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McLaren F1 Crashes, Flips In Italy During Race

Friends, this is why we can't have nice things. A McLaren F1 was flipped down an embankment in Italy yesterday, and this video of the crash's aftermath is about as sad as when Old Yeller was shot. According to Italy's La Nazione, this one-off, red-on-white F1 was crashed during a four-F1 tour between the towns of Saline di Volterra and Pomarance in the province of Pisa. It's unclear what caused the driver to lose control and invert our British hero on a grassy hill, although as this is a McLaren F1, we wouldn't be remotely surprised if speed ended up being a factor. YouTuber Marchettino, an Autoblog reader and well-known source of videos from Ferrari's Fiorano test track, was on the scene to capture the video available below. The footage shows the McLaren accelerating away, only to cut away to the aftermath of the wreck. Emergency personnel were tasked with righting the stricken hypercar, a process that was accompanied by the cringe-worthy cracking of its Peter Stevens-designed bodywork. At least they had the decency to cover the crumpled Brit with its fitted black cover as they loaded it onto a flatbed, a fitting yet somehow disturbing visual. According to reports, the driver and passenger were airlifted from the scene with non-lethal injuries, and both are recovering in a hospital. Given the rising worth and rarity of F1s, despite the extensive damage in evidence, we reckon that this won't be the last the world sees of this special car. Take a look below to view the video. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. News Source: La Nazione, Marchettino via YouTube, Jalopnik McLaren Coupe Performance Classics Videos

2015 Russian Grand Prix was full of crashes and DNFs

Mercedes-AMG Petronas non-executive chairman Niki Lauda said of Lewis Hamilton's race-day domination this year, "The guy is driving like a god." Qualifying is another story, though – teammate Nico Rosberg taking pole proved that sometimes deities have to settle for second on the grid. Williams driver Valtteri Bottas surprised himself and his team with third place, half a second behind Hamilton but 0.05 sec ahead of the first Ferrari driven by Sebastian Vettel, while a mistake on Kimi Raikkonen's final flying lap left him in fifth, 0.4 sec behind Vettel. The Sahara Force India team had a good showing, with Nico Hulkenberg qualifying sixth just ahead of teammate Sergio Perez in seventh. It's the first time they've had both drivers in the top ten on the grid since the 2014 British Grand Prix. Romain Grosjean is leaving the stormy waters of Lotus at the end of the year for the unknown waters of Haas F1, but he made the shoestring operation look really good before Renault takes over by taking eighth place on the grid. Max Verstappen qualified well again with ninth in the Toro Rosso, ahead of the first Infiniti Red Bull Racing of Daniel Ricciardo in tenth. Red Bull driver Daniil Kvyat lined up eleventh for his home grand prix, certainly a disappointment after locking up fifth place on the grid last year in a Toro Rosso. When Pirelli brought soft and supersoft compounds to Sochi, the company said it hoped this year's race would be better than last year's. We're sure this first-lap mishap isn't what they meant. Rosberg and Hamilton dragged it down to Turn 1, with Rosberg getting the inside line. Hamilton had to go wide at Turn 2 as Rosberg fought to hold position, but they left a mess in their wake: Hulkenberg spun going into Turn 2 and stopped in the middle of the track, and Marcus Ericsson in the Sauber – who'd started 16th – collided with him. Both cars were out of the race immediately, and the Safety Car came in. The Safety Car returned to the pits on Lap 3 Rosberg led the field, but just two laps later the German complained of a sticking throttle pedal. Two laps later he had to retire, unable to drive the car properly. That put Hamilton at the front, and we've seen that race a bunch of times before. He built a double-digit lead and never lost it.

McLaren says it 'is a sports car brand' and won't make SUVs

You can add McLaren to the list of luxury and sports car companies to say it will not build an SUV, the automaker's CEO Mike Flewitt telling Bloomberg, "We need to remain very focused. McLaren is a sports car brand and that's exactly what we're going to remain." In spite of those words, in order to save his voice, Flewitt should get business cards made printed with that response, since the question will certainly keep being asked. And if the coming Lamborghini and Bentley SUVs do well, observers will expect Flewitt's ideas on the subject to "evolve," no matter what he or Ron Dennis says publicly. The evolution we refer to has taken place at BMW, which was never going to make a M version of its SUVs, and Porsche, which said it wouldn't make an SUV smaller than the Cayenne. Furthermore, there's Rolls-Royce, whose CEO said the company hadn't even considered an SUV because it wouldn't fit the brand's values, meanwhile rumors abounded that the company was gauging customer reaction to a sketch of a concept SUV adorned with the Spirit of Ecstasy. And five months later that same CEO said the company was "intesively thinking" about building one. Those are but few and recent examples. If McLaren doesn't waver, it will join Ferrari as the only pure-sports car company holdouts. Featured Gallery 2015 McLaren P1: First Drive View 39 Photos News Source: BloombergImage Credit: Copyright 2014 AOL McLaren Performance Mike Flewitt