2018 Mclaren 570 on 2040-cars

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Race Recap: 2016 Austrian GP is mishaps from start to finish

At the 2015 US Formula 1 Grand Prix, rain mixed up the grid and a first-lap incident cast the die for the race. The Austin, Texas event made highlight reels for those reasons and because it decided the Driver's Championship. At the 2016 Austrian F1 Grand Prix, rain mixed up the grid and a last-lap incident cast the die for the race. The Spielbergring race will feature in this year's highlight reel because it might force Mercedes-AMG Petronas to make some hard decisions about the rest of the season. For the first time this season, Lewis Hamilton converted pole position into a lead through Turn 1, and began slowly pulling away from the field. Teammate Nico Rosberg started from sixth because of a gearbox penalty, but was up to third when he pitted on Lap 11. Mercedes normally pits the lead driver first, in this case being Hamilton, but Mercedes wanted to get Rosberg ahead of the two Ferraris. Hamilton pitted on Lap 22, emerging behind Rosberg because of a slow stop. Sebastian Vettel led the race for Ferrari on Lap 27 when his right rear tire exploded coming down the start-finish straight – an eerie reminder of the 2015 Belgian Grand Prix. The Safety Car rolled out, yet when racing resumed Rosberg stayed ahead. After the two Mercs came in for second stops everyone expected Hamilton to lead, but Hamilton had messed up his in-lap and lost a cumulative 3.3 seconds during his actual stops compared to Rosberg's pit-stop times. The Brit remained second. Hamilton chased his teammate for the final 15 laps. At the beginning of the last lap Rosberg messed up Turn 1 and Hamilton closed in. Rosberg took the inside line into Turn 2 as Hamilton pulled up on the outside, then Rosberg appeared to drive straight on as if he simply wasn't going to turn. Hamilton turned in, colliding with Rosberg and driving over the German's front wing. By the end of Turn 2, Hamilton had the lead and Rosberg had a broken car. The Brit won, the German puttered home to finish fourth. The incident promoted Max Verstappen to second and Kimi Raikkonen to third. Verstappen scored his second podium for Red Bull after his victory in Spain. Conversely, Raikkonen's third place for Ferrari was more gifted scraps for the scuderia. Daniel Ricciardo came fifth in the second Red Bull, Jenson Button delivered a terrific sixth for McLaren- Honda, Romain Grosjean got Haas back in the points, Carlos Sainz, Jr. secured eighth for Toro Rosso, and Valtteri Bottas in ninth for Williams.

McLaren gunning for Ferrari 458 Speciale with hardcore 12C

Since the launch of the MP4-12C back in 2011, McLaren has rolled out endless variations on the theme. The original coupe was followed by the 12C Spider, the GT3 racing version, the Can-Am hardcore track toy (pictured above), the GT Sprint mild track version and more special editions than we could count. But Woking isn't done yet. Not by a long shot. The latest word coming in from the UK has it that McLaren is preparing an even more focused version of the 12C to take on the Ferrari 458 Speciale. That should mean some trimming of the fat and upgrading of equipment to raise that all-important power-to-weight ratio. According to Autocar, the House that Bruce Built plans to boost the 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 from its current 616 horsepower to around 650 – which shouldn't be too difficult since the same engine has already been optimized to produce 727 hp in the McLaren P1, even before the hybrid boost is taken into account. Standard carbon-ceramic brakes are expected to help keep the extra power in check, while some aerodynamic enhancements are said to be in the mix as well. The hardcore 12C is also tipped to get a new front-end treatment reminiscent of the P1 that's then slated to make the transition to other versions of the 12C to give the derivatively-styled supercar more personality and family resemblance. Featured Gallery McLaren MP4-12C Can-Am Edition View 10 Photos News Source: Autocar McLaren Coupe Performance mclaren mp4-12c mclaren 12c

McLaren evaluating an EV hypercar for the P1 family

McLaren is evaluating a fully electric powertrain for a future Ultimate Series of model – a family that currently includes the P1 and P1 GTR (pictured above). The possible hypercar could give wealthy customers an ideal combination of insane performance and zero emissions. Look out for significantly more hybrids from the British sports car maker, too. McLaren doesn't have any specific details about the EV yet because the development is still in the early stages. "Our engineers have even started work on a one-off prototype to evaluate the possible benefits of a fully-electric powertrain in an Ultimate Series car," McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt said. The P1 already sports a hybrid powertrain, but the company wants to bring electrification to its less expensive Sports and Super Series models, too. "Our next hybrid vehicle will launch towards the latter part of our six-year plan, and we will see at least 50 percent featuring hybrid technology by 2022," Flewitt said. To fund so much powertrain development, McLaren's latest business plan includes investing a billion pounds ($1.4 billion at current exchange rates) over the next six years into research and development. Beyond electrification, the other fruits of that labor will be launching 15 cars or derivatives over that period and a new engine architecture around the end of that time. The company will have to deliver on plans to double output this year to continue putting so much money into vehicle development. Related Video: McLAREN AUTOMOTIVE LAUNCHES SIX-YEAR INVESTMENT PROGRAMME IN FUTURE PRODUCTS AND TECHNOLOGY Six-year 'Track22' Business Plan announced GBP1 billion investment in Research and Development over six-years of plan 15 all-new cars or derivatives under development At least 50 percent of McLaren cars to feature hybrid technology by 2022 Fully-electric prototype in the Ultimate Series under evaluation Just over six years after the company was formed, McLaren Automotive has announced details of its Track22 Business Plan, taking it through the next six years through to 2022. Maintaining a spotlight on the development of the world best drivers' cars, McLaren Automotive will continue to focus purely on the development of two-seater sports and supercars. At the heart of the Business Plan is a commitment to its industry-leading 20-25 percent of turnover invested in Research and Development for future products and technology.