2020 Mclaren 600lt Full Frontal Ppf (paint Protection) - Carbon Fiber on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Race recap: 2016 Monaco Grand Prix gets very wet, a little wild

More than at any other race, the Monaco Grand Prix question is: which combination of demolition derby, Safety Cars, and bad pit strategy will decide the podium? Last year Lewis Hamilton's late, confounding pit stop cost him victory. The year before, Nico Rosberg's qualifying "mistake" put him on pole and Mercedes-AMG Petronas' pit strategy sealed his win – good for Nico, bad for Hamilton and the rest of the field. In 2013 Hamilton dropped from second to fourth when he lollygagged in the pits. In all three years, Rosberg won. The new X factor for 2016: a Red Bull resurgence that helped Daniel Ricciardo clinch his first career pole. Nevertheless, bad pit strategy had its say in the results. Ricciardo built up a 13-second lead by Lap 15 in spite of heavy rains that forced the Safety Car to lead the first eight laps of the race. Ricciardo stopped on Lap 23 to switch to intermediate tires for the drying track, ceding the lead to Hamilton. Hamilton pitted from the lead on Lap 31 for softs, then Red Bull pulled Ricciardo in again on Lap 32 and made a snap decision to put him on ultra softs, but the tires weren't ready when Ricciardo reached his pit box. What should have been a three-second pit stop turned into a 13.6-second pit stop. Ricciardo left the pits as Hamilton came down the straight and the Aussie lost the lead into the first corner. Despite two attempts to pass later in the race, Hamilton finished first, the Aussie second. It's the second race in a row where pit strategy cost Ricciardo a near-certain win. Conversely, Force India nailed both tire strategy and pit timing with Sergio Perez. The Mexican started in eighth but got into third before half the race was done, passing four cars in the pits, and finished on the podium's final step. Otherwise the order barely changed from about half distance, with Ferrari driver Sebatian Vettel in fourth, followed by Fernando Alonso in the McLaren, Nico Hulkenberg in the second Force India, Rosberg in the second Mercedes, Carlos Sainz for Toro Rosso, Jenson Button in the second McLaren, and Felipe Massa taking the final point for tenth for Williams. Storms didn't only hover over the area, though – dark clouds hung around several teams and drivers. Mercedes' reliability is no longer so reliable. The Silver Arrows suffered engine issues on both cars in qualifying, and Hamilton's problem almost kept him from setting a time in Q3.

McLaren 720S Stealth isn't all that stealthy

Plenty of supercar and ultra-luxury car brands have bespoke vehicle programs. However, we don't always get a peek behind the curtains at what exactly comes out of those. Ferrari has Tailor Made; Bentley has Mulliner; Aston Martin has Q and so on. McLaren might just have the most public and outspoken of all these programs with MSO, or McLaren Special Operations. Today it released all the details on one of its latest creations: the MSO 720S Stealth Theme. It's not particularly accurate to call a 720S "stealthy," but the Sarthe Grey paint does the best job it can. That color is inspired by the 1995 Le Mans-winning McLaren F1 GTR, and is broken up by red accents throughout the vehicle. This red detailing was hand-painted and took nearly 200 hours to finish, according to McLaren. A unique satin finish is used for all the visual carbon fiber components, including the front air intakes, door mirrors and arms, rear deck and engine cover and rear fender air intakes. Extra lightweight MSO wheels get finished in black and the same red accents as the rest of the car. The interior continues the red and carbon fiber theme with bright accents everywhere you look. Having the economic freedom to write a blank check to McLaren is how you're going to build yourself a car like this. The London McLaren dealer commissioned this one to be made, so it'll be staying on the other side of the pond for now. It's always neat to check these ultra-unique type of cars out — Lamborghini just took it a full step beyond this one and built a one-off car for a wealthy client. This McLaren will end up drawing a few extra stares too. Related video:

MSP Sports Capital buys minority stake in McLaren Racing

LONDON — U.S.-based investment group MSP Sports Capital is taking a significant minority stake in McLaren Racing in a deal the Formula One team said would give them the tools to return to the top of the sport. The long-term investment, announced on Sunday, is for an initial 15% holding rising to a maximum 33% by the end of 2022. McLaren said it values the British racing outfit at 560 million pounds ($740.5 million). Under the deal, MSP will put 185 million pounds into the former world champions, who last won a race in 2012 but are still historically the sport's second-most successful team, over a two-year period. Luxury sportscar maker McLaren Automotive remains wholly owned by the McLaren Group, whose majority shareholder is Bahrain's Mumtalakat holding company, and is not part of the transaction. The consortium members include The Najafi Companies, a private investment firm, and UBS O'Connor, a hedge fund subsidiary of Swiss investment banking firm UBS. MSP is headquartered in New York and the principals have a background as owners and investors in Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association (NBA) among other ventures. Jahm Najafi will become a vice-chairman of McLaren Racing, while Jeff Moorad of MSP and Rodrigo Trelles Zabala of UBS O'Connor will join the McLaren Racing board. McLaren Racing chief executive Zak Brown said the investment marked the start of "the next chapter" and would allow the team to "turbocharge" their efforts. Paul Walsh, executive chairman of the McLaren Group, told a video conference that the new cash flow would not impact the debt level of McLaren directly. "We have got a number of activities in place where we will look to refinance some of our debt next year and attendant with that there could very well be some kind of equity raise," he said. "What this (deal) does is mean that McLaren Group is not funding on a cash basis in Racing." MSP's arrival increases North American interest in a sport whose commercial rights are held by U.S.-based Liberty Media. Moorad, a former NASCAR team owner, said MSP had looked into acquiring Force India when that team, now Racing Point and owned by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, went into administration in 2018. They also considered former champions Williams, whose sale to U.S.-based Dorilton Capital was announced in August.