Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'mclaren'.
-
McLaren has revealed that its MP4-12C is capable of accelerating from 0-100 mph in only 6.1 seconds. That will put it to the top of its class, and even faster than the mighty F1, which took 6.3 sec to do so. The car is powered by a 600 hp 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 developed by Ricardo. Its power, lightweight and clever electronics all help it to achieve strong acceleration. The first MP4-12C production car is now being built at Woking. It will go on sale at just under
-
The Mercedes Benz-M SLR McLaren is back with the.... McLaren Edition
Rigval posted a blog entry in MyAutoBlog
And while everyone was awaiting the first production versions of the new McLaren MP4-12C, McLaren re-debuts the Mercedes Benz SLRs at the recent Essen Motor Show. The Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren, which production was supposed to have been officially discontinued sometime last year has made another appearance in this newly updated 25 unit limited series. Somehow, McLaren, who used to build the SLR for Mercedes has now come up with 25 more units of the car and they are calling it the SLR McLaren edition. Not much imagination must have been used when naming the car from the looks of it. The car features the same fabulous Supermarine Spitfire sounding 5.4liter supercharged V8 that has 620bhp and sports a new aerodynamic body kit, a modified steering rack as well as a different suspension setup. How different is yet to be seen. The color seems to be a glossy graphite gray. No price details were made available as yet but if you missed your chance at wanting to own a brand spanking new SLR now's the chance. But if you were one of the guys who bought one thinking that you had bought the final, most sorted out and fastest SLR, then you must be cursing McLaren or Mercedes Benz for coming out with another batch of the car. Whatever the case, you just can't keep a fabulous supercar down for long. source:autoblog.de via worldcarfans -
Red Bull captures the Formula 1 Constructor's Championship in Brazil
Rigval posted a blog entry in MyAutoBlog
[extract] Red Bull pulls off a 1-2 victory at Interlagos, Brazil and captures the FIA Formula 1 Constructor -
Monaco but in the dark: Alonso wins the Singapore Grand Prix
Rigval posted a blog entry in MyAutoBlog
Okay. The results for the Formula 1 Grand Prix, Singapore. Fernando Alonso of Ferrari wins. Sebastian Vettel comes in second and his team mate in the other Red Bull, Mark Webber was third. The Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix started off nicely without a pile up. This is good as we all know the fact that this race is run like Monaco, a street circuit and the starting grid was led by Fernando Alonso, Seb Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Mark Webber. However, this changed when Force India's Vitantonio Liuzzi suffered a broken suspension from a knock on lap 4. This first major incident caused that beautiful Mercedes-AMG SLS Safety Car to be deployed and some of the teams decided to make their tire changes then. Mark Webber was thhe first among the front runners mentioned and because of this, he rejoined in 11th but as we know, he made it to 3rd in the end. The thing about this race was that as it was a street circuit, the surfaces aren't paper smooth and the crash barriers are close. Overtaking isn't something easy to do and this enabled front runners Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel to actually pull away from everyone including Lewis Hamilton of McLaren. This and the fact that if the car you were running was on the harder compound that Bridgestone brought to Singapore could not match the pace of those shod with the softer compound tires. Hamilton and even Mark Webber found this out the hard way. Ferrari's choice to keep with their strategy meant that Alonso made a stop around lap 29 and so did Vettel of Red Bull. This round of pit lane drama ensured that Vettel closed up on Alonso but his efforts were thwarted by Kobayashi of Sauber-Ferrari crashing in lap 32, then his stricken car getting hit by Bruno Senna driving for HRT-Cosworth. This meant a Safety Car situation and a procession of Formula 1 race cars following it until the debris of the crash was cleared. In fact, right before this, Kobayashi caused Michael Schumacher to hit a barrier due to his aggressive overtaking move. Schumacher was lucky that he didn't suffer any suspension damage. Lap 36 was a sad lap for Lewis Hamilton. Fighting for position with Mark Webber basically caused him to try a move on Mark Webber but he lost out when they touched, causing Hamilton's McLaren to suffer from a broken suspension. This is the second retirement in two races for Hamilton. His championship title race by now is severly compromised. Prior to this in lap 35, Nick Heidfield in the other Sauber-Ferrari had tangled with Michael Schumacher and had to retire. Schumacher pitted for a new nose cone and finished the race in 13th , out of the points of course. Yes, a lot of tangling and crashing. I suppose this was due to the tight track and their willingness to actually go for it or actually racing. Right up to the end of this night race, Alonso had to fend off the charging Red Bull of Vettel and I thought this charge was almost saved by the burning Lotus of Heiki Kovalainen if not for the race stewards decision to carry on while the track marshalls move the stricken Lotus to safety. You also get to see Kovalainen asking for a fire extinguisher to put out the fire himself. A Formula 1 driver putting out their own car's fire. Quite unusual indeed. Alonso basically worked hard to win this time in Singapore, making this a consecutive win since his victory at Monza a few weeks ago. And the Lion City looks spectacular with all those lights and the good weather. -
