2024 Mclaren 750s Spider on 2040-cars

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Alonso pins McLaren's woes squarely on Honda's shoulders

BARCELONA (Reuters) - Fernando Alonso spent more time on the tennis court than driving his ailing McLaren on Friday, with his tilt at the Indy 500 looking ever more inviting after another dark day on the Formula One racetrack. Alonso's home fans had barely settled in their seats for practice at the Spanish Grand Prix before his car's Honda engine blew in a mess of smoke and oil. Liquid then poured out of the car as it was tipped up by a recovery crane. Having failed to start in Russia two weeks ago due to an engine failure on the formation lap, Alonso departed the Barcelona circuit after a few choice words and later posted a picture on Instagram of himself playing tennis. "The engine was not good enough. We came out of the pitlane and there was a hole in the engine, and the oil was streaming out. It blew up after 400 meters," Alonso told reporters after returning for the second 90-minute practice session. He was last on the timesheets and reported that the engine was even slower. If the tennis photo looked like a dig at Honda, accompanied with the seemingly sarcastic comment "keeping the body active", he said that had not been his intention. "I have very little time in these weeks, with traveling, with planes," said the 35-year-old, who will go straight from Barcelona to Indianapolis on Sunday night to prepare for his debut in the 500 on May 28. "So when I discovered that I had two hours free, instead of being on the sofa and watching television, I went for some training. My dedication is still 100 percent to my fitness and my preparation. "It wasn't humor to go outside the circuit to play tennis, it was preparation. People got it wrong. I went out to have some fun and escape the circuit." McLaren, the second most successful team in Formula One history in terms of race wins, have yet to score a point in four rounds of this year's championship and are last in the standings. Honda's Formula One reputation, after two seasons of unreliability and poor performance, is meanwhile being dragged deeper into the mud. Alonso is out of contract at the end of the season and has said his future whereabouts would depend on who could offer him a winning car. "It's not my reputation, it's theirs (Honda's) – and it's their money, and their image," he said. "I try to drive as fast as I can but it's a much bigger problem for them." (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by John Stonestreet) Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party.

2018 McLaren 570GT can be as sporty as the 570S

We're getting the feeling that McLaren is not a company that likes compromise. When it introduced the 570S Spider, it had the exact same performance as the coupe, and barely weighed any more than the coupe, despite having a retractable top. Now, McLaren is bringing the 570GT up to 570S performance parity with the Sports Pack. The Sports Pack costs an extra $5,950, which isn't cheap, but shouldn't scare someone willing and able to drop over $200,000 on a car. For that money, McLaren swaps in the 570S Coupe's steering rack, shocks, and stability control and driving mode settings. And now that all 570GTs get standard carbon ceramic brakes, there shouldn't be much of a difference in driving experience between the GT and S Coupe. Except for the fact that you'll actually be able to bring more than a large wallet with you on the drive. In addition to the Sports Pack, McLaren now offers an electrochromic glass roof option for the 570GT which allows the driver to pick the preferred amount of tinting. A number of new color options are also now available on the 570GT as well as the 570S Coupe. Finally, the entire 570-line now puts the rear-view camera display in the instrument cluster, when the camera option is added. Related Video:

McLaren 570S Spider gets new lightweight track pack for $24,000

The McLaren 570S Spider is one of the most versatile sports cars around. It's fast, comfortable and practical, but it's slightly less capable from the factory than its fixed-roof brethren. McLaren is changing that with a new lightweight track pack. It's similar to the one on the 570S Coupe and shaves nearly 73 pounds from the car. That said, at more than $24,000, it's not exactly the cheapest way to go on a diet. According to McLaren, 10 percent of 570S coupe owners opt for the track pack. Carbon fiber is the name of the game here. Inside, Alcantara-wrapped carbon-fiber seats shave 29 pounds from the car. These are paired with a Alcantara steering wheel with carbon-fiber spokes and shift paddles. The doors, center console, and infotainment system all have carbon-fiber trim, too. All track pack models are fitted with McLaren's Track Telemetry system. On the outside, the 570S Spider track pack gets a Dark Palladium-painted roof and lightweight 10-spoke forged alloy wheels with Pirelli P-Zero Corsa summer tires. Those wheels save 33 pounds in total. Customers can option some carbon-fiber trim pieces, too. The 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V8 breathes a little easier thanks to a new titanium exhaust system. McLaren doesn't say how much power it adds, but it should at least make the car a little louder. Related Video: Featured Gallery McLaren 570S Spider Track Pack Design/Style McLaren Convertible Luxury Performance mclaren 570s mclaren 570s spider