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McLaren F1 team sets deadline for engine decision amid Renault speculation

BUDAPEST - McLaren says the next five weeks will be the key to deciding which engine it will use next season, with speculation mounting that the former world champions could ditch Honda and switch to Renault. Chief operating officer Jonathan Neale told Reuters at the Hungarian Grand Prix that "everybody is talking to everybody," but time was running out. "We've got to land those decisions in the next four or five weeks," he said, speaking from a design perspective and because drivers like McLaren's Fernando Alonso were waiting to see what engines teams had before committing to new deals. "I think there is a solution out there for everybody and I hope it's one that will be able to retain Fernando in this team." McLaren scored their first double-points finish of the season in Budapest on Sunday with double world champion Alonso finishing sixth, a day after his 36th birthday, and Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne 10th. The nine points lifted McLaren off the bottom of the standings just before the August break and factory shutdown, a result that Neale compared to scoring a goal before halftime. Alonso's future is a key concern, with the Spaniard out of contract and saying McLaren needs to provide a competitive car to keep him. Honda's power unit has been beset with problems since the partnership started in 2015, the engine neither reliable nor competitive. Hungary, the slowest permanent circuit on the calendar, reduced those shortcomings, but the next two races in Belgium and Italy are two of the fastest, where engine horsepower is of critical importance. McLaren is Honda's sole team in Formula One. A proposed partnership with Sauber terminated last week with the Swiss team choosing to stay with Ferrari. A split from McLaren could force the Japanese manufacturer out of the sport, but Neale hinted at an alternative. "You'll have seen the media speculation that there's discussions with Toro Rosso," he said. Toro Rosso use Renault engines, but a switch to Honda — which could bring welcome funding to a team whose Red Bull parent has considered a sale in the past — would free the French units for McLaren. The Renault engine has won a race this season with Red Bull and could satisfy Alonso, who won both his titles with the French manufacturer. The other alternatives to Honda are Mercedes and Ferrari, but Neale recognized that putting a Ferrari engine in a McLaren, the Italian team's historic arch-rivals, was highly unlikely.

McLaren 720S vs. motorcycles: Watch this Cars and Coffee clash

Cars & Coffee events are a nice way to gather enthusiasts together to appreciate a common passion. Plus, sometimes you get to see rarities like the McLaren 720S. But any time you get motor vehicles together, whether it's at an event or just a routine commute, there's a potential for drama, and that's what appears to have happened at this Cars & Coffee gathering in Palm Beach. The video above shows the aftermath of a situation where a McLaren 720S hit a motorcycle after leaving the event. The video shows a rider picking up the motorcycle to the side of the McLaren, while another biker walks around the car yelling, at one point telling another person filming to call the police. As the shot moves toward the front of the car, we see a second bike lying on its side in front of the McLaren, and the biker moves to the front of the car and continues yelling. The driver of the car, whose door is still open, pulls away from the scene and turns right through the intersection, while the biker yells, "I got your license plate!" The video description, as well as a post on Reddit, tells a larger story. According to those accounts, the motorcyclists cut off the McLaren, blocking it in. The driver of the car stepped out to talk to them, but forgot to engage the parking brake. The car rolled into the bike in front of it. The bikers, the accounts say, responded by punching and kicking the McLaren, with one taking a swing at the driver, who then drove away to call the police from a safer location. The person who posted the account on Reddit also says the bikers claimed the McLaren came close to hitting them as it left the event, which is how the incident began. Of course, we don't see what happens leading up to the beginning of the video, so we can't verify any of the accounts. It doesn't appear that anyone was hurt, but this doesn't look like fun for anyone involved. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Related Gallery 2017 McLaren 720S First Drive View 115 Photos News Source: Reddit Auto News McLaren Safety Motorcycle Supercars Videos mclaren 720s cars and coffee