After a mid-season break, the Formula 1 Grand Prix is back again with the Belgian Grand Prix at the Circuit de Spa-Francochamps, a circuit both spectacular and emotive. The La Source hairpin, the downhill plunge to Eau Rouge, the forest setting and the longest lap distance in the Formula 1 World Championship which according to the Formula 1 drivers, a fabulous track to race on and a fantastic race for us to watch. This time, Lewis Hamilton driving the McLaren wins the pretty damp and wet race. The start was good for Hamilton, passing pole position Mark Webber of Red Bull. Then sometime on lap 2 it started raining causing havoc and cars were everywhere, on and off the track causing a Safety Car to be called out. Rubens Barrichello (his 300th F1 race by the way) driving for Williams retired due to a crash. The incredible thing was that it only rained for a short period causing those who changed tires to the intermediate compound during the Safety Car period to suffer as the track started drying soon enough. One driver who suffered badly was Fernando Alonso, who suffered from the Barrichello crash and two tire changes in a short period caused any chances of a podium for him to disappear. Hamilton slowly but surely pulling away from second placed Jenson Button (Petronas Mercedes) and Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull). Vettel on lap 17 was caught out by some water on the track at the final chicane, lost control, zig zagged and drove right smack into the Mercedes of Button. The Red Bull really speared its way into the Mercedes destroying the car's radiator, Button could therefore not continue. Vettel pitted for a new front wing and was later handed a drive-through penalty. Tough luck as both as championship contenders. Hamilton sometime after lap 36 nearly hit the barriers as it started getting wet again and nearly everyone had to pit for wet tires. By then, Hamilton was still in the lead, Mark Webber second, Kubica of Renault third with Filipe Massa of Ferrari in fourth. In fact the rain made proper havoc after that. In lap 39, Alonso spun and the Ferrari stalled right smack in the middle of the track. This prompted another safety car as Alonso could not get it moving again (Formula 1 cars do not have a starter and has to be started by a race engineer). Three championship contenders were now out at this time. Alonso with his spin, Button after being taken out by Vettel and Vettel himself out of the points due to his crash and drive through penalty mentioned above. By then, even after the restart of the race Hamilton had managed to pull away from Webber all the way to the finish. This has enabled him to garner the first place's 25 points, making him the current leader in the Drivers' Championship. This isn't a comfortable lead as Mark Webber trails by a mere 3 points. This is Lewis Hamilton's first victory at Spa, a milestone for him of sorts. The drive and driver of the day has to go to Michael Schumacher. He started in 21st place due to a penalty. He made it all the way to 6th position before being pipped by his team mate Nico Rosberg (who also started quite far back in 14th) in the final laps of the race. Amazing drive from Schummi anyway. Hats off to the man. The Results 01 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1hr29.04.268 02 Mark Webber RBR-Renault +1.5 secs 03 Robert Kubica Renault +3.4 secs 04 Felipe Massa Ferrari +8.2 secs 05 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes +9.0 secs 06 Nico Rosberg Petronas Mercedes GP +12.3 secs 07 Michael Schumacher Petronas Mercedes GP +15.5 secs 08 Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari +16.6 secs 09 Vitaly Petrov Renault +23.8 secs 10 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari +29.4 secs 11 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes +34.8 secs 12 Pedro de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari +36.0 secs 13 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari +39.8 secs 14 Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth +1 Lap 15 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault +1 Lap 16 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth +1 Lap 17 Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth +1 Lap 18 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth +1 Lap 19 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth +1 Lap 20 Sakon Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth +2 Lap Did Not Finish Fernando Alonso Ferrari +7 Lap Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes +29 Laps Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth +39 Laps Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 43 laps -Barrichello DNF photos:planetf1
