2015 Mclaren 650s Spider Widebody on 2040-cars

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McLaren vows to learn from their Indy blunders and return stronger

McLaren boss Zak Brown shouldered the blame on Thursday for the team's failure to qualify Fernando Alonso for this weekend's Indianapolis 500 and said he would do things very differently next time. Speaking to reporters at the Monaco Grand Prix, the American was confident there would be a return to The Brickyard but the post-mortem into what went wrong this year was still being carried out. Brown said the reasons why McLaren felt they should be at Indianapolis had not changed and highs and lows were part of the sport. "I think you have to dust yourself off, learn by your mistakes and come back fighting. So that's what we intend to do," he said. "To not do something is easy but that's not what winners do. "There's very good reasons why McLaren should be in Indianapolis, it's a big market and partners want to be there. Our motor business is strong there." Spaniard Alonso, a double Formula One champion and Le Mans 24 Hours winner who is chasing the so-called 'Triple Crown of Motorsport', failed in regular qualifying and then finished fourth in a shootout for the last three grid positions. A list of errors made by the team emerged subsequently, from having to scrounge a steering wheel at short notice to missing vital track time because the spare car was the wrong shade of orange and was elsewhere being resprayed. Mechanics even confused inches with centimeters. Brown said there had been "a lot of mistakes that snowballed". Bob Fernley, the man in charge of the McLaren Indy program, left immediately after the failure but Brown said that "ultimately it was a people issue, starting with myself, of not having all the bases covered and we just were unprepared. "I got a variety of my decisions wrong. I think it would be unfair to blame Bob for us not qualifying. I put that on me because I put the team together." He said he had not wanted to cover anything up but some context was needed. "It's not like we showed up to the test and went 'someone forgot the steering wheel'," he said. "We were going to do our own steering wheel and we didn't get it done in time. And you need a steering wheel. "At Cosworth you can buy them off the shelf, they didn't have any on the shelf. And so I had to pull some favors and (partners) Carlin helped to get us a steering wheel." After qualifying was over, there was talk about possibly buying Alonso a place with another team but that was not felt to be the right thing to do.

Wolff: Honda will emerge as strong F1 force

Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff has no doubts that Honda will make a success of its Formula 1 return, despite the Japanese manufacturer's disappointing time last year. Honda endured a troubled return to F1 in 2015 as it struggled with reliability and a lack of power from its new turbo V6 hybrid engine. But having made gains over the campaign, and a significant revamp of key elements of its power unit over the winter, Wolff thinks that Honda is on course to deliver. "Honda is a huge organization with lots of resource, and they were the power unit with the most impressive development curve through 2015," Wolff said in an interview with his Mercedes team's YouTube channel. "Even if it was a very difficult year for them, it was still very good what they achieved in terms of how they progressed through the season. I have no doubt they will be a strong competitive in the future." Wolff's comments come despite Mercedes engine chief Andy Cowell saying last week that he was not convinced that Honda's 'size zero' concept was the right approach for the current regulations. Manor step As well as predicting good things for Honda in the future, Wolff has predicted promising results for the Mercedes-powered Manor team in 2016. "Manor will make a big step up and not only because of the engine," said Wolff, who helped secure a drive at the Banbury-based team for Mercedes junior driver Pascal Wehrlein. "There is a good bunch of people coming together: impressive individuals, with the right budget and right attitude, and Pascal in the car. "I have confidence that the car and driver will have highlights and be a solid midfield runner." This article by Jonathan Noble originally appeared on Motorsport.com, the world's leader in auto racing news, photos and video. Related Video:

New Forza Horizon 2 pack features Chevy Monte Carlo SS, Audi RS6 Avant [w/video]

The latest car pack for Forza Horizon 2 is hitting Xbox Live today, giving Xbox One owners a shot at six new vehicles that date back to 1970. Leading the charge in the hearts and minds of the Autoblog staff is, of course, the 1988 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS, one of the most 80s-tastic performance coupes of its time. Chevy's 80s-era NASCAR representative is joined by another General Motors performance two-door, in the form of the 1970 Buick GSX. Complete with a 455-cubic-inch V8, the GSX could best be thought of as the grandpappy to the iconic GNX of the late 1980s. Crossing the pond, we have a trio of offerings from the United Kingdom, with the 2002 Lotus Esprit V8, the redesigned, aluminum-intensive 2014 Land Rover Range Rover Supercharged and finally, the 2015 McLaren 650S. The mid-engined offerings should be a riot on the winding roads of Forza Horizon 2's European locales, while the Range Rover should make cross-country efforts an absolute breeze. Finally, virtual wagon lovers will be able to enjoy the 2015 Audi RS6 Avant and its combination of Quattro all-wheel drive and a twin-turbocharged V8. As per usual, this latest car pack will be available to gamers for $5 while season pass owners will score the sextet of vehicles for free. Scroll down for a video of the new offerings in action, as well as the official press release from Turn 10 Studios. "Forza Horizon 2" NAPA® Chassis Car Pack Now Available The roads and countryside of "Forza Horizon 2" beg for you to leave your mark on them. The NAPA® Chassis Car Pack for "Forza Horizon 2" on Xbox One has arrived, bringing five amazing new cars to blaze trails, break records, or just enjoy a casual cruise in. First off, the new McLaren 650S Coupe's uncanny acceleration and preposterous top speed will satisfy the elitist in you. If you want get away from it all, there's no better way than in the Supercharged Land Rover. Need muscle? Take the classic form of the Buick GSX or the later model Monte Carlo SS for a spin. We all need more wagon in our lives and the Audi RS6 is ready to run around town or serve up surprises at the track. The NAPA® Chassis Car Pack for "Forza Horizon 2" on Xbox One is available today for $5 in the Xbox Live store. Starting today, also available this month for free for all Xbox One players is the 2002 Lotus Esprit V8.