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McLaren celebrates 20 years of Mobil 1 with special livery for Australian GP

Sponsors come and sponsors go in Formula One, but they tend to stick around awhile at McLaren. The team ran under Marlboro title sponsorship for 22 years from 1974 to 1996, and Hugo Boss has been with the team for 33 years now since 1981. But it's the team's partnership with Mobil 1 which it will celebrate with the sinister livery pictured here. With Vodafone having left the team at the end of last season, McLaren is without a title sponsor for this season, and was expected to return to its heritage orange livery for this year's championship. But instead it's starting the season at the Australian Grand Prix with this silver and black livery to celebrate two decades of partnership with ExxonMobil. It may not be quite as sweet as the new Williams Martini Racing livery, but it is pretty slick. Whether it stands a chance of finishing on the podium this weekend, however, is another matter. While McLaren has won the Australian Grand Prix a dozen times – more than any other team – and Jenson Button is one of the winningest drivers in the history of the Aussie race, he and the team haven't been showing too well in pre-season testing. Mobil 1 and McLaren Celebrate 20-Year Partnership in Formula 1 As the 2014 Formula 1 season kicks off this weekend at the Australian Grand Prix, ExxonMobil and McLaren will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of their technical and commercial relationship. In honor of the major milestone, the McLaren Formula 1 cars will feature a special livery in Australia that will include both Mobil 1™ and Mobil™ brands." "To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Mobil 1's relationship with McLaren, we are looking forward to showcasing a special branding scheme during the first race of the 2014 season," said Artis Brown, global motorsports manager, Mobil 1. "There is a lot of energy entering this race. Not only are we celebrating our 20th anniversary with McLaren, but we will be welcoming Kevin Magnussen to the team. When you combine these elements with the introduction of the new V-6 engine, this should be a very exciting weekend." Jonathan Neale, Chief Operating Officer and Acting CEO of McLaren Mercedes said, "We are privileged to have worked closely with ExxonMobil over a very successful 20 years and counting. During 332 races together we have achieved four world championships, 78 wins, 229 podium finishes and 76 pole positions, which is testament to our powerful technology partnership.

Chris Harris spends a couple of days with the McLaren P1

Driving a supercar like the McLaren P1 during a launch event is one thing. And Chris Harris has done that, bringing his film crew along to document the experience. But driving one cross country on public roads over the course of days is another matter entirely. So to see how Woking's hybrid hypercar behaves as a daily driver, Harris drove one around and in between two of the UK's finest racing circuits. Documented in the video above, everyone's favorite British automotive journalist picks up a black P1 at Anglesey – that picturesque circuit by the seashore in Wales – and drives it to Goodwood, home of the Festival of Speed and so many other octane-drenched extravaganzas. Along the way (and in between track lapping sessions), he treats a stranger to a drive, drags it against an Audi RS6 and highlights the finer points of experiencing a supercar out in the wild. It's well worth the 19 minutes of play time, so check out the footage to see what it's like to live with nearly 1,000 horsepower under your right foot. Related Video: Related Gallery McLaren P1 News Source: Chris Harris on Cars via YouTube McLaren Hybrid Supercars Videos mclaren p1

Race Recap: 2015 Canadian F1 Grand Prix is better behind the front

As of Saturday afternoon in Montreal, Canada, it was all about the number four. Lewis Hamilton put his Mercedes-AMG Petronas on pole position for the fourth time at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, and now his tally of pole positions matches his race number: 44. Nico Rosberg lines up beside him, which is the fourth time that particular one-two combo has occurred this season. Ferrari spent three engine development tokens to try and close the gap to Mercedes, Kimi Raikkonen making the most of it with third position on the gird. His teammate Sebastian Vettel got the worst of it, however, when the MGU-K unit failed during Q1, leaving him 160 horsepower down and out at the first hurdle. Valtteri Bottas put a revitalized Williams on the grid at fourth, ahead of a Lotus lockout of the third row with Romain Grosjean leading the way in fifth, Pastor Maldonado just beside. Nico Hulkenberg got the first Sahara Force India into seventh – the team is still waiting on the upgraded B car that should be available for Austria – ahead of Daniil Kvyat in the first Infiniti Red Bull Racing and a "pissed off" Daniel Ricciardo in the second Red Bull. Sergio Perez made it two Force Indias in the top ten, a welcome result from a team performing below expectations of late. When the lights went out, at the very front it was much ado about not that much at all. Hamilton got away clean and stabbed across the track to close the door for Rosberg, giving Raikkonen a chance to take the inside line into Turn 1 in an attempt to clear Rosberg for second place. That didn't happen, leaving the two Mercedes' to run in grid position for the entire race. It wasn't boring – Rosberg stayed close, rubber-banding the time gap to the leader from a little more than one second to just under four seconds, and Montreal is famous for race-rearranging safety cars and on-track incidents. But none of those occurred, so Hamilton crossed the line 2.285 seconds ahead of Rosberg after 70 laps to earn his fourth victory in Canada and the first-ever victory for the Brackley, UK-based Mercedes team. Valtteri Bottas drove his Williams to third position, the first podium place for the team this year and a welcome salve to heal the team's wounds from a poor showing in Monaco. That placing came courtesy of being in the right place at the right time, which was not far behind Raikkonen when the Ferrari driver spun at the hairpin on Lap 28 after his first pit stop.