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McLaren to enter Extreme E electric SUV series in 2022

LONDON — McLaren will add an Extreme E team to their Formula 1 and Indycar operations next year in a major boost for the newly launched electric off-road series (another team's car is pictured above). McLaren Racing chief executive Zak Brown told reporters he expected the involvement to be "commercially positive" from the start. McLaren would mostly use existing personnel for the team, but not from Formula 1. "What we will never do is distract or detract from our Formula 1 efforts," added Brown. "Indycar, Extreme E are there to be complementary and accelerate our Formula 1 efforts." McLaren will be the 10th team signed up to the five-race series launched by Spaniard Alejandro Agag, who also founded the city-based Formula E championship, with two more slots still available. Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton, and 2009 and 2016 world champions Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg, also have Extreme E teams. "The McLaren news is a major, major boost for Extreme E," Agag told reporters in a video call. "We know that there are many manufacturers looking at Extreme E. The news of McLaren entering is for sure going to help other manufacturers look at Extreme E with interest. Today is the biggest news in our short history." The team will be entered by McLaren Racing, rather than the automotive side whose current model range focuses heavily on petrol-engined supercars. Other manufacturers involved in Extreme E - Seat's Cupra brand, Hummer and Lotus - have an electric model or product range to promote but McLaren have in the past ruled out making an electric SUV. "I wouldn't want to speak on their behalf," Brown said when asked whether that approach might change. "This is a McLaren Racing effort solely. "Of course electrification is very important to the automotive group ... (but) it's not an indication one way or the other as to Automotive's position on SUVs." Brown said a possible involvement in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and Formula E remained under review until later in the year. Extreme E aims to raise awareness about climate change and promote sustainability by racing electric SUVs in remote and harsh environments, with a former mail ship used to transport cars between locations. Brown already has an involvement through his United Autosports, which co-owns a team with Andretti Autosports, but the American said he was a "silent partner" in that. He said McLaren's move would give the Bahraini-owned company a broader offering for sponsors.

McLaren Elva offered with a windshield to keep bugs out of your mouth

Unveiled in 2019, the limited-edition McLaren Elva promised to free motorists from the constraints of sitting behind a windshield. Not all bugs taste good, and not all governments take a fancy to cars without a windshield, so McLaren has listened to customer feedback and introduced a variant of the Elva that's fitted with a full windshield.  McLaren identified the two main factors that convinced it to give the Elva its first and only piece of glass. First, some buyers disliked the virtual canopy (called Active Air Management System in McLaren-speak) that was fitted to replace the windshield. Second, getting the Elva registered for road use without a windshield was challenging in some areas, notably in a handful of states in America. Adding this option is expected to broaden the car's appeal. Windshield aside, the Elva hasn't changed. It's still not offered with door windows, a rear window, or a roof. Lightweight construction is one of the Elva's claims to fame; without a windshield, it tips the scale at about 2,900 pounds. McLaren notes the windshield adds roughly 44 pounds, which is impressive considering that figure includes the glass, its carbon fiber frame, a pair of sun visors, and the rain-sensing wipers. The extra weight has no effect on the the Elva's performance numbers, including its sub-three-second sprint from zero to 60 mph, and McLaren has not made mechanical changes. Power still comes from an 804-horsepower, twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8. McLaren initially planned to build 399 units of the Elva, but it dropped that number to 249 several months after the car's unveiling. While it didn't reveal how many of those will be built with a windshield, it predicted the new variant will become one of the rarest production cars it has ever made. Deliveries are scheduled to start in early 2021. Pricing hasn't been announced, but remember the regular Elva costs around $1.7 million before options. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Lewis Hamilton's 2010 McLaren Mercedes F1 car going up for auction

Lewis Hamilton has been racing in Formula 1 since 2007, and the multiple-championship-winner has won a lot of races. But none of the driver's former race-winning cars has ever come up for public auction. That will change this summer when RM Sotheby's auctions off a McLaren F1 racer that Hamilton drove during the 2010 season. The McLaren-Mercedes MP4-25A racer is chassis number 1, and features its as-raced silver-and-red Vodafone livery. Hamilton won the Turkish Grand Prix, the Canadian Grand Prix and the Belgian Grand Prix that season. The auction will take place in conjunction with the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on July 17. The sale is being held on Saturday afternoon, just ahead of Sprint Qualifying Race. The Formula 1 race takes place the next day, on Sunday. In a unique — and fitting — twist, the car actually will be lapping the track at speed during the bidding. Whether that will juice the final sale price remains to be seen; the pre-sale auction estimate for the car is $5–$7 million. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. First Ever Lewis Hamilton Formula 1 Race Winning car to be Auctioned Live at 2021 British Grand Prix   Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. How to train like an F1 driver