-
Mark Webber wins the British Formula 1 Grand Prix - Even with some in-team conflict
Rigval posted a blog entry in MyAutoBlog
After becoming airborne in the European GP due to a massive crash with a Lotus, Red Bull's Mark Webber wins this edition of the British Formula 1 Grand Prix held last Sunday. This time, aggressive driving and a bit of luck, his tussle with his team mate, and pole position holder, Sebastian Vettel, somehow caused Vettel to go a little wide and got a puncture. That gave him the lead over Lewis Hamilton of McLaren by the first few corners, who ended the race in second. Third place went toward Nico Rosberg, driving the Mercedes. Ferrari had an early incident with Massa colliding with Alonso and Massa suffering a puncture too. The race pace of the Red Bull is as good as the pace it had during qualifying. Webber managed to pull a lead over Hamilton and this somehow held even though there was a Safety Car incident, due to Pedro de la Rosa's front wing debris on the track after a small accident. The drive of the day could be handed to Jenson Button of McLaren though as he started all the way down in P14 and worked his way through the field. His storming effort, like a knife through nice soft butter, was effectively held back by Nico Rosberg. Button's 4th place must have felt like a bigger victory altogether. The biggest loser in this British GP is Fernando Alonso. He was given a drive through penalty due to overtaking Robert Kubica of Renault wrongly. This was as all four wheels of his Ferrari was off the track and this constitutes an offence. I suppose Alonso's argument was that Kubica had defended his position aggressively and that caused him to veer off the track. The race stewards thought otherwise and gave his that penalty. He started in 3rd and finished 14th due to this. Mark Webber's win was not without any incidents off the track. It seems that Red Bull had handed Webber's new specification front wing to his team-mate, Seb Vettel, even though the wing was already fitted on his car. It is safe to assume that he wasn't very pleased with the incident. When he won, his response on the radio to team principal Christian Horner was -
Formula 1 at Montreal, Canada: Another 1-2 for McLaren Mercedes
Rigval posted a blog entry in MyAutoBlog
Formula 1 in Canada was interesting and McLaren gets another 1-2 win with Lewis Hamilton taking 1st after starting on pole position (his second win of the season) and Jenson Button taking 2nd place. Fernando Alonso driving the Ferrari rounded up the top three by coming in 3rd place. This also makes McLaren taking the lead in the manufacturers championship too. The race was thrilling as even at the start, we get to see Formula 1 race cars bumping into each other as we got to see Liuzzi of Toro Rosso Ferrari taking up to three bumps at the start. By lap 2 Kobayashi hit the wall and limped back to the pits joined by Felipe Massa of Ferrari. Before that Liuzzi of Force India and Pedro de La Rosa entered the pits for the starting scraps. Laps 4 to 13 was really happening as everyone was overtaking or trying to overtake someone. In lap 13 Michael Schumacher driving the Petronas Mercedes pits from third place and comes out in seventh place and is dicing with Robert Kubica of Renault. The two are fighting collide, not heavily, bouncing across the kerbs. Kubica's front wing appears to be damaged and pits. It is still bumper car like in the start. The reason for this is that the tire choices and tire change strategy seem to be assisting some better than the other. Some chose to run the softer compound earlier and this seems to be the best choice, as shown by Schumacher in the earlier part of the race (of course he later seemed to have suffered from tire wear right at the end). Lap 40 was also fun to watch at Liuzzi and Massa were dicing it out and Massa came out the loser and was forced wide. Lap 44 and 45 was also fun as Mark Webber had to fight it out to gain a few positions by Hulkenberg and Sutil, which were having their own tussle. Even the final 10 laps were interesting, as everyone in the top 12 were fighting for position. And ultimately, a big loser in this was Michael Schumacher as he had defended, and lost positions to Buemi, Liuzzi and Sutil. The latter two taking the final points positions of 9th and 10th. It could be very bad tire wear making Schumacher's car uncontrollable right at the end. The actual final results, though, will only be confirmed after the stewards investigate an incident between Robert Kubica and Adrian Sutil and another between Schumacher and Felipe Massa for all those bumper car maneuvers and other overtaking encounters. And that will only be done after the race. As I write this, nothing has been confirmed as yet but it shouldn't change the top three positions anyway. So many events had happened during this race in Canada and this from a track that was dropped from the Formula 1 Grand Prix last year. Somehow for 2010 it was brought back. And it seems it was worth it as there were lots of thrills, overtaking and spills. The next race is European Grand Prix at Valencia in two weeks time Results 01. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1h33:53.456 02. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 2.254 03. Alonso Ferrari + 9.214 04. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 37.817 05. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 39.29 06. Rosberg Mercedes + 56.084 07. Kubica Renault + 57.300 08. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 09. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 10. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 11. Schumacher Mercedes + 1 lap 12. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 13. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap 14. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap 15. Massa Ferrari + 1 lap 16. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth + 2 laps 17. Petrov Renault + 2 laps 18. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth + 4 laps 19. Di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth + 5 laps Did Not Finish Glock Virgin-Cosworth 50 Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 43 De la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 31 Senna HRT-Cosworth 14 Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 2 -
Red Bulls skewer each other allowing a McLaren 1-2 at the Turkish F1 GP
Rigval posted a blog entry in MyAutoBlog
Time flies when you're having fun and befor you know it, another Grand Prix race has come and gone. This time, Lewis Hamilton driving for McLaren-Mercedes claimed victory at the Turkish Formula 1 Grand Prix held at Istanbul last weekend. It was Mr Hamilton's first victory in a while (ten races). It was also a nightmare for Red Bull even though their drivers started in pole and in third position too. Hamilton started the race in second position. The nightmare was basically due to an overly enthusiastic Sebastian Vettel trying to overtake his teammate and pole sitter Mark Webber resulting in a crash. Now before we get to that let's start with a bit of trivia. Istanbul F1 Grand Prix of 2010 was Ferrari's 800th race in Formula 1 by the way and they started it badly by qualifying in 8th and 12th place. So critiques and fans are thinking about what is wrong with both Alonso and Massa before the race started. it was a good race for Lewis Hamilton as from the start he kept up the pressure on pole sitter Mark Webber only losing out to third position holder, Webber's Red Bull teammate, Sebastian Vettel moving into second when the McLaren pitstop crew had a small problem during the tire change. Now being someone who's young, fired up and already a world champion, Hamilton continued the chase and kept up the pressure on Vettel. I suppose it was this relentless pressure and also the fact that Webber won the last two F1 Grand Prix races prior to this made Vettel try something drastic, like try fit his Red Bull into Webber's Red Bull. This impulsive action basically caused him to crash out of the race and made Webber limp his way into the pits for repair work. This unfortunate turn of events (if you looked at it from Red Bull's camp) was capitalized by both Hamilton and his team mate Jenson Button which took over first and second positions respectively. Now these two world champions somehow nearly did some similar damage themselves by actually racing each other instead of pacing themselves to the end. Button actually too the lead on one occasion and they did rub into each other. But in the end, Hamilton pulled through and stayed in top position till the very end. Amazing. If both drivers of McLaren did the same mistake as the Red Bull ones then it would have been a real tale of not learning from other people's mistakes. Actually I do not think they learnt from other people's mistakes (in this case Red Bull's blunder) as they still fought for the lead. McLaren was just plain lucky in my opinion. Anyway, Lewis Hamilton claims his first victory of the 2010 season. Mark Webber somehow manages to still make third, looking a little depressed ahead of Michael Schumacher (it seems that the new modifications on the Mercedes-Brawn-Petronas made recently paid off), Nico Rosberg, Robert Kubica, Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso. Not a bad 800th outing for Ferrari considering they started in 8th and 12th as stated above. Next race: Canada 13th June 2010 Results 1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1h28:47.620 2. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 2.645 3. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 24.285 4. Schumacher Mercedes + 31.110 5. Rosberg Mercedes + 32.266 6. Kubica Renault + 32.824 7. Massa Ferrari + 36.635 8. Alonso Ferrari + 46.544 9. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 49.029 10. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1:05.650 11. De la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari + 1:05.944 12. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:07.800 13. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 14. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap 15. Petrov Renault + 1 lap 16. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 17. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap 18. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps 19. Di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth + 3 laps Did not finish Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 53 -