McLaren reportedly has another Ultimate Series car in the works - the P15

Automotive publication Autocar is reporting that McLaren has another new Ultimate Series hypercar in development that will be quicker than the P1. The publication says the car is called P15 and will be bare bones with a focus on function and lightweight to make it a monster on the track. The estimate Autocar gives for weight is under 2,900 pounds, and it estimates power to be about 789 horsepower from a version of McLaren's ubiquitous 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8. The publication doesn't say whether the P15 will use some kind of electric assist. If it's as basic and light as implied, there's a decent chance it won't be electrified. But McLaren has previously said it wants to have electrification in all of its cars within 10 years, and that was back in 2014, plus the P1 and the upcoming BP23 had and will have hybrid powertrains. So it would seem natural to give this P15 some form of hybrid motivation. There are reasons to believe this rumor. Back in 2014, McLaren did confirm to us a report, brought up by Autocar, that it was working on a car with the P15 designation. At the time, it was predicted that this car would fit between the top level Super Series car, which is now the 720S, and the P1, and cost roughly half a million dollars. That would at first seem to contradict this new rumor that the P15 will be quicker than P1, but perhaps McLaren will still position it lower if it's as bare bones and stripped out as Autocar suggests. Additionally, Autocar was right about a rumor that McLaren was working on a three-seat F1 successor. which turned out to be the aforementioned BP23. McLaren's CEO confirmed the car's existence and three-seat layout along with a few other details. Specifically, it will be the fastest, most powerful McLaren yet, it will use a hybrid powertrain, and McLaren will build only 106 units. Not long after came an official sketch revealing a sleek, slippery profile. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Related Gallery McLaren Special Operations P1 View 9 Photos News Source: AutocarImage Credit: Autocar Rumormill McLaren Coupe Future Vehicles Supercars mclaren p15 mclaren super series

2018 McLaren 570S Spider First Drive | A sweet breeze

The McLaren 570S Spider is madness. Not the car itself, which is a cogent convertible design based on the already handsome coupe. What is crazy is that a 562-horsepower machine that hammers to 62 mph in 3.2 seconds is only considered a sort-of, kind-of supercar. The Spider will be McLaren's volume model in its lowest-priced, lowest-tier Sports Series designation. As such, it is the company's starter supercar. Should you have $208,800 in your Venmo account, you won't give up anything except that fixed roof. There's no perceivable performance demerit when it comes to this retractable hardtop, as it was developed alongside the regular 570S from the onset. The 0-to-60 time is a non-discernable one-tenth of a second slower, and it still gets to a 204-mph top speed when the roof is up. If you insist on a top-velocity hurtle with wind bathing the cabin, it would only limit you by 8 mph. So, yes, madness. It gains only 101 pounds, bringing it to 2,895. One assumes that the real-world difference is negligible. To find out, we flew to Barcelona, enjoying a full day scuttling over gloriously curvy roads in an otherwise remarkably unpopulated part of the world. I recently spent a week with the regular 570S, so my ass was as calibrated as one could hope. Would there be any failings of the Spider over the coupe? Our test car was outfitted in a new hue, a deep Vega blue, with a dark finish on the roof and body accents. The Spider retains the same roofline as the hardtop and it is instantly recognizable as a variation. McLaren has finally settled into its own design language, with highly identifiable rear tail lamps and those unique 3D "tendon" doors first seen on the 570S coupe and which have now migrated to the 720S. It's an architectural-leaning language that translates beautifully into a roadster. With the top down, the Spider gets more attention than the coupe, and perhaps even more than the 720S, which I tested recently in Rome. Perhaps people simply feel drop-tops are especially exotic. Around the summer bustle of Barcelona, kids jumped up and down and attractive women on scooters gave us the thumbs up. There's worse places to be noticed. The top goes down in a snappy 19 seconds at speeds of up to 25 mph. We charged away from the nude beaches near the port and headed northwest, toward the elevations of the Castelltallat mountain range.