Arrow McLaren teams with streetwear brand Undefeated for new Indy 500 look

McLaren cares so much about appearance that the team missed track time before its bungled 2019 Indianapolis 500 attempt because the car's paint scheme didn't precisely match its signature papaya orange shade. And yet despite such particular tastes, McLaren has opened its design process to outsiders. The team collaborated with high-end streetwear brand Undefeated for the Indianapolis 500 car that Felix Rosenqvist will be driving Tuesday for Arrow McLaren SP when preparations begin at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.   Related: McLaren dresses in Gulf livery, reveals 720S and F1 car in orange and blue   McLaren only returned full-time to IndyCar for the first time since 1979 last season in a piggyback deal with Arrow Schmidt Peterson, an existing team that sometimes challenged for wins but was hardly a consistent contender. This rebranded bunch, with a new lineup and new look, has taken huge leaps since McLaren came aboard. ASMP is legit on the track and has the buzz to reach a wider audience while showing an edgier side. The targeted new audience sits at the intersection of lifestyle and sports. The collaboration with Undefeated, a popular L.A.-based designer in sneaker and streetwear culture, might seem out there for the McLaren of old, but this new team is willing to aim for a younger, hotter demographic. Undefeated co-founder James Bond had little familiarity with motorsports beyond the Netflix “Drive To Survive” docuseries that features the McLaren Formula One team. McLaren gave Undefeated's team almost no guidelines. “We wanted something that made the car while sitting stagnant to look fast, we wanted to feel very much something of movement,” Bond said. Beyond the color palette, though, there were no rules from McLaren, which incorporated Undefeated's signature camo tiger pattern into the car design. “We didn't realize the magnitude. A lot of times when we deal with professional athletes they have superstitions or they have some sort of quirks or they have their own kind of way they want things to be,” Bond said. "This one they really left us to be on our own. We were given someone else's brand, a driver's car... we just wanted to make something that was dope.

McLaren dresses in Gulf livery, reveals 720S and F1 car in orange and blue

If you’re a Gulf livery fan, McLaren has your back this week. McLaren revealed a 720S Gulf livery creation, and a Gulf livery for its Formula One cars to run around in for the upcoming Monaco Grand Prix. Starting with the road car, this Gulf livery is no sticker package. MclarenÂ’s MSO team spent 20 days painstakingly painting this design onto a 720S in an effort to make a callback to the McLaren F1 GTR raced by the Gulf GTC team. Both the blue and orange were perfectly matched, and the details are impressive. YouÂ’ll notice orange brake calipers, blue and orange interior stitching, Gulf logos on the headrests and side sills and an orange center stripe on the steering wheel with blue spokes.   Related: Arrow McLaren teams with streetwear brand Undefeated for new Indy 500 look   McLaren worked directly with Gulf on this entire build, too, having just renewed the relationship between the companies last year — that deal makes Gulf the preferred oil and gasoline supplier for McLaren cars, and theyÂ’re filled with both from the factory. If you want a 720S that looks like this, McLaren says that “a limited number of customers will exclusively have the opportunity to have their McLaren supercars hand-painted by MSO in Gulf livery.” That means not many, so raise your hand if you want one. McLaren F1 car Gulf livery View 4 Photos As for the F1 cars, this Gulf livery is perhaps even more exciting. We never get to see the Gulf livery in F1, so McLarenÂ’s one-off cars this year are going to be somewhat of a spectacle. Both Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris will race in this get-up while wearing matching racing suits and helmets. The cars look superb in photos, and we canÂ’t wait to see them on track this coming weekend. “This will be McLarenÂ’s homage to GulfÂ’s celebrated race car design,” says McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown. “WeÂ’re enormous fans of brave and bold design, and the striking Gulf blue is among the most loved liveries in racing, a celebrated piece of culture which transcends the world of motorsport.” Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

McLaren, Koenigsegg, Toyota, Ford, Dodge and Corvette Lego kits announced for 2021

