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McLaren P1 squares off against Porsche 918 in Evo track battle

Evo's side-by-side comparison of the McLaren P1 against the Porsche 918 Spyder isn't the first time we've seen England and Germany's ultimate automotive weapons sized up together; last month, Autocar tested them over the standing mile, with a Ducati 1199 Superleggera playing the joker. Evo throws a few curves at its test, though, taking the supercars to Anglesey Circuit in Wales to see which will lay down the fastest lap time with scribe Jethro Bovington at the wheel. In case the numbers haven't yet been seared into your memory, while both are assisted by electric motors, the 3,069-pound, rear-wheel drive P1 gets on with 903 horsepower and 664 pound-feet from a 3.8-liter, twin-turbocharged V8. The 3,750-pound, all-wheel-drive 918 Spyder does its job with 795 hp and 575 lb-ft surging out of a naturally aspirated, 4.6-liter V8. We're not told know which circuit layout he uses for the test, but both cars comfortably eclipse the mark set by the fastest coupe Evo's driven around it so far, the Ferrari 458 Speciale. Then, in an epilogue occasioned by a tire change, one of the supercars comfortably eclipses its own time again, before Bovington declares one the master of the track and the other the ruler of the street. Enjoy finding out which is which in the video above.

Race recap: 2016 Australian F1 Grand Prix a rowdy start to season

The three brief Formula 1 tests ahead of the current season belied how much had gone on since the last race in November: Infiniti subbed out for Tag Heuer, Renault is back, the all new Haas F1 team, a revamped Manor, three brand new drivers and two returning drivers, a raft of regulation changes among the newly tilled soil. The four engine manufacturers spent a combined 67 tokens among the 138 in the kitty, Renault using just seven of their 32. The only conclusive proof to come from the annual intermission was the otherworldly capability of Mercedes-AMG Petronas. The Silver Arrows didn't even try the super- and ultra-soft tires, focusing on reliability instead of speed. The result? They ran more than 19 race distances, obliterating the lap totals of every other team. There are certainly a few people who enjoyed the complicated new rolling-elimination qualifying format fast-tracked to approval just a few weeks ago. They were wildly outnumbered by those who thought it was awful, including the same team heads who voted for it. We'd probably have to go back to the debacle at the 2005 Indianapolis Grand Prix for an equivalent fiasco when Michelin pulled its teams over safety fears, leaving six cars out of 20 to qualify. In Australia, within 24 hours of the conclusion of qualifying, the new format had itself been eliminated. Nevertheless, qualifying also taught us what didn't happen over the winter: any other team progressing enough to outduel Mercedes. After admitting that he dropped off after winning the championship last year, then getting questioned in the press for some dubious off-season activities, Lewis Hamilton proved he can still turn it on when he wants to. The Brit smoked the Albert Park track in 1:23.837, more than three-tenths of a second ahead of teammate Nico Rosberg in second place. Ferrari did make strides during the off-season, but only enough to keep the same gap it had to Mercedes last year: Sebastian Vettel lined up third, a half-second behind Rosberg, teammate Kimi Raikkonen another four-tenths back in fourth place. Max Verstappen said Toro Rosso is the best of the rest, the Dutchman taking fifth place in front of Felipe Massa for Williams in sixth and Toro Rosso teammate Carlos Sainz in sixth. Daniel Ricciardo – who wasn't smiling after qualifying – kept Red Bull and its new "Tag Heuer" engines in the conversation with eighth on the grid.

McLaren gets on track with 570S GT4 and 570S Sprint

McLaren may be producing road-going sports cars these days, but it hasn't forgotten its racing roots. So it should come as little surprise that each of its model lines has found its way from the road to the track: the Super Series with the 650S GT3, the Ultimate Series with the P1 GTR, and soon the Sports Series with the announcement of not one, but two new variants of the 570S. First up is the 570S GT4, a racing model developed jointly by the McLaren GT competition division and independent motorsport firm CRS GT Limited to comply with the lowest of the FIA's sports racing categories. It's based on the road-going model, but features a number of upgrades. The powertrain carries over unchanged, but bodywork has been redone to accommodate the wider track. It rolls on Pirelli racing slicks with center-lock magnesium alloys. The suspension has adjustable dampers and coil-over springs with an on-board air jack. The aerodynamics are more aggressive with a large rear wing, front splitter, and underfloor, a larger radiator up front, and more ducts to keep it all cool. The 570S GT4 is set to debut at the British GT Championship race at Brands Hatch next month before it's made available to privateer teams. With it, McLaren Automotive has hired Ansar Ali (formerly of Caterham and Lotus and founder of Zenos) to serve as its Motorsport Director, separate from the GT and F1 racing divisions in Woking. McLaren is also planning a 570S Sprint. It'll be similar to the GT4 model, but instead of having to fit under any specific racing regulations, the Sprint is being designed for private track enthusiasts – just like the 650S Sprint and the P1 GTR. That ought to make it a hoot to drive, and we're looking forward to its arrival as well "in the coming weeks." Related Video: THE McLAREN SPORTS SERIES EXPANDS TRACK APPEAL WITH 570S GT4 AND 570S SPRINT · Track-only 570S GT4 and 570S Sprint models to be added to the McLaren Sports Series · Ansar Ali joins McLaren Automotive as Motorsport Director · 570S GT4 to enter a season-long competitive development program in British championship with Black Bull Ecurie Ecosse Woking, UK (March 15, 2016) – McLaren Automotive has confirmed two new track-only models of the recently-launched Sports Series with the introduction of the 570S GT4 and the 570S Sprint, developed in conjunction with the motorsport division of the Woking brand, McLaren GT and GT racing specialists, CRS GT.