2017 Mclaren 570s on 2040-cars

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Alonso pins McLaren's woes squarely on Honda's shoulders

BARCELONA (Reuters) - Fernando Alonso spent more time on the tennis court than driving his ailing McLaren on Friday, with his tilt at the Indy 500 looking ever more inviting after another dark day on the Formula One racetrack. Alonso's home fans had barely settled in their seats for practice at the Spanish Grand Prix before his car's Honda engine blew in a mess of smoke and oil. Liquid then poured out of the car as it was tipped up by a recovery crane. Having failed to start in Russia two weeks ago due to an engine failure on the formation lap, Alonso departed the Barcelona circuit after a few choice words and later posted a picture on Instagram of himself playing tennis. "The engine was not good enough. We came out of the pitlane and there was a hole in the engine, and the oil was streaming out. It blew up after 400 meters," Alonso told reporters after returning for the second 90-minute practice session. He was last on the timesheets and reported that the engine was even slower. If the tennis photo looked like a dig at Honda, accompanied with the seemingly sarcastic comment "keeping the body active", he said that had not been his intention. "I have very little time in these weeks, with traveling, with planes," said the 35-year-old, who will go straight from Barcelona to Indianapolis on Sunday night to prepare for his debut in the 500 on May 28. "So when I discovered that I had two hours free, instead of being on the sofa and watching television, I went for some training. My dedication is still 100 percent to my fitness and my preparation. "It wasn't humor to go outside the circuit to play tennis, it was preparation. People got it wrong. I went out to have some fun and escape the circuit." McLaren, the second most successful team in Formula One history in terms of race wins, have yet to score a point in four rounds of this year's championship and are last in the standings. Honda's Formula One reputation, after two seasons of unreliability and poor performance, is meanwhile being dragged deeper into the mud. Alonso is out of contract at the end of the season and has said his future whereabouts would depend on who could offer him a winning car. "It's not my reputation, it's theirs (Honda's) – and it's their money, and their image," he said. "I try to drive as fast as I can but it's a much bigger problem for them." (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by John Stonestreet) Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party.

Watch a skateboarder smash a McLaren's windshield

A skateboarder in Colorado took his revenge on the driver of a McLaren by using his board to shatter the $250,000 car's windshield. YouTube user Paul Gonzo was filming the exceedingly long line at Denver's popular Little Man Ice Cream when the attack occurred. An orange McLaren 570S rolled through a stop sign and into a cross walk, pushing down a skateboarder attempting to cross. The driver then added insult to injury by honking at the young man. Off camera, there's a quick pop, followed by the young man running down the street with his board under his arm. The McLaren's passenger ran after the skater, who left a huge gash in the middle of the supercar's windshield. The driver simply closed the passenger side door and took off down another street. Many people thought the skateboarder was in the right, according to CBS4 Denver. Denver police told CBS they have seen the video, but nothing illegal has happened since neither party reported the incident. The McLaren is owned by a car rental company. It's unknown who was driving the car during the attack. The video of the event is currently going viral, with over 4.1 million views as of this writing. Related Video: News Source: CBS4, YouTube Government/Legal Weird Car News McLaren Driving Videos rental car mclaren 570s denver skateboard

McLaren 675LT gets sideways and smoking

McLaren has officially started production of the new 675LT. So how is the British racing team turned supercar manufacturer marking the occasion? By releasing this video clip, soaked in adrenaline and octane and packed with lots of full-throttle, tire-smoking sideways action. The McLaren 675LT was revealed at the Geneva Motor Show just a few months ago as the ultimate expression (so far) of the company's essential Super Series. It's based on the same underpinnings as the 650S that forms the core of the McLaren range, but upgrades with a more powerful version of the company's ubiquitous 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8, now producing 666 horsepower and breathing through a titanium exhaust system. As a result, 0-62 is now quoted at a scant 2.9 seconds, with a top speed pegged at 205 miles per hour. It's also got revised bodywork inspired by the Longtail version of the legendary McLaren F1, offering improved aerodynamics and its LT designation, along with a more hardcore, track-focused setup. McLaren will only make 500 examples of the 675LT, all of which were already sold out within two months of its debut, before the limited-edition supercar is retired altogether. With assembly now kicking off at the McLaren Production Centre in Woking, England, those 500 fortunate customers will soon be getting their hands on their new toys. The rest of us will just have to admire from afar, and admire it we will in this latest video.