First US-spec McLaren F1 will be auctioned in August

To own any McLaren F1 would be a special experience. It was the fastest car in the world for many years with a top speed of over 230 mph, courtesy of a glorious 627-horsepower V12 from BMW M. But as special as each individual F1 is, there are some few with that extra something, and among them is this 1995 F1 that will be offered by Bonhams at its Quail Lodge auction in August. This particular 1995 F1's extra something is the fact that it was the very first to be imported to the US and made fully street-legal. Not only that, but it's only had one owner from the day it was purchased. According to Bonhams, the owner of this car, number 44 of 64, bought it in 1996. He took delivery of it at McLaren's factory in Woking, Great Britain, and he immediately took it on a grand road trip across Europe. Following the trip, he had it shipped back to America for a company called Ameritech to go about updating the car to meet US safety and emissions regulations. In the 22 years that the original owner had it, he put 9,600 miles on the odometer. The lucky buyer of this McLaren will get a thoroughly clean and complete car. The interior and engine bay are immaculate. Even the fusebox and other tertiary parts are in excellent shape. The original tool roll and luggage are included, as well as the complete toolbox for maintaining the car. Also, the original owner returned the car to European specifications after importing it, but he retained all of the parts necessary to make the car US-legal. All of those parts are included with the car in case the new owner wanted, or needed, to reinstall them. All things considered, this McLaren will likely run a very high price, but it could very well be worth it for whomever brings it home. Related Video: Featured Gallery First US-Spec McLaren F1 View 34 Photos Image Credit: Bonhams McLaren Auctions Coupe Supercars Classics bonhams quail lodge

First US trailer for Bruce McLaren documentary debuts

Bruce McLaren was a pioneer in motorsports, both on and off the track. The Formula One team he founded has won 8 constructors and 12 driver's championships, right near the top with Williams and Ferrari. A documentary about his life, simply titled McLaren, is set to debut in the US on video-on-demand next month. The first US trailer debuted today. The documentary covers McLaren's life, from his childhood in New Zealand to the tragic crash at Goodwood that took his life. It features interviews with many of McLaren's contemporaries along with new and original footage of the team's cars. Most of the focus seems to be on his career, though the trailer does touch on McLaren's legacy. The film has been produced by Gunpowder & Sky and was directed by Roger Donaldson, the man behind The World's Fastest Indian. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. News Source: McLaren Film USA Motorsports TV/Movies McLaren Videos bruce mclaren

McLaren ponders Acura NSX-style hybrid all-wheel-drive system

As cars get faster, there will come a point where horsepower will exceed the grip level of even the stickiest tires. There are all sorts of ways to manage traction, from trick differentials to traction control to torque vectoring, but the most tried and true way is adding all-wheel drive. While this isn't ideal for a number of reasons, sending power to all four wheels generally improves performance. That's why McLaren is investigating all-wheel drive systems for future products. Car and Driver spoke with McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt at this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed. He confirms the automaker is looking at adding AWD on future products, though if and when that happens could be a long way off. He argues that with horsepower and torque levels creeping ever higher, we're getting close to the limits of what a tire can handle. Unlike traditional mechanical all-wheel drive systems like those found on the Nissan GT-R, Audi R8, and Porsche 911 Turbo, look for electric motors to drive the front wheels, similar to the Acura NSX. Not only would a hybrid system help packaging, electric motors give McLaren much more control over what's happening at each individual wheel. McLaren told Autoblog that the automaker's plan through 2022 involves mid-engine two-seat sports cars, so don't look for an all-wheel drive SUV to come out of Woking anytime soon. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Featured Gallery 2017 McLaren 720S First Drive View 115 Photos News Source: Car and DriverImage Credit: Mike Dodd (Beadyeye) for McLaren McLaren Coupe Performance Supercars