Lego has announced a slew of car-themed sets for 2021. The six kits comprise nine vehicles and fall under the brick pusher's Speed Champion line of official OEM-licensed kits. News of their arrival comes from German toy retailer JB Spielwaren's pre-order listings, which show three single-car sets and three dual-car sets of matched marques. Starting with the McLaren Elva roadster, the kit consists of 263 pieces and is finished in blue. It seems to have a difficult time capturing the curves of the real-life Elva, but there's only so much you can do with a bunch of plastic blocks. Lego has made several other McLaren kits before, including the Senna, 720S, and a more advanced Senna GTR for the Technics line. Next up is the Koenigsegg Jesko, made up of 280 pieces and finished in white. Though the real-life Jesko is still curvy, this kit does a better job of replicating its aggressive maw, vents and cantilevered rear wing. Rounding out the single-car sets is the 299-piece Toyota GR Supra in yellow. This marks the first time Toyota has lent their license to Lego. Again, it struggles a bit to represent the curvy Supra, relying on printed details like logos and headlights to identify. On the other hand, the Chevrolet two-car does a stupendous job with the 1968 Corvette. The C3 is instantly recognizable as such. The C8-R race car it's paired with suffers from the same issues as some of the previous cars, though. The set contains 512 pieces, and funnily enough the C8 driver has short hair while the C3 driver sports a period-correct wavy mane. The next set is a 627-piece Mopar-themed pair, including a purple (Plum Crazy?) 1970 Dodge Challenger T/A and an SRT top fuel dragster. The race car is spot on, but the Challenger was probably tough to make given the width restrictions. It looks a couple of pegs too narrow compared to the wide proportions of the real deal. Last but not least, the Ford set contains a Bronco R and Ford GT Heritage Edition. Consisting of 660 pieces, the set does an excellent job of representing both cars. The GT looks faithful in its Gulf livery, and the Bronco R looks more like a real Bronco than the actual Bronco R race truck. All in all, it's always fun to see more Lego sets with real cars, and we're glad to see more manufacturers added to the roster. The single-car sets are recommended for ages 7 and up, while the double-car sets have an 8 years and up rating. Price in U.S.

McLaren sells its Woking, England, headquarters for $236 million

McLaren has found a buyer for its headquarters in Woking, England. It sold the facility to a New York-based investment firm named Global Net Lease, but it's not planning on moving to a new home anytime soon. Hit hard by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the British firm put a "for sale" sign on its lawn in September 2020 with a major catch: The new owner would need to lease the facility back to McLaren in the foreseeable future. Canadian real estate firm Colliers listed the carmaker's headquarters at GBP200 million (around $256 million at the time), and Global Net Lease announced it haggled the price down to GBP170 million, which represents about $236 million. The deal includes the McLaren Technology Center, the McLaren Production Center (which manufactures road cars, like the GT), and the McLaren Thought Leadership Center. Parking lots and a small man-made lake are part of the transaction, too. Moving everything to a new location would be immensely expensive, not to mention time-consuming, so McLaren will lease the 840,000-square-foot site from Global Net Lease for the next 20 years. What happens after that isn't known yet; McLaren will presumably either sign another multi-year lease or buy the site back. This is the second time McLaren has received a nine-digit cash injection in less than a year. In June 2020, it arranged a GBP150 million round of financing from the National Bank of Bahrain. At the time, it said the funding would allow it to get through the coronavirus crisis while putting it in the best possible position to be competitive in the future.  McLaren's sale of its headquarters isn't unprecedented in automotive history. In 2012, PSA Peugeot-Citroen (which is now part of Stellantis) sold its historic headquarters on Avenue de la Grande Armee in the heart of Paris for about $327 million to raise much-needed cash; it still leases the building in 2021. And, in January 2004, troubled British carmaker MG Rover sold most of its Longbridge, England, site to a property developer with plans to rent it. It signed a 35-year contract, and it optimistically added a renewal clause, but it shut down in April 2005 after years of losses. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

McLaren 720S GT3X throws out the rule book to go faster than a race car

Race cars are some of the fastest machines on Earth. And they could be faster, if it weren't for these pesky things called "rules." Proving this point is the McLaren 720S GT3X, which takes the basic GT3-class race car and cranks up the performance, because there are no rules for track toys. Nestled between the driver and the drive wheels is the expected twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 from the race car, complete with blueprinted cylinder heads and beefed up internals. But now it makes 710 horsepower, an increase of 197 over the GT3 race car. And at the push of a button, you can get a 30-horse overboost for a maximum of 740 horsepower. It's coupled to a six-speed sequential transmission. All of this is in a package weighing just 2,668 pounds, so it should be enormously entertaining. You can even share the experience with a friend, thanks to the redesigned roll cage that allowed for a second bucket seat and harness to be installed. Ideally a close friend, because that's what they'll be when they climb into the tight cockpit. But that's more than you can say for the single-occupant GT3 race car. McLaren also improved the brake cooling system to ensure the car can handle the extra weight of your ballast, er, friend. The downside to the 720S GT3X is that, because it follows no rules but its own, it's restricted in where it can drive. Neither a road car nor a race car, it's only able to be used as a track toy. Still, it should be a very fun track toy. And if you want one, McLaren is taking orders now. It can be purchased at a McLaren Motorsports dealer, and the car is built to order. McLaren will also provide technical support at your first track event with the car to ensure everything goes smoothly. No price for the car has been given, but that probably doesn't matter if you're thinking of buying one. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

