2020 Mclaren 570s Spider In Special Order Onyx Black W/ Mso Black Pack, Car on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2016 Malaysian Grand Prix recap: Surprises and missed opportunities

Mercedes-AMG Petronas pilot Lewis Hamilton drove so well in the run-up to the Malaysian Grand Prix that he said before the race, "Honestly, I don't feel anything is going to stop us." On Sunday, the Sepang race showed what it thought of plans and predictions. Heading into the right-hand Turn 1, Sebastian Vettel practically recreated the dust-up at the Belgian Grand Prix three races ago. When Mercedes' Nico Rosberg swept across from the outside line toward the apex, Red Bull's Max Verstappen had to jink right to avoid, touching Vettel's Ferrari on the inside. Vettel speared straight on and hit Rosberg. Vettel's left front suspension broke, ending his race. Rosberg spun and got moving again, but at the back of the pack. That appeared to put Hamilton on a clear run to the checkered flag. His car looked perfect, his pace was perfect, he easily kept Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo and Verstappen behind. A result that would have seen Hamilton retake control of the Driver's Championship – at Petronas' home race – got crushed on Lap 41 when Hamilton's engine blew down the main straight. That put Ricciardo in the lead, followed closely by his teammate. Just two laps before Hamilton's exit, Ricciardo and Verstappen had battled for second place with some of the best driving we've seen all season. Ricciardo drove as if exorcising the demons of missed opportunities earlier in the year, keeping the young Dutchman behind. The two Red Bulls took the flag fifteen laps later in that order, clocking the first one-two finish for a team other than Mercedes since 2014. It's Red Bull's first one-two since Brazil 2013, when Vettel and Mark Weber took the top steps at the last race of the V8 era. Rosberg recovered to take third in spite of a ten-second penalty for an optimistic pass on Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn crossed the line 12 seconds later, followed by Valtteri Bottas in the Williams and Sergio Perez in the Force India. In another Belgium repeat, Fernando Alonso drove from the back of the grid to finish seventh. Nico Hulkenberg secured eighth, Jenson Button ninth for McLaren in his 300th grand prix, and rookie Jolyon Palmer scored his first point of the season for Renault in tenth. The issue to trump all others from now until next week's Japanese Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton's terrible luck with engines. Power unit gremlins earlier this season helped drop the Brit to 43 points behind Rosberg after the Russian Grand Prix.

Question of the Day: What's the greatest British car ever?

The British automotive industry has produced everything from high-production econo-commuters to staggeringly luxurious oligarch-wagons, along the way winning plenty of races and building plenty of beautiful machines. The original Mini led directly to the past half-century of transverse-engine, front-wheel-drive cars built everywhere, the MGB put the sporty little convertible into everyone's reach, and the Morris Oxford became the most beloved motor vehicle in India. So many to choose from, but we want you to pick one. What will it be? Related Video:

McLaren MCL33 F1 challenger debuts in Papaya Spark

New Zealander Bruce McLaren founded his eponymous race team in 1963, entered the Formula 1 World Championship in 1966, but fielded his first "McLaren orange" car in the 1967 Can-Am Championship. The following year, Bruce's F1 cars got the orange juice and birthed a mythology. McLaren F1 returns to those 50-year-old roots this year with its MCL33, painted Papaya Spark with contrasting Burton Blue and Cerulean Blue. The team hopes you won't be able to miss the #14 and #2 cars emerging from the weeds they've been lost in for three years while under Honda power. With little change in the regulations beyond the advent of the halo, the MCL33 evolves last year's MCL32. Other than the halo, the big work involved reworking the engine compartment for the Renault power unit — the first time in McLaren's 52 years in F1 that the team has used a Renault engine. There are two engine architecture philosophies in the sport now, one used by Mercedes-Benz and Honda, the other by Renault and Ferrari. Accommodating the new partner meant redesigning the back of the car, including the cooling layout, gearbox bell-house area, and rear suspension. Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne continue their tenures with the Woking, England, team. Playing it cautious after three years of disappointments, Alonso said, "I feel incredibly excited — but also apprehensive. I know just how important this car is to the team, and I just hope that it delivers in the way we all want it to." Executive Director Zak Brown will hope so, too, so he can please the same fans who petitioned for that classic papaya livery, and so he can hide more of that paint under sponsor logos. A curious note on that Petrobras sponsorship — McLaren will actually be using fuel and lubrication products from the sponsor it signed last year, BP Castrol, while Petrobras spends this year developing fuel and lubricants for the team. The MCL33 hits the track today for a film session, then begins eight days of pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya next Monday. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.