Ron Dennis departs McLaren, ending a golden era in Formula One

LONDON - The departure of Ron Dennis from McLaren, announced on Friday, marks the end of an era for the Formula One team and a farewell to another of the sport's towering figures of yesteryear. News that would once have reverberated like a seismic shock through the grand prix paddock now sounds more like an echo from the past, however. Formula One has undergone a major shift since Dennis commanded the heights as an uncompromising hands-on leader, forging the team in his own image and achieving both unprecedented success and scandal. The sport's 86-year-old commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone went last January, sidelined by new US-based owners Liberty Media, who have since set about transforming the landscape. Before him, long-serving Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo had been ousted from the most glamorous team on the grid, and Max Mosley was replaced at the helm of the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA). Of the big beasts of old, only Frank Williams, the 75-year-old founder of his eponymous team, remains. He is in poor health, and daughter Claire is calling the shots as his deputy. McLaren, the second-most successful team after Ferrari, has meanwhile plumbed the depths - winless since 2012 and last in the current championship. The Honda partnership championed by Dennis, hoping to revive the glory years of the 1980s, has been a dismal failure and is now close to divorce. Dennis, who turned 70 on June 1, had already been relieved of his role at the team last November when fellow shareholders - Bahrain's Mumtalakat Holding Co. and Saudi-born businessman Mansour Ojjeh - brought in American marketing expert Zak Brown. On Friday, McLaren announced Dennis was selling his stake in both McLaren Automotive, the profitable sports car company that was his brainchild, and also in McLaren Technology Group. "It represents a fitting end to my time at McLaren, and will enable me to focus on my other interests," he said in a statement. "I have always said that my 37 years at Woking should be considered as a chapter in the McLaren book, and I wish McLaren every success as it takes the story forward." OBSESSIVE PERFECTIONISM Dennis, who started out as a mechanic with Cooper in 1966, joined McLaren in 1980 when he took over the team founded by the late New Zealander Bruce McLaren.

McLaren boosts sales by 99 percent in 2016, moves 3,286 cars

McLaren has been on a roll both critically and commercially since it returned to the road-car business in 2011. The MP4-12C was followed by the 650S, 720S, and the nearly unequalled P1. Sales have been up, and 2016 was the automaker's most successful year ever, moving 3,286 cars into customer hands. That's a 99 percent increase over 2015, and with 1,500 pre-orders for the 720S, 2017 is looking even better. The big news is McLaren's fourth consecutive year of profitability in just six years. News for the automaker looks good on all fronts (the struggling Formula 1 team is run separately). McLaren added 114 employees in 2016, raising the staff count to 1,606. Sales revenue is up 44 percent to $843.6 million with an $11.9 million profit. Like with sales numbers, things are looking good for 2017. McLaren Special Operations, the bespoke group behind cars like the MSO HS and the 720S Velocity, grew by 147 percent over 2015. Sales of the 570S and 570GT Sport Series totaled 2,031 cars. The addition of the new 570S Spider should only help matters. North America was the largest region for McLaren, with a total 1,139 cars coming across the Atlantic. For such a young company, this is all good news. Yes, McLaren has been around for decades in one form or another, but success like this is still surprising. Many automakers have grand ambitions to build world-class sports cars, but few are ever truly successful. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. News Source: McLaren Earnings/Financials McLaren mclaren automotive mclaren 720s mclaren 570s spider

Help build the Lego McLaren 720S at the Goodwood Festival of Speed

This year's Goodwood Festival of Speed will be host to some extraordinary automobiles, but a contender for coolest vehicle will be a full-size replica of a McLaren 720S made from Lego bricks. And part of what will make it so cool, is that it won't just be a display. It will arrive at the event unfinished, and guests will be able to help finish the build with the final 12,700 pieces. This doesn't mean plenty of work hasn't already been done. According to McLaren, six Lego builders have spent 2,000 hours putting together over 267,000 pieces to the get the car to its current form. That comes to 83 days of non-stop work, which is much longer than the 12 work days the company takes to build an actual McLaren 720S. In fact, the lengthy assembly time is just one of a few ways the Lego McLaren is actually inferior to the real thing. Instead of carbon fiber and aluminum, the Lego model uses humble steel and plastic. The Lego car is heavier than a dry 720S, too. And this is all without considering the fact that you can't actually drive the Lego car. Still, Lego cars are awesome, and we're looking forward to seeing the finished vehicle. And if you happen to be fortunate enough to be at the Festival of Speed, snap on a few bricks for us. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Image Credit: McLaren Toys/Games McLaren Coupe Supercars Lego mclaren 720s