The McLaren MP4-12C has barely hit the market yet, and already reports are surfacing of new variants. Last year we were already seeing reports of a convertible version in the works. Then reports of a potential privateer racing model trickled out a few months later. Now, word from across the pond is that McLaren Automotive is planning on squeezing an extra couple of seats into the MP4-12C to make it a proper 2+2. With an enlarged cabin, the 2+2 would be the first four-seater to roll out of Woking -
Formula 1 at Barcelona: Mark Webber wins from pole position
Rigval posted a blog entry in MyAutoBlog
It seems the three weeks break has done wonders for Red Bull as Mark Webber gets his first win of the 2010 season. He started from pole position and steamed ahead of his team mate Sebastian Vettel at the start of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix at the Catalunya Circuit in Barcelona. The race was basically pretty straightforward as there was no overtaking on the track whatsoever. Fernando Alonso of Ferrari was second (to the delight of Spanish fans as he's Spanish) and third was Sebastian Vettel. I'd have to say that the only pit stop was used by most of the front runners to strategize an overtaking maneuver and only those taking up the rear of the field were taking a crack at each other. Moments of action were when Sebastian Vettel lost out the Lewis Hamilton of McLaren in the pit stop but unfortunately for Mr. Hamilton, he suffered a puncture on the penultimate lap causing him to hit the tire barriers and be classified in 14th. Tough luck. The other McLaren, driving by the reigning world champion Jenson Button lost out to the venerable Michael Schumacher. He spent 40 laps or so stuck behind Herr Schumacher, unable to overtake. It seems the Brawn Mercedes that Michael Schumacher was driving has a few updates. Particularly the longer wheelbase which seems to suit Schumacher's driving style (at the expense of Nico Rosberg's style, it seems) and the aero upgrades -
Fiat and Ferrari aren't the only ones undergoing a comprehensive restructuring as longtime rival (both on and off the track) McLaren has announced a major reorganization of its operations and several management changes. The biggest shift for McLaren is the split between McLaren Automotive (which will produce the new MP4-12C supercar) and the McLaren Group (which operates the racing team). The roadcar unit is being split off into its own operation, based out of the McLaren Production Centre, which shares its grounds with the McLaren Technology Centre next door. The two companies will now report to two separate boards, which will in turn be accountable to separate shareholders. But to keep things sufficiently confusing for the rest of us, most of the key players
-
The latest management reshuffle at McLaren has made team boss Martin Whitmarsh an even more powerful figure within the Woking based company. Ron Dennis is still chairman of both the McLaren Group and the newly separate road car division McLaren Automotive. But the British outfit revealed on Tuesday that 51-year-old Whitmarsh, already team principal of the Mercedes-powered F1 squad, has been appointed to two new roles. With immediate effect, he is to be CEO of the McLaren Group and deputy chairman of McLaren Automotive, after Sir Richard Lapthorne resigned his non-executive chairmanship of both companies. Whitmarsh is also a board member of the McLaren Group and McLaren Automotive.
-
Formula 1 at Shanghai: Button and Hamilton make it a one-two for McLaren
Rigval posted a blog entry in MyAutoBlog
Jenson Button wins the 2010 Shanghai F1 Grand Prix. The 2009 World Champion started fifth on the grid and his decision to stay on slicks when everyone else pitted for intermediates as well as Nico Rosberg spinning saw him move to P1 on lap 20. He maintained in that position till the end and insisted after the race that his victory was down to the team's ability to make the correct decisions when it mattered. The Shanghai race ended with Button 1st, his teammate Lewis Hamilton in 2nd and Nico Rosberg of Brawn Mercedes Petronas in 3rd. The bad news of the day was that Red Bull may have started the race in P1 and P2 on the grid but that's not where they finished after falling foul of the changing (quite wet) conditions. The other Brawn Mercedes Petronas driver, a certain Michael Schumacher finished 10th, behind Ferrari's Massa who somehow managed to slip pass Schumacher somewhere at the end of the race. After starting ninth on the grid, Schumacher nearly had a top-five finish following a row of pit stops due to the changing weather weather. However, aside from a small battle with Lewis Hamilton, he quickly slipped back to the middle of the pack and was even grappling for grip at times. Schumacher admits it wasn't a good weekend for him all-round, but says he enjoyed his battle with Lewis Hamilton. It was a pretty interesting race with the safety car coming out twice. The weather playing an important part in making things interesting and nearly everyone, with the exception of Jenson Button went in and out of the pits. Good decision making from the team and from him. Mclaren were really good in that the fastest lap of the race was also snapped up by Lewis Hamilton. Things should get even better as the teams now head to Europe -