McLaren Artura is a thoroughly new hybrid supercar

For the first time since the P1, McLaren has returned to the hybrid game with the Artura. And although it looks an awful lot like McLaren's Sports Series supercars, it's apparently an all-new car underneath, and it packs a very new twin-turbo V6 paired with an electric motor. The Artura, as previously announced, is based on a new carbon fiber tub, as well as many new chassis components. The rear suspension is all new, too. But the highlight is that hybrid twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6. It's a 120-degree-angle engine with the turbos nestled in the V, and features a dry-sump oil system and 8,500-rpm redline. It also happens to be 110 pounds lighter than McLaren's usual V8s. Alone, it makes 577 horsepower and 431 pound-feet of torque. But it's also paired to an electric motor that makes 94 horsepower and 166 pound-feet. Together they make 671 horsepower and 531 pound-feet of torque. The motor also helps to fill in for the lack of torque at low rpm and provide better throttle response. With the 7.4-kWh battery, the motor can further provide gas-free driving for up to 19 miles. The engine and motor are paired with an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. It's unique in that it has no reverse gear, since the electric motor simply spins the other way for reverse. This makes the transmission smaller and lighter. Power goes solely to the rear wheels, and between them is an electronically controlled mechanical limited-slip differential, a first for McLaren. McLaren is quite proud of the fact that, despite the Artura including an electric motor and battery pack, the car weighs in at a respectable 3,305 pounds. With the relatively light weight and powerful engine, the car is capable of reaching 60 mph in 3 seconds on the way to a top speed of 205 mph. Performance isn't everything, though, and McLaren recognized this with the interior. It features a rather organic design, particularly for the instrument screen. That screen is attached to the steering column, so it moves and adjusts with the steering wheel. To the right is an 8-inch infotainment screen with an interesting watch crown-like control dial. The interior is packed with modern amenities such as Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, adaptive cruise control, lane-departure warning, automatic high-beam headlights and even over-the-air updates. The Artura goes on sale in the third quarter of this year. Base price is $225,000. It will be available in four trims: the base model, Performance, TechLux and Vision.

How McLaren is rewriting the electric supercar formula

HEADLEY DOWN, England — There's nothing quite like the roar of a revving McLaren engine to set a petrolhead's pulse pounding, or the full-throated scream as it tears across the tarmac. Yet new gas-fueled engines like McLaren's could be illegal in many countries by 2030. The supercar maker, like all automakers, has to go electric — but that's easier said than done for a niche player that can't compromise the performance, and racing experience, that supports its rarefied pricing and exclusivity. McLaren could probably produce a fully-electric vehicle tomorrow, said Ruth Nic Aoidh, the British carmaker's executive director for purchasing. But the weight of today's batteries "would kill all of the attributes that make a McLaren a McLaren". So instead, Nic Aoidh says McLaren is taking more time to rethink the way it builds vehicles from the wheels up. It is also looking to overhaul its business model, to generate revenue from selling some of its new technology to other automakers. The people it ultimately has to keep happy are affluent enthusiasts like Steve Glynn, who make up McLaren's base. A racing driver, Glynn teaches others how to drive their supercars around private tracks, where the combination of raw speed and precise handling separate McLarens and Ferraris from cars that cost a tenth as much. Glynn just bought his fourth McLaren, a black 620R, in January. He declined to say what he paid for it, but the 620R starts at around 250,000 pounds ($346,000). "I'm a petrolhead through and through, but I think we have to accept the future of electrification beckons everyone," he said at his home in Headley Down, a village in southern England less than hour's drive from McLaren's Woking headquarters. "But an electrified McLaren would still have to put that same smile on your face." Even for deep-pocketed behemoths like Volkswagen AG, developing electric vehicles is an expensive proposition that is taxing their capital resources. Other smaller premium carmakers like Volkswagen unit Bentley or Tata Motors Ltd's Jaguar Land Rover, which both plan to electrify their model lineups by 2030, can rely on their owners' financial backing to make the switch. But for niche manufacturers like McLaren, lack of scale is a major challenge. Last year McLaren said it would cut 1,200 jobs - more than a quarter of its workforce - as it dealt with fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. McLaren's cars start at around 120,000 pounds and range up to 750,000 pounds.