they stepped away from the sport for nearly 40 years but they came onto the Indy car scene with a splash in 1994 by badging the PenskeRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer After last year’s historic 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500, with a sell-out crowd and a large amount of media attention, I wondered if the momentum would continue into the next century of racing. Indeed, the 101st Running, slated for May 28, 2017, has a tough act to follow. What could possibly happen to top this? Enter Fernando Alonso. The stunning early-morning announcement on Wednesday that the two-time World Drivers Champion would run in the 500 caught the racing community by surprise. Many of usRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso will race in the 2017 Indianapolis 500, driving a McLaren-branded Honda-powered entry run by defending champions Andretti Autosport. The 35-year-old Spaniard cited multiple reasons for wanting to race at Indianapolis in a statement issued by McLaren-Honda this morning. Among them, his desire to emulate the late Graham Hill and become just the second driver to complete the Triple Crown of Motor racing. “I’ve won the Monaco Grand Prix twice, and it’s one of my ambitions to win theRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor McLaren has made headlines for all the wrong reasons in 2017, mostly due to their incredibly unreliable Honda supplied power units. The team did somewhat casually reach out to Mercedes about supplying them for the future, but for the time being they are under contract with Honda and are forced to make lemonade from lemons. The best long term strategy, one I have written about several times, would be for them to invest funds from McLaren automotive, their successful road car operation, into creating their ownRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Honda are aiming to bring an updated engine with increased power levels McLaren, with some positive gains made on the reliability front. Fernando Alonso ran a relatively trouble free day on Friday, finishing 12th in the second practice for the Australian Grand Prix. McLaren looked obviously down on horsepower to their competitors, but Honda revealed that work is being done to ensure a better power unit is in the plans, with the aim to bring is before June. Teams are set at moving to their secondRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief A relationship rekindled in 2015 saw strong potential last season with Honda and McLaren. The Woking-based team finished the year sixth in points, with two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso scoring as high as fifth twice en route to 10th in the driver’s championship. Jenson Button finished as high as sixth in Austria, but a lack of consistent pace relegated him to 15th overall. A wild offseason sees Button take a leave away from the sport for 2017 and he is set to be replaced byRead More