2017 Mclaren 570 Coupe 2d on 2040-cars

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Meet the carbon-fiber F1 racer that started it all

We take it for granted that Formula One racing cars are made from carbon fiber. But that wasn't always the case, of course. And as with any revolution, this one had to start somewhere. Enter the McLaren MP4/1. It was the very first F1 car built around a carbon-fiber monocoque, introduced at a time when every other team was still using aluminum. McLaren introduced the original MP4 after merging (at Marlboro's behest) with the Project 4 team, bringing its chief Ron Dennis on board to call the shots. The design made its debut in 1981, winning the British Grand Prix at Silverstone that year and serving as the basis for the team's design for the next three years. Niki Lauda won two grands prix behind the wheel of the subsequent MP4B. But more importantly, the carbon-fiber MP4 changed the face not only of racing, but of supercar design to follow. Little wonder then that McLaren hasn't made a race or road car since that hasn't been based around a carbon monocoque chassis, from the prototypical MP4/1 to today's MP4-31, and from the legendary McLaren F1 road car to the latest 570S. But don't take our word for it; hear the story direct from the car's designer John Bernard in this latest video direct from Woking. Related Video:

McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari call for unfreezing F1 engines

Formula One is a hugely expensive sport. Not only do you have enormous salaries and logistical expenses, as you would in any other sport, but each team also spends huge sums developing their own chassis from the ground up – and so too do the participating automakers in developing the engines. One of the ways the series organizers mitigate those costs is by freezing development. So once the new crop of V6 turbo hybrid powertrains were developed, that was it. But now three of the of the sport's leading teams are calling on the FIA to unfreeze engine development. Their reason? Unfair advantage. There's little question that Mercedes did the best job of developing its "power unit" to meet the new regulations that took effect at the beginning of this past season. That's how the Mercedes team won all but three of the grands prix this season and finished with at least one car on the podium at every single race. It's also a big part of how the teams that bought their engines from Mercedes this season managed to consistently outperform the other non-works-supported teams. That clear advantage is why Red Bull, Ferrari and now McLaren are calling for engine development to be unfrozen. Their argument is that, under the current locked-down status quo, their engine suppliers (Renault, Ferrari and Honda, respectively) cannot possibly catch up. So unless the FIA and Formula One Management want the next few seasons to be the kind of absolute blow-outs that this past season was, these leading teams argue, the powers that be are going to have to make some changes. For its part, Mercedes naturally counters that unfreezing engine development would send costs spiraling out of control. But then of course it stands to lose the most by re-opening engine development. If those three teams, however, closely intertwined as they are with the three other engine suppliers participating in next year's championship, manage to solicit enough support from the other customer teams and bring the matter to a vote, Mercedes may very well find itself out-numbered. News Source: ESPNImage Credit: Patrick Baz/AFP/Getty Motorsports Ferrari McLaren Mercedes-Benz F1 engine

McLaren BC-03 hypercar looks to be a production Ultimate Vision GranTurismo

McLaren revealed the Ultimate Vision Gran Turismo concept October 17, 2017. On October 14, 2018, Instagram user and known exotic car collector dan_am_i posted a slide from a private presentation McLaren gave to some special clientele. The slide read, "MSO - Bespoke Commission BC-03, Customer Review, October 12, 2018," and was rumored to refer to a production version of the Gran Turismo concept. It's said that MSO showed those in attendance a sketch of what's to come. The Supercar Blog broke the story, and McLaren MSO just confirmed to UK car blog Pistonheads that the " BC-03 is a bespoke customer commission being created by McLaren Special Operations." It wouldn't divulge anything more "because the specifics of the project are confidential between MSO and its client." We have only circumstantial evidence and hearsay at the moment, but two days after dan_am_i posted the slide, he returned to Instagram to post a side shot of the McLaren Ultimate VGT concept with #BC03 as one of the hashtags. The McLaren Life forum chimed in, saying MSO is making just five examples, and three have already been claimed. One goes to the aforementioned dan_i_am, the others to fellow seven-figure-car buyers x_marc_the_spot and mannykhoshbin. The BC-03, according to the forum post, is "inspired by" the Playstation concept and will "use new cutting-edge technologies, and a special type of carbon fiber." How much inspiration will make it to reality, that's the question. The Vision GT car was a track-only single-seater with 1,134 horsepower and 940 pound-feet of torque. Those numbers came from a combination of the brand's 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 powering the rear wheels, and two high-output electric motors powering the fronts. It weighed 2,204 virtual pounds. If the real thing comes close to those numbers, the BC-03 would be lighter than the Senna, with just as much if not more power than the Speedtail. We have yet to see if it will be a track-only car, but that wouldn't surprise us if so. We're confident that one aspect that won't make production is the prone, "motorcycle-like" driving position. The rumored price: $3 million, which — considering what's happening in the segment — isn't bad. The BC-03 probably won't possess the same monumental old-time Formula 1 engine note as the Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro, but it should provide some good competition should any of the five owners care to risk the BC-03 on the curbs. And if Le Mans really does create a hypercar LMP1 class ...