Ron Dennis, Executive Chairman of McLaren Automotive, has described the world's most expensive production car as
-
When you are responsible for many Formula One World Championships and devastatingly fast supercars such as the new McLaren MP4-12C, you're entitled to speak your mind. The executive chairman and part owner of the McLaren Group, Ron Dennis, has earned a reputation for his outspoken opinion and this time directed his criticism toward the venerable Bugatti Veyron by calling it a 'complete piece of junk'. The 63 year-old was being interviewed by Arabian Business when he said he could not even find a single aspect of the Bugatti Veyron that makes him feel good and called it 'pig ugly'. He also commented that the Veyron can't handle very well. Dennis then went on to refer to a BBC Top Gear comparison of his previous supercar, the McLaren F1, against the Bugatti's technological tour de force. He described how the V12-powered F1 trounced the 16-cylinder Veyron so many times off the line that the filming crew got frustrated because his car was supposed to be beaten. Eventually the Veyron stopped dropping its clutch on take-off and was able to catch up to the McLaren F1. The Bugatti Veyron is powered by an 8.0-litre, quad turbo engine making 736 kW. In contrast, the McLaren F1 had a naturally aspirated 6.0-litre kicking out 468kW. It will be interesting to see Bugatti's response to these comments made by Ron Dennis.
-
Finally, Sebastian Vettel wins for Red Bull at the 2010 PETRONAS Malaysian GP
Rigval posted a blog entry in MyAutoBlog
[extract] And Sebastian Vettel finally wins a race in 2010, after three Formula 1 GPs. His win and Mark Webber -
Yes, things are much better this time around in Melbourne, Australia. The Quantas Australia Formula 1 Grand Prix 2010 saw Jenson Button of McLaren Mercedes taking the chequered flag, Robert Kubica of Renault taking second and Ferrari's Phillipe Massa coming in third. But the good thing was it rained and there was racing instead of a procession of cars. This fact played a real part in Button's victory as he gambled on an early tire change from intermediates to full race slicks very early on. It wasn't like Bore-rain, where I almost fell asleep while watching the telly. It had the racers maintain their track position lap after lap. It had overtaking this time unlike Bahrain, the rain in the early part of the race. As it was a wet start, entertainment happened from the start. Car crashes and all. Pole Sitter Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing had a decent start, as did Felipe Massa from fifth splitting the Red Bulls (who started in pole and in second) by Massa. Fernando Alonso who started in position 3( P3) dropped back. Michael Schumacher, Jenson Button got into a predicament as Alonso closed the door at the corner. Michael Schumacher got nudged and his front wing damaged (for which he had to pit). Button lost ground as he took avoiding action and cars passed by. A Toro Rosso (Buemi) headed for the gravel as the Sauber driven by Kamui Kobayashi which lost a front wing on the way to Turn 3 pitched him right into the barriers, then his car bouncing off across the track and taking out both Nico Hulkenberg and Sebastien Buemi. Three car casualties and not even one lap completed the Race Director Charlie Whiting called for the safety car. You see, rain makes entertaining racing. It was Jenson Button's decision for a very early pitstop (lap 6) that allowed him to win. After deciding that the intermediate tires were not doing well for him, he came in for slicks and it nearly cost him as upon leaving the pits, he lost control and went straight on turn 3. Two laps later almost all of the front runners came in for slicks with the exception of the Red Bulls which seemed okay on intermediates. Sebastian Vettel's seems to have gotten into an unlucky streak of starting on pole and then the car letting him down. In Bahrain, engine trouble was the cause and this time, the brakes had locked up and he ended in the gravel. The reliability of the Red Bull in question. Lewis Hamilton of McLaren also had bad luck and bad team decision. McLaren, had decided to call for a tire change without consulting the driver and according to Hamilton, this cost him a podium finish. Maybe it was down to inexperience on Hamilton's side and a bad mistake by the team. As some said that as driver he would have a choice to say 'no' to his race engineer. Even an experienced team like McLaren can make bad decisions. On the point of bad luck, Hamilton tangled with Mark Webber not once, but twice, the second time costing him to end his race at P6 instead of P5 and Webber a front wing and getting P9 with a possibility of a penalty at the next race in Sepang. Nico Rosberg of Mercedes Petronas capitalizing and getting P5 instead. It was fun. Even at the tail end of the race Michael Schumacher on the last 10 laps had overtaken two cars clinching P10 for the last point scoring position. Rain equals unpredictability in Formula 1 and this is a good thing. Maybe we don't need the Gatling Guns, batterin rams and missiles after all. Just add water to the race track instead. Sepang would be equally fun if it rains. I just hope it does not rain till all racing was stopped like last year. Results 1. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1h33:36.531 2. Kubica Renault + 12.034 3. Massa Ferrari + 14.488 4. Alonso Ferrari + 16.304 5. Rosberg Mercedes + 16.683 6. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 29.898 7. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes + 59.847 8. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1:00.536 9. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 1:07.319 10. Schumacher Mercedes + 1:09.391 11. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:11.301 12. De la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari + 1:14.084 13. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth + 2 laps 14. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth + 4 laps Did Not Finish Glock Virgin-Cosworth 41 Vettel Red Bull-Renault 26 Di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 25 Sutil Force India-Mercedes 12 Petrov Renault 10 Senna HRT-Cosworth 5 Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1 Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1 Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1 Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1
-
http://www.worldcarfans.com/110032425292/m...ss-launch-video
-
lol cant stop watchin this video -
Site on McLaren Automotive http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McLaren_Automotive Official site of McLaren Automotive http://www.mclarenautomotive.com/uk/default.aspx damn....check out the site man...its really shows the car....
-
seems that this car is ready to outclass ferrari and lamborghini with the technology involved....lol wonder when we would see one on singapore roads.....and driver has to be good to pilot this car.... anyway this car is real sweet....but i still like the ferrari italia...:)
-
If you read our deep dive on the McLaren MP4-12C, you're thoroughly up to speed on the automaker's latest foray into supercardom. However, something was missing. McLaren hadn't provided the rudimentary performance figures to keep bench racers and keyboard jockeys frothing at the mouth. Until today. According to recent reports the MP4-12C is able to crack the 60 mph mark in "under three seconds" when utilizing the launch control feature on its seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. Partnered with its 2,870 curb weight (there's still some debate if that's "dry" or fully loaded with fluids) and 600 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque, the more telling stat is its 0-124 mph time of "under 10 seconds." For those of you keeping track at home, the 2010 Porsche 911 Turbo hits 60 in 3.2 seconds, the Corvette ZR1 breaks the mark at 3.5 seconds, with the Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 and Ferrari 458 Italia coming in at 3.4 and 3.3 seconds respectively
-
McLaren has revealed the MP4-12C supercar to the media today and we have a lot of the official details. The two-seat MP4-12C has a 3.8-litre twin turbo petrol engine developed in collaboration with Ricardo. Maximum power output is a blazing 441 kW (592 bhp / 600 PS) developed at 7,000 rpm. The engine can rev all the way up to a dizzy 8,500 rpm. Its peak torque rivals some of the most powerful turbo diesels out there at 599 Nm (442 lb-ft) from 3,000 rpm. Apparently 479 Nm (353 lb-ft) of that is already available from 2,000 rpm. Performance figures are not available yet but expect 0 - 100 km/h figures in the very low 3s and a top speed well over 300 km/h (186 mph). Torque goes to the rear axle through a 7-speed double clutch gearbox prompted by F1-style aluminium rockers situated behind the steering wheel. It offers a choice of Normal, Sport and Track driving modes. There's also two configurations namely H and P. H refers to handling and changes things like steering weight, suspension stiffness and stability control. Choosing P mode alters throttle response, gearshift times and engine sounds. Because the car is so compact (4507mm long, 1908mm wide, 1199mm high and with a wheelbase of 2670mm) and thanks to a carbon composite monocoque, plus a claimed dry weight of less than 1,300kg (2,866 lbs), certain advantages are there for the taking. The main one is of course better performance, but there is also the small matter of C02 emissions. McLaren Automotive reports a figure of under 300g/km, significantly lower than its key rivals, the Ferrari 458 Italia and the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. Inside the latest gadgets and goodies can be found, including a 7-inch touch screen and Wi-Fi connectivity.
-
[extract] When the McLaren F1 first hit the streets, it was immediately catapulted to the top of the performance car scene, taking home the title of world
-
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/02/23/video-m...pain/#continued