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McLaren trying to raise millions by putting its HQ, historic cars up for collateral

The McLaren 765LT in its debut at the company's Woking, England, headquarters. / AP   LONDON — McLaren is looking into various funding options to help the sports car maker and Formula One team owner negotiate the coronavirus pandemic, a spokesman said on Thursday. Sky News reported that British-based McLaren was seeking to raise up to 275 million pounds ($335.61 million) by borrowing against its Woking headquarters and extensive collection of historic racing cars. It quoted sources as saying McLaren, advised by JP Morgan, could raise the money in the form of new bonds with funding secured from existing or new bondholders. A request for a 150 million-pound loan from the government was recently rejected, according to media reports. "Like many other British businesses McLaren has been severely affected by the current pandemic and we are therefore exploring a variety of different funding options to help navigate these short-term business interruptions," the spokesman said, without giving details. McLaren were the first Formula One team to furlough staff in April because of the new coronavirus, with drivers Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz joining senior management in taking a pay cut. The company said then that the temporary three-month wage reduction was part of wider cost-cutting measures due to the impact of the pandemic on its business. The Formula One season has yet to start, a blow for teams who rely on sponsorship and a share of the sport's revenues for much of their budgets. The team announced on Thursday that Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo would be joining in 2021, with Sainz heading to Ferrari. The McLaren Group, including the luxury carmaker and applied technology arm, employs some 3,700 people with around 850 working for the F1 team. McLaren has a collection of cars driven by the likes of the late founder Bruce McLaren and Brazilian triple champion Ayrton Senna. The Formula One team are the second most successful in the sport's history, after Ferrari in terms of race wins and championships, and gave Mercedes' six-times world champion Lewis Hamilton his debut in 2007. The company is majority owned by Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat. Related Video:       (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ed Osmond)

The McLaren 765LT is even quicker than we thought

We have good news and bad news for those who happily find themselves in the market for a brand-new supercar. We'll start with the good: The McLaren 765LT is even quicker than initially announced. According to the British automaker, the 765LT will run from 0-124 mph (a nice, round 200 kilometers per hour) in seven seconds flat. Sure, that's a scant 0.2 seconds quicker than previously claimed, but in the world of supercars, a couple of tenths is a major achievement. McLaren further claims a 0-60 time of 2.7 seconds and a 9.9-second quarter-mile time, which is impressive no matter which way you slice it. So is its 205-mph top speed, courtesy of a 755-horsepower twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 engine. Now for the bad news: If you haven't already obtained a guaranteed order from McLaren, you're out of luck. The automaker says it will produce 765 units for 2020, and they are fully allocated. Along with those two nuggets, McLaren says it's also showing off some MSO-customized examples of the 765LT to buyers. Two themes have so far been unveiled, the first of which is called Strata (above left). It's "inspired by a city skyline and realized in a three-color design requiring 390 hours of hand painting and finishing," the automaker says. The Azores orange, Memphis Red and Cherry black scheme carries on into the interior, as well. The second theme is called GEOHEX and features Tarmac Black and Tokyo Cyan paint inspired by a 3D honeycomb. A large array of carbon fiber elements inside and out reportedly complete the look. Sadly, we don't have pictures of this finish, but we're sure those will eventually leak out. Buyers who really love carbon fiber, though, may prefer the MSO Bespoke Carbon Fiber Body treatment (above right). One car has already been produced with a glossy finish, but McLaren says it can also tint the visual carbon with a number of colored finishes.

2015 Austrian F1 Grand Prix switches to alternating current

It's called the Red Bull Ring, guests are welcomed by a statue of a leaping bull, and dominating its layout demands powerful cars that can run it hard. Perhaps all that aggression is what led both Mercedes-AMG Petronas cars to run off the track in the final qualifying session on their final hot laps, a little too aggressive on the charge. Lewis Hamilton was first into the gravel at Turn 1 when he lost his car under braking, but he was still fast enough to get pole ahead of teammate Nico Rosberg, who spun at Turn 8. Rosberg started second. Or perhaps it wasn't the red bull but the scarlet horse that caused The Silver Arrows to muck it up: Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel had Mercedes' attention all weekend, and he'd line up in third just 0.355 off Hamilton's time. Williams truly rediscovered its power, Felipe Massa going fourth fastest, teammate Valtteri Bottas in sixth. Between them was newly-minted Le Mans winner Nico Hulkenberg, yet again – can we say that enough? – pulling the still-not-updated Force India to fifth place on the grid. Max Verstappen led the Renault-powered top-ten duo in his Toro Rosso in seventh, Infiniti Red Bull Racing driver Daniil Kvyat behind him in eighth. Kvyat, however, would start down the order because of a ten-place grid penalty for needing a fifth Renault engine. After that it's back to Mercedes Ferrari power, Felipe Nasr in the Sauber in ninth, Romain Grosjean in with Mercedes power in the Lotus in tenth – but fellow Lotus driver Pastor Maldonado actually started in tenth because of Kvyat's demotion. Before we get to the race, can we take a moment to talk about the shenanigans and gaudy penalties? Kimi Raikkonen waved the Ferrari flag in Canada after a season that's been full of "We didn't get it right this time," and we thought he was back. But no. In Austria the refrain returned, the Finn kicked out of Q1 after another miscommunication with the team – he qualified 18th. If the scenario plays to form, we'll now wait for team boss Mauricio Arrivabene to issue a clarification that suggests Raikkonen missed a step. Daniel Ricciardo parachutes ten spots back for the same reason as his teammate Kvyat, needing a fifth Renault power unit, dropping him to 18th on the grid and forcing him into a five-second time penalty when he comes in